Samsung to invest $100M in Internet of Things developers

LAS VEGAS — Samsung chief executive Boo-Keun Yoon said that his company will invest up to $100 million in the developer community for applications for the Internet of Things.

This category — where everyday devices become smart and connected — is a big theme at the 2015 International CES, the tech trade show where Yoon gave one of the opening keynotes today.

He said that in 2017, about 90 percent of Samsung’s products would be connected in some way to the Internet of Things. To get ready for that day, Samsung needs to invest in a lot of developers and startups that can create meaningful applications based on all of the data collected from the newly created devices.

Yoon pointed to a clever app dubbed EarlySense, which keeps people out of hospitals by detecting problems early. It does so by helping people measure the quality of their sleep and diagnosing any problems in their sleep patterns.

“It’s my job to find the companies,” Yoon said, that are doing amazing things and do what is necessary to get their ideas to the widest possible market. “We have to strike partnerships everywhere.”

He said that the development of applications has to occur across industries and keep security in mind.

“To make the Internet of Things happen,” he said. “It takes more than one company. It takes more than one industry.”