Latest news with #Dirigera
Stuff.tv
10-07-2025
- Business
- Stuff.tv
Ikea doubles down on next-gen smart home gear – here's why you'll want to have it in your home
For a few years now, everyone's favourite Swedish flat-pack furniture maker has been dabbling in smart home tech. And soon, I'll actually be able to use one of Ikea's smart home gadgets. That's because after years of affordable yet frustratingly limited range of devices, Ikea is finally doubling down on next-gen smart home tech with Matter support. To recap, Matter is a recent universal standard that brings all your smart gadgets together under one interface, letting them talk to each other without the usual bickering between ecosystems. Supported by the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung, it promises interoperability, security, and the kind of seamlessness smart homes have been promising for years. Ikea's 20+ devices on the way will include everything from smart bulbs and plugs to sensors and remotes, all designed to play nicely with the Matter ecosystem. You won't even need Ikea's own hub to use them, though if you do have the Dirigera hub, it's now been upgraded to be a full Matter Controller with Thread support – the low-power mesh network that connects it all. Ikea is even throwing in a reboot of its audio lineup. The Symfonisk range, once made in partnership with Sonos, is being shown the door in favour of some wallet-friendly Bluetooth speakers. The $50 Nattbad is a retro number that looks like an old radio but actually streams Spotify. Meanwhile the Blomprakt is a table lamp with a speaker baked into the top. What's particularly appealing about this new batch of gear is that Ikea isn't asking you to commit to one ecosystem. Want to control your new Ikea bulb through Apple Home? Go for it. Fancy adding it to an Alexa routine? No problem. Backward compatibility remains intact, and Touchlink is still alive and kicking. Of course, Matter isn't exactly flawless. Adoption has been patchy, and it's still not the magic fix-it-all some of us were hoping for. But Ikea is doubling down on its commitment to next-gen smart home tech. The new smart home range, including over 20 Matter-over-Thread devices, is set to start rolling out from January 2026, with more following in April and beyond. Prices will be in typical Ikea territory. The Nattbad speaker is available to buy for £29/$50, and the Blomprakt speaker-lamp combo is due in October.
Fast Company
10-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Ikea is launching new smart home products, and they're designed to be extra easy to use
After years of research, learning, and development, Ikea says it's ready to release a line of products it hopes will change the smart home game. The Swedish furniture manufacturer and retailer announced Wednesday that it will release 20 smart home products in January 2026 that it calls its 'biggest step' yet to make smart home technology open, simple, and affordable. Ikea has released smart light bulbs and systems before, and previously partnered with Sonos for speakers, but this relaunched smart home line was designed to be universal. 'Our goal is to make the smart home easy to use, easy to understand, and within reach for the many,' Ikea of Sweden's range manager David Granath said in a statement. The heart of Ikea's smart home system will be Dirigera, a hub that's compatible with the smart home technical standard Matter. That means Ikea's line will work with smart home devices across different brands. It's a system built for versatility and designed specifically to lower the threshold for consumers to get started on their own smart home systems. Ikea didn't reveal much about the products other than to say the goal was not to add technology for technology's own sake. Instead, Ikea wants to build a smarter smart home that's supportive and adaptable. Forthcoming products will replace the functions of existing products, Granath confirmed to The Verge, and a pair of Bluetooth speakers being released ahead of the wider January launch act as a preview. Nattbad, coming out this month, was designed to look like a vintage speaker in yellow, pink, or black, while Blomprakt, a table speaker-lamp that will come in beige, black, and blue, will be released in October. Both are minimal but attractive and signal Ikea's general direction for home tech design. 'We understand how people want to furnish with sound in a way that adds atmosphere and feels natural in the home,' Granath says. 'Our aim is to make sound accessible, functional, and enjoyable without adding complexity.' This is smart home tech made easy. And if Ikea can deliver for consumers like it thinks it can, more connected homes could soon be coming to the masses—and the retailer will mark its territory in the smart home space.
