Kate Middleton Preparing For Baby No 4 Amid Prince William Adultery AllegationsJess Bolluyt August 15, 2014 Source: Blog.smartthings.com As new technology makes the Internet of Things and the automation of smart homes more available to ordinary consumers, they can go to Home Depot or Amazon not just to pick thermostats they know when they are out. While some hubs are designed to control only the devices specifically designed by third-party manufacturers to be compliant with that particular hub, or only the range of devices using one of a number of different communication protocols, there are a few hubs and platforms that are more common and intend to allow consumers to control just about any smart home device. That is where things get interesting. Through moving further into smart home automation and Samsung’s Internet of Things, SmartThings acquires a company that allows an open hub and network for controlling a variety of connected devices. On Thursday, Samsung revealed the acquisition that SmartThings would be able to make its software accessible for integration with many more devices supporting the platform’s existing compatibility with some 1000 devices and 8000 applications with Samsung’s resources and support. SmartThings will continue to operate independently within Samsung’s Open Innovation Center in Palo Alto California, under founder and chief executive Alex Hawkinson. “Samsung has been committed to smart homes and connected devices, and has been trying for a while to paint the dream. But because customers have lots of different devices, the trend is to be very accessible and our solution is to be open and agnostic protocol.” SmartThings is only one of an increasing number of platforms designed to connect large numbers of devices sensors and appliances in the home wirelessly so that owners can often monitor them over the Internet through a smartphone app. Apple recently announced its smart home platform for the HomeKit, which would allow users to monitor smart devices such as thermostats lights doors and iPhone security systems. Unlike the SmartThings platform, however, HomeKit does not pursue compatibility with any computer on the market. Although Apple will not reveal several HomeKit specifics until iOS 8 launches this fall, the platform is expected to support Bluetooth and WiFi-capable devices, but not those running on protocols such as ZigBee and Z-Wave. That means that HomeKit is likely to only be compatible with hardware as operated via the iPhone by a range of partnering manufacturers including Honeywell Philips Withings Schlage and Cree which Apple plans to support. In June, Nest, which Google purchased for $3.2 billion, launched the Nest Developer Plan. The software opens the Nest platform to developers and device manufacturers who can build integrations for lights and even fitness bands and cars with “Works with Nest.” Nevertheless, like HomeKit, the Nest platform is not compatible with the amount of communication protocols that SmartThings supports, and from a consumer point of view, purchasing devices specifically designed for “Work with Nest” is more restrictive than being able to install and attach any of a thousand different devices currently on the market easily. While others have developed other platforms similar in setup to Nest or HomeKit, there are a few available that are more like SmartThings in their ambition to connect devices running a variety of different communication protocols. For platforms such as the RevolvNinja Blocks is another platform that aims to connect any system on the market and states that its status as an unrestricted and open source network is basically “future proof” of its Ninja Sphere hub. More From Tech Cheat Sheet: 5 Gadgets From This Week: Electric Sweat Robot Butler The 5 Best Xbox One Exclusive Games Published So Far Samsung Jumps on the Metal Smartphone Bandwagon With the Galaxy Alpha