Nowadays, various car functions can be controlled remotely from your mobile phone. For example, you can open the doors, check the battery status or start recharging the electric car. And soon, in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), digitalized home appliances will be able to be controlled from the car.
This is the objective of the agreement signed by Hyundai and Kia with Samsung, who want to improve connectivity between living spaces and mobility spaces. Under this partnership, customers of automotive brands will be able to remotely control smart home appliances using touch and voice commands from their cars (Car-to-Home). And, conversely, they will have remote control of the vehicle through speakers with Artificial Intelligence, televisions and smartphone applications to control various vehicle functions (Home-to-Car). This will be possible through the organic integration of Hyundai and Kia vehicle connection services and Samsung's IoT platform, SmartThings.
In this way, the user can turn on the air conditioning or start the robot vacuum cleaner to have the house clean and at a good temperature when they return. Additionally, electric vehicle owners can use SmartThings' integrated home energy management service to monitor their home and vehicle's energy usage and adjust optimal charging times.
Hyundai and Kia plan to expand their Car-to-Home and Home-to-Car services to customers around the world by linking connected car platforms and Samsung SmartThings.
To achieve this, Hyundai and Kia will develop stable infotainment systems that offer services and then provide these functions through over-the-air and USB-based updates even for existing vehicles.
“We plan to accelerate the development of our technology to make Hyundai and Kia customers' journeys around the world more meaningful,” said Haeyoung Kwon, vice president of Hyundai and Kia's infotainment development center. "By connecting the SmartThings platform with vehicles, we will be able to significantly improve the customer experience both at home and in the car," said Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President Chanwoo Park.
It should be noted that Hyundai and Kia already offer Car-to-Home and Home-to-Car services through collaborations with telecommunications companies and construction companies. Car-to-Home services (until now it was available for six elements, such as lighting, sockets, gas shut-off valves, ventilation, air conditioning and boilers) and Home-to-Car (for vehicle air conditioning, starting distance and charge management) will be expanded to support connections with a wider range of devices thanks to this collaboration.
