Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today showcases its latest home appliance lineup at the press conference held in the global launch event, ‘Welcome to ‘BESPOKE AI’, which takes place in three locations – Seoul, Paris, and New York City. Samsung shares its vision for how connectivity amongst them can improve the overall experience at home and how artificial intelligence (AI) enhances the performance of appliances.
Jong-Hee (JH) Han, Vice Chairman, CEO, and Head of Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics, kicked off the marathon of events by opening the media event at the Seoul ‘Welcome to BESPOKE AI’ by describing how Samsung home appliances not only perform well with the usual tasks but can do more than previously imagined with AI applied. Especially with screens added to the refrigerator, induction range, and laundry machine, Bespoke appliances become a platform for entertainment, as well as an easy-to-access control hub for other connected Samsung appliances through SmartThings.
“Since the first introduction of BESPOKE in 2019, Samsung Electronics has presented to the market on how appliances can be customized to best fit each user’s home and lifestyle,” said JH Han. “Five years later, we now share our vision for AI in appliances with the products that expand the Bespoke legacy through enhanced connectivity and AI capabilities that will take the consumer experience to the next level.”
Bespoke AI Appliances Sync to Create New Experiences in Various Home Spaces
With built-in Wi-Fi, internal cameras, AI chips and compatibility with the SmartThings application, Samsung’s latest Bespoke AI appliances come with enhanced features and connectivity to lay the foundation for a truly smart home. Also, the new AI Home, a connected 7-inch LCD display that has been added to multiple products, provides intuitive, easy access and control over the whole connected ecosystem.
Considering how people have mobile phones with them most of the time, Mobile Smart Connect is a new feature that pushes an alert to the phone when it is at close range with registered appliances. The pop-up notification includes a quick control menu to execute key functions for the appliance directly from the phone, so users no longer have to search the house, looking for the actual remote control. This eliminates even the few steps and clicks that were required to access the same features in the SmartThings application.
AI Expands Spectrum of Features to Samsung Home Appliances
The most distinctive difference between the three events, other than the location, is the product lineup unveiled during the respective press conferences, which reflects the actual appliances that will launch in each market.
The Seoul ‘BESPOKE AI’ event started off with the biggest lineup among the three locations with 14 new products including: the Bespoke French Door Refrigerator with AI Family Hub™+, Bespoke Infinite Induction Line, Bespoke AI Laundry Combo™, Bespoke Jet Bot Combo™ AI, Bespoke Jet AI™, Bespoke Cube™ Air Infinite Line, the new 2024 4-Door refrigerator incorporating peltier technology and more.
The Bespoke AI Laundry Combo™, presented at both Seoul and NYC events, is the All-in-One washer and dryer, providing the advantages of two separate appliances while freeing up valuable space. It comes with various AI features, such as remembering the periodic and seasonal needs of users and recommending the optimal cycle for the wash. With AI Opti Wash & Dry™, the Bespoke AI Laundry Combo™ intelligently adjusts the washing and drying performance for each load and senses the weight of the laundry to dispense the appropriate amount of water and detergent. It also detects the fabric and monitors the level of soiling during a cycle. If necessary, it adds more detergent and varies the washing time. It then adjusts the drying process to suit the weight and fabric type of users’ laundry. After finishing the cycle, users can monitor how much energy and water were consumed through the report provided on the Smart Things App.
Advancing the Future of Appliances.
Samsung is not only dedicated to presenting a better home experience, but also committed to creating more innovative and efficient products. The event was especially meaningful in the context that it not only introduced the new product lineups and features Samsung is launching, but also announced globally how all Wi-Fi connected appliances including those that customers already own, can change.
Samsung continues to upgrade Wi-fi connected appliances in the market and already in users’ homes through software updates and the development of Smart Things. Users can enjoy new features even with old models, and more energy saving features with products that were already bought. Smart Forward, announced for the first time at the event, is a service that provides newest features, security patches, and upgrades through regular software updates. Users will be able to check available update information and receive notifications from the SmartThings App. This ensures users with peace of mind and also contributes by reducing the frequency of appliance replacements.
SmartThings also continues to evolve, allowing users to save additionally on their energy usage after purchasing a product. Features such as Optimal Charging, for example, are added so users can strategically plan out their energy use. SmartThings Energy allows users to easily monitor and control the amount of energy consumed by the connected Samsung appliances. Samsung also plans to launch its new Samsung Rewards program in the near future, which will allow users to get stamps each day if they save a certain amount of energy using AI Energy mode. Accumulated stamps can be converted and used at Samsung.com, Samsung Galaxy store and other Samsung purchase platforms.
As a crucial player in the home appliance industry, Samsung revealed a goal to utilize next generation technologies for purposes beyond creating innovative products. It is about using engineering solutions that prolong product life cycles, and reduce the frequency of replacements. Some of the methods introduced in the press conference include: Hybrid Cooling, newly incorporating the newly installed high-power ‘Peltier’ thermoelectric components in addition to the compressor resulting in improved cooling efficiency and performance, and low-maintenance filters for air purifiers obliterating the need for filter purchases or replacements.
Product safety is also an important factor that Samsung prioritizes, and Samsung strives to achieve and expand certifications to prove its product liability across all appliance categories, including reduced fire risk (RFR) certification for new products. This will assure that the certified appliances are designed to effectively prevent fire incidents caused by the product.