Yoon C. Lee, a Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) executive, is giving a tour of his U.S. home in Oakland. He shows off his living room and foyer, then takes a look outside to check the garden. He considers turning on the sprinkler system before deciding the plants have enough water.

The thing is, hes not actually in California. Hes 8,000 miles away with a reporter in a Seoul conference room. Lee, a tall, 49-year-old, is at a huge table fiddling with a Galaxy S5 phone thats streaming live video from the U.S.

This is Samsungs next big bet as it works to build a future beyond mobile phones, where earnings are tumbling. Lee and his colleagues are trying to create another hit from whats known as the Internet of things, technology that stitches together phones, cameras, sprinklers and roads. If they succeed, the effort could propel sales of the companys electronics, appliances and chips for a generation; if they fail, the troubles will likely deepen.

Imagine if all the dumb things around you can be connected, said Lee. For Samsung, this is a big new opportunity, a huge paradigm shift. It will benefit us across all businesses.

Samsungs Internet push comes just as Apple Inc. (AAPL), Google Inc. and dozens of others are sizing up the same opportunity. Techs giants are all vying for leadership and collaborating where necessary. The market for the Internet of things is projected to hit $7.1 trillion by 2020, according to the research firm IDC.

An employee demonstrates using the air conditioner control function of the Samsung Smart Home system with a smartphone at the Samsung Innovation Museum, operated by Samsung Electronics Co., in Suwon, South Korea, on Nov. 5, 2014. Close

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An employee demonstrates using the air conditioner control function of the Samsung Smart Home system with a smartphone at the Samsung Innovation Museum, operated by Samsung Electronics Co., in Suwon, South Korea, on Nov. 5, 2014.

In a sign of how seriously Samsung is taking the effort, the company is transferring about 500 engineers from its mobile-phone division and allocating them largely to the Internet initiative, according to people familiar with the matter. The shift also reflects recognition that the Suwon, South Korea-based company needs another hit after smartphones, they said, asking not to be identified discussing internal matters.

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Samsung Hunts Next Hit With Internet Push as Phones Fade

111314 DREAM CENTER FIRE
The East Texas Dream Center. located at 301 South First received an occupancy certificate in March 2013 and moved in shortly after. The building they now occupy is the old Conroe Hospital....

By: SCOTT ENGLE

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111314 DREAM CENTER FIRE - Video

A local man looking to do a simple bank transaction unexpectedly received a free car wash on Tuesday afternoon.

The man was pulling into the Wells Fargo Bank drive-thru ATM when his high-profile truck struck the overhead sprinkler spigot which released a deluge of water, saturating the vehicle and presumably the driver.

On Wednesday, Tony Timmons, Wells Fargo Bank assistant vice president of corporate communications, said hes grateful the damage to the sprinkler system was moderate and no one was hurt as a result of the incident.

It was only the sprinkler head in the drive-thru that was damaged and it has been repaired, Timmons said. The drive-thru is back up and serving customers again today.

Additionally, Timmons noted that because the incident occurred on a national holiday, there was little inconvenience to the customers.

We were closed on Veterans Day and hopefully there was little to no impact from it, he said. I cant recall any similar incidents like that. It was a minor incident from our perspective and our teams worked quickly to restore the sprinkler system and our customers werent impacted.

Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Lewis said though the damage was minor, the system will require a complete inspection before its operable.

When you tear the head off, you have to have a certified sprinkler company to come out and make the repairs and they have to test the system, Lewis said. Its more of a process. The structure itself wasnt damaged, it was just the head that was torn off.

Additionally, the fire chief said a pretty good amount of water flowed through the broken sprinkler before the valve was manually shut off.

It was about a one-inch line, so it could generate about 60-to-80 gallons of water per minute, he said. Its actually not the first time. Thats at least twice that Im aware of at that location.

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Customer gets all wet attempting bank transaction

Video Evidence of Sprinkler System Working
19227 Quarry Lakes Ln - Video Evidence of Sprinkler System Working.

By: Joe Madigan

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Video Evidence of Sprinkler System Working - Video

Better prevention could have lessened an estimated $500,000 in damage from Tuesdays Dollar General fire in Silvis.

It would have made a great difference up there, said Assistant Silvis Fire Chief Steve Bein.

A restoration crew was trying to pick up the pieces on Wednesday at the Crosstown Shopping Center. Workers were clearing debris and securing the building just hours after a devastating fire.

Its pretty charred, said Property Manager Laurie Peters. It looks like pretty much all of the building got caught by the fire.

Thick smoke even startled firefighters on Tuesday. They worked high above and close to the ground. The fires timing and circumstances didnt help them.

Nobody was hurt. Shoppers and staffers made it out safely.

The fire worsened with paper products and other merchandise in the store. Plus, harm from something thats not inside.

There is no sprinkler system installed in this portion of the building, Peters said.

While the store had working smoke detectors that alerted employees to the fire, it did not have a sprinkler system.

While firefighters especially study the center of the building, whats not there could reveal a big part of the case.

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Lack of sprinkler system worsens Dollar General fire

30 minutes 54 seconds ago by Q2 News

BILLINGS - The owner of IHOP on the Billings West End is reviewing surveillance video after a person entered the restaurant and apparently tried to start a fire in the men's restroom.

