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Smart Tangibles News Digest #2505

  • Writer: Yoel Frischoff
    Yoel Frischoff
  • 6 days ago
  • 7 min read

Issue #2505, December 8, 2025


A satellite image of the earth
Global Smart Tangibles News from around the world (Image credit: NASA)

Global Smart Tangibles news from around the world: product strategy for connected hardware, IoT, policy, UX, and manufacturing.


This week is all about the smart home plumbing that most users never see: new Matter and Thread capabilities, a big Zigbee update, and the first real global framework for consumer IoT security labels. Together they sketch the guardrails and transport pipes your next generation smart tangible will have to ride on. Cross Cutting Signals


  • Interoperability is slowly becoming real, not just a logo. Matter 1.5, Thread 1.4 cross vendor support, and Zigbee 4.0 all attack different parts of the same UX problem: getting devices online and talking to each other without heroics.

  • Radio choices are strategic, not just RF engineering. Sub GHz support, camera heavy workloads, and multi protocol hubs change BOM, battery, and service assumptions. Smart Tangibles product strategy now has to think in terms of network topologies and energy flows, not only feature lists.

  • Security labels are the new energy stars. As ISO 27404 and national labels land, expect buyers to look for a recognizable badge that says "this device will not become a liability" in the same way they look for energy efficiency ratings on appliances.


For Smart Tangibles readers, the through line is simple: the infrastructure stack is maturing. The opportunity is to use that maturity to focus on differentiated UX, long term service models, and business innovation instead of reinventing connectivity and basic security.


This Week at a Glance


Quick overview of what is shaping connected devices this week.


  1. Matter 1.5 finally brings cameras into the standard. Cameras, garage doors, EV charging and smarter energy features move into the Matter spec.



  1. SmartThings joins cross vendor Thread networks. Samsung hubs can now join existing Thread 1.4 meshes instead of running their own island.


  1. Zigbee 4.0 adds hub-less setup and long range sub GHz. Zigbee standardizes smartphone based onboarding and stretches into sub GHz for deeper indoor coverage.


  1. ISO 27404 and security labels for consumer – A formal framework for consumer IoT cybersecurity labels starts to crystallize the compliance bar for device makers.


News In Detail


  1. Matter 1.5 Adds Cameras, Energy, and EV Support


Matter 1.5 formally adds cameras, garage door controllers, soil sensors, and richer energy features to the smart home spec, pushing Matter beyond lights and plugs into higher stakes device classes.


Matter 1.5 now covers a full range of video cameras and doorbells, with support for live streams, two way audio, pan tilt zoom control, and local or cloud recording (storage policies still depend on each vendor). It also expands into garage doors, soil sensors, and early building blocks for bi directional EV charging and energy management using real time utility data. The Connectivity Standards Alliance positions this as a major step toward a single, IP based standard for mainstream smart homes.


Cameras and garage doors are high trust, high friction categories. Putting them inside Matter raises the bar for reliability, latency, and secure onboarding for any device that wants to share their network.


Energy management primitives point toward a world where appliances need to expose standard controllable loads and states so utilities and home controllers can schedule them dynamically.


For OEMs, Matter support is shifting from nice to have badge to table stakes for access to Apple, Google, Amazon, and open platforms like Home Assistant.


Signals to Watch

  • Whether Amazon (Ring, Blink) and Google (Nest) actually ship Matter camera support, not just talk about it.

  • How quickly EV chargers, heat pumps, and major appliances adopt the new energy and bi directional charging clusters.

  • Real world user experience: do Matter 1.5 cameras actually reduce app fragmentation, or introduce new confusion about what is controlled where.


Key Links:



  1. SmartThings Embraces Thread 1.4 and Cross Vendor Mesh


Samsung SmartThings hubs now support Thread 1.4 and can join existing Thread networks from other vendors, reducing the silo effect of brand locked border routers.


SmartThings has rolled out support for Thread 1.4 in selected hubs, letting them join an existing Thread mesh instead of forcing users to run parallel networks per ecosystem. A new "Manage Thread Network" feature lets users add SmartThings to networks created from Apple, Google, or other controllers using QR codes or OS level credentials. Thread remains a low power mesh foundation for many Matter devices, with local first behavior and no mandatory cloud dependency.


Cross vendor Thread meshes reduce one of the biggest sources of smart home pain: each vendor demanding their own hub. This is a structural UX improvement.


For device makers, a healthier Thread ecosystem means more predictable behavior across homes and less need to handhold users through complex onboarding paths.


If border router cooperation becomes normal, product teams can design devices assuming more robust, self healing meshes rather than brittle, single point Wi Fi connections.


Signals to Watch

  • Whether Apple, Google, and Amazon move to full Thread 1.4 credential sharing and accept third party border routers as first class citizens.

  • How quickly SmartThings extends support from a handful of hubs to most of its portfolio.

