Samsung hopes to have its Artik chips found in actual cool and smart products. For instance, a robot that has emotions, a home security system that can tell the difference between animals and people, or a light switch that humans can talk to and respond to their questions.
Those applications seem cool that one could just wish the smart devices would be available soon. Samsung referenced the products that can be possibly created with its Artik chips. It is hoping its partners use the processors to create the gadgets then sell them.
Aside from being the world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung has other products such as business design and chips. Artik chips are designed to power smart devices in Internet of Things. They are a software and hardware mix to help firms easily build devices that are connected to the Internet.
Unveiled by Samsung's business of Strategy and Innovation Center in 2015, Artik chips can directly compete with chipmakers Qualcomm and Intel in its aim to provide connectivity. The light switch dubbed "Ambient," which people can talk to has a built-in microphone so the user can ask questions.
The home companion robot, "Otto" has a high definition camera on its head and a screen with blinking eyes. Otto can be controlled with a smartphone, and can move its head to check what is in the room.
The human can issue voice commands to the robot, similar to what he can do with Amazon Echo. The home security system, labelled the "NightHawk" has cameras to tell the house owner there is an intruder at the front door or it is just the dog wanting to go inside.
In the tech industry, chipmakers use reference designs to show hardware designers what is possible. Most chipmakers do not have their names on the devices. The finished products usually bear the customer's brands, according to CNET.
Meanwhile, the South Korean tech firm also announced Artik Cloud on April 27, Wednesday, an open data exchange platform to provide connectivity to apps and devices. It is easy to use, with open tools and APIs to collect, save and use any data from the cloud or connected device. From the devices, firms can bring new IoT services and solutions to the market, grow their business and tap new revenue streams.
"The launch of this exciting new platform not only signals Samsung's foray into the cloud services market," President & Chief Strategy Officer Young Sohn of Samsung stated in a post on the company's newsroom. "It reinforces our belief that, by creating powerful open platforms, we can harness the information generated by IoT to develop new insights and new approaches to address the major global challenges of today and tomorrow."
The Samsung Artik Cloud is already commercially available with a tiered pricing model. Developers can start using it for free on arktik.cloud.
The following video is when Samsung Artik was launched.