Samsung has announced it will bring a new “smart home” experience to consumer through its digital home appliance products powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligent (AI) technologies. This move is to offer consumers a seamless multi-devices experience.

The company’s 2018 “multi-device experience strategy” is to make people’s lives simpler and easier through connecting multiple products from Samsung and other manufacturers, said Steve Lee, president and CEO for Samsung Electronics, Southeast Asia and Oceania.

“We have been investing in innovation, as the resulting outcome is incredible technology and a solution that makes the consumer’s life easier and better,” he said at the Samsung Southeast Asia and Oeania Forum held last week in Rome, Italy.

“For 2018, we will continue to invest in IoT and AI,” added Lee.

He said Samsung believes IoT should be as easy as flipping a switch. The company is making IoT easier and almost seamless through the new products launched at the forum.

Sunggy Koo, vice president for Smart Appliances & Home IoT, Samsung Electronics said the company will transform “connected life experience” through leveraging the diverse market-leading portfolio in both home appliances and chips/CPU.

Samsung forecasts that 30 million of its appliances will be digitally connected by 2020.

Its appliance marketing strategy is to address the driving forces for creating “smart homes”, including increasing demand for monitoring and control via mobile, offering a more affordable lineup of connected appliance products; and providing various cross-device experiences. Samsung will focus on creating smart homes where a large number of small devices are connected digitally.

The company’s flagship IoT product will be the Samsung Family Hub, a single point that interacts with consumers every moment of every day, said Koo.

“We hide the complexity behind the device and offer a comfortable interface to the consumer. We chose the refrigerator as the family hub because it is only appliance that is always powered on, and its location which in most cases is the kitchen, is the centre of the home,” said Koo. “Consumer research revealed that people spend more time in the kitchen, which is the place to cook, eat, and socialise. So we call the refrigerator the ‘Family Hub’,” said Koo.

However, under the company’s integrated IoT strategy, there are three core element, said Lee. First, the SmartThings app will synchronise connectivity between the IoT devices with one app. Second, the SmartThings cloud manages the devices through a single cloud. Third, Bixby, an artificial intelligence powered by voice allows devices to work together.

Samsung in 2014 acquired start-up firm, SmartThings, and replaced its previous in-house Samsung Connect app.

Now, SmartThings’ role is to catalyse an easy transformation of any home into a smart home with a single point of control. Its role as a central app is to control Samsung and other devices and to improve hardware interactions. Samsung expects it to attract a new generation of customers.

Meanwhile, Samsung IoT cloud will enable more value-added services from ecosystem partners. With an estimated more than 1 billion connected devices worldwide, companies are betting on IoT technology catching on as consumers find they can make life simpler and easier.

Samsung’s emergence as the market leaders in their consumer electronics categories is not only driven by technology and innovation. Strategies concerning product design and product development to address consumers’ painpoints have had a major role in the company’s success.

Ken Ding, head of the product innovation team (PIT), Samsung Electronics, Southeast Asia and Oceania, noted the company has seven innovation centres and three research and development centres worldwide. Each works on research and innovation for Samsung consumer electronics products.

The company also has a Lifestyle Research Lab (LRL) working on consumer data insights, attempting to glean the fundamental drivers and emerging values that will shape future needs around consumer electronics products.

At Lifestyle Research Lab, Samsung divides the innovation process into four phases –explore (insights), concept (prototype), define (business opportunity) and act (commercialisation).

“At Samsung, we believe in open innovation. The product innovation team always works with external partners and internal teams within Samsung,” said Ding.

He pointed to the “AddWash” feature as an example of an innovation that emerged through their process. The add wash feature is an outcome of the combination of research and customer insight that emerged from discovering a customer painpoint in the Asia region, and go widely to the global market.

The feature allows the user to pause the washing machine and add in a missed clothing item through a small door. The add wash feature helped increase sales of Samsung’s washing machine worldwide.

The air-conditioning “Wind-Free” option is another profitable result that emerged from customer insight and subsequent innovation.

It allows consumers to maintain a cool room in a draft-free environment after the target low temperature has been reached. The wind-free feature helped Samsung increase sales of its air conditioners.

