Samsung Partners with Hyundai and Kia to Enhance Vehicle Security through SmartThings

Your Samsung Galaxy phone will soon let you track your stolen Hyundai or Kia car

Apple and Samsung aren't the world's top two smartphone vendors for once Key Takeaways Samsung is teaming up with Hyundai and Kia to bring SmartThings to their next-generation vehicle infotainment system. The SmartThings integration will enable tracking a lost or stolen car's location using your Galaxy phone. The deep SmartThings integration will enable you to control the car's features from your Galaxy phone's Quick panel. Samsung SmartThings is the company's smart home platform, allowing you to control compatible smart home devices like fridges, ACs, and washing machines. Like Google's Find My Device network, Samsung also offers a SmartThings Network, which uses nearby Galaxy devices to relay the location of your lost Galaxy phone or accessory to the Korean company's servers for easy tracking. Now, thanks to Samsung's partnership with Hyundai and Kia, you can soon track the location of your vehicle using your Galaxy phone. Related Samsung SmartThings wants to help you care for the elderly in your family Peace of mind with elderly loved ones no matter the distance As a part of the strategic technology partnership between Hyundai, Kia, and Samsung, the two carmakers will integrate SmartThings into their next-generation vehicle infotainment system. This will allow future vehicles from Hyundai and Kia to support SmartThings Find, relaying their location to Samsung's servers through nearby Galaxy devices over Bluetooth Low Energy. You can then track the car's location using your Galaxy phone, even in a no-network area. Hyundai says it will also allow customers to track their vehicle's location using the SmartThings app even if it is not registered with its Connected Car Service. The deep SmartThings integration will enable you to use the Quick Panel on your Galaxy device to control the air conditioning of SmartThings-compatible cars from Hyundai and Kia. And if it is an electric vehicle, its remaining range will show up on your phone. Samsung claims that as a part of the agreement, it will work with Hyundai and Kia to use AI to provide "in-vehicle health monitoring via cameras and Galaxy devices, pet care solutions that optimize vehicle environments for pets, as well as integration with smart apartment solutions and SDVs." Time for Android Automotive to offer deeper Google Home integration If you are heavily invested in the SmartThings ecosystem, you'll be happy to know that Samsung will allow you to add compatible Hyundai or Kia vehicles to it in the future. You can then control other Samsung SmartThings-compatible smart home devices, like air conditioning and air purifiers, from your car. While vehicles from Volvo, Porsche, GMC, and others use Google's Android Automotive OS, none of them integrate with the Find My Device network or offer such deep smart home integration. They only have access to the Play Store and other Google services. Google should take a cue from Samsung's partnership with Hyundai and Kia and work with carmakers to offer such deep integration in their vehicles running Android Automotive OS.

Samsung Electronics Collaborates With Hyundai Motor and Kia to Further Expand the SmartThings Ecosystem

