LG aims to make the smart home experience available to more consumers, and thus, it is offering a free Google Home speaker with the purchase of any Wi-Fi-enabled LG appliance in the United States. LG offers several Wi-Fi-enabled appliances ranging from washing machines to refrigerators, dishwashers, vacuums, air purifiers and ovens.
Once the Google Home speaker and LG appliances are configured, a user can activate the gadget by giving a voice command. Users will be able to track the time left on the current wash cycle, operate the oven, control the air conditioning or even monitor the air quality in their home. To connect the devices, a user first needs to link their Google account with their LG SmartThinQ account.
According to LG’s Home Appliances & Air Solutions Company President Song Dae-hyun, “LG makes it especially easy for consumers to connect and interact with Wi-Fi built into virtually all of its 2017 appliances. Our collaboration with Google is an example of our strategy of Open Partnership, Open Platform, and Open Connectivity.”
LG’s smart appliances are already compatible with Amazon Alexa. Other companies such as Whirlpool and GE have added both Alexa and Google Assistant functionality to their appliances. Now LG is looking to expand its voice control offering to a wider variety of appliances, and hopefully, the voice command options will have useful features for customers.
LG’s SmartThinQ platform offers a connection between LG’s Wi-Fi devices and conventional home automation devices such as Zigbee light switches, blind controllers, power sockets and so on. This is good for users as even if the Google Home speaker does not work out for some reason, they always have another option, notes The Verge. In a way, LG is open to all options to get closer to its target of an “open” smart home strategy.
LG’s offer runs from October 8 to 25 and is applicable to about 90 smart appliances sold by LG. It surely is a lucrative offer, as a Google Home assistant costs $130. Visit LG’s site to locate a retailer participating in the promo.
Encouraged by the positive response to the Google Home speaker, the device’s makers are reportedly planning to launch the Google Home Mini in October. At the October 4 event where the search engine giant is set to launch the Pixel 2 smartphone, it may also unveil the mini version of its Home Speaker.
According to the tech news site Droid life, the mini version could come with a price tag of $49, verses to $129 for the existing Google Home speaker. The standard and the mini versions will compete with the Amazon Echo (launched in July 2015) and Echo Dot (arrived in March 2016). A report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners notes that Amazon captures 75% of the home assistant market with 15 million Echo devices, while Google Home is at a distant second place with a 24% share totaling to 5 million units.
Meanwhile, Google has been updating its Home speaker to make it even more useful for users. Reports suggest that a “set reminder” feature might arrive soon allowing users to set reminders with their voice.
