2024-12-22T01:04:44-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/106499498/weekly-news-round-up-for-august-11-2014-monumental-politics-smart-homes-and-gsapp-s-new-dean Amelia Taylor-Hochberg 2014-08-18T12:53:00-04:00 >2023-10-18T12:15:27-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/gf/gfty4bt05v45oeby.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p><strong>Friday, August 15</strong></p> <ul><li><p><a title="Farewell to the Old Okura" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/106634364/farewell-to-the-old-okura" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Farewell to the Old Okura</a>: The famous Hotel Okura, built in the 1960s in a distinctive fusion of modern and traditional Japanese styles, is closing in response to prohibitive earthquake retrofits and larger, newer hotels in the area.</p></li><li><p><a title="Samsung Acquires SmartThings, A Fast-Growing Home Automation Startup" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/106628737/samsung-acquires-smartthings-a-fast-growing-home-automation-startup" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Samsung Acquires SmartThings, A Fast-Growing Home Automation Startup</a>: SmartThings, an aggregator for all "smart" internet-connected devices in the home, cost Samsung an estimated $200 million &mdash;chump change in comparison to Google's $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest.</p></li></ul><p><strong>Thursday, August 14</strong></p> <ul><li><a title="One ridesharing app to rule them all: Ridescout moves into the competitive world of rideshare" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/106553263/one-ridesharing-app-to-rule-them-all-ridescout-moves-into-the-competitive-world-of-rideshare" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">One ridesharing app to rule them all: Ridescout moves into the competitive world of rideshare</a>: Ridescout aggregates hundreds of ridesharing services to compare trips, and will now include "carpool" options that can help users share trips. The announcement comes after last week's news that Uber and Lyft are now both offering carpooling services.</li><li><a title="Revisiting the American Folk Art Museum controversy, through comics" href="http://archinect.com/news/article/106554065/revisiting-the-american-folk-art-museum-controversy-through-comics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Revisiting the American Folk Art Museum controversy, through comics</a>: A thoughtful and diplomatic look at AFAM's his...</li></ul> https://archinect.com/news/article/106628737/samsung-acquires-smartthings-a-fast-growing-home-automation-startup Archinect 2014-08-15T12:07:00-04:00 >2014-08-15T12:12:22-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/az/az089khkokx33ain.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Samsung is making a big push into being the center of the smart home today with its acquisition of SmartThings, which allows people to sync up their connected gadgets onto a single smartphone app and hardware hub.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Looks like Samsung is trying to catch up with <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/100942009/apple-s-homekit-turns-the-iphone-into-a-remote-for-your-smart-home" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple's upcoming HomeKit</a>.</p>