Samsung recently introduced the new generation of “Family Hub refrigerators” that come with the Bixby voice control and are integrated with the Samsung “SmartThings” IoT ecosystem.

And most recently, the company introduced QuickDrive, a new washing machine technology that allows consumers to reduce by half the time required to do laundry.

The Samsung WW7800M washing machine is also IoT-ready, boasting an AI-powered laundry assistant called Q-rator, which provides smart features that help manage laundry more conveniently.

The automobile company will further promote the use of the EV in Asia as well as the Oceanic region for a cleaner and more sustainable future.

According to a recent study, one in three Southeast Asian consumers planning to buy a car is open to purchasing an EV.

The finding demonstrates the region’s strong potential to speed up the electrification of mobility.

The result of the Nissan-commissioned study by Frost & Sullivan, entitled ‘The Future of Electric Vehicles in Southeast Asia’, was announced by Yutaka Sanada, Regional Senior Vice President of Nissan at the ‘Nissan Futures’ in Singapore last Tuesday.

Nissan Futures is a gathering of industry leaders, government officials and invited media, which included the Bulletin.

The study revealed that 37 per cent of prospective buyers in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines are open to considering an electric vehicle as their next car if tax is waived.

The same number of people also expects that their residence should have a charging station for EV.

Customers in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia emerged as the most enthusiastic about EVs.

With the right incentives, the region can accelerate the adoption of electric and electrified vehicles, the study showed.

Yutaka Sanada explained, “We are at a crossroad. There are many reasons to be optimistic about this region, especially in Southeast Asia where its GDP is at US$2.7 trillion and its population stands at 445 million – meaning that the average income is near to that of China’s.”

At the same time, he added, “There are numerous challenges, namely pollution, traffic jams, and climate change. These are some of the trends – the consequences of fast growing economies. To address these challenges, we need to be innovative and have intelligent solutions to create a better future.

“The aim of the Nissan Futures is to address the future of mobility. When we talk about the future, car manufacturers, the media, governments and stakeholders can play their specific roles,” Yutaka Sanada said.

He added, “We are pursuing the ‘Nissan intelligent mobility’ to move the people to a better world. Nissan believes in promoting electric vehicles not only as a mean of transportation but as a new type of vehicle where owners help their cities and communities to manage energy effectively.”

“Nissan wants to take the leadership role in bringing new mobility technology in electrification and autonomous driving,” Yutaka Sanada said.

He pointed out that Nissan has been in the front for bringing EVs to the mass market; the company introduced its first edition of Nissan Leaf in 2010 and sold more than 300,000 worldwide – it is currently the best-selling EV cars.

“Nissan Leaf is the most advanced EV in the world with the widest reach as well as the greatest stability,” Yutaka Sanada said.

He said positive customers’ response on the second edition of the Nissan Leaf launched four months ago is very strong in Japan, Europe and the US.

The Regional Senior Vice President said the new Nissan Leaf is 100 per cent electric, featuring a suite of advanced technologies showcasing Nissan ingenuity, and will go on sale in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand during the coming fiscal year.

This will be followed by Philippines and Indonesia, he said, adding that the company needs cooperation from the public and a private sector as well as stakeholders to successfully promote the EV technology.

The new collection of flagship consumer electronics products are aimed at simplifying the everyday lives of consumers and to address consumer needs in the emerging “smart home” environment.

At the forum, Samsung demonstrated its newest TV product, the 8K QLED TV with an 88-inch screen. The company said it believed that TV will become a dashboard for the user’s Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, enabling them to manage connected devices from the largest screen in their homes as well as seamlessly sync multiple devices to easily share content and notifications.

Next is the new generation “Family Hub” refrigerator, which comes with a wide range of smart features, including syncing food storage with meal preparation, keeping family members better connected and organised and providing enhanced entertainment. It also supports “Bixby” voice control and can be integrated with Samsung’s “SmartThings” IoT ecosystem.

Users can control and monitor their connected home from the Family Hub screen. With the “View Inside” app,

users can see the contents of their fridge and easily add items to their shopping list or tag items with reminders and expiration dates.

Users can better manage food inside the refrigerator. With the “Meal Planner” feature, the fridge will recommend a meal menu to users based on food preferences, dietary restrictions, and food expiration dates.

