Samsung joins the Home Connectivity Alliance to promote interoperability and drive innovation

XDA

By Pranob Mehrotra

Published Jan 5, 2022

As part of the Home Connectivity Alliance, Samsung plans to promote interoperability and drive innovation in the smart home space.

Interoperability, or lack thereof, is one of the most important factors you need to consider while purchasing smart home devices from different manufacturers. Since OEMs have different standards in place for their smart home products, you need to make sure that the devices you purchase are compatible with each other. This could prove to be a bit overwhelming for those who are new to the smart home scene. In an attempt to address this issue, Samsung and a few other manufacturers have set up the Home Connectivity Alliance.

According to its website, the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA) aims to provide consumers with more options within a safe, secure, and interoperable connected home ecosystem. It has three main goals:

Provide consumers with more convenience and options through interoperability. Remove "walled garden."
Protect consumer data privacy, reduce additional points of failure, and provide uncompromised safety.
Drive innovation through collaboration with Government agencies and other trade alliances, and foster innovation in the connected home space through competition.

During its CES 2022 keynote, Samsung said that as part of the HCA it plans to work with other member companies to develop shared guidelines for cloud-to-cloud interoperability while taking data security and consumer safety requirements into account.

Talking about Samsung's commitment towards the HCA, Chanwoo Park, EVP and Head of IoT Business Group at Samsung Electronics, said, "As digital technology becomes more embedded in everyday life, we at Samsung believe that it's essential to bring greater openness to our smart home ecosystem and empower consumers with more options to create truly personalized home experiences. We are excited to work with other members of the HCA and will work to make home lifestyles easier and smarter with meaningful innovations in smart appliances and connectivity."

In essence, this means that Samsung's smart home products will soon work seamlessly with products from other manufacturers, like Arçelik A.Ş., The Electrolux Group, Haier, GE Appliances, and Trane Technologies. Consumers will be able to access products from these manufacturers through Samsung's SmartThings platform and they will also have the option to access Samsung's smart home products through apps from other HCA members.