We brought “Calm” to CES 2023, with an up-close look at how SmartThings can seamlessly integrate into your daily lives through our latest innovations. While many of our announcements stood out among exhibitors, the new SmartThings Station received the most buzz and excitement from both the media and industry. Want to know more? Read on for all of our highlights and stand-out announcements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwHVc9bzle0&t=2s Bringing Calm to Our Connected World We believe your smart home should work for you — and create a sustainable, safe, convenient (and even fun) living environment. While we have big dreams for what a calm connected world looks like, we demonstrated it at CES through the onboarding experience. In 2023, when you buy a Samsung device, SmartThings will simply ask you if you want to add it to your connected home. Instead of several steps to onboard the device, you only need to answer yes or no, making it more convenient for you to experience connected, smart living. Hub Everywhere Furthering our mission for Hub Everywhere, we introduced two new Matter-capable hubs for 2023: our TVs and the new SmartThings Station, a compact, wireless charger that also doubles as a hub to connect your smart home devices and create routines. Ready for bed? Just program the Station to automatically turn off your lights and TV for a custom night routine. Sustainability Saving energy matters now more than ever, which is why we’re placing sustainability at the core of our user experience. At CES, we announced our initiatives for sustainable living and commitment to making Net Zero Homes a reality with SmartThings Energy — a tool that’ll give you real-time data on your energy, water, and natural gas usage to help you reduce your carbon footprint (and your monthly energy bill). Because of our sustainability efforts, our connected home experience is the first mass-market Smart Home Energy Management System (SHEMS) to earn Energy Star certification. SmartThings in the News With an emphasis on our innovative technology and smart home solution, we received many awards and accolades during CES 2023. One of the most notable is the “Best of CES” award from Engadget for our ability to control connected devices throughout the home seamlessly. We also earned the “CES Innovations” award from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) for making smart home technology more accessible and user-friendly. The accolades didn’t stop there. Cementing our status as the most versatile and comprehensive smart home solution on the market, we were featured across top-tier, tech and consumer media outlets including Bloomberg, The Verge, CNET, TechCrunch, Men’s Journal, and USA Today’s Reviewed. CES 2023 was a success, and we could not have done it without our partners, customers, and employees. Stay tuned for more updates on our latest products and innovations, as we further our commitment to creating one simple home system with a world of possibilities. 

This month marks the 10th anniversary of SmartThings as a company. Through our journey, we have laid the foundation for the next generation of the smart home, and we have made significant shifts all for the benefit of our users.  Since the early days, our goal of making a platform that every human being can use – and making every home a smart home – has remained the same. We’re driven by the idea of accelerating IoT adoption for everyone and helping consumers across the world realize the benefits of a seamless and simple connected life.  Looking Back the Progress We’ve Made  Years ago, the idea of a smart home was more of a novelty than a reality. In 2011, Alex Hawkinson developed the idea for SmartThings after his family's house in Colorado was extensively damaged from a power outage, causing tens of thousands in repairs. While the idea of a “smart home” was depicted in movies and TV shows, there was no real solution that could give consumers an accurate depiction of what was going on inside their home.  This was the basis of the company’s Kickstarter in 2012. The campaign received over $1.2 million from 5,700 backers, due to a simple idea: adding intelligence to everyday things would make life more awesome. The company was committed to changing the mindset about smart home technology, demonstrating that data about how people live and what they do have the power to solve everyday problems.  This caught on, and others began taking notice. In 2013, Wired highlighted SmartThings as a key leader in the emerging smart home automation space, and we launched our first line of commercial products at CES in 2014.  The opportunity to bring SmartThings’ vision to hundreds of millions of customers truly came to life when Samsung acquired SmartThings in August 2014 to accelerate its connected appliance strategy. With the backing of Samsung, making every home a smart home was no longer a pipe dream – it was only a matter of time.  Moving Toward Mass Smart Home Adoption  Driven by the goal of achieving mass smart home adoption through a unified and intelligent home experience, we innovated from a single line of commercial products into one of the largest integrated ecosystems.  Today, SmartThings works with hundreds of compatible devices, including lights, cameras, voice assistants, locks, thermostats and more, through partnerships with leading brands like Amazon, Honeywell, Arlo, and Google Home Assistant. The company has also brought the groundbreaking smart home interoperability standard, Matter, into the SmartThings ecosystem.  In just ten years, we have risen to become the most robust smart home IoT platform in the market. We are proud that SmartThings now has:     200+ global partners and the ability to integrate with thousands of devices 800+ talented employees across Samsung who are dedicated to SmartThings15 categories of supported devices, from voice assistants to window treatment and more9 add-on services in the SmartThings' app today, including Air Care, Clothing Care, Cooking, Energy, Home Care, Pet Care, Smart Lock Guest Access, Find, and Home Monitor 4.5 stars rating in the Google Play Store and a 4.3 rating in the iOS App Store  Looking back on all that we have accomplished, we’re grateful to our wonderful partners and developers. Good things happen when devices talk to one another, and without our strong partnerships, creating meaningful connecting living experiences would not be possible. As we continue the path toward mass smart home adoption, we’re focused on creating experiences with consumers at the center. While solutions like SmartThings enable a more connected living experience, consumers are at the heart of our business – the ones who bring smart homes to life by supporting all their big life moments. We’re excited about the future and the opportunity to make smart home living the norm for consumers in the next ten years and beyond.

