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Samsung Launches SmartThings Pro For Gulf’s B2B Sector
The platform offers AI-driven automation to schools, offices, and hotels, optimizing cooling and energy use while supporting smart city goals.
Samsung Gulf Electronics has introduced SmartThings Pro, an advanced smart technology platform designed to tackle the unique challenges faced by businesses operating in an extreme climate and fast-moving market. Expanding on the Korean tech giant’s existing smart home innovations, SmartThings Pro brings enhanced automation, efficiency, and intelligent management to commercial and public sector spaces.
Ayman Al Hamalawi, Director and Head of the Air Conditioning Division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, emphasized the platform’s impact: “SmartThings Pro represents a pivotal moment in the evolution of smart building management across the region. We have developed this platform with a deep understanding of the region’s specific challenges, particularly in managing cooling efficiency and energy consumption in our extreme climate. SmartThings Pro not only addresses these challenges head-on but also aligns with the ambitious sustainability goals and smart city initiatives of the GCC nations”.
Samsung is stepping up its game by offering enterprise-grade solutions to tackle the Gulf’s pressing concerns — rising temperatures, high energy consumption, and increasingly ambitious sustainability requirements. As global temperatures climb, businesses enter a frustrating cycle: increased cooling demands lead to higher energy use and therefore, greater carbon emissions.

SmartThings Pro counters this problem with an AI-powered HVAC management system, optimizing cooling performance while minimizing electricity consumption, especially during the region’s scorching summer months. The feature is known as “proactive loss detection and energy optimization” which offers detailed, location-based reports, enabling businesses to fine-tune their operations and cut unnecessary energy expenses.
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Like its home automation cousin, the SmartThings Pro platform seamlessly integrates multiple devices within commercial environments like hotels and office buildings. It enables centralized management of air conditioning, humidity levels, lighting, security cameras, smart signage, temperature controls, and even televisions. Additionally, SmartThings Pro supports third-party devices such as locks, speakers, and sensors, offering a comprehensive automation solution.
Overall, SmartThings Pro represents a major leap forward in commercial IoT technology, offering Gulf enterprises a competitive edge through advanced automation and sustainability-focused solutions. By combining Samsung’s AI expertise with real-world business demands, it creates an adaptable ecosystem that evolves with company needs. Enterprise clients also gain access to customizable APIs for seamless integration, unlocking smarter resource management.
News
AltoVolo Opens Orders For Limited Edition Sigma eVTOLs
Early buyers can now reserve build slots for AltoVolo’s 500-mile hybrid aircraft through a new online configurator.
AltoVolo has started taking pre-orders for its first electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, the Sigma, moving the startup closer to commercial rollout. Customers can now secure a build slot with a £860 deposit and customize every detail online — from paintwork to seatbelt stitching. It’s the first configurator of its kind for a civilian eVTOL, mirroring how luxury car brands let clients tailor performance models before production.
The Sigma runs on a hybrid-electric tilting jet system built for long range and low noise. It can travel up to 500 miles at a 220-mph cruise, and is over 80% quieter than a helicopter. The three-seater weighs just 980kg and can maintain stable flight even if one jet fails. Safety systems include triple-redundant controls, thrust-vectoring stability and a ballistic parachute.
“We will be delivering an ultra-refined hybrid electric aircraft,” said founder and CEO Will Wood. “We believe there are thousands of customers for this type of cutting-edge technology”.
The first 100 units will come with exclusive materials and finishes. AltoVolo is also setting up a global service and maintenance network, with early planning for overhaul schedules already underway. The company’s focus on ownership experience echoes its ambition to anchor itself alongside established aviation brands rather than pure tech ventures.
To help new owners train, the company has built a full-scale simulator that replicates the Sigma cockpit in carbon fiber and leather. Pilots can log time toward a license using the system, aligned with the new US MOSAIC rules that ease certification for powered-lift aircraft. Certification work in Europe and the UK continues in parallel, signaling growing international alignment around light sport and eVTOL regulation.
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Noise inside the cabin has become another design focus. Engineers are refining internal vibration levels and developing a responsive soundscape that shifts with each jet’s power load — part feedback, part theatre.
Urban air mobility projects across the Gulf and elsewhere are pushing regulators and manufacturers to meet in the middle. Dubai, Riyadh and Doha have each outlined plans for air taxi corridors this decade. AltoVolo’s hybrid Sigma, sitting between electric promise and aviation realism, looks built for that middle ground.
