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Does the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 support Google's Find My Device network?
There are a couple of smart tag options available to Google Find My users, but is the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 one of them?
There's nothing quite as stomach-dropping as realizing an important personal item isn't where it should be. Forgetting a purse on the subway, leaving a backpack behind on a school bus, or watching a luggage carousel go by at the airport and not recognizing a single one are all instances in which one modern amenity, the smart tag, quickly becomes a lifesaver. These devices make it possible to locate lost items. Some brands, like Tile, established their reputation on smart tags alone, while others, like Apple and Samsung, eventually added their own versions to their product lines.
Is the Samsung SmartTag 2 battery replaceable?
With just a little finessing, you’ll have your SmartTag 2 battery replaced in no time
The Samsung SmartTag 2 offers a new generation of GPS tracking for the valuables we tend to lose the most. On top of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra wide-band (UWB) support for real-time location tracking with pinpoint accuracy, the SmartTag 2 is powered by a CR2032 battery. Those are the small circular cells we always mistake as loose change when we come across them in our junk drawers.
Take a look at Samsung's latest miniature smart city it built for IFA
The company showcases how all of its products tie into the bigger picture
Samsung has only just launched the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 in August, so it should be clear that the company wouldn’t have too many aces up its sleeve for IFA 2022. But as a household name at the Berlin Messe, the company still had some important things to talk about that hadn’t quite made the cut for a dedicated product launch. Samsung took the chance to talk about its broader portfolio, explaining how its smart home platform SmartThings is the centerpiece that ties together its mobile devices, TVs and entertainment centers, and its Bespoke appliances — all working together to save energy, helping your wallet and the environment, too. All this was then showcased in the company's signature mini smart city, purpose built for IFA this year once again after pandemic-driven downtime following IFA 2019.
Samsung's new SmartThings Home Life services offer a central place to control your smart home
The services will reach nearly 250 million registered users globally
For a company that builds everything from smartphones to major appliances, it's no surprise that Samsung's got its own smart home ecosystem, and SmartThings connects robot vacuums, motion sensors, thermostats, and more, all through the SmartThings app. Now Samsung is looking to expand its range of smart home services even further, with the global launch of SmartThings Home Life.
Samsung SmartThings users are now able to sort scenes in the widget any way they like
We're really wondering why this wasn't a thing before
If you have geared up your house with smart home appliances and you've got a Samsung phone, you've probably used the SmartThings app at some point. It lets you manage all of your gadgets individually or group them into "scenes," which are presented as a way to quickly control how and when certain automations are active. And if you use the app's widget for toggling your SmartThings scenes, you'll be glad to know that a new update is adding the ability to rearrange them to your liking.
Samsung's SmartThings app is getting a new UI
The company also doubled down on its commitment to Matter
Building a smart home ecosystem can make the smallest elements of your life a whole lot easier, but even the best hardware around isn't any good without an excellent software experience backing it up. Today, Samsung is relaunching its SmartThings app with an all-new interface to help power every gadget in your home.
Samsung is about to kill the SmartThings Link for NVIDIA Shield and original SmartThings Hub
Both will be discontinued at the end of June
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Change is an inevitability in life, and unfortunately for those of us who invest in various product ecosystems, change ultimately means having to upgrade. Right now, Samsung is transitioning to a next-gen platform for its SmartThings smart home system. And while newer devices are coming along for the ride, some older components are going to need to be replaced before they stop working. Samsung's been sharing news of this transition with owners of these devices, including the SmartThings Link USB dongle that lets it integrate with the Nvidia Shield, as well as the original SmartThings Hub.Info was first sent to SmartThings Link owners, including our tipster, via email back in March. Without support for SmartThings Link, Samsung's smart home system won't be able to access the Shield, and vice versa. That's bad news for users who've built their home integration around SmartThings, though that's probably a tiny number of people compared to those who've done the same with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, or Apple HomeKit. Shield's integration with Assistant for voice commands and smart home functionality is extensive.[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/jank0/status/1366429511470903299[/EMBED_TWITTER]Users of the SmartThings Link will also lose direct access to Zigbee and Z-Wave devices. Samsung is offering discounts to some users for a new third-gen SmartThings Hub for their trouble, but there's no indication of when (or if) support for the new API system will come to the Shield.When Samsung first announced word of this transition back in 2020, it mentioned that "select legacy hubs" would also be retired in the pursuit of progress. We've since learned that this means that Samsung's first-generation SmartThings Hub will be shut down alongside the Link dongle at the end of June. Like those users, owners of the Hub are being given the opportunity to upgrade to more modern hardware at a discount.
