2022.11.15
More and more connected products in the home
A number of years ago, the first step was taken, with computers and mobile phones being connected to the internet, and now we are in the middle of the second step, which means that basically everything is connected to the internet and can thus be connected and communicate in different ways – IoT, Internet of Things or Internet of Things.
– Electrolux will be a leader in shaping the future of connected products that can give consumers even better experiences both in terms of cooking and how the home works in general, said Jan Brockmann, Electrolux Head of Global Operations and R&D almost seven years ago at CES in Las Vegas 2016, in connection with announcing a collaboration with Google.
Even then, Electrolux showed connected steam ovens equipped with a built-in camera that sends video via WiFi to your mobile phone or tablet, and via the app you can also adjust the temperature or humidity in the oven.
Electrolux is of course not alone in having launched a number of connected products in recent years – their connected steam ovens are just one example, and it could have been any manufacturer and any product category. Most manufacturers have been connecting more and more of their products for many years, which has brought a number of new opportunities for consumers to simplify their lives at home. And perhaps even more importantly, they collect a lot of data from users via their connected products, with the aim of creating even better and more tailored products and services in the future. The connection is therefore partly a way to offer services that do not exist today in the future.
Two out of three are online
Mark Benson, Head of Products & Engineering SmartThings at Samsung, said at CES this year that more than two-thirds of all homes in the US are equipped with some form of smart home product, and that we are now beginning to get a sense of what a connected home can mean.
Mark Benson introduced the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA), which was launched at CES 2022 in partnership with Electrolux, Haier, GE Appliances, Arçelik, Trane and American Standard Heating & Air Conditioning. The HCA, a member-driven organization, was founded to foster innovation and provide consumers with safe, interoperable devices in their connected homes, according to the organization’s website. Homeconnectivityalliance.org – where you can also see that the number of members has increased from seven to 13 over the past year, and the companies that have joined are Beko, Grundig, Leader, LG, Residio and Vestel.
Another company at the forefront of connectivity is Bosch, and at CES 2022, Tanja Rückert, Bosch Chief Digital Officer, said that Bosch is a ”Software + IoT” company, with 35,000 software developers (out of a total of 395,000 employees), and that 100 percent of the company’s electrical product categories are now connected.
In 2020, Bosch sold four million connected home products (tools and household products), and in 2021, the number grew to six million, a 50 percent increase. And by 2025, all Bosch products will be equipped with AI or manufactured with the help of AI.
Three connected product innovations
Samsung has recently expanded its Bespoke series with both washing machines and ovens, and when it comes to ovens, it is two new series (NV7000B and NQ7000B) with different steam functions such as Full Steam, Add Steam and Natural Steam as well as Air Frying and Air Sous Vide. Both oven series are equipped with SmartThings Cooking, which you can access via the SmartThings app.
Bosch new washing machines and dryers in the 8 Series are more energy efficient than the best energy classification requires (washing machines consume 20 percent less energy than required to be classified as A, while dryers – a product group that still has the old energy label – consume 10 percent less energy than required to be classified as A+++). The automatic i-DOS dosing system doses the exact amount of detergent for each wash, so that both detergent and water can be saved compared to dosing manually, and with the Home Connect app, the user can scan the packaging of their favorite detergent so that the concentration of the detergent is communicated to the washing machine, thus achieving extra dosing precision. Communication, via the Home Connect app, between the washing machine and dryer also provides automatic and optimized setting of drying programs.
Miele has launched a range of connected appliances this autumn, including a new series of combi-steam ovens equipped with the HydroClean function, which means that they clean themselves. Pyrolysis is not an option in combi-steam ovens because the high temperature does not work well with the seals in the product, which is why Miele has developed HydroClean – a cleaning program that, at a temperature of 75 degrees, cleans the inside of the oven in 2.5-5 hours. Miele recommends running the program once a quarter, or more often if you roast and grill a lot in the oven.
New laws for connected products are in the works
On September 15, 2022, the European Commission proposed new cybersecurity requirements for connected products and ancillary services.
A brief summary of the background is that digital products and services create opportunities for EU economies and societies. But they also lead to new challenges – when everything is connected, a cybersecurity incident can affect an entire system and disrupt economic and social activities.
The initiative aims to meet market needs and protect consumers from unsafe products by introducing common cybersecurity rules for manufacturers and providers of tangible and intangible digital products and services.
On Cyber resilience act – new cybersecurity rules for digital products and ancillary services can you download ”Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on comprehensive cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020” as well as a number of supplementary documents, and you can provide feedback on the proposal.
Text: Ola Larsson
