Smart home devices and hubs can be awesome or infuriating, depending on how you use them. Even so, Samsung hopes to keep things simple with its newest efforts, which see it partnering with two automakers to integrate EV and other functions with its SmartThings platform.
Tesla and Hyundai have signed on with Samsung ahead of this year’s CES. Tesla owners and people with the automaker’s Powerwall system can monitor and control the components through the SmartThings interface. It will allow energy monitoring, along with storage and usage stats for Powerwall and Solar Inverter users.
Hyundai owners will be able to connect smart home devices to their vehicle’s infotainment system, allowing two-way control of in-home and vehicle functions. That will enable remote start, climate preconditioning, and the ability to monitor charging status. Users can also interact with smart home devices from the car, such as setting the air conditioner or recording a TV show.
Samsung’s system takes the existing connected functionality seen in many vehicles to new levels. Hyundai and Tesla owners can already interact with their vehicles from an app, but a deeper integration with home tech will open new functionality. Whether or not people actually want that level of connectivity remains to be seen, as many are weary of the level of tracking their vehicles already do.
[Image: Samsung]
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