In the opening keynote session of Samsung’s 4th annual Developer Conference, DJ Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung, welcomed the 5,000 developers and partners in attendance, while encouraging them to use the next two days of conference sessions at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco to explore every aspect of connected thinking.

“We must never stand still… Once every few generations, advances in science and technology create the perfect conditions for disruptions and change,” said Koh, adding “There are moments when old barriers give way and human potential expands to include a world of new opportunities. We are fortunate to live in such a moment.”

The captive audience cheered following an opening video depicting how technology can enhance our lives through connectedness.

Koh highlighted the strong year for Samsung, punctuated by the recent release of the Galaxy Note8, but Koh emphasized advances in technology and innovation are leading the way to a new era beyond the smartphone – to building seamless experiences through connected intelligence delivering “meaningful value to customers.”

In a world with billions of devices, Koh outlined his definition of connected thinking supported by a vision of intelligence being embedded in every device we use in order to meet people’s needs; from security platforms, to digital health, to pay applications and more.

Koh announced that Samsung will unite all of Samsung’s IoT services – Samsung Connect, SmartThings, and Artik into a single powerful platform under the SmartThings name, explaining that now, with the Internet of Things (IoT), the time has come to transcend the fragmentation of technologies, standards, and platforms, but added Samsung cannot do it alone.

“We do it with a commitment to listen and learn. We do it through open collaboration with thousands of manufacturers and developers. Based on a philosophy of innovation without barriers or limits. This is how we offer customers, developers, and partners the freedom to enjoy the full power of technology progress and change,” said Koh.

In closing, Koh said SmartThings will unite the largest ecosystem of mobile devices, appliances, TVs, and IoT sensors — not just smartphones — but also laptops, wearables, Gear VR, TVs, washers, dryers, refrigerators, home security, and so much more.

Power of Connected Thinking & Project Ambience

Following Koh’s remarks, Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President Injong Rhee, Head of Research & Development, Software & Services of Mobile Communications business, demonstrated the power of connected thinking through Bixby 2.0, proceeding to program Bixby on his smartphone simply through voice commands and then seamlessly posting photos of his daughter serving in Iraq, to social media.

Rhee went on to announce Samsung’s Project Ambience, the company’s driving concept for the future of intelligence. In a makeshift intelligent living room right on stage, Rhee demonstrated how every day pieces of technology with a tiny chipset module installed, can become powered by Bixby 2.0 and turn a space into an intelligent living space, powering a lamp, a charger and TV, all at once.

“Ambience challenges our assumptions of what we expect to be a ‘smart’ device, because anything can become intelligent,” explained Rhee.

He explained to the audience that in this new, intelligent world, Bixby will act as a control hub for connected devices with the SmartThings Cloud acting as the connecting fabric between them.

By doing so, Samsung is moving beyond the Internet of Things and taking the next step by connecting devices to intelligence, defining a new era: the Intelligence of Things.

“The goal is to make Project Ambience available to you, to develop applications we haven’t even thought of but which I know this community can develop, truly blow our minds. Let’s make intelligence of things a reality together for the millions of consumers who we reach each day.”