In August, we shared the beta release of SmartThings Edge – a new hub architecture that allows hub connected devices to execute locally. SmartThings Edge creates smart home experiences that are more reliable and faster. Now, developers and hobbyists can build and consume custom device drivers in a much easier way. Since the beta launch, SmartThings has partnered with Aeotec, Leviton, Kwikset, Somfy North America, Yale, and August to transform connectivity and the smart home experience in a noticeable way. SmartThings Edge’s advanced technology increases the speed of automation for consumers by eliminating the need for cloud-based processing, bringing all the information directly to the Hub. This not only streamlines events and commands but also allows for local device support on a home network. This local device support decreases latency and increases reliability. All Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Wi-Fi devices can run locally on the Hub, with the ability to connect more protocols and standards, including Matter, in the future. Previously, our developers were required to copy and paste code into their Samsung IDE accounts to distribute and leverage custom device type handlers for hub connected devices. With SmartThings Edge comes the introduction of the new driver sharing feature, an easy-to-use and time efficient alternative for community distribution and consumption. SmartThings users can now share custom device drivers with a simple web link – eliminating the need to copy and paste code. While device manufacturers are still encouraged to submit their drivers to SmartThings for WWST certification and distribution via the SmartThings catalog, the Driver Sharing feature can also be used to distribute custom drivers that partners may want to test before officially releasing integrations.  New drivers are regularly being added. Our latest release includes Zigbee range extenders, Z-Wave buttons, water leak sensors, contact sensors, smoke detectors, and humidity sensors.  SmartThings Edge is the latest innovation in SmartThings technology, representing the company’s commitment to developing solutions for global developer networks – thereby improving the next generation of smart home experiences.

SmartThings is excited to announce SmartThings Edge, a new hub architecture that allows core functionality to execute locally, leading to smart home experiences that are more reliable, faster, and more secure. While users will not see a change within the SmartThings app, on the backend, SmartThings Edge is transforming connectivity and the experience in a noticeable way. SmartThings Edge’s advanced technology increases the speed of automations for consumers by eliminating the need for cloud-based processing, bringing all the information directly to the Hub. This not only streamlines events and commands, but also allows for local device support on a home network, allowing users to run their Automations locally. This local device support decreases latency and increases reliability. SmartThings users will also be able to connect Zigbee, Z-Wave, and LAN-based integrations, with the ability to connect more protocols in the future, including Matter. As part of SmartThings’ evolution to modernize and move away from the legacy Groovy platform, SmartThings developed a solution that would be able to deliver the developer experience to meet the current times. Developers are now able to code and build Device Drivers with Lua©, offering a more robust and simpler way for device manufacturers to integrate with the SmartThings platform. This new platform architecture is an example of SmartThing’s commitment to investing in technologies that make it easier for our global developer network to build the next generation of smart home experiences that inspire meaningful moments.

SmartThings is pleased to announce its integration with Somfy, the best-in-class manufacturer of tubular motors for interior window coverings and exterior solar protections. Through this integration, Somfy-powered shading solutions can now be fully integrated into the smart home and controlled through the SmartThings application, simplifying the everyday. The integration is available in North America market. With Somfy smart shading solutions, homeowners and residents can seamlessly control their shades, blinds, and screens from the same control system as their other connected living devices. Leveraging the power of SmartThings, users can create customized experiences and comfort at the touch of a button, with unique features including:  One Master Control System to control and automate Somfy motorized shades and blinds along with other smart home devices. Natural Lighting Control, allowing users the choice to have their shades, blinds, draperies, screens, awnings, and pergolas open and close on demand or automated to spend more time on other tasks.Energy Efficient Homes, with scheduling that allows shades to open during the warmest times of the day in winter and close during the hottest times of the day in summer to save on heating and cooling costs. Home Automation, allowing for simultaneous control of multiple smart home devices. With one command, homes can be ready for your next activity, whether waking up or going to bed, leaving the house or watching a movie. This new offering is another representation of SmartThings’ commitment to uplifting everyday living by making the home more unified. By adding Somfy into SmartThings’ ecosystem, users can automate everyday tasks and stay more engaged in the moments that truly matter most.  

Samsung SmartThings and Google have teamed up to bring you Home Control with Google Pixel and Android Wear devices! SmartThings is the only complete smart home platform to work with Home Control. Now you can control many of your SmartThings devices with the Google Assistant. Just speak a command to your Pixel phone or Wear device to interact with SmartThings, from dimming the lights in your living room to turning on the porch light. While voice control using Google Home is fun, the power comes when you’re on the go. Control your home from your wrist or mobile phone wherever you happen to be in the world. Check that things are safe and secure, adjust your lights, change the temperature, or any number of other convenient controls. Imagine you just received a message that a family member is heading home early, you can just say "Ok Google, set the thermostat to 70." and make sure they come home to a warm house. If you want to make sure they don't have to fumble for the lights when they come in just say "Hey Google, turn on all the lights in the living room." Ran out the door last minute and not sure if you turned off that one last light? Just ask Google to turn off the lights and enjoy the rest of your day without worrying about it. Perhaps you’re all settled in for the night and you realize the lights downstairs are still on, Google and SmartThings can take care of that, no need to get up! It’s never been easier to control your smart home than with Google Home Control and SmartThings. It’s in the palm of your hand (or on your wrist!) no matter where you are, and with dozens of SmartThings supported devices you have a wide range of flexibility to grow your smart house. Turning the light on is simple: just say “Hey Google!”

Official Rules: 2017 SmartThings Giveaway THIS PROMOTION IS A SWEEPSTAKES. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. THE PROMOTION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AND ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. (more…)

Official Rules: 2016 SmartThings Giveaway THIS PROMOTION IS A SWEEPSTAKES. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. THE PROMOTION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AND ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. (more…)

Official Rules: 2016 SmartThings Giveaway THIS PROMOTION IS A SWEEPSTAKES. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. THE PROMOTION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AND ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. (more…)

In our quest to add smartness to new things (see what we did there?), we’ve been busy growing and evolving the Works With SmartThings (WWST) program. Today, we’re excited to share more details around two awesome integrations: Netgear Arlo and Google Home. (more…)