Samsung has revealed its vision for an intelligent and seamless Internet of Things experience at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018 in Las Vegas today. It has unveiled new products and services that will connect consumers across the devices at home and on the go.
Samsung also revealed that it has spent more than $14 billion on research and development in 2017. It has created a new artificial intelligence center as part of its Samsung Research unit to drive its AI ambitions forward.
Samsung's vision for the Internet of Things
Samsung announced the SmartThings app today. It provides users with a new way to manage and control their Internet of Things devices. It unifies existing IoT apps such as Samsung Connect, Smart Home, Smart View and more into a single touchpoint for a connected life. The app can be used to connect and control any SmartThings device as well as everything from appliances to televisions and mobile devices. The SmartThings is going to be available in Spring 2018.
Samsung's vision is to connect devices and make them intelligent. The company's Bixby virtual assistant is going to play a central role in that vision. Samsung has reiterated that the next stage of its mission is to bring Bixby to an even broader array of devices such as TVs and washing machines. It's looking to have Bixby on more than half a billion Samsung devices worldwide.
The company is also expanding its Internet of Things experience to cars. Samsung has shared plans to integrate Harman Ignite's cloud platform for connected cars into the SmartThings cloud. Samsung aims to make the car a key component of connected lives by expanding its partnership with its Harman subsidiary to bring the Harman Ignite platform into the SmartThings cloud.