Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., is participating as a Board Chair in the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA) conference at IFA 2022 which is taking place until September 6th. Samsung is demonstrating its leadership in device interconnectivity through the company’s integrated home appliance solution: SmartThings. It is allowing users to control home appliances from 13 leading brands from around the world.
The common goal of HCA – an organization founded by large appliance manufacturers of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), home appliances and TVs that include Arçelik A.Ş., The Electrolux Group, Haier, GE Appliances, Samsung Electronics, Trane Technologies and others – is to provide safe, secure and interoperable products that use innovatively connected features and services to ensure users enjoy a holistic experience of their home appliance ecosystems.
As one of the founding members of the HCA and a Board Chair of the Alliance, Samsung takes its leadership position within the project seriously. Yoon Ho Choi of Product Planning at IoT Biz Group, Samsung Electronics, is currently serving as the HCA President and Board Chair. Proud of its status as a founding HCA member, Samsung has endeavored since the beginning of the partnership to utilize SmartThings – its dynamic appliance and device integration system – in helping to achieve the Alliance’s ambitions for interconnectivity in the home.
“We are especially happy to see the speed of progress within the HCA. Within just nine months of launch, the HCA has been able to provide a live demo of the Cloud-to-Cloud interoperability of appliances, TVs and HVAC systems across member brands,” said Chanwoo Park, Executive Vice President and Head of IoT Biz Group at the Digital Appliances Business of Samsung Electronics. “This is a truly unique and momentous accomplishment that could only be accomplished through dedication and close collaboration between manufacturers that know and understand the connected home ecosystem.”
SmartThings: A Central Component of the HCA Mission for Samsung
SmartThings turns the home into an interconnected ecosystem. It is a system that continues to help Samsung technologies, third-party apps and devices from other HCA members work in harmony for a holistic experience of the home. During this year’s IFA, HCA will host a demonstration attended by HCA-participating companies from September 2nd to 5th, that will display how home appliances from multiple companies can be controlled with one system. These devices include Samsung Electronics’ Bespoke Cube Air Purifier, Bespoke Jet Bot™ AI+, Bespoke Refrigerator and Neo QLED, all of which are applied to SmartThings with HCA Standard.
With the SmartThings app, users can control more than 40 functions in 15 product categories from 13 brands including Samsung Electronics. Conversely, smart home apps from 13 brands can also control various Samsung products. For example, even if the oven, induction and hood in the kitchen are of different brands, it is possible to cook and control it with a single SmartThings app. The 15 product groups consist of air conditioners, air purifiers, Eco Heating System, dishwashers, dryers, freezers, hoods, inductions, ovens, refrigerators, robot vacuum cleaners, TVs, washing machines, and more.
Considering the expandability of the existing SmartThings system, it is possible to build a convenient smart home environment by connecting an additional 300 brands of third-party devices, along with the products from the 13 HCA brands to SmartThings.
Updates That Keep the Legacy Devices Working
SmartThings and HCA plan to bring the new interoperable features to global markets within the first half of 2023. In addition, models equipped with Wi-Fi among existing home appliances of HCA member companies can be controlled with a single app, regardless of the brand, through a software update on the app. This is especially important considering the long lifecycles of these large appliances that are part of the home infrastructure. SmartThings updates are simple, easy to access, and happen regularly to ensure the latest security and feature updates are accessible to global users.
An Alliance for a Better Future
With more than 235 million registered users globally across over 105 million connected devices, SmartThings continues to lead the smart home field. Samsung – along with its fellow HCA members – is helping to realize the vision to innovate and develop new consumer solutions in the IoT landscape by leveraging the power of the SmartThings platform. The company is committed to continuing to refine its own technologies while also ensuring interoperability is possible across the appliances and devices from other HCA members.