Samsung goes after Apple at home with new Connect Home hub

I’ve been looking into the OnePlus for sometime but have never seen one in person or know anybody with one.

1 Like

Well…Now you know two people who have it and like it: Me and @ZebraBlinds

1 Like

good, its better to hear from people that have a product than to just read its reviews on the products website. A lot of people liked the Nexus line also but the camera was not the best. Nexus is now dead and Pixel has taken over and commanding a premium price.

I had a Nexus too and it was flaiky.

Nexus was never meant to be amass market phone. It was Google’s test platform and it sold well.

Here comes PC World announcing that Samsung has a ‘grand plan to build smart homes’, which according to a Samsung spokesperson will have ‘advanced Smartthings features’.

3 Likes

Sweet! I can’t wait for samsung to build me a smart home!

Please let me know when it’ ready.

7 Likes

No kidding… What happened to the grand plan announced at CES two years ago? I suppose it has crashed, since the reboot was necessary. :grin:

Anyway, one thing I’m curious about is since the Connect Home “hub” will be using a separate mobile app, does this also mean that it will run on its own cloud service, separate from the rest of SmartThings and, naturally, without ability to run custom apps and device handlers?

Here’s a clue:

For some reason, Samsung has chosen a limited implementation of SmartThings, which is already capable of home automation… Advanced features of SmartThings will be available in the future, a Samsung spokesman said.

If true, this would confirm my earlier assertion that SmartThings in its current form is just a prototyping and test platform for the future GA-ready “production” platform.

6 Likes

I agree. I have plenty of Google products and feel like coal sometime but can’t stop using them.

4 Likes

It will be available on Android M and beyond.

iOS 8 and beyond will follow shortly after. [quote=“Arnoud, post:34, topic:83036”]
So finally full ST support outside of the UK?
[/quote]

“full” is in the eye of the beholder. Cloud to cloud integrations are easy. Hardware isn’t so easy. [quote=“geko, post:44, topic:83036”]
completely separate mobile app that was not developed by SmartThings
[/quote]

Who told you it wasn’t completely developed by us?

You’re right to be unclear. It doesn’t provide any advantages. (Other than integrated WiFi) We don’t expect you guys to upgrade to this. What we do want is NEW users, though! :slight_smile:

We didn’t expect you or similar users to be interested in it. You’re not the audience. :slight_smile:


I didn’t mean to pick on you @geko and @JH1 but your posts called out the right questions.

This is not a “power user” hub. It is a mass consumer push. :slight_smile:

Buy a wifi router get SmartThings.


The important thing to note here is that we now have a VERY strong relationship with one of the biggest arms of Samsung, the Mobile Team. This is good for everyone. Their success is our success and vice-a-versa. They are as invested in our success as we are at this point.


One another note this is the same case with the S8 features. The S8 will feature a mass consumer friendly version of SmartThings to start. Power users like the members of this community will find some use in it but will still need to use the SmartThings platform to get the more “complex” rules and actions out of the platform.

17 Likes

Regardless of our (current ST hub users) interest in this rollout, I think the mobile integration is very good for all those interested in IoT. To get one of the biggest names in technology to stick even a modest portion of it on their flagship products will hopefully help drive interest in the technology. A lot like what the Echo has done.

5 Likes

You didn’t answer the question whether it’s going to run on the same backend platform or not. In other words, could it be controlled by the current SmartThings app? As many senior board members pointed out, there’s an apparent trend to sacrifice the openness (or whatever’s left of it) of the platform in favor of “consumer-friendly”, dumbed-down solution.

SmartThings will always be open. Yes, there is a cloud.

3 Likes

:thinking:

Now we’re getting fully into the PR machine responses. That alone puts at stake one’s credibility as the perception can easily be that it’s not that person speaking anymore and it’s a lawyer or corporate PR bot dictating the response and it’s just ick.

Better to not answer at all than to answer with evasion and double speak, IMO.

Just referring to that last one there…

1 Like

yeah, I interpret that as this is a totally separate system that uses SmartThings architecture. I can see the logo now: Samsung Connect Powered By SmartThings

Judging by this speak on the Samsung website, I would guess Samsung Connect is a closed system. Smart Things will stick around as the open system. The Connect Home WiFi routers get you the closed system, the SmartThings hub gets you the open system.

1 Like

I am cautiously optimistic about all of this. It could just work out fine. Having some kind of simplified dashboard for the general public might just work.

As long as they don’t have a Korean engineer design the UI :wink:

I read that as “yes, it’s a separate cloud/shard and no, it won’t work with the existing SmartThings app”, which basically means that SmartThings has now two backends and two mobile apps two maintain and support. Take your guess where their priorities are going to be in the foreseeable future.

That’s an incorrect assumption.

2 Likes