Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced that its entire 2016 Smart TV lineup will be Internet-of-Things (IoT) ready and connected with the SmartThings open platform.

The South Korean giant also added that its 2016 SUHD TVs will apply IoT hub technology, a technology Samsung and SmartThings developed together. The IoT hub allows the TV itself to act as a controller of the smart home.

“The 2016 lineup of Smart TVs will offer consumers new possibilities and cement Samsung’s market leading position, as the first company to launch IoT-ready TVs,” said Hyun Suk Kim, president of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics.

These upcoming IoT-ready TVs will be able to control not only Samsung and SmartThings sensors, but also more than 200 SmartThings-compatible devices, ranging from connected lights, locks, thermostats, cameras and more devices from high-quality, third-party manufacturers.

“With Samsung Smart TVs working with the SmartThings technology, we have an opportunity to reach millions of households,” said Alex Hawkinson, CEO and cofounder of SmartThings, Inc. “Applying this technology into current household devices is a major step forwards that will make it much easier for everyone to experience the benefits of a smart home.”

Samsung plans to showcase these IoT-ready TVs at CES 2016.

Samsung to amp up wearables with Bio-Processor

Samsung also announced that its Bio-Processor, an all-in-one advanced system logic chip for the health-oriented wearables market, is already in mass production and will be available in fitness/health devices within the first half of 2016 to address the growing need for innovative wearable devices.

The company said this is the industry’s first all-in-one health solution chip that integrates Analog Front Ends (AFE), microcontroller unit, power management integrated circuit, digital signal processor, and eFlash memory, to be able to process bio-signals measured, eliminating the need for external processing parts. Despite the integration, the chip remains small, which in turn will allow for the development of smaller health and fitness trackers or better designed trackers that consumers would want to wear for longer periods, not just while working out.

The Bio-Processor was designed to integrate five AFEs, which includes bioelectrical impedance analysis, photoplethysmogram, electrocardiogram, skin temperature and galvanic skin response, into a single chip solution that measures body fat, skeletal muscle mass, heart rate, heart rhythm, skin temperature and stress level. The combinations of these fitness inputs can be considered for a variety of new use cases.

Photo by pestoverde