CES reveals role of internet of things in daily life

The internet of things (IoT) needs an open platform to flourish, Samsung's Dr WP Hong told Consumer Electronics Show (CES) attendees, as he laid out the Korean firm's plans for the future. "With all the hype surrounding IoT, it's time for a reality check," he said. "The age of IoT has begun."

The company’s IoT strategy is to promote openness, interoperability and cross-industry collaborations, three pillars it sees as fundamental to underpinning the connected world.

“The future is a funny thing. We all talk a lot about it, we sketch it, we map it, we watch the trends. Then one day it’s here, it has become part of our lives,” he said. “Our industry has talked about IoT for some time. I can now say the future is today. The IoT is in sync with life, in sync with real life.”

Samsung unveiled new connected home devices and controllers in its pre-CES press conference, including the Family Hub fridge which turns the machine from mere food storage into a communication device, and a line of TVs that function as a controller for your connected home.

Samsung is working with companies including BMW, Corning and Microsoft to advance the internet of things and make it more relevant to real life. "We have achieved a lot in a very short amount of time," Dr Hong said. "A good IoT platform can communicate with anything. The internet of things must not be trapped inside a walled garden of any one company's software."

The firm bought SmartThings in 2014 and has been pushing into the smart home sector ever since, launching its smart home hub and a range of connected products that include moisture and motion sensors. The platform also links into other manufacturers’ products, including D-Link and Belkin.

The importance of batteries to the internet of things was also outlined at the event – they can offer design flexibility and alternative sources of power for products.

BMW’s Steven Althaus also took to the stage as part of the keynote to explain how the internet of things was revolutionising the motor industry. “The next five years will see more change in our industry than in the past century,” he said. “Connecting everything is the new standard, based on relevance and customer benefits. To deliver the digital transformation . . . we need to think not just about products but also services as well.”

The SmartThing integration with BMW’s ConnectedDrive system is now available, although the company is also working on a new set of features that will allow the car itself to be recognised as a connected thing within the SmartThings platform.