1Home Digest: March '26
March was a big one. Light + Building came and went, and the industry showed up with plenty to talk about. Here's what stood out...
1Home at Light + Building 2026
This year's Light + Building was our best yet - and the booth traffic reflected it. Throughout the week, visitors came to explore the 1Home App and Dashboard, but the real draw was 1Home Touch, making its first ever public appearance. The reception spoke for itself.
It's worth remembering that two years ago at L+B 2024, we had one product to show. The ground covered since then was on full display in Frankfurt, and of course there's more to come. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, shared their thoughts, and made this year's L+B one to remember. See you in 2027.
Get a real picture of what the Light + Building '26 at 1Home booth really looked like:
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, 1Home Server Family, 1Home Touch
Matter 1.5.1 Is Out - and Cameras Are the Focus
The CSA released Matter 1.5.1 at the end of March, building on the camera support introduced in 1.5. The key addition is multi-stream video delivery - cameras can now serve different quality streams simultaneously for recording, mobile viewing, and AI processing. Also included: HEIC snapshot support, better pan-tilt-zoom handling, and more flexibility for doorbell chimes.
Our Friend Torben Stopped by the Booth at L+B
Always great to see a familiar face on the show floor! Torben swung by our booth during his Light + Building tour and got a closer look at the System Manager and the new features coming to the 1Home Server Pro. He walked through the built-in bus monitor, the diagram function for visualising measurements in the dashboard, and the Lua scripting in the automation editor - including a fun example of pulling live weather data and pushing it into KNX. Worth a watch.
You've Been Placing Your Motion Sensors Wrong This Whole Time
Turns out the instinct to point a PIR sensor straight at the room is exactly backwards. These sensors are far more responsive when movement crosses their field of view rather than approaches head-on - a small placement tweak that can make your automations feel noticeably snappier. Worth a read before your next install.
Shelly Goes Big at Light + Building
Shelly arrived in Frankfurt with a serious lineup - new smart switches, dimmers, wall displays, energy monitors, circuit breakers, and more. A strong showing that signals they mean business in both residential and professional building automation.
WAGO Steps Into the Smart Home Arena with Matter
One of the most unexpected announcements of the month: WAGO - yes, the terminal block company - launched a full family of eight Matter-certified actuators under the WAGO Home Automation brand. Relays, a blind controller, a dimmer, available in both Matter over Wi-Fi and Thread. Aimed squarely at professionals, launching in May across German-speaking markets.
A Serious Security Warning for UniFi Users
A maximum-severity vulnerability (CVSS 10.0) was found in the Ubiquiti UniFi Network Application, allowing unauthenticated attackers with network access to take over user accounts. Patches are out - if you haven't updated to version 10.1.89 or later yet, stop reading this and do it now.
IKEA Quietly Fixes What Was Quietly Broken
A new Dirigera Hub firmware update (v2.934.0) rolled out this month, addressing connection issues that had been quietly plaguing a number of IKEA's newer Matter devices. Not a flashy announcement - but for anyone who's been scratching their head over dropped connections, a welcome one.
Aqara Reinvents the Contact Sensor
The new P100 Multi-State Sensor throws out the classic two-piece magnet-and-body design and replaces it with a single unit packing a full nine-axis sensor inside. It handles door and window monitoring, but also switches into a "Valuables Protection" mode - tracking vibration, tilting, and movement. Matter over Thread and Zigbee supported, two-year battery life claimed.
The First Matter-Certified Camera Is Here - And It's From Aqara
The G350 is a notable milestone: Aqara claims it's the first camera to achieve Matter certification. Beyond the headline, it's a genuinely impressive device - 4K wide-angle, 2.5K telephoto, 9x hybrid zoom, full 360° pan-tilt, AI tracking, and it doubles as a Zigbee and Matter hub. Available now at $140.
Hager Merges Berker Into Its Brand and Launches a Matter Switch Range
Hager unveiled a new modular switch and socket system at L+B - launching in May across Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria - with native Matter connectivity built in. Four design lines, compatibility with existing KNX setups, and the notable side note that the long-standing Berker brand is being folded into Hager as part of the rebrand.
And that's a wrap on a very eventful March.
Thanks for reading along, more coming soon!