Samsung doubles down on the smart home with a dedicated tablet

Korean tech giant Samsung unveiled its Home Hub tablet device at CES, which seems designed to be the lynchpin of a smart home ecosystem called the SmartThings Hub.

SmartThings Hub technology already exists and is designed to link various smart home devices – TVs, appliances, etc – together in one ecosystem.

“Historically, consumers relied on dedicated hubs to connect each of their devices,” said Mark Benson, Head of Product and Engineering at Samsung SmartThings. “By integrating SmartThings Hub technology into select Samsung products, we are eliminating a barrier to entry and streamlining the entire process to enable consumers to create the connected home of their dreams.”

What the Samsung Home Hub tablet is supposed to do is provide an interface to the smart appliances in the house – the idea being you can whack it out, change the music or check how many eggs are in the fridge without going through the rigamarole of standing up – all classic smart home fare.

As Samsung puts it: “Unveiled for the first time at CES, the all-new Samsung Home Hub takes connected home experiences to the next level with a SmartThings service that integrates with AI-connected appliances to simplify home management. Samsung Home Hub combines six SmartThings services into one convenient device that gives users complete control over their smart home and makes it easier to manage household chores.”

There’s not much more info than that, though The Verge notes that it will launch in Korea in the first half of 2022.

There’s a bit of parsing to do with the sometimes similar names Samsung gives to its bits of software and physical devices in the smart home space – certainly it might be easier for a potential customers to get their heads around it all if the word hub was occasionally substituted for something different.

The general concept of the smart home has been floating around the halls of CES for as long as this writer has covered tech – and Samsung has been one of the more active parties in trying to convince the world its washing machines need an internet connection. The ideas look more and more feasible each year though, and it can certainly be argued that interoperability between different smart devices is key to making the concept in any way labour saving. How much this device provides that since it seems to be all about the Samsung ecosystem, we will leave for the tech reviewers to conclude.