Z-Wave Alliance's Mitch Klein | Z-Wave, Connectivity Options, and Other Drivers in the Smart Home Market
Mitch Klein, Executive Director of the Z-Wave Alliance, explains how Z-Wave’s single-specification approach ensures interoperability in the smart home market, contrasting it with the fragmented Zigbee ecosystem. He discusses the technical advantages of Z-Wave’s sub-GHz frequency for wall penetration and battery life, and details the alliance’s decision to open the Z-Wave network layer to Silicon Labs' competitors to mitigate single-source risk. Klein also highlights 'Smart Start' QR code pairing to solve consumer setup friction and addresses growing privacy concerns surrounding voice assistants like Alexa.