“QuickDrive” was another new technology launched at the forum. Installed in Samsung washing machines, it can help reduce the time required for a load of laundry by half, from an hour to about 39 minutes.

QuickDrive technology comes

pre-installed in the WW7800M washing machine, through a “Q-Drum” consisting of a large main drum and a plate in the black that rotates independently.

The machine moves clothes from top to bottom in the drum, while the plate in back introduces a back-and-forth movement. The combination creates a dynamic action powered by double forces that quickly removes dirt to deliver an intense and complete wash cycle.

QuickDrive offers a range of smart and convenient features. An Internet of Things (IoT)-ready and artificial intelligent (AI)-powered laundry assistant called “Q-rator” provides three smart features – laundry planner, laundry recipe, and home care

wizard.

Wanna Swuddigul, vice president, corporate marketing group, said the company’s multi-device experience strategy, “One Samsung Vision”, focuses marketing on customers rather than products. They look at how consumers get the most benefits from Samsung consumer electronics and how products (and what products) can address customers’ painpoints.

The One Samsung policy is also driven by Internet of Things and AI technologies that aim to provide customers with seamless experiences on multiple devices at home – including large screen TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines and vacuums.

“We create products with two factors – customers’ painpoints and trends. For example, the washing machine’s “AddWash” feature and the air conditioner’s “Wind-Free” feature were developed to address customers’ painpoints, while 8K QLED TV and the new generation of Family Hub refrigerator were developed to address the trend,” said Wanna.

She said the flagship products available in Thailand in 2018 include air conditioners with the Wind-Free feature, which was first launched in Thailand last year with a small BTU rating. For this year, it will be available in 18,000 BTU and 24,000 BTU models.

The washing machine with the QuickDrive feature is being launched for the first time in Thailand this year.

As well, the 8K QLED TV will be launched in the Thai market this year. Last year the company had success with the introduction of the 4K QLED TV in the large screen size, 55-inch, 65-inch, and 75-inch. The “The Family Hub refrigerator is a new product and we are waiting for the market feedback. We cannot yet commit to the exact time for launching it,” said Wanna.

Samsung is an innovation company, Wanna said, with product development driven by customer insight and technologies.

“This year, we will continue to maintain our market lead in all categories, including the number one market share in TVs and refrigerators, as well as increase our market share in washing machines and air conditioners where we are in the top three players,” said Wanna.

The company will focus more on new ways of marketing through the use of big data analysis, she added.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s “Connecting Commerce” report, Jakarta ranked 8th among 45 cities in the world with the highest confidence in the environment for digital transformation, beating London, Madrid, New York, as well as its closest neighbor, Singapore.

Based on a survey of 2,620 business executives in 45 cities worldwide, the city performed best in development of new technologies as well as innovation and entrepreneurship.

As a thriving economy and home to four startup companies valued at over US$1 billion, also known as unicorns, the city fared better in the two categories compared to Singapore, which is more connected as a city.

Jakarta was below Shanghai, Manila and Bangalore, among other Asian cities to top the list.

“Many respondents believe policies pursued at a city level have greater influence on businesses’ digital success than those originating at the national level. This view is especially strong in Asian metropolises such as Shanghai, Beijing, Bangalore and Jakarta, but also in Barcelona and New York,” the report said.

The Indonesian Fintech Association’s director of public policy, Ajisatria Suleiman, said Jakarta is indeed not San Francisco’s Silicon Valley, where many world-class tech companies and skilled professionals reside.

Its strength, he said, came from startup communities and coworking spaces, in which digital entrepreneurs could meet and share their ideas.

“Tech and digital development in Jakarta is very fast at the moment. It is dubbed the next China from Southeast Asia. Venture capitals directly contact these communities,” Ajisatria told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He said about 80 to 90 percent of 235 fintech companies currently resided in the capital.

Rieka Handayani, the head of public relations for the Indonesian E-Commerce Association (idEA), said the Jakarta administration had eased the business licensing process for startups.

“The process to obtain permits is not as complicated as in the past, when the administration asked for so many documents. Now, as long as we have a business plan and a revenue model, we can get permits,” Rieka said.

