Samsung + SmartThings: Will the Internet of Things Stay Open?

By Mark Anderson

This week the smart home and “Internet of Things” company SmartThings announced it had been acquired by Samsung. Since its 2012 founding, SmartThings has been one of the more aggressively inclusive companies in the emerging smart home marketplace, selling a US $99 smart home hub and hosting an open community of developers to connect as many third-party household gadgets as possible—water heaters,sprinklers, garage door openers, TVs, and more.

And since announcing the buyout, SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson has been a conspicuous presence on the SmartThings blog, responding to critical comments from SmartThings fans that the acquisition has generated. …[Read more]