SmartThings Support Is Coming To Amazon Echo
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch :
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second major smart home integration for Echo in 2015: in April, Amazon added voice control for Hue bulbs and WeMo switches, and SmartThings support extends that from individual devices to a whole-hub platform owned by Samsung's recent acquisition. Each integration has arrived piecemeal, with Echo picking partners one at a time rather than opening up broadly.
That ad-hoc approach is what gives this announcement its weight — SmartThings is a hub, so Alexa can plausibly command every device attached to it at once. The trajectory continues afterward: custom triggers via IFTTT by November, then a formal developer path when Amazon ships the Smart Home Skill API into the Alexa Skills Kit.
First-order effects
- SmartThings users gain hands-free voice control over their connected devices through Echo without needing to open an app or use a separate hub interface.
- Amazon's Echo moves upmarket in the smart home stack overnight, competing directly for the role Samsung bought SmartThings to occupy — the center of the connected home.
Second-order effects
- Rival hubs and ecosystems face pressure to add their own voice interfaces or partner with Alexa, accelerating the third-party integration wave visible at CES 2016.
- Samsung's SmartThings gets a new distribution surface inside a competitor's hardware, trading some hub-centricity for reach among Echo owners.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — device-by-device deals, then IFTTT glue, then a public skill API — the smart home consolidates around whoever owns the voice entry point, with hubs demoted to plumbing beneath assistants like Alexa.
The trend: Voice assistants are becoming the default control layer for the smart home, with each new integration pulling more of the ecosystem under Amazon's interface.