Some members of idEA said the licensing process in Jakarta and other big cities, such as Bandung and Yogyakarta, was getting easier because of the government’s support for digital businesses, she said.

There are many city-owned and private coworking spaces, as well as virtual offices that digital professionals can use.

The city administration itself currently manages two coworking spaces — JSC Hive, in Kuningan, South Jakarta, and Jakarta Creative Hub in Kebon Melati, Tanah Abang.

The commitment to reduce the period of business licensing came directly from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who had targeted to improve the country’s ranking in the World Bank’s annual Ease of Doing Business survey

Jakarta was among the cities surveyed in the study.

A concept paper on cryptocurrency will be finalised this month for public to decide on the future of such currency, says Bank Negara governor Muhammad Ibrahim.

He stressed that the central bank would not recognise cryptocurrency as fiat money. Bank Negara would also not ban cryptocurrency either but leave it to the market to decide on the fate of cryptocurrency. The key point is one must know what does it have internally.

“Basically, we will let the cryptocurrency promoters including bitcoin, ethereum and ripple to be more transparent, the methods to be more transparent and people behind the scene are to be more transparent too.

“By doing so, the public can decide on its own if they want to invest in cryptocurrencies,’’ he said.

Muhammad said this during a question and answer session at the 40th anniversary dinner of Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia.

Unlike other countries which decided to ban on cryptocurrency, Malaysia adopted a slightly different approach.

Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani had said Malaysia would not completely ban transaction on cryptocurrency as such move would “curb creativity and innovation in financial sector.

As of September 2017, there are more than 1,100 types of cryptocurrency.

On the other hand, Muhammad said according to data, many aged between 35 and 45 are bankrupt for owing credit cards.

While increase in cost of living is true, people should also examine their lifestyle.

He said currently 40 per cent of lower income group (income lower than RM3,855) still can’t afford to buy affordable homes.

“If your salary is about RM3,000 (USD789.47) , you can only afford to buy a RM180,000 (USD 47,368) property. But where can you find this type of property?”

He added that the high-end condominiums are oversupplied in the market but their price is unaffordable.

“We need to rectify this through market mechanism,’’ he said.

Facing an environment with changes taking place fast due to big data and information science and technology, Muhammad said policy makers should remain alert and do not live in their own world.

He said when facing changes, the scope for policy makers to take into consideration is even larger.

He said corporate sector hope the government would relax policy for them to look for new opportunities. But when risks are involved, the authorities are responsible to revise unfriendly policy in order to maintain the stability of market and its growth potential.

He also said that policy makers should be protective and emphasis on independence execution.

“When necessary, policy makers should be bold in drafting policies especially when the operation in financial and economic system face pressure or the yardsticks are no longer effective. “

He said the policies must be transparent with good communication so that the public would understand the policies for them to be effective.

Toshihiko Yoshitomi, 36, who works in the Appliances Development Department of Toto Ltd., succeeded in October in developing a movable flushing toilet system — something previously considered difficult to realize.

It looks like a normal type of toilet with a warm-water cleaning nozzle. However, if set beside a bed, even elderly people who have difficulty walking would be able to use it.

Human waste and paper, and any odor, are flushed into the drainage through a hose measuring 2 centimeters in diameter and a maximum of 8 meters in length. The hose can be connected to the drainage system via a relatively simple procedure. The toilet is priced at ¥398,000 without tax.

Yoshitomi learned about the difficulty of toilet support while seeing his grandfather receive nursing care. There were many problems, such as odor, disposal, discomfort of diapers and a feeling of shame.

Yoshitomi joined Toto in 2006 after studying control engineering as a student. He actively engaged in development work, aiming to make both caregivers and receivers feel at ease.

Having matter break into pieces so that it can pass through the narrow hose proved necessary for realizing a movable toilet system. During the first year and a half of his work, Yoshitomi investigated the hardness of his own solid waste by squeezing it in his hands and changing his meals on a daily basis. He was convinced that all human stools can be crushed into pieces using centrifugal force and water.  Yoshitomi then developed a rotary crusher, taking cues from washing machines, and installed it on his toilet system.

