Samsung Visualizes a Future where You Manage Your Smart Lights through Your Intelligent Refrigerator
If you have numerous Samsung devices in your household, Samsung has revealed that your Galaxy smartphone, Samsung TV, and even your Samsung-made refrigerator can function as controllers for smart home gadgets that will comply with the Interoperability Standard. It's not quite significant yet, as the new smart home standard isn't set to launch until 2022. However, until then, you can expand your home using the Samsung SmartThings ecosystem, knowing it'll be compatible with all other smart home equipment.
Samsung announced its support for the Interoperability Standard during its annual developer conference, and they're not alone. Google and Amazon-owned Eero have also announced they're preparing their devices to be compatible with the Interoperability Standard at launch.
As Jaeyeon Jung, who oversees SmartThings at Samsung Electronics, mentioned in a press release, adding Interoperability Standard support to the SmartThings platform will increase the range of devices that can be connected as Interoperability-enabled devices when they flood the market next year.
SmartThings will enable you to configure and manage those smart home devices. For instance, if you only had the Samsung refrigerator—perhaps one of those new colorful, bespoke models—you could use the SmartThings app on its large touchscreen display to program the evening routine for your smart lights.
However, you'll still require a border router, which acts as a conduit between the Interoperability devices and the internet. It's a necessity for any Thread-based mesh network, and that's what ties the Interoperability standard together. But any device with Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity can provide this functionality, and if you have a mesh router with Thread built in, like the Eero, you should be good to go. Interoperability also utilizes Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Bluetooth LE.
Samsung’s SmartThings is also joining the Thread Group board of directors, where it joins companies like Apple, Google, Lutron, Qualcomm, and Yale.
There's still a lot to discover about Interoperability. It's challenging to forecast how transformative the technology will be or whether it will resolve the challenges in managing a smart home. However, it's reassuring to see that work is being done behind the scenes, all to ensure that once Interoperability is live, people will want to purchase more smart home gadgets because they'll all (hopefully) function seamlessly together.
The tech giant Samsung, along with Google and Amazon-owned Eero, is embracing the future of technology in smart homes by preparing their devices to comply with the Interoperability Standard. With the support of the Interoperability Standard, the Samsung SmartThings platform will expand its range of devices that can be connected as Interoperability-enabled devices, making managing a smart home more seamless and convenient.
