Samsung wants its smart fridge to control all the connected tech in your home, from smart heating and fans to robotic cleaners and washing machines.
From a large touchscreen on its Family Hub 2.0 refrigerator, the South Korean tech giant has been demonstrating how people can control all their Samsung smart devices from a relatively clean looking user interface, which has a design language not dissimilar from Samsung’s latest iteration of the TouchWiz skin it applies to Android on its smartphones.
Currently being demonstrated at the Gwangju Design Biennale international exhibition for contemporary art, Samsung’s vision of the smart home looks to be aimed at something that bridges functional electronics and appliances with contemporary design.
While a video of the Samsung smart home shows the smart fridge being the centre control hub for all the connected devices, Samsung’s Connect mobile app will also serve as a way to control all of the smart homes devices, thanks to cloud connectivity.
The video also demonstrated that Samsung has big plans for its SmartThings ecosystem of smart and connected devices, with the company planning to expand the range of devices compatible with its smart home platform. While Samsung only demonstrated its own smart devices being controlled via the Connect app and the fridge, the company does have plans to work with other smart tech companies to expand the range of devices that can be controlled with its smart home hubs.
Given many smart devices from different brands fail to play nicely together due to mixed connectivity standards and closed ecosystems, if Samsung can create a platform that smart tech from other brands can connect to, then there’s a chance that futuristic connected homes can become a more grounded reality for people short of several million in the bank.
Related: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
