Samsung SmartThings will become the world's first smart home app to add cars to its portfolio of compatible products and devices. Beginning later this year, SmartThings users in the United States will be able to automate their cars directly from the app, and it's all thanks to a new partnership announced at CES between Samsung and Smartcar.
Samsung will integrate the Smartcar API into SmartThings, giving customers a way to locate their vehicle and lock/unlock its doors remotely. SmarThings users will be able to check fuel levels – or battery levels in case of electric vehicles – from their smartphones, and they'll also have the option to create automated tasks.
The automated system sounds similar to Bixby Routines, or indeed the revamped Bixby in the car but without the Digital Cockpit. It's an IFTTT system whereby certain actions are taken automatically whenever a set of criteria determined by the user is met. For example, you can program your air conditioning unit at home to turn on whenever your car leaves from the office.
Samsung's SmartThings app has 52 million active users worldwide, and the Smartcar API employed by the app will be able to communicate ‘with most new cars' in the US. As yet, there's no information as to whether the feature will become available in other markets.
