It will soon be possible for your LG home appliances to communicate and interact among themselves through your LG smartphone. The technology from LG is known as Thinq and its details will be announced during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), according to an announcement by the company. The CES is taking place in Las Vegas between January 6 and 9.
The possibilities of Thinq may include alerts for when the washing machine cycle ends or the kitchen timer goes off. Users may also set fridge temperature data and find out the energy efficiency of their devices to reduce electricity bills. This will be achieved using the Smart Grid technology.
The five key features of Thinq technology from LG include Smart Grid, Smart Diagnosis, Smart Access, Smart Adapt and Food Management. The LG smart appliances will also have LCD displays which will show monthly or weekly reports of energy usage so you may find out how to optimise energy consumption.
Apart from Thinq, LG will showcase the Hom-Bot robot at the CES, which will clean the house, feed the dog and enable you to monitor the house to make sure everything is according to plan. With time, more appliances and controlling methods will be added to the list of applications from LG and from other companies as well. For this system to work properly users will need to have Thinq compatible appliances and LG smartphones.
Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Sony – each has developed its own software cloud encompassing different kinds of consumer electronics products that can transmit data within itself.
For instance, a Samsung TV can communicate with a Samsung Galaxy S smartphone; and an iPhone can communicate with an Apple TV. This software cloud means that people who once own a certain brand will tend to buy other products that can communicate with that brand.
If you own an LG Optimus smartphone, for example, you would want a compatible fridge, and it will probably be an LG. That being said, hackers making apps across software clouds abound and it’s often a matter of searching for what one requires on the net.
The company’s Thinq software will first connect to the internet through WiFi and then to the smartphone (or any other mobile device). The mobile operating system that will power this revolution will likely be Android. Even food inventory in the refrigerator will be monitored through the system, which will require initial manual input by users as they buy and consume food. In future refrigerators may also be able to alert users if the door has been left open by mistake.