Amazon, Apple, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance (whose board member companies include IKEA, Legrand, NXP Semiconductors, Resideo, Samsung SmartThings, Schneider Electric, Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), Silicon Labs, Somfy, and Wulian)  announced the creation of a new working group Connected Home over IP. The group plans to develop a new connectivity standard aimed at increasing compatibility among smart home products, while preserving consumer security. Using an open source approach, the group plans to develop a new connectivity protocol which will enable the use of seamless and secure communication across smart home devices, mobile apps, and cloud services; and define a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification.