LG Smart Control : Revolutionizing the way we use our gadgets

I don’t know about you, but when I think using technology at home, I imagine a few things. Using hand gestures and voice commands to control the home entertainment centre. No more searching for the missing remote. Using my phone to control every appliance at home, so that I don’t have to get up from the bed to switch off the lights. Everything pre-programmed, making me the ultimate couch potato.

LG wants to make that happen with its Smart Control.

 

LG’s brand slogan “Life’s Good” conveys a message that we are focus in enriching customers’ lives with our products and services. Over the years we have observed customers’ habits and design products that satisfy and keep up with their lifestyle. The modern and hectic lifestyle has made us more reliant on electronic gadgets, hence LG designed mobile communication products that will not only satisfy customer’s needs while on the move but also the interconnectivity within the gadget eco-system. We have incorporated Smart features within our TV and mobile phones such as NFC Tag On, Smart Share, Miracast and WiDi to harness technology to improve the way our customers can engage with their devices.

Scott Jung, Managing Director, LG Electronics Singapore.

There are all sorts of “smart” electronics now, each claiming to do more for us. The next step would be to get all these electronics to work together, transforming the way we live, work and play. These transformations must be done in a way that is intuitive to us. Easy to understand and use, without adding more work. Think back to the movie “Minority Report”. LG’s Smart Control is LG’s attempt to change the way we live our lives.

HomeChat

One prime example of how LG will be doing it is through HomeChat. To be introduced at CES 2014, HomeChat is a messenger app that will let you “talk” to all your home appliance. LG introduced many smart home appliances at CES 2013, and HomeChat is the next logical iterative step. It will let you talk to and control them all through a single interface. Tell the system “I’ll be on vacation,” for instance, it’ll put your refrigerator into power-savings mode and program the robotic vacuum cleaner. The app will also let you see what’s in your fridge, telling you what you can cook for dinner tonight. If that’s not cool, what is!? I can’t wait to find out more next year. This is something I could really get into.

Let’s recap some of the stuff that LG introduced at CES 2013.

LG Smart TVs with a new Tag line

Easy to Use, Easy to Enjoy, Easy to Connect

Motion control. How much easier can controlling the TV be. Already present in TVs such as the LG LA8600. Control the volume, channels etc without getting up from your seat and looking for your remote.

If motion control doesn’t rock your boat, LG has improved their remote with two new features of Magic Remote (Gesture and Voice Search). Gesture allows you to control the TV by pre recognized gestures. Writing 5 using your remote will change your channel to channel 5. Voice search will also allow you to speak into your remote, allowing for clearer and easier control through voice commands.

Not forgetting the TV Remote App, which lets you control your TV via your LG phone. LG also introduced NFC stickers, LG TV Tag On. You just need to tap your phone onto the sticker, and connection between the TV and phone will be established. No fiddling for settings.

LG will also be featuring Qualcomm’s AllJoyn protocol. This further simplifies the connection between your phone and TV!

LG Home appliances

LG Smart Refrigerator has Smart Manager to mange food, input various foods and check their expiration dates using LCD panel or the Smartphone app. It also recommends meals to cook based on the ingredients in the refrigerator. LG Smart Diagnosis for the smart products has been upgraded to self-assess problems and inform the user about it. Its does everything short of cooking for you.

The LG Smart Washing Machine has Smart Adapt lets you download new washing cycle programs via smartphone or directly from the washing machine’s LCD panel. The Smartphone app enables users to monitor the overall status of the washer and dryer, control them, get popup alerts when wash or dry cycle has been completed. Never forget to put softener, or hang your clothes ones the machine is done

LG Smart Phones

Not forgetting, LG has been introducing a stream of new phones, such as the LG Flex. LG has placed a new emphasis on user interface. I won’t go too deeply into it, as we’ve discussed this before, but good example is how the FLEX’s curvature allow for a more comfortable fitting when making calls.

Other features include Answer Me and Guest Mode. Answer me automatically answers the call when you bring the phone to your ear, while Guest Mode limits the type of apps available to your friends, should you choose to do so via a secondary unlock pattern. This epitomizes what LG means by doing more with less. No more going through addition steps of having to press “answer” on your phone before being able to speak.

Looking forward to seeing what else LG can do with their technology. 2014 could be the year of the Smart Home for the Masses, to make homeowner’s life easier, simpler, and more productive, and thus enabling us to focus on the important bits, which is spending more time with our loved ones.