After we reviewed the a lot anticipated 2nd-gen Homey Professional on the finish of final 12 months we praised the highly effective automations on supply from the multitude of manufacturers and protocols however lamented the truth that Thread was a notable absentee from the occasion.
All that’s set to alter although as Athom, the Dutch model behind the spectacular good house hub, has used CES 2024 to announce a free software program replace for the newest Homey Professional that permits its built-in Thread radio and permits Matter-over-Thread.
Homey Professional might already function as a Matter controller however is now additionally a Thread border router too.
The Thread abilities of the Homey Professional are being launched in beta to start with, with the performance out there for Homey Professional units operating software program model 10.3 and better. Thread-pairing might be initiated utilizing the Homey Cellular App for iOS or Android, or through the use of the Homey Net App.
The Homey Professional (Early 2023), to present it its full moniker, is – as we talked about up high – the 2nd-generation Professional mannequin however is definitely the fifth iteration of the model’s good house hub; the primary Homey hub went on sale again in 2016.
In addition to the brand new Thread radio, there’s additionally Wi-Fi (2.4GHz & 5GHz), Bluetooth Low Vitality 5.0, Zigbee 3.0, Z-Wave, 433MHz RF and Infrared on board too.
Speaking of Infrared and Athom additionally used CES 2024 to disclose that the Homey Professional and the Homey Bridge have expanded their capabilities to incorporate the management of air con techniques via their built-in Infrared blasters.
The brand new AC management characteristic is accessible to each new and current customers of Homey Professional and Homey Bridge, and it comes at no further price.
Even the corporate’s older hubs, initially shipped to customers over eight years in the past, profit from this up to date performance with none extra prices.
At $399, the Homey Professional is not precisely low cost however is aimed squarely at these individuals who need greater than a typical good house hub; 50,000 units are supported from over 1,000 manufacturers.
Customers can actually get granular management utilizing Homey Professional’s Net API to create personalised HomeyScripts and there is additionally stuff like Native Port Forwarding, Native API Keys, SSH Entry and Native USB Backups to maintain issues in a consumer’s management and out of the cloud.
Thread was the one main piece of the puzzle lacking and its inclusion, alongside the brand new AC options, makes the proposition much more interesting.
The Homey Professional (Early 2023) is on the market now, direct from Homey.
