LG is taking the idea of a smart home pretty seriously.
The technology and appliance corporation has introduced its SmartThinQ Hub, which takes notifications from your connected smartphones and blasts them onto the device's 3.5-inch color LCD screen to allow you to stay on top of your most-pressing appointments and reminders even if your smartphone is upstairs and the Hub is downstairs.
But LG's SmartThinQ Hub doesn't stop with smartphones. The device also syncs with smart-home appliances such as robovacs, air conditioning, washing machines and even LED lighting to keep you abreast of user notifications that they might generate as well. The same goes for IoTVs and connected cars as well.
Although the SmartThinQ Hub looks similar to the Amazon Echo, how each device functions sharply differs. That's because, the Echo relies on audio cues, while the SmartThinQ Hub works off of connectivity and by syncing various smart devices — whether smart phones, home appliances or cars.
LG's Hub also includes a built-in Bluetooth speaker, enabling the device to stream music. Gizmodo additionally reports that since the SmartThinQ Hub supports Wi-Fi and Zigbee, it won't require users to have a home full of LG products for it to work. As long as smartphones and smart home appliances are able to pick up a connection signal to the SmartThinQ Hub, the notifications will work.
The SmartThinQ Hub will be available in black and gold, although LG hasn't announced a price just yet.
