A few months ago, Samsung partnered with Hyundai and Kia to integrate SmartThings into the carmakers’ automobiles. That partnership is now going one step ahead with the integration of SmartThings Find in Hyundai and Kia cars. More connected car features will soon be available on Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

Locate lost or stolen Hyundai and Kia cars using SmartThings Find

Samsung has announced that it has signed a strategic technology partnership agreement with Hyundai Motor and Kia to elevate the user experience when using Samsung phones with Hyundai’s or Kia’s connected cars. The signing ceremony for this partnership agreement was held at Samsung Electronics’ R&D Campus in Seoul, South Korea.

SmartThings will be integrated into the next-generation infotainment systems of future Hyundai and Kia cars. If you buy one of those cars, you can locate your vehicle using the SmartThings app. SmartThings Find is an object location tracking system that uses Bluetooth LE mesh data from millions of Galaxy smartphones, tablets, and other devices to find lost or stolen objects.

The advantage of this direct integration is that it works even when a connected car’s native location tracking feature doesn’t work due to the unavailability of nearby cellular networks.

Control home appliances from car or adjust car settings from home

With SmartThings integration, you can set your home’s AC or air purifier to turn on when you are about to reach home. Moreover, you can use your Galaxy smartphone’s Quick Panel to control the car’s AC or check your Hyundai or Kia car’s remaining range.

Samsung, Hyundai, and Kia are also developing in-vehicle health monitoring features using a car’s built-in camera and a Galaxy smartwatch. The companies are also developing pet care solutions to optimize the vehicle environment for pets and integrate with smart apartment solutions, like SmartThings Pro.

Samsung, Hyundai, and Kia executives present at the ceremony are listed below.

• Chang Song: President and Head of Hyundai Motor Group Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division
• Haeyoung Kwon: Vice President and Head of Hyundai Motor Group Infotainment Development Center
• Paul (Kyungwhoon) Cheun: President, CTO of Device eXperience (DX) Division and Head of Samsung Research
• Seungbeom Choi: Executive Vice President and Head of Device Platform Center; and Chanwoo Park, Executive Vice President and Head of IoT R&D Team

Chang Song, President and Head of Hyundai Motor Group Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division, said, “Our goal is to enrich Hyundai Motor and Kia customers’ mobility experience by offering personalized services that extend beyond transportation, seamlessly integrating vehicles with smartphones.“