Yes, you heard it right, as a part of the Samsung Galaxy at Home Upcycling Program the South Korean giant is allowing users to repurpose their old Galaxy smartphones. Through this initiative, they can turn their phones into Smart home devices. This program intends to make the best use of waste mobile phones or unwanted products into new materials or products.
In the Samsung Galaxy Upcycling at Home Program, the Galaxy devices are transformed into SmartThings devices. According to the company, the users will have access to the complete SmartThings ecosystem, enabling them to explore broader updates and features without having to purchase a new device. It will also provide improved enhanced sound and light-control features, by repurposing built-in sensors. Users can transform their old devices through SmartThings Labs, a feature within the SmartThings app.
As of now, this program is under beta service for Galaxy Upcycling at Home in the US, the UK and Korea. The program mainly focuses on Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production – by reducing waste and promoting more sustainable production practices and consumer behaviours.
The Galaxy Upcycling at Home will be offering various options and new solutions in order to make life easier by encouraging more sustainable habits that are environmentally friendly also. This will also help the company extend the lifecycle of its products while diverting its users from contributing to global e-waste.
The users will be able to easily turn their old Galaxy devices into smart home devices like a childcare monitor, a pet care solution and other tools that meet individual lifestyle needs. Currently, this feature is available on all Galaxy S, Note, and Z series released from 2018 (S9, Note9 or later) running Android 9 and above. According to the company, more devices will be supported in the future.
By utilising an improved artificial intelligence (AI) solution, the Galaxy device can be used to record or save certain sounds such as a baby crying, dog barking, cat meowing, or a knock. While it distinguishes sounds in everyday surroundings it will send an alert directly to the user’s smartphone and the user can listen to the recorded sound.
Apart from this, the Samsung Galaxy phones may also be employed as a light sensor to measure the brightness level of the room. So that the user can access the device to automatically turn on the lights or the TV through SmartThings if the room becomes darker than the preset standard of light.
For this the phone needs to detect the sound and light continuously therefore it must be actively operating for long periods of time. Accordingly, Samsung equipped the Galaxy Upcycling at Home upgrade with battery optimization solutions to minimize battery usage so that it stays connected to SmartThings.
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