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Samsung Electronics will present a new range of connected ‘Smart Home’ services and products at the IFA 2014 tech trade show in Berlin this week.
These devices and services are ‘designed to increase home safety, improve energy management, adapt to in-home location and operate by voice command’, from digital door locks to IP cameras and smart plugs. Samsung says this demonstrates its commitment to making the Smart Home of the future a reality.
For example, if the digital door lock is opened while the home owner is away, a notification will be sent to their registered smartphone. From here the Home View function can be launched on the companion mobile app to check the IP cameras and see whether other family members have returned home safely or if there is something to be concerned about.
The Samsung Smart Home service also monitors the amount of electricity used by energy intensive appliances such as air-conditioners and displays the expected cost of the energy consumption. People can then monitor their electricity usage, whether daily or monthly, and set new targets to help reduce bills.
Additionally, new location awareness services enable devices in the home to automatically turn on via location recognition technology. For example, the lights and air conditioner will switch on automatically when a person approaches.
People can also activate their air conditioner, robot vacuum cleaner and Smart LED lights from anywhere through S Voice, the voice recognition service embedded in the wearable Gear series, as well as via Galaxy smartphones.
“We are excited to deliver a Smart Home experience which will make our customers’ lives easier, with innovative products that help everyone’s day to day routine, such as managing home security and energy consumption,” said Robert King, VP of consumer electronics at Samsung UK & Ireland. “We are thrilled to be leading the way in making the Smart Home possible for our customers worldwide.”
In July 2014, Samsung and Intel launched the Open Interconnect Consortium, which aims to ensure connectivity standards. Samsung will unveil the Smart Home SDK later this year, which will enable partner companies to develop hardware devices supporting the Samsung Smart Home.
Samsung also recently acquired Internet of Things specialist SmartThings. More details will be shared at the Samsung Developer Conference on November 11th to 13th in San Francisco.
Samsung Smart Home will be on display at IFA 2014 from September 5th to 10th, and will be located on Level 2 of CityCube Berlin.
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