Samsung SmartThings starts rolling out Android Auto support (APK Download)
Control your home, away from home
Samsung revealed its new Galaxy S21 phones last week, but that wasn't all the company talked about. It was also announced that Samsung's SmartThings device controls would soon be accessible through Android Auto, and now the functionality is already going live.
Google and Samsung team up to make smart home products more interoperable
Is this a sign that Bixby might be on the way out?
Google has been trying to convince Samsung to drop Bixby in favor of Google Assistant for some time now. While we don't know for certain how those conversations are going, Samsung did add support for Google Assistant to some of its smart TVs last month. And today, a joint partnership was announced that will see Samsung SmartThings gadgets add integration with Nest products — as well as the Google Assistant.
Samsung SmartThings update adds UWB device tracking, Zigbee QR scanner, and more
Only the Galaxy Note20 Ultra supports the UWB tech so far
SmartThings is the app you use to take control of all your Samsung IoT devices, as the company aims to consolidate its other apps into one. Following all the big announcements it made at the recent Galaxy Unpacked event, Samsung is now updating the SmartThings app with a bunch of features, including one that leverages the Note20 Ultra’s UWB (ultra-wideband) support.
The Samsung SmartThings Hub is the Swiss Army Knife of smart home devices. It can connect to just about every smart home device in existence over a variety of wireless protocols, combining everything in a single control panel for easy management and automation. Those of you in the UK can get it for just £55 right now, during a limited Boxing Day sale.
Modern "smart" home standards have more than a few dumb things about them, like the fact that certain hardware often locks you into a specific ecosystem of supported devices and software. If something works with Alexa, it doesn't always mean that it will work with the Assistant or Siri, and that's not even mentioning the whole obnoxiousness of "hubs." Thankfully, a new open standard is being developed by some of the biggest names in the smart home industry, with Amazon, Apple, and Google all backing a new open-source approach via the imaginatively titled "Project Connected Home over IP." It's a complicated-sounding name, but what really matters is the fact that future smart home products will be more inter-compatible and secure.
Samsung's SmartThings hub was once a staple of most smart home setups, as it supported all the varying wireless standards used by smart devices (Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, etc.) and integrated them into one place. Now that most smart home devices use regular Wi-Fi, SmartThings isn't quite as essential as it used to be, but Samsung still has big plans for the platform, as revealed at the 2019 Samsung Developer Conference.
Samsung SmartThings is a versatile smart home platform with one crucial caveat: It only supports US and UK plugs at the moment, locking out many interested parties in countries with different wiring. This is about to change. In preparation for IFA in Berlin, Samsung announced on Wednesday that it's bringing SmartThings devices to Germany this September. With the country using EU wall plugs, this should allow people based in other countries with these sockets to import them, too, and use them without adaptors.
We like to keep you folks abreast of all the best gadget deals we run across, but we can't devote full posts to all of them. So, in round-ups like these, we share some of the best bargains from the past few days you may have missed. This Wednesday afternoon: discounted smart lights, streaming dongles, and mesh routers to keep them connected.
Earlier this month, home improvement store Lowe's announced it was shutting down its ecosystem of 'Iris' smart home devices. In addition to giving some Iris device owners prepaid Visa cards, Lowe's is working with Samsung to ensure the company's SmartThings hub supports as many Iris devices as possible.
We've known for a while that Samsung is consolidating its 40+ smart home apps into the SmartThings app, and the company confirmed yesterday that the revamped app is coming next month. Now it appears the Samsung Connect application, which is one of many being folded into SmartThings, has itself been rebranded to SmartThings. That's not confusing at all.
Samsung's smart home ecosystem has become rather confusing over the years. Samsung Connect, Samsung Smart Home, and SmartThings all have overlapping functionality - resulting in a horrible user experience and a confusing mess for everyone.
This is great news. No, scratch that. This is fantastic news. Samsung is doing the right thing, finally.
One of the biggest trends in consumer technology over the last few years has been the rise of the smart home. The number of different device categories that now make up the 'Internet of Things' (IoT) has grown immensely, with connected appliances now found in many households across the US and beyond.The smart home was once an expensive hobby for tech-fiends only but has now become an affordable aspiration for normal people. You can get started for less than $30 these days, with some lights or a smart switch that can connect to your Wi-Fi network and be controlled with your phone. If you want to go all in, you could end up spending thousands on the connected home of the future.With so many different products available, the smart home sector can be a little daunting. So let's break down the key categories and take a look at some of the best options in each one.