IoT Product Launches are Increasing, From Samsung & Others
Several announcements emerged this week from the Samsung Developer Conference being held in San Francisco – an event that has largely represented the launch of the first wave of Samsung’s assault on the Internet of Things (IoT) market. One announcement that caught our eye is the news that Samsung and Legrand have partnered on a new Thread-enabled lighting switch.
See more on this new IoT light switch and the partnership with Samsung…
Samsung and Legrand say this new light switch is the “world’s first” Thread-enabled switch that uses the Samsung Artik platform. Artik, launched last year by Samsung, is an IoT-centric ecosystem that provides basic tools or building blocks, upon which companies can use to quickly develop IoT solutions. Samsung says Artik is a “chip-to-cloud” environment that brings hardware, software, cloud, and security solutions to solution developers, unburdening them from having to re-engineer basic parts of every IoT solution.
Artik is based on Thread which is an IPv6/6LoWPAN protocol for IoT devices to communicate with the network. Thread is royalty free, but closed-documentation – which means you have to buy the specifications. Thread is being developed and promoted by the Thread Group, an industry organization launched in 2014 by a consortium of companies that included: ARM, Hiku Home, NXP Semiconductor, Nest Labs, Samsung Electronics, Silicon Labs, and Yale. Last year, Somfy, Tyco, Qualcomm, and OSRAM joined the Board of Directors.
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The Thread Group describes Thread as “a robust, IP-based, self-healing mesh network designed to securely and reliably connect hundreds of products around the home.” Thread competes with other IoT networks, such as Zigbee, Z-wave, and Bluetooth LE (aka Bluetooth Smart).
Legrand, of course, is well-known to custom integrators as a diversified manufacturer of a wide range of integration products from multiple brands under their corporate umbrella. Legrand’s brands include Middle Atlantic, Vantage, Nuvo, On-Q, Wattstopper, Pass & Seymore, and more. Recently, we learned that Legrand acquired Luxul, a well-known networking company. Legrand appears to be positioning itself to take a leading position in the smart home/IoT market.
“Legrand is a world leader in home electrical devices and automation and we’re excited to partner with Samsung to offer more choices to our customers by delivering an industry leading, connected light switch,” said Brian KiBella, President Electrical Wiring Systems, Legrand, North America. “In combination with the Samsung Artik Cloud, our smart light switches interoperates with other smart-home products and effectively serve as the central nervous system of the home to make life simpler, more convenient and more secure for our customers.”
Legrand says it partnered with Samsung because “it understands that the Internet of Things will open a new era of connected buildings.” Products like Legrand’s own Eliot program (Electricity and IoT) are designed to accelerate the evolution to the new world of connected buildings.
“We are thrilled with the tight collaboration between Legrand and the Samsung Artik development and business teams,” said Dr. Byungse So, Executive Vice President and CTO, Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center. “Embracing new technologies like IoT is critical to future success in the ever-demanding smart home and building automation space. By leveraging the strength of the Artik end-to-end IoT platform, Legrand will deliver the world’s first Thread enabled IoT smart light switch.”
Learn more about Legrand’s products and solutions at: www.legrand.us.
See what Samsung’s Artik environment offers here: developer.samsung.com/artik.
Want to know about Thread? Visit the Thread Group here: threadgroup.org.
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