SmartThings Launches New Smart Hub and Monitoring Service
SmartThings - which is owned by Samsung - has launched its new generation of smart hub and monitoring service which will be made available starting September 10. The Guardian noted on Thursday that the new hub will be the start of the advancement of the internet of things (IoT).
SmartThings was acquired by the Korean company last year, however, both parties did not release the figures of the acquisition price.
"From the beginning, our goal has been to make a platform every human being could use-and to make every home a smart home," SmartThings cofounder and CEO Alex Hawkinson told Forbes on August 15, 2014. "This will help us reach a massive scale. We saw an opportunity to bring SmartThing's vision to hundreds of millions of customers."
The new hub - which will be used for smarthome devices - is incorporated with sensors that "can be used to control the lights, thermostats and doors, and warn about things such as water leaks," PC World reported on Wednesday.
"We believe a connected home will provide users [with] more information, more piece of mind and more control in their lives - but privacy is fundamental," Samsung's president of UK and Ireland Andy Griffiths said.
"The whole thing is encrypted end-to-end - think bank-level security - while we have continuous security checks and third-party auditing. Only you will have access to any data stored in the cloud," he added.
A starter pack - which includes the hub, a door closer sensor, a motion sensor, a presence sensor and a power outlet switch - will be released by Samsung costing £199.
Other SmartThings devices such as moisture sensor, a camera and a sleep monitor, will also be released in the market next year.
"We have a different philosophy for our IoT vision, not hidden behind a walled garden, but open and interoperable with many devices," Griffiths said.
A SmartThings application - which will be available for android, iOS and Windows phone - should be downloaded to control the whole system.
"We're entering a whole IoT era, starting this year, and it will increasingly become the norm in the next three to five years. What we're doing is appealing to the early adopters," Griffiths added.