In addition to smart TVs and washing machines, more home appliances of LG, including air conditioners and air purifiers, will get voice control capability, the company has announced.
The update gives users abilities like adjusting thermostat setting on their LG air conditioners, asking refrigerators to make more ice and checking the air quality at home by talking to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Users can do the setup and control the entire line of LG smart home appliances using the SmartThingQ app.
“LG is unique in that we have a broad range of products for consumers which makes it easy for homeowners to enjoy all the convenience of today’s connected home,” said Kevin McNamara, senior vice president of LG Air Conditioning Technologies.
“Now that we have expanded our Wi-Fi capability to 13 more indoor units, nearly all of our indoor units are connected in the LG smart home ecosystem,” McNamara added.
LG was one of Google’s partners to bring Google Assistant to more devices to compete with Amazon. However, when it comes to smart home experience, LG focuses on bringing major platforms together so that every user can receive value from LG’s devices. This is why it supports both Alexa and Google Assistant.
In 2018 the South Korean company aims not only to make more of its home appliances connected to Wi-Fi, but also to include more smart home hubs with its Partnership-Open Platform-Open Connectivity project as well.
LG’s Korean rival Samsung, meanwhile, is on the path of building its own ecosystem and promoting its own voice assistant Bixby, although its SmartThings platform still supports both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.