Samsung Electronics showcased its latest innovations for the connected home. During its IFA 2023 press conference, the company highlighted its vision for SmartThings is to enable consumers to prioritise the topics they care about from saving energy, increasing security and access to great entertainment to making their everyday lives more efficient. The ever-growing SmartThings ecosystem allows its 285 million users to adapt and personalise their homes to suit their needs, seamlessly connecting and controlling multiple appliances and devices via one app.
Said Mr Samuel Odhiambo, Head of Home Appliances Samsung Electronics East Africa
Enhancing the At-Home Experience
The SmartThings app allows users to control their homes from anywhere, helping them to enjoy seamless entertainment as well as keeping them safe. Across Europe, our homes continue to be more important than ever as they play multiple roles each day from offices to places for relaxation and entertainment. Seven in ten consumers (71%) agree that technology has a positive impact on their everyday living, including how they interact with their friends and family, how they conduct their chores and how they enjoy their hobbies.
Now, those with a passion for food can fully connect themselves to the joy of cooking and eating with Samsung Food, the new all-in-one app for recipe searching, saving and sharing, meal planning, cooking and grocery shopping. Announced at the press conference, Samsung Food is available in 104 countries and eight languages and puts the world’s food knowledge at users’ fingertips, empowering them to make the food, health and cooking decisions that are right for them. It also connects to users’ kitchens, instantly sending the right time and temperature to their compatible Samsung oven. With more than 160,000 recipes, there will always be something new to cook.
By the end of the year, using Food AI, Samsung Food will provide personalised recipes reflecting users’ dietary requirements, such as converting recipes into a vegan version in just a few taps. In a further enhancement due later this year, it will link with Samsung Health so tailored meal plans can be adapted to suit preferences and dietary requirements, as well as support users in reaching their health goals. In 2024, using Vision AI technology, Samsung Food will use photos taken of meals to check nutritional information, recognise ingredients and recommend the best recipes to use them in.
As the number one TV brand for 17 years in a row, Samsung has an unrivalled commitment to entertainment. It has completed its super screen line up with the launch of the 98” Neo QLED 8K and 4K Q80C and plans to bring its full range of Micro LED screens to Europe by the end of the year, offering incredible contrast and jaw-dropping detail that places viewers in the middle of the action whether gaming or watching films.
To celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, Samsung has announced the launch of The Frame Disney100 Edition. Featuring an exclusive bezel in the Disney 100 signature platinum silver metal and a unique Mickey Mouse inspired Disney remote. It also comes with 100 pieces of iconic art from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel, Lucasfilm and National Geographic, as well as classic images of Mickey, Minnie, Woody, Cinderella and many others. Users can also display their family photos for a magical home environment.
Taking Small Steps for Our Planet
Samsung is committed to developing products and services that help people save money and take steps towards a better planet. These topics are high on the agenda for consumers too, over three quarters (77%) say they seek out tech products that save energy not only to save money, but for the benefit of the environment too. Two-thirds (67%) also consider it important that their next appliance can connect to an app that allows them to monitor and reduce their energy consumption.
SmartThings Energy can help users optimise the energy used across their appliances to suit their needs and lower usage. For example, AI Energy Mode in SmartThings Energy allows you to monitor and reduce your washing machine’s energy use by up to 70% by using Ecobubble to wash with cool water instead of warm.
Samsung has also partnered with global ocean conservation organisation Ocean Wise and apparel maker Patagonia to find solutions to the issue of microfiber shedding. The Less Microfiber™ Filter is an external washing machine filter that cuts up to 98% of microplastic emissions from laundry cycles. Speaking at IFA, Charlie Cox, Manager of Microplastic Solutions at Ocean Wise said,
“Through our collaboration with Samsung and Patagonia, Ocean Wise is proud to have shown a way for industry to play its part in stemming the flow of microfibers into the ocean. Through innovations like the Less Microfiber™ Filter, we can empower individuals to reduce their microfiber footprint at home. It is a simple, everyday solution that our oceans will thank us for.”
Samsung’s journey is constantly evolving as it aims to design technology that helps people make the most of their day while taking small steps to reduce our environmental impact. The Galaxy Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 and the Galaxy Tab S9 series feature a variety of recycled materials, including recycled aluminium, glass and plastics sourced from ocean-bound discarded fishing nets, water barrels and PET bottles. Even the Galaxy Watch6 series incorporate post-consumer recycled plastics. All of these Galaxy innovations come in packaging boxes made using recycled paper material.
Keeping Your Home Secure
Samsung understands the reassurance that smart technology can provide across the generations. Security was an emerging theme from the research conducted. Watching their home while they aren’t there (54%), feeling safer when home alone (39%) and keeping their family safe when they are out of the house (39%) are seen as the key safety benefits of smart technology.
