South Korean consumer electronics giant LG is planning to offer smart home products in India and collaborate with local telecom operators.
South Korean consumer electronics giant LG is planning to offer smart home products in India and collaborate with local telecom operators.
By partnering with telecom operators, the company hopes to address the network connection requirement. Telecom operators can then bundle their Internet service with LG’s smart home products. After all, these smart home devices need to connect to the Internet to function.
Ki Wan Kim, the managing director of LG Electronics India, has told the media about an upcoming meeting with an Indian telecom service provider to discuss the smart home service cooperation. However, he didn’t mention the name of the telecom firm interested in the partnership.
Telecom operators have gradually become leaders in IoT services by means of customized subscription plans and Internet services, Kim said.
LG plans to introduce appliances equipped with features such as LG HomeChat and SmartThinQ, so that users will be able to control their smart home devices via smartphones.
LG HomeChat sends notifications to a user’s smartphone to inform steps and status of progress on activities, for example, the working status of a washing machine. SmartThinQ, on the other hand, allows users to control connected home appliances from their smartphones. For instance, they can start a new washing cycle, no matter where they physically are, directly and remotely from their phones.
Recently LG launched its series of smart home appliances in Taiwan, including washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners and cleaning robots. Users can control various devices of the LG brand via the SmartThinQ app.
The latest rollout was followed by the success LG had with its cleaning robots and air purifiers introduced last year in the Taiwanese market.