SmartThings

SmartThings is finally back online after the Samsung-owned home hub - which promises to tie together multiple IoT gadgets - left many users unable to control their connected lights, locks, and other hardware this week. The company reported on Tuesday afternoon that the issues it was encountering with the SmartThings Cloud had been resolved. However, at its peak, many users found they were unable to operate their smart home devices and were forced to control them manually.

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Google just recently gave Android TV is own, dedicated YouTube app, perhaps years in the making. While there really isn’t much Android TV devices left to go around, it will naturally arrive on at least the one Android TV device that does matter: the NVIDIA SHIELD. The graphics chip maker has just announced the next version of its SHIELD Experience, now at version 6.1, that brings more than just the YouTube TV app to the US. It also reinforces the SHIELD’s potential to become both entertainment and smart hub for your home.

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This year's SDC brought together several Internet of Things brands/groups together into one: SmartThings Cloud. Each of the following names is now part of one bigger group: Samsung SmartThings, ARTIK, Samsung Connect. All three are now under the brand SmartThings Cloud. Of important note - this SmartThings Cloud all-encompassing platform name is what Samsung suggests will be both connected and open - open to 3rd-party brands and developers of many sorts.

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Samsung has teamed up with security firm ADT for a new home alarm system, borrowing the DIY automation cleverness of SmartThings and combining it with professional monitoring. Dubbed the Samsung SmartThings ADT home security system, it offers an alternative to the recently announced Nest Secure and today's Ring Protect system. Like both, it's intended to be installed by the homeowner themselves, rather than demanding professional installation.

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Google and NVIDIA made a big splash when it announced that Google Assistant has just landed on Android TVs and, specifically, the NVIDIA SHIELD. But that's really only part of the equation. Sure, you'll be able control your NVIDIA SHIELD with just your voice, but if you want to do anything beyond the TV, you'll need another piece of the puzzle. That piece is Samsung's SmartThings Link that transforms the SHIELD into a makeshift SmartThings Hub. And while that dongle won't ship until next month, you can already pre-order one right now.

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Today NVIDIA SHIELD's latest update brought with it Google Assistant in full effect. The results are much like we saw and experienced earlier this year at CES 2017. This means "OK Google" Google Assistant support - along with NVIDIA's implementation of the full-on latest version of Google's vision of the ideal smart TV environment using Android. This is also the "first-ever hands-free access to an Assistant for TV" - so says NVIDIA.

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It was only a couple of months ago that Samsung first detailed its Connect Home WiFi router, and today the company is ready to talk release dates and pricing. Pre-orders for Connect Home will open later this week, but one thing to note is that Best Buy has landed itself an exclusivity deal for this device. This seems to be something of a timed exclusivity deal, so you won't necessarily have to go through Best Buy to outfit your home with a mesh network of Samsung Connect routers.

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The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus were undoubtedly the stars of Samsung's Unpacked event today, but one interesting item that may not achieve the status of "showstopper" is Samsung's new Connect Home hub. Samsung is taking a page out of Google WiFi's book with this new product, but it comes with an interesting feature that could give it an edge against its competitors.

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NVIDIA's original SHIELD TV is getting its big SHIELD Experience 5.0.2 update today, bringing the media-streaming games console up to date with Android 7.0 Nougat and a host of other features. The new software was promised back at CES 2017, and unexpectedly comprehensive refresh of the first-generation SHIELD TV that brought to it many of the abilities of the brand new, second-gen model also announced. After a false-start earlier in the month, Software Update 5.0 for the Shield TV (2015) is available today.

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It can be tough sometimes, being an Internet of Things cheerleader. A world of devices that silently talk between themselves should be making my life easier; instead, it's giving me a serious headache.

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The past few weeks have been rather hard on the Internet of Things market. Despite the slew of new trinkets and ideas that were paraded at CES 2016 earlier this month, bugs and security holes in currently marketed devices cast a rather negative light on connected home appliances. Perhaps Samsung thought it was time to lighten up the mood, especially considering it too has some IoT products to sell. In a set of ads revolving around its SmartThings platform, Samsung reveals how IoT can give you superpowers. Or at least the semblance of it.

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If there's one thing Samsung loves, it's slapping big LCDs on the front of refrigerators. CES 2016 is no different, and this time it's the Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator's time to shine. Intended, so the company says, to bring back the days where the fridge door was a place to pin up family photos, kids' artwork, and notes, the Family Hub consists of a 21.5-inch Full HD touchscreen and wireless connectivity.

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