Fire crews responded to the restaurant just before 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Owner Bob Llana said the restaurant was shut down momentarily while water around the restroom was cleaned up.

The restaurant reopened shortly after the cleanup.

Llana is not sure who caused the sprinkler system in the bathroom to go off, but he plans to review surveillance video and hand it over to the Billings Police Department.

He said nothing like this has happened at the restaurant before, and it appeared to be a random act.

"We handled it pretty quickly and took all the necessary steps," he said.

In the midst of the commotion, Llana said, the restaurant is celebrating the chain's highest operational assessment award for 2014.

He said they were reviewed and monitored on categories like food handling, preparation and cleanliness and scored perfect in all of the categories.

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Sprinkler system set off at IHOP

RICHLAND, WA- It is close to freezing outside and that can lead to some pretty big problems. This early cold snap has some companies in our area extremely busy. Now if you have not already, it is probably a good idea to take care of your sprinkler system.

Pat Mosley with Senske Systems said people should, "Definitely need to get their sprinklers blown out, absolutely. I mean this is such a critical time especially with this weather reaching below freezing now. If there is any water in their pipes it will crack, it will burst and the damages next year could be just tremendous."

Senkse Systems, one of the companies providing this service, said it is almost past their service season. They are still taking calls but have been working like crazy.

Jake Anderson called into Senkse and had his sprinkler system blown out. Anderson said he does it partly for, "The dog, she likes to enjoy the yard and she really likes it when its not all torn up. If we don't get the sprinklers blown out then the ice freezes in the pipes and we gotta fix them in the spring. It chews up all the grass."

Although Anderson told NBC Right Now he did not make his call too far in advance, Senske has been working on around 600 calls within the past few weeks. They have three crews at almost 20 sites a day.

Mosley said, "We're pretty busy because with this sudden cold weather, people are calling now because they don't want their pipes to freeze. We were thinking we would have kind of a milder winter, November month."

Now if you have not had your sprinklers blown out yet, Senske says the are taking a few more calls. Here are more options to check in with from area: -Craigslist search under "farm and garden services"

-Templeton Sprinkler Blowouts

-Tri-Cities Irrigation Landscape

-Quality Valve and Sprinkler

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Blow Out Your Sprinklers for Winter

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WICHITA, Kan. -- The cold weather is upon us. If you have a sprinkler system, you'll need to take steps to protect it from freezing.

Sean Nolte with Law Sprinkler Systems is in west Wichita to blow out the irrigation system at Dan O'Connell's house.

It's something O'Connell has had done every year. The last thing he wants if is for the water in the system to freeze potentially splitting one of the underground pvc pipes. For him it's peace of mind in case we have one of those bitterly cold winters.

"It was kind of lucky on that," said O'Connell. "Because I called last week and this was the first chance I could get in."

O'Connell has his own well so he doesn't have what's called a back flow. But those who are on city water have the device which prevents fertilizer and other contaminants from getting into the city water lines. Nolte says it's important to cover up the back flow to prevent it from freezing.

"I just have a blanket and a trash bag here," said Nolte. "And all I'm going to do is cover the back flow valve up with a blanket." He adds, "Put a trash bag over the top of it and it's going to buy you some time."

Nolte says if the water freezes and cracks the back flow you're looking at an expensive repair. The same is true if one of your underground irrigation pipes cracks.

It only costs about $50 to $65 to have your irrigation system blown out before winter. The experts say you may get by without having it done. but the one winter we have a long period of very cold weather, you may wish you had it done in the fall.

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Time to winterize your lawn sprinkler system

TWIN FALLS You see them every fall pickups with large air compressors in tow. Those vehicles belong to people putting sprinkler systems to bed for the winter.

If homeowners dont winterize their sprinkler lines, water remaining in the pipes might freeze and break underground pipes and fittings. That can mean a costly repair. Lawn services, landscapers and others wanting a side business have stepped in to help homeowners, and at the same time put some green in their pocket.

It can be a big or little business.

Frank Scherer of Twin Falls is a retired school counselor and has been working with sprinkler systems for years.

I picked it up myself, he said. He doesnt own a large compressor. His fits nicely in the back of his pickup and, at 90 psi, has just enough power for the blowouts, he said.

I cant afford a big one. They cost thousands of dollars, he said.

But he has a big enough clientele to keep him busy. On a good day, he can do 10 or 12 blowouts, he said. At $30 per household, the money can add up.

His son Scott, while doing a winterization at a house Saturday in Twin Falls, said he knows how his father spends the extra income.

Its his cruising money, he said of his fathers love of vacations.

Once you have the right equipment, blowing out the sprinkler systems isnt too difficult, Scott said. Finding the valves on the sprinkler system can take a little time, but generally, it takes more time driving to the house than it takes to do the blowout, he said.

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Businessmen Find a Niche in Sprinkler Winterization

Zone 1 demo for under $200 sprinkler system
This zone covers sprinkler to water grass and shrubs. And is made up of different kinds of sprinklers.

By: Vish Man

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Zone 1 demo for under $200 sprinkler system - Video