LG to Unveil Smart Hub at CES

LG has announced a new smart home hub which will be on show at next week’s CES show in Las Vegas.

When it comes to the smart home, giants in the tech industry have been fiercely battling for the top spot as the company that streamlines it all.

There are some differences though, the main one being a 3.5-inch LCD display atop the SmartThinQ Hub, which can show information such as the time, local weather, your next calendar event and more.

The SmartThinq Hub is meant to be used as a monitor and controller for all your other smart appliances and products.

Dumb devices are also compatible if they’re hooked up to SmartThinQ sensors via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The unit features a metallic body in two attractive color schemes: Champagne Gold and Black. Such partnerships allow LG to offer packaged bundles that enhance safety, energy savings, air care or convenience that might include a SmartThinQ Hub, a SmartThinQ sensor and a variety of smart appliances and devices from other manufacturers such as smart lighting, motion sensors and moisture detecting sensors. But this isn’t just an Amazon Echo clone with a screen instead of voice controls.

All this functionality will also be controllable remotely via smartphone app as well, so you don’t need to be in your home to control it. We’ll hear more about the SmartThinQ Hub at CES, and there will surely be many other smart home products announced there too. LG introduced the cylindrical hub on Wednesday and the resemblance is unmistakable. LG smart speaker can only be controlled via a smartphone as it lacks assistant voice capabilities. Thousands of free stations are also available through iHeartRadio.

Given those Echo comparisons, I’d be surprised to see the SmartThinQ Hub ring it at more than the $180 (£120/AU$250, converted roughly) that Amazon charges for its smart home cylinder, especially given that Echo houses its own AI and the SmartThinQ Hub does not.