New business agreement entails close technical cooperation between organizations to deliver enhanced experiences at home and in their vehicles Users will be able to connect their Hyundai Motor and Kia automobiles to the Samsung SmartThings IoT platform and experience a wide array of life-improving functionality Samsung Electronics today announced the signing of a strategic technology partnership agreement with Hyundai Motor and Kia. The companies' shared goal is to elevate users' connectivity experiences by fully integrating the SmartThings IoT platform with Hyundai and Kia's software-defined vehicles (SDVs). The signing ceremony was held at Samsung Electronics' Seoul R&D Campus, with Samsung's participants including Paul (Kyungwhoon) Cheun, President, CTO of Device eXperience (DX) Division and Head of Samsung Research; Seungbeom Choi, Executive Vice President and Head of Device Platform Center; and Chanwoo Park, Executive Vice President and Head of IoT R&D Team. Participants from Hyundai and Kia included Chang Song, President and Head of Hyundai Motor Group Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division and Haeyoung Kwon, Vice President and Head of Hyundai Motor Group Infotainment Development Center. Through this agreement, Samsung will integrate SmartThings with Hyundai and Kia's next-generation infotainment system to offer a differentiated experience. First, they will introduce the global location solution function for vehicles and smart keys based on the SmartThings Find platform, which is a crowdsourced network of hundreds of millions of Samsung Galaxy devices that use the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to report their location. Through the SmartThings Find service, users can locate vehicles using nearby Galaxy smartphones -- even without a 4G or 5G cellular network connection -- meaning drivers can more easily track down their cars in the event of them being lost or stolen. Additionally, drivers can use their Galaxy's Quick Panel to control air conditioning and check their remaining range from their device. Vehicles can also be added to the connected SmartThings ecosystem, allowing users to return to a home with optimized conditions by controlling their Samsung air conditioners, air purifiers or other connected devices while driving home. As part of the agreement, Samsung will also continue collaborating with Hyundai and Kia to provide various AI-based services tailored to customer lifestyles and preferences. The companies will expand the use of SmartThings to include in-vehicle health monitoring via cameras and Galaxy devices, pet care solutions that optimize vehicle environments for pets, as well as integration with smart apartment solutions and SDVs. "Our goal is to enrich Hyundai Motor and Kia customers' mobility experience by offering personalized services that extend beyond transportation, seamlessly integrating vehicles with smartphones," said Chang Song, President and Head of Hyundai Motor Group Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division. "Through our collaboration with Hyundai and Kia, customers will experience the convenience of SmartThings not only at home but also in their vehicles, transcending space," said Paul (Kyungwhoon) Cheun, President, CTO of DX Division at Samsung Electronics and Head of Samsung Research. "We will continue to expand the SmartThings ecosystem, offering new lifestyles and value to even more customers." In January this year, Samsung and Hyundai announced to partnership focusing on home-to-car and car-to-home services that connect smartphones, vehicles and home appliances. Based on this agreement, the two organizations have been working toward a reality in which a Samsung device can be used to seamlessly control a Hyundai or Kia vehicle -- and home appliances can also be easily controlled from inside the vehicle. This latest evolution of the two companies' relationship now adds the aforementioned SmartThings functionality and cooperation to provide user-tailored AI services. Essentially, the scope of the collaboration has now been broadened to include even more comprehensive SDV integration -- as well as healthcare, pet care and smart apartment solutions.

Samsung, Hyundai Motor team up for connected cars

Song Chang-hyun, left, president and head of Hyundai Motor Group's advanced vehicle platform division, poses with Cheun Kyung-whoon, head of Samsung Research, after signing a tech partnership at Samsung Seoul R&D Campus, Wednesday. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics By Lee Min-hyung Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group have clinched a tech partnership to make smartphones control in-vehicle infotainment systems, the companies said Wednesday, as they seek opportunities in rising software-defined vehicle (SDV) business. Under the partnership, Samsung's Galaxy smartphone users will be able to find the location of their vehicles with their phones and access their vehicles' air conditioning systems simply with their smart devices. Hyundai Motor and Kia drivers will be able to control Samsung's smart consumer electronic devices with their car's infotainment system, and Galaxy users will be allowed to monitor their vehicles' real-time driving range and charging status with their devices. The carmakers are going all-out for their transition to become SDV makers. 42dot, a self-driving software subsidiary of the group, will stand at the center of boosting the partnership with the electronics firm. "Through our collaboration with Hyundai Motor and Kia, customers will experience the convenience of SmartThings not only at home but also in their vehicles, transcending space," Cheun Kyung-whoon, head of Samsung Research, said. "We will continue to expand the SmartThings ecosystem by offering new lifestyles and value to even more customers." SmartThings is a platform that connects devices from Samsung and its partners, helping its users to control all of their smart devices in one place. "Our goal is to enrich the mobility experiences of our customers by offering personalized services that extend beyond transportation, seamlessly integrating vehicles with smartphones," Song Chang-hyun, president and head of Hyundai Motor Group's advanced vehicle platform division, said. At this year's CES trade fair, the two carmakers displayed their vision to become the world's leading SDV manufacturer. They aim to build a user-centered vehicle environment and enhance the connectivity of their next-generation infotainment system, which will be unveiled in 2026. Under the latest partnership, both firms will launch more services, such as smart health care features through which drivers can monitor their health condition with Galaxy's wearable devices even on the road. Both sides also reached a consensus in deepening their tech ties by using artificial intelligence, so their users enjoy better in-vehicle experiences.