One of many premium soundbars Samsung launched earlier within the yr will get a software program replace letting it function a SmartThings hub, the primary of different soundbars and TVs that may have sensible residence performance included within the machine, the corporate introduced Thursday at its Samsung Developer Convention.
The HW-Q900C, first unveiled at CES 2023, is being upgraded to make use of with Samsung SmartThings’ Hub In every single place program, per The Verge. The reveal is a part of a broader announcement that different older and newer TVs and sensible displays will probably be upgraded to function hubs to regulate the varied Matter, Thread and Zigbee sensible residence codecs.
In additional SmartThings information, customers can use multi-hub networks to run a number of hubs of their residence on the similar time. The redundancy ought to make it simpler for customers to swap out different hubs, like soundbars and TVs, with out upending the community.
Samsung additionally overhauled its developer instruments, introducing a brand new developer portal and sensible residence APIs to make it simpler for product producers to combine SmartThings into their apps, per The Verge. Additionally, the Map View UI used on SmartThings-enabled TVs to regulate the house community is coming to smartphones.
Repurposing older units and launching new units as hubs follows Samsung’s transition away from devoted hubs towards multipurpose units, because it confirmed with the SmartThings Station revealed at CES 2023. As extra units launch which are suitable with Matter, the IoT format the Samsung has helped develop, extra of the corporate’s machine lineup will probably be intrinsically capable of join and community with sensible residence units.