Zigbee 2-1 Switch (On/Off & Dimmer) | Project New Horizon (Blue Series)

[Eric_Inovelli]

He’s already in our DM’s. Dude loves the switches.

[Seldom_Seen]

and yet the UL didn’t find that the switches were unbelievably hot. Strange.

[kevincathcart]

@Eric_Inovelli

Regarding when new chips are available, right now we are looking at the MG24 and per @bbradley and @zcorneli.iit’s recommendation, we are also looking into Nordic’s line (specifically the NRF52). I don’t have a specific date on when these will be available. I was anticipating the next batch of switches to be MG24 or Nordic since we ordered a ton of inventory for this first batch, but we are now 80% sold out and I’m scrambling to order another large batch, so I don’t think we’ll have the time to modify the firmware to the new chipsets.

What I’m anticipating is Q1 of 2023 for the release of the MG24 or Nordic. This will give us enough time to work on the firmware and re-certify. Plus we’ll have a better idea of where Matter is headed by then.

One request here. Please make sure that the revised version, whenever it comes out, has a distinct model number even it it has the same marketing name. Product revisions that cannot be told from that is shown on the box cause a lot of headache for consumers.

@Eric_Inovelli

My reasoning is that Matter likely won’t be as important to everyone, so the MG21’s will be just fine for most people. The power users who want to keep updating to the latest and greatest will be happy to have the MG24 and we can resell the MG21’s as refurbs with the upgraded Matter firmware.

Also please consider reserving a distinct model number for the thread flashed versions of MG21s, even if the hardware is otherwise 100% identical. Why? If you ever ship any pre-flashed like this, you will likely need to supply a slightly different manual, to account for any thread related pairing differences, etc. If you are re-flashing devices anyway, applying an industry standard overlay sticker on the device and box is not that much additional work. The upside is then that anybody receiving a new-in-box switch can be 100% sure of what it will support out of the box.

The main downside of this is that user upgraded/downgraded devices would have a printed model number that does not match the effective model, but that is pretty normal for user-modified devices.

To be clear though, I’m less concerned about this scenario that the one where a different chip is being used. If thread and ZigBee versions for MG21s units have the same model number that is potentially confusing, but not a huge deal. On the other hand if MG21s and MG24 or Nordics have the same model number that is obviously very painfully confusing.

[Eric_Inovelli]

Inovelli Smart 2-1 Switch (On/Off or Dimmer)

Geez, talk about cutting it close lol.

@kevincathcart

One request here. Please make sure that the revised version, whenever it comes out, has a distinct model number even it it has the same marketing name. Product revisions that cannot be told from that is shown on the box cause a lot of headache for consumers.

Yeah that’s a great call-out. We definitely will have some distinction. Probably the easiest is a different SKU #. Great suggestion!

@kevincathcart

Also please consider reserving a distinct model number for the thread flashed versions of MG21s, even if the hardware is otherwise 100% identical. Why? If you ever ship any pre-flashed like this, you will likely need to supply a slightly different manual, to account for any thread related pairing differences, etc. If you are re-flashing devices anyway, applying an industry standard overlay sticker on the device and box is not that much additional work. The upside is then that anybody receiving a new-in-box switch can be 100% sure of what it will support out of the box.

Definitely something we’ll do, thanks for the suggestion!

[ryknow27]

Hate to be that guy but just wanted to check and see if there are any updates on the shipping of preorders?

[Eric_Inovelli]

No update unfortunately, but let me boost some morale around here bc I know everyone is getting antsy (including me).

We received a very very small amount of production orders (I had them send it to me before the rest were finished so I could check the quality and also use for samples for B2B) so let me get some in the communities hands by playing a fun game.

I’ll ask 4 questions (one fun fact about each of the employees here) and if you answer it correctly, I’ll send out a free switch on me.

So, I’ll ask one question, and you all can guess until someone gets it right. Then I’ll move onto the next one. One answer per person per day.

Question #1 - What was the first smart home product I purchased (Eric H)? Name Brand and type (ie: GE Smart Switch, Innr Smart Bulb, etc).

NOTE: After each day I will move the question and answer to a separate thread as I know this one will get clogged up fast. I’m keeping it here for now bc lots of ppl are following it and I want to give them a chance.

[Eric_Inovelli]

Just letting people know that I moved the game portion of this thread to a new one that can be found here: Free Blue Series 2-1 Switch Game Thread - #108 by mark.kunitomi

[MorganM]

Tell customs I’m coming over to port to get these switches moving whether they like it or not, otherwise my wife might make me put in dumb switches

[Eric_Inovelli]

Quick update: Customs has sent the product back to China bc they said the technology was too advanced to bring to the US/Canada and that we’ll have to wait a few years for other companies to catch up.

Kidding, we cleared customs!

It’s now enroute to NJ. I’ll have more info once it starts shipping

[MorganM]

GiveItToMeNow.gif

[sbrocket]

Quick update: Customs has sent the product back to China…

Not gonna lie my breath caught for a brief moment there…

[harjms]

Everyone meet up at HQ.

[cgolebio]

Excerpt from Eric’s bucket list:
Give a bunch of home automation nerds synchronized heart palpitations… Check!

When all you see is up to the words “back to China bc” in your phone notifications, I am sure a lot of people had their phones almost slip out of their hands to unlock real fast!

[Jcol34]

replying for the updates.

[fonzi03]

This comment couldn’t have been more accurate. The preview of that post had me.

[cscott]

Matter Arrives Bringing A More Interoperable, Simple And Secure Internet Of...

Does this perhaps mean we would get Matter firmware before I installed these?

[Eric_Inovelli]

That would be nice. At this time, we are focusing on just getting these things to you.

Now that it’s officially out, we can assess how many hubs are using it, what all needs to be done to convert our firmware, etc.

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but we’re juggling a lot right now and we want to make sure everything goes smooth for pre-orders before introducing anything Matter related.

[stu1811]

Just a MATTER of time until you get everything sorted out. We’ll wait not so patiently.