Amazon has begun to place greater emphasis on developing "smart home" technology, wanting to bring smart gadgets such as speakers, cameras, doorbells and more to its customers' homes.
Amazon has already begun its partnership with the Zigbee Alliance. Although Zigbee is not as popular as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, it offers a wireless protocol that allows gadgets to communicate. Unlike Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Zigbee is particularly good for low-power devices and has the ability to travel longer distances, making it ideal for simple smart gadgets like a light clock.
Amazon introduced a version of the Echo with Zigbee support a year ago. This support allowed the speaker to connect directly to smart home gadgets such as light bulbs and small sensors that could not be reached otherwise. In addition, the home alarm system for Ring, which is owned by Amazon, can connect to Zigbee. It is a slow start, but the collaboration between the two companies shows that the company wants to make more use of the Zigbee protocol in the future. Other companies that integrate Zigbee include Samsung with its own SmartThings technology and Signify with the popular “Philips Hue” smart lights.
So if Amazon pays the large sum it needs to integrate Zigbee, then it means that the company wants to have a say in the next versions of Zigbee and the way different Zigbee devices will work. It should also be noted that in addition to Zigbee, there is another equally strong competitor called Z-Wave, but hardware manufacturers have accused it of being based on proprietary chips for a single company. Certainly Amazon is one of the companies in the smart home sector that would avoid an agreement with a company like Z-Wave.