Yoshitomi was moved to tears when he heard how happy a customer was. “Up until now, I’ve not been drinking enough water out of consideration for the difficulty my family members face in handling my waste,” the customer said.

“I will continue to improve the system to make it possible for anyone to use it without help,” Yoshitomi said.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plans to use a small unmanned aerial vehicle to closely inspect conditions inside the No. 3 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as early as this month.

TEPCO will use the drone to examine the location of scattered debris and the level of radiation inside the reactor building, among other things.

It will be the first drone-based research conducted inside the plant’s Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactor buildings, in which nuclear meltdowns occurred.

The drone, called Riser, was developed by a British company. It measures 83 centimeters by 93 centimeters and weighs about four kilograms.

Riser is equipped with cameras and a dosimeter that can measure up to 2.5 sieverts of radiation per hour.

Even in indoor spaces inaccessible to GPS signals, the drone is capable of determining its position and avoiding obstacles using lasers.

The same model was used for decommissioning work at the Sellafield nuclear facility in Britain.

TEPCO’s plan is for the drone to enter the No. 3 reactor building through a bay for large cargo on the first floor, then fly upward through a series of openings from the first to the fifth floor.

The drone will check areas including the building’s third floor, which has not been sufficiently monitored because radiation levels are too high.

According to TEPCO, key equipment such as that used to cool spent nuclear fuel pools are located on the third floor.

Confirming the location of possible obstacles and the level of radiation is necessary before decommissioning work can progress.

Riser also has a mapping function that enables it to produce three-dimensional graphic images of its surroundings using lasers.

Combining these images with measurements of radiation levels allows for the production of maps outlining contamination levels inside the reactor buildings. TEPCO will consider making this kind of distribution map in the future.

A hydrogen explosion inside the No. 3 reactor building on March 14, 2011, destroyed the building’s upper structures.

Work is currently under way to construct a dome-shaped roof over the building to facilitate the removal of fuel that remains in the spent fuel storage pools.

Internal internet and wifi systems crashed at about 7:15 pm (1015 GMT) on Friday and were still not back to normal at midday on Saturday, Games organisers said.

Cyber-security teams and experts from South Korea’s defence ministry, plus four other ministries, formed part of a taskforce investigating the shutdown, they said, adding that it didn’t affect the high-tech opening ceremony.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US Vice-President Mike Pence were among the VIPs at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium late on Friday.

The outage follows warnings of malware phishing attacks targeting organisations working at the Olympics, and allegations of cyberattacks from Russia — which has denied any involvement.

North Korea has also blamed for a series of cyber incidents including the WannaCry global ransomware attack, which infected 300,000 computers worldwide last May.

“We don’t want to speculate because we’re still trying to find out what the root source is,” said Nancy Park, a spokeswoman for the Games organisers.

“We have some reports, we’ve been working all night trying to find out and working with our partners.”

WannaCry

South Korea showed off its technical expertise with a dazzling gala opening ceremony on Friday which included state-of-the-art special effects and augmented reality to add extra impact for TV viewers.

While internet and wifi were affected across the Olympic site — spread over two main venues in mountainous eastern South Korea — organisers said there was no impact on competition, which got into full swing on Saturday.

“There were some issues that impacted some of our non-critical systems last night for a few hours,” Games organisers said in a statement.

“These have not disrupted any events, or had any effect on the safety and security of any athletes or spectators,” they added.

“All competitions are running as planned and the systems are working at the expected level.”

Last month, cyber-security firm McAfee said it had uncovered an attack targeting organisations involved with the Olympics, using a malicious email attachment.

North Korea has been accused of involvement in a number of cyber incidents, including WannaCry — although it has slammed that accusation as “absurd”.

Russia has also denied launching any hacking attacks on the Pyeongchang Olympics, where its team is formally banned following the revelation of systemic doping.

While organisers wouldn’t comment on the possibility that an attack was behind the shutdown, experts believe disrupting the Games would be seen as a coup for many hackers.

“The whole world’s watching. It’s one of the largest stages you can possibly have to get a message out there,” Ross Rustici, senior director for intelligence Boston-based Cybereason told the Tribune News Service.

“You got a lot of lower-tier guys going after these games. It’s head-hunting, bragging rights,” Rustici was quoted as saying.