Samsung, Hyundai Motor to boost home-car connectivity

Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group agreed to work together to boost the connectivity of smart homes and cars, Thursday. (Samsung Electronics)

South Korea's top makers of chips and cars, Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group, are joining hands for heightened connectivity by integrating their smart home and connective car solutions, the companies said Thursday.

In a signing ceremony on Wednesday, the two sides agreed to expand Samsung's SmartThings platform to support Hyundai Motor and Kia's connected cars, including electric vehicles.

The goal of their partnership is to develop "Home-to-Car" and "Car-to-Home" services to connect the smart home with in-vehicle infotainment systems, allowing for remote control both ways, Samsung said.

“This collaboration will enable communication from Home-to-Car and integrated home energy management services that are optimized for future lifestyles,” said Park Chan-woo, executive vice president at Samsung Electronics.

“By connecting the SmartThings platform with vehicles, we’ll be able to significantly enhance the customer experience in both the home and the car.”

Through the SmartThings platform, users will be able to perform a variety of actions pertaining to their cars while at home -- starting them, controlling smart air conditioning, opening and closing windows and checking their charging status.

From cars, the control of home appliances such as TVs, air conditioners and EV chargers will also be possible.

“This is an opportunity to make the connected car’s Car-to-Home and Home-to-Car services more convenient in various fields,” said Kwon Hae-young, vice president of Hyundai and Kia’s Infotainment Development Center.

“We plan to accelerate our technology development to continuously make global Hyundai and Kia customers’ journeys meaningful.”

Users will also be able to set up routines to adjust their environment with the envisioned service. For example, when a Galaxy smartphone’s morning alarm goes off, the curtains will automatically open, and the lights and television will turn on.

They will also work on an integrated home energy management service, which will allow users to monitor how much energy is consumed by the connected devices in their homes.

The envisioned service for EVs includes recommending the optimal time for charging by factoring in different pricing and carbon emissions by time of day.

Samsung said it will be utilizing Harman's Ready Upgrade digital cockpit package to install SmartThings functions to access the various Car-to-Home services. Harman is a car infotainment and audio subsidiary of Samsung.

The two companies have recently ramped up collaboration in the mobility field after their first-ever supply deal in June. At the time, Samsung agreed to supply automotive chips for Hyundai's upcoming cars.

By Jo He-rim(herim@heraldcorp.com)