LG Electronics Unveils Speaker Equipped with Naver AI Platform
Published2017.11.20 11:06LG Electronics is accelerating its future growth engine, artificial intelligence (AI), by partnering with Naver, Korea's largest IT company.
LG Electronics unveiled the "ThinQ Hub," an AI speaker equipped with Naver's AI platform, Clova. This is the first product released since the two companies announced their collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence earlier this year.
The 'ThinQ Hub,' unveiled by LG Electronics last April, is equipped with a voice recognition AI platform developed in-house by LG. It excels at interacting with users to check and report the status of home appliances and control their operation.
This new product incorporates various AI services provided by Naver's 'Clova,' including music, traffic and information, lifestyle information, translation, English conversation, news, search, and podcasts. As a result, the 'ThinQ Hub' is now capable of both serving as an AI hub specialized for home appliance monitoring and control, as well as providing a wide range of 'Clova' AI services.
Users can stream music provided by 'Naver Music' through the 'ThinQ Hub's' 20-watt (W) high-output premium speaker with just a simple voice command. If you say, “Hi LG, play some romantic music,” you can listen to music suggested by Naver’s 'Clova'. It is also possible to enjoy music stored on a smartphone using Bluetooth, just like before.
Furthermore, unlike other devices equipped with Naver's Clova, 'ThinQ Hub' provides notification services to manage connected home appliances. It tells you if the refrigerator door is currently open, and automatically notifies you of filter replacements for air conditioners or air purifiers, as well as when to clean the washing machine drum.
The products compatible with the AI speaker include seven types of LG Electronics home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, robot vacuums, and ovens, as well as two types of IoT devices such as smart bulbs (model name: ILC60) and smart plugs (model name: ESP-700Z), and are expected to be continuously expanded.
In particular, users of the existing voice-recognition-enabled 'ThinQ Hub' can enjoy the same effect as purchasing a new product by updating the product's firmware.
After introducing the new 'ThinQ Hub' at approximately 100 LG Best Shop stores nationwide, LG Electronics plans to expand sales to all Best Shop locations by the end of this month. The price is 249,000 won. Buyers of the 'ThinQ Hub' will receive a smart bulb and a smart plug.
Kang Seok-ho, Platform Lead at Naver Clova, stated, “Naver’s AI platform, Clova, is striving to expand the foundation of the AI ecosystem by strengthening cooperation with partners,” adding, “Based on a close partnership with LG Electronics, Clova will provide users with a more convenient daily life experience through AI and together create a new culture of life.”
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