  • Impact on support tickets and returns for Thread based devices as network behavior stabilizes.


Key Links




  1. Zigbee 4.0 goes hub less and sub GHz


Zigbee 4.0 introduces "Suzi" for sub GHz operation and standardizes hub less onboarding via Bluetooth, positioning Zigbee as a long range, installation friendly option for homes and commercial buildings.


The Connectivity Standards Alliance has announced Zigbee 4.0, with several important changes. The flagship feature is Suzi (Sub GHz and Zigbee), enabling operation on 800 MHz bands in Europe and 900 MHz in North America.


That improves penetration through walls and extends range for outdoor and commercial deployments. Zigbee 4.0 also standardizes Zigbee Direct, which allows users to commission devices directly from a smartphone over Bluetooth LE without a dedicated hub. The update keeps backward compatibility with Zigbee 3.0 and Smart Energy devices, and many products may be upgraded via OTA if hardware allows.


Sub GHz support makes Zigbee a serious candidate for deep building and campus scale deployments where 2.4 GHz is noisy or attenuated.

Smartphone based onboarding reduces friction for prosumer and SMB installs where adding yet another hub is a non starter.

For OEMs, Zigbee 4.0 plus Matter over Thread will coexist for some time. Strategic choices around radio combos (Wi Fi + Thread + Zigbee, etc.) will shape BOM, battery life, and interoperability.


Signals to Watch

  • How aggressively vendors ship Suzi certified devices and whether upgrades for existing hardware materialize.

  • Whether Ikea and other mass market vendors keep some Zigbee 4.0 lines next to Matter or fully migrate away over time. [oai_citation:5‡WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/ikeas-smart-home-reset-goes-back-to-basics?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

  • Adoption of Zigbee Direct for installer and maintenance tooling in commercial environments.


Key Links




  1. ISO/IEC 27404:2025 and the New IoT Security Labels


ISO/IEC 27404:2025 defines a framework for cybersecurity labeling schemes for consumer IoT, turning a patchwork of best practice checklists into a formal reference for regulators and certification programs.



The new ISO/IEC 27404:2025 standard lays out requirements and guidance for consumer IoT cybersecurity labels: threat modeling, stakeholder roles, conformity assessment, label issuance, and mutual recognition across schemes. It is explicitly designed to underpin national and regional labeling programs, such as the US Cyber Trust Mark and other "nutrition label" style initiatives that disclose default password policies, update lifecycles, and vulnerability handling.


Combined with existing baselines like ETSI EN 303 645, which bans default passwords and mandates vulnerability disclosure and updates, it gives regulators a more harmonized toolkit for insisting on minimum safeguards across connected products. Analysts expect this to shape how programs in the US, EU, UK, and Asia align and recognize each other.


Label ready security will become a product requirement, not just a security team aspiration. Expect procurement checklists to ask which scheme your device complies with.


Architecturally, it pushes OEMs toward secure by default designs: no hard coded passwords, signed updates, measurable support lifetimes, and clear vulnerability handling processes.


Strategically, vendors who get labels early can position them as trust and quality signals and avoid last minute redesigns when schemes become mandatory in key markets.


Signals to Watch

  • Which regions map their labels to ISO/IEC 27404 and whether mutual recognition reduces the need for duplicated certifications.

  • How marketplaces and retailers (Amazon, operators, utilities) use labels in their device programs and marketing.

  • Whether labels start to influence B2B purchasing for prosumer and SMB smart home and building products.


Key links




From TheRoad / Smart Tangibles


  • Latest digest: If you missed it, last week’s [Smart Tangibles News Digest #2504] covered digital twins, edge AI, sensor as a service, AI ready MCUs, and software defined buildings.

  • Smart home deep dive: For a longer view on how Ikea is rebuilding its smart home portfolio around Matter, see the separate post [IKEA's Smart Home Reset Goes Back to Basics]

  • Smart Tangibles book progress: The Smart Tangibles manuscript is currently expanding its chapters on connectivity standards and security baselines for smart products. If you have a case study that touches on Matter, Thread, Zigbee, or IoT security labels, I would love to hear from you via the [Smart Tangibles case submission page]



How to Use This Digest


  • Share with colleagues working on hardware roadmaps, connectivity, or cybersecurity so standards and labels are baked in early.

  • Bookmark any stories that intersect your product and review them at your next roadmap or architecture discussion.

  • Use the "Why this matters" and "Signals to watch" bullets as prompts for internal workshops on smart home or smart building strategy.



This news digest is compiled weekly. To receive it in your inbox, use the email signup form at the bottom of any Smart Tangibles digest on the blog, starting with [Issue #1] https://www.theroadtlv.com/post/smart-tangibles-news-digest-1.


You can explore past issues and other Smart Tangibles resources at /blog/categories/weekly-digest



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