Last week, Riot observed that Tado and Ecobee were clear frontrunners in the painfully slow race to become Amazon’s smart thermostat. Ecobee edged slightly ahead in our minds, mainly because it offered a smoother acquisition, with Alexa heavily integrated into many of its offerings. This week we decided to zoom out further, looking into the utility partnerships held by both companies. When compared with Google’s Nest utility partnerships, the individual advantages of both companies became clear. Ecobee’s links with utilities seem to be entirely in North America, while Tado’s are far better established in Europe. Whether Amazon acquires either ultimately depends on exactly where it feels compelled to take on Google. Riot Research’s Smart Home Devices Forecast 2019-2023, compiled last…