Mozilla’s new Things Gateway is an open home for your smart devices

If you’re a smart home fanatic, you’re probably familiar with the struggles of getting devices from disparate developers to play nicely with each other. You may have a thermostat that works over one protocol, and a light switch that communicates over another. The fragmentation is real, and it means that consumers are having to make difficult choices about the connected gear they buy.

Mozila has noticed. Yesterday, the foundation launched one of the first salvos in its Project Things effort: an internet of things (IoT) hub called Things Gateway.

Using a Raspberry Pi and Mozilla’s newly-released software, users can control their smart home devices through an enticing voice- and browser-based interface. The Things Gateway uses the microphone in users’ computers, and provides a URL that can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

Mozilla’s tech allows users — not necessarily developers — to write simple scripts using “If this, then that” logic. These perform actions when conditions are met, and work across all supported IoT devices.

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