IT STARTS working as you leave work.

On schedule, your air conditioner gauges the temperature and pre-chills your lounge room.

Your smartwatch reminds you where you parked your car, and warns of traffic on your route.

Your smartphone lets you know your son is home, and your roast dinner is cooking.

And, as you approach its entrance, smart bulbs light up, helping you find your phone to swipe at the smart door lock.

It’s a scenario delivered by the Internet of Things — a concept in which appliances are connected to the internet and each other, working together to anticipate your needs.

The trend is tipped to grow 30 per cent this year alone, with more than 4.9 billion appliances connected to the internet by the end of 2015, according to Gartner.

But that figure, and its wider use, is expected to grow much more in the coming years, with 25 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020.

Smartphone giant Samsung is one company spearheading the IoT push, buying start-up SmartThings for a reported $US200 million last year, and supporting open-source software to run devices from many manufacturers.

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In Australia, however, the Internet of Things is still a concept for many people, as most internet-connected appliances and hubs are still only sold overseas.

Samsung will change that in the coming months, according to its Australian chief marketing officer Phil Newton, as he confirms the company will launch the “entire portfolio” of SmartThings devices in Australia.

That range will include the SmartThings Hub that connects and controls devices, the Samsung SmartCam HD Pro that can stream video from your home to your phone or tablet, the SmartThings Presence Sensor that can alert you to movement inside your home, and the SmartThings Moisture Sensor.

Used together, these devices could act as a home security system, alert you to flooding no matter where you were in the world, or let you know when family members or even pets arrived home or left the house.

The SmartThings Hub can also be used to control they Honeywell Lyric Thermostat to ensure a comfortable temperature upon your arrival home, or control devices plugged into SmartThings Power Outlets.

Devices from more than 200 companies are compatible with the SmartThings system, including Logitech, Sonos, Bose, Jawbone and D-Link.

Newton says the SmartThings system can be used in inventive ways, from making users coffee first thing in the morning, to turning the television off when homework needs to be completed.

“You can have multiple layers of security (with this system),” he says.

“The only thing you can’t do in Australia, by law, is turn the oven on remotely. There has to be someone there to click OK.”

Health-tracking will also feature in Samsung’s IoT plans in the form of the SleepSense device, unveiled in Germany earlier this month.

The device, which Newton says will be launched in Australia early next year, sits under a mattress and measures a user’s body movements, respiration and heart rate, uploading data to a smartphone app.

But SleepSense can be part of a larger picture, according to Samsung digital appliances business vice-president Yoon C. Lee.

It could, for example, determine when you’ve fallen asleep and automatically turn off a connected TV and turn up an air conditioner to ensure a comfortable rest.

“It will change the environment that you’re sleeping in by connecting with our home appliances and (consumer electronics) devices.” Lee says. “This is something new, never been done before, but I think it’s crucial in helping you to sleep better.”

Samsung’s IoT devices will compete with Belkin’s WeMo devices that include power monitors and smart plugs, Philips Hue lighting system, and coming devices that support Apple’s HomeKit and Google’s Brillo software, with a router called OnHub available for pre-order now.