SkyConnect Description Misleading?

Community General Info - Guidance
#1

The SkyConnect page claims it is “…compatible with Zigbee/Thread/Matter,…” But Zigbee is not just a protocol, it’s a hardware spec, too, where Thread and Matter are hardware agnostic. This is kind of explained by the mention of the multi-protocol radio MCU, but only if the reader knows what that means.

Along with throwing out industry buzzwords like a wood chipper, the description is full of flowery, meaningless phrases. “The drive supports full-speed USB 2.0 when plugged into the included USB extender.” Um… wow? And probably grandstanding a bit, since this next one plainly states it’ll be limited by the serial chip: “Direct local serial communication will be done via an onboard USB-to-UART bridge/converter (presumably a chip in Silicon Labs CP210x series).” Not only does this give zero information to readers, the Silicon Labs CP210x chips are extremely hard to get right now, so that presumption is, presumably, false. And do you know any USB to UART bridge chips that can handle full speed USB 2.x for any longer than it takes to fill their tiny buffer? Hence, meaningless.

Seeed Studio customers are Makers. Above all, Makers seek knowledge, and are typically put off by buzzword spewing, flowery descriptions that have no bearing on our craft. How about a little more information-leaning text and a little less sales pitch?

1 Like
#2

Seasons Greetings, @chrisw63 . I agree with you post in general albeit it is a sales web page and NOT the WIKI, makers love spec’s This we all agree. The tenor though that they indicate something that’s NOT there I don’t see it.(pun intended) I see many repeats in text that say it’s based on the Development of Matter and progress over all for the adaptability and application. It’s bleeding edge to consumer and makers, the hype sometimes get’s the best of us and our ideas. I think patients is required and some good input to move and encourage the dev-ops of this piece. Yea the “HIGH-SPEED” USB2 thing :grinning: Cracked me up…LOL
just saying your not alone but wow what they are squeezing into this silicon is truly amazing.
My .02
GL :slight_smile:

#3

And AS a "Matter of Fact "

looks like its arriving but with caveats;

"The catch, of course, is that more vendors will need to follow suit. While Matter-ready apps, hubs and network routers are coming relatively quickly, the end devices aren’t expected to arrive in force until 2023. Major smart home brands like Signify (Philips Hue) have already pledged support, though, so it’s more a question of time than desire. "
GL :slight_smile: