It took Ikea some time for Ikea to get onto the Matter bandwagon, and now that it’s on board, there’s growing evidence the home furnishings giant is about to wade deeper into the Matter standard.
As spotted by CyberModStudio via HomeKit News, a recent FCC filing details a new device from Ikea that would appear to be the manufacturer’s first to support Thread connectivity.
The battery-powered device, dubbed Timmerflotte, looks to be a compact temperature sensor, and the FCC documents indicate that it connects via Thread, a low-power, mesh-networking protocol that forms one of the pillars of the Matter standard.
Ikea already offers a variety of smart home products that work with Matter, including an air purifier, smart blinds, smart lights, smart plugs, and sensors, but they all rely on Ikea’s Dirigera hub, which bridges those products into Matter setups via Wi-Fi.
The Timmerflotte temperature sensor, on the other hand, would mark Ikea’s first Matter-over-Thread product, meaning it could connect directly to other Thread-enabled Matter products.
But HomeKit News brings up an interesting point: In its current state, the Dirigera is only a Matter bridge rather than a Matter controller, nor is it a Thread border router—or at least, not yet.
So while the Ikea hub can bridge its existing Wi-Fi and Zigbee products to work with other Matter devices, it can’t–for now, at least—take charge of a Thread-equipped Matter device like the Timmerflotte.
Of course, there’d be nothing stopping smart home users from using the Timmerflotte sensor with other devices that act as Thread border routers, such as a compatible Amazon Echo smart speaker, an Apple HomePod, a recent Nest Hub, or a Thread-enabled SmartThings hub.
Another possibility is that Ikea is gearing up to activate the Dirigera’s Thread radio, which has been dormant since launch. Google did something similar with its second-generation Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max displays, which received Matter updates that turned those devices into Thread border routers, so it’s conceivable Ikea could follow suit with the Dirigera.
We’ve reached out to Ikea for more details.