Amazon Pegs Decision to Join Zigbee Board on Its Voice-Control Ambitions

Amazon’s joining the Zigbee board is a “natural evolution,” Parks Associates analyst Brad Russell told us Thursday, signaling the company’s desire “to be at the center of the conversation on wireless networking and to be an influencer on where the standards go.” Amazon’s decision “is a strong message that the industry is focused on simplifying and adding convenience to the growing range of IoT devices available to customers,” the group said. The company pegged its decision to voice control. Christian Taubman, Amazon director-Alexa Smart Home, said “customers tell us they want smart home experiences that are simple to setup, easy to control, and add convenience to the tasks they do.” Voice control is helping to remove smart home complexity, he said. “There are even more ways we can help customers by ensuring their smart devices connect and work together seamlessly." Amazon’s Ring remains “a big Z-Wave supporter,” Z-Wave smart home/IoT alliance Executive Director Mitchell Klein emailed. Acknowledging Amazon’s role as a “big player” in the smart home industry, Klein noted it has competition from Apple, Google and Samsung.