Samsung and LG have entered into a smart home pact that enables each firm’s large home appliances to be controlled by the other’s app. This collaboration sprang from the Home Connectivity Alliance, of which Samsung was a founding member in late 2021. As a result, LG’s ThinQ app will indicate when the door has been left open on a Samsung Family Hub smart fridge. Likewise, Samsung’s SmartThings app can instruct your LG dishwasher to turn on at a specific setting. Samsung was also talking-up 6G and artificial intelligence at this week’s IFA 2023 electronics trade show in Berlin.

As for the Samsung-LG smart home pairing, “you should also be able to control each company’s TV’s with their competitors’ apps,” The Verge says.

Launched shortly after the Connectivity Standards Alliance formed Matter as a smart home interoperability solution, “the HCA leverages cloud-to-cloud communication to make any Wi-Fi-connected appliance communicate with each other, everything from washers, dryers, fridges, and ovens, to robot vacuum cleaners, televisions, and HVAC systems,” The Verge reports.

One app will be used to control all participating brands (although the manufacturer’s app is required for initial setup). Once that’s done, expect cross-brand notifications as to when your laundry’s done or the oven has achieved optimum temperature.

At the starting line, “LG, Samsung and the Euro giant Vestel are the only HCA participants among 15 members, “but the plan is to expand to other types of appliances gradually,” The Verge writes.

The Verge also details that SmartThings and ThinQ apps won’t integrate with “other smart home platforms, such as Apple Home, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa.”

At IFA, Samsung also shared 6G plans, discussed artificial intelligence (which it is introducing in its Bespoke lineup) and talked about virtual and augmented reality. The electronics giant also emphasized fundamental improvements, including what PhoneArena calls “a massive jump in speeds” as well as increased reliability and more stable connections, both of which are said to be problems with 5G.

Samsung, which is working toward a late 2030 6G rollout, says it will have less latency and simultaneously support roughly 107 devices per square kilometer (versus 5G’s 10-11).

Related:
Samsung Launches Special Disney-Themed Version of The Frame TV, PCMag, 8/27/23
Samsung Announces Freestyle Projector and Fresh New Food App, BGR, 8/31/23