Samsung wants to sell the digital brains that will go into billions of "smart" home appliances, industrial sensors and other Internet-connected gadgets - even if the gadgets aren't made by Samsung.

At a technology conference on Tuesday in San Francisco, the South Korean company unveiled a new line of tiny electronic components that combine low-power computer chips, transmitters and software. Manufacturers can build the components into everything from televisions to parking meters to orthopedic shoes.

The new Artik components are key to Samsung's goal of becoming a major player in the so-called Internet of Things, the tech industry's buzzword for the notion that all kinds of electronic devices can be connected over the Internet. This could be a $3 trillion industry in the next five years, analysts at International Data Corp have estimated.