Samsung wants to turn your house into a smart home with these new SmartThings offerings

Shawn Knight

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Bottom line: Samsung's new SmartThings Cam is a little on the expensive side compared to true entry-level devices like the WyzeCam v2 but the Smart Plug and Smart Bulb look to be good buys, especially considering the former doesn't need to connect to a dedicated hub (neither does the SmartThings Cam).

Samsung on Monday introduced a new indoor security camera for the home. The SmartThings Cam offers Full HD resolution (1080p) with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and night vision through a 145-degree wide-angle lens. You also get two-way audio communication so you can talk to others (or even your pets) while you aren’t at home.

The SmartThings Cam includes 24 hours of cloud storage at no additional cost with the option to connect up to four SmartThings Cams. Premium 30-day cloud storage is also available with the ability to link up to eight SmartThings Cams for $79.99 per year.

Samsung is additionally expanding its SmartThings portfolio with the introduction of a SmartThings Wi-Fi Smart Plug and a SmartThings Smart Bulb.

The Wi-Fi Smart Plug allows you to make nearly any small appliance or electronic device smart. You can set timers and even control them using voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant. The SmartThings Smart Bulb can be dimmed and controlled using a voice assistant although you’ll need to link it to a SmartThings hub to use; the Wi-Fi Smart Plug and SmartThings Cam connect to your home Wi-Fi and thus don’t need the hub.

The Samsung SmartThings Cam is available from today priced at $89.99. You can also nab the SmartThings Wi-Fi Smart Plug for $17.99 and the SmartThings Smart Bulb for $9.99 each from Samsung’s website and at selection nationwide retailers.

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All kinds of nope! Each device perfectly fitted with government spy technology including remote microphone and webcam!
 
"Samsung wants to turn your house into a microphone tracking home with these new SmartThieves offerings"

I would have bought a large screen TV except now all of them come with microphones and video recorders. They are losing cash out of my wallet.

edit: spl
 
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GE's bulbs connect directly to Google Home and do not need a hub. Still looking for some decent plugs. Seriously people, its not difficult to track your network usage to see when and where packets are going. Tinfoil hats galore.
 
GE's bulbs connect directly to Google Home and do not need a hub. Still looking for some decent plugs. Seriously people, its not difficult to track your network usage to see when and where packets are going. Tinfoil hats galore.

You are free to believe whatever you want. And, do you think everyone knows how or has the time for this? You do realize a software push can change everything? How naive. Know what is easier? Don't buy the damn things - and save time, money, hassle, hardware failures, software failures, login accounts and personal info, etc etc!
 
You are free to believe whatever you want. And, do you think everyone knows how or has the time for this? You do realize a software push can change everything? How naive. Know what is easier? Don't buy the damn things - and save time, money, hassle, hardware failures, software failures, login accounts and personal info, etc etc!
Don't act like random people don't check this stuff on regular intervals . "You are free to believe whatever you want" I can say the same to you, that is not an argument. I've had Google Home for about a year and the only time I have failures is when my internet goes out. I already use a Pixel 2 so its only using the same info from the Google account I already have. Time saving? I mean, I tell it I am going to sleep/home/up and it sets the lights how I like them. Are the lights too bright while watching a movie? I just tell it to reduce them by 50%. My bulbs were also only $9 each. So... I guess if you want to stay in the stone age go ahead. I, however, will soon be getting smart plugs.
 
Don't act like random people don't check this stuff on regular intervals . "You are free to believe whatever you want" I can say the same to you, that is not an argument. I've had Google Home for about a year and the only time I have failures is when my internet goes out. I already use a Pixel 2 so its only using the same info from the Google account I already have. Time saving? I mean, I tell it I am going to sleep/home/up and it sets the lights how I like them. Are the lights too bright while watching a movie? I just tell it to reduce them by 50%. My bulbs were also only $9 each. So... I guess if you want to stay in the stone age go ahead. I, however, will soon be getting smart plugs.

Stone age, yep because you feel you are so much smarter than us. lol. You must feel so proud. Yes, time saving, as in we don't have to blow time setting these up and maintaining them, work more to pay for all of these gadgets, troubleshooting, etc etc. That is great you have a hobby though. They get outdated so now you will add them to the landfill and buy newer ones. Well, because you don't want to feel like you are in the stone age. lol. A fool and their money are easily parted. Don't mind if something happens to your camera because you feel you need to upload our facial recognition to the internet.

If you don't care about privacy, then your avatar must be your real name? Why hide behind a fake one, right?
 
I've had Google Home for about a year and the only time I have failures is when my internet goes out. I already use a Pixel 2 so its only using the same info from the Google account I already have. Time saving? I mean, I tell it I am going to sleep/home/up and it sets the lights how I like them. Are the lights too bright while watching a movie? I just tell it to reduce them by 50%. My bulbs were also only $9 each. So... I guess if you want to stay in the stone age go ahead. I, however, will soon be getting smart plugs.
I wouldn't be so quick to trust Google when setting up a smart home. They already threw their Nest customers under a bus. What's to stop them shutting down whatever wonderful smart home gadgets you buy and set up?
Source: https://www.extremetech.com/electronics/291159-google-killed-nests-interoperability-last-week
 
Stone age, yep because you feel you are so much smarter than us. lol. You must feel so proud. Yes, time saving, as in we don't have to blow time setting these up and maintaining them, work more to pay for all of these gadgets, troubleshooting, etc etc. That is great you have a hobby though. They get outdated so now you will add them to the landfill and buy newer ones. Well, because you don't want to feel like you are in the stone age. lol. A fool and their money are easily parted. Don't mind if something happens to your camera because you feel you need to upload our facial recognition to the internet.

If you don't care about privacy, then your avatar must be your real name? Why hide behind a fake one, right?
I never said I was smarter. You also act like setting up this stuff is some big time consuming thing. Its not. I also don't really maintain them, they just work, so id hardly call it a hobby. No idea how a plug or a light can get outdated, but ok. I never said I don't care about privacy, my avatar is my avatar that I use everywhere. I just find it funny that people carry around a smartphone and are worried about privacy. If you carry a smartphone your privacy is F'ed already, might as well enjoy it.
 
I wouldn't be so quick to trust Google when setting up a smart home. They already threw their Nest customers under a bus. What's to stop them shutting down whatever wonderful smart home gadgets you buy and set up?
Source: https://www.extremetech.com/electronics/291159-google-killed-nests-interoperability-last-week
Because the stuff I bought is "Works with Google Assistant" like the article says. If they release a specific Google Bulb/Plug, I am not going to lie, id buy it. Until then its GE for me.
 
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