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LG Launches Smart Appliance Platform At CES

Las Vegas

LG
Electronics is introducing a full range of smart appliances at 2011
International CES that can be monitored and controlled remotely via smartphone
or tablet PC.

The program is built upon
LG’s new web-based Thinq Technology platform, which allows consumers to adjust,
diagnose, update and regulate their white goods at home or online.

 “With our innovative Thinq Technology,
consumers will be more empowered when doing household tasks thanks to more
efficient, controllable, and eco-friendly appliance options,” said Young-ha
Lee, president/CEO of LG Electronics Home Appliance Company. “This isn’t a
gradual evolution — LG Thinq Technology essentially transforms how consumers
take care of their home and makes it easier and smarter than ever before.”

The program’s smart grid
component deploys a smart meter to ensure that appliances use the minimum
amount of energy at the least expensive rates possible.

For laundry products, the
feature gives consumers the choice of using “recommend time,” which does the
washing at the nearest, most cost-effective time or immediately if there are no
off-peak electricity options available anytime soon. Alternatively, users can
opt for “lowest rate,” which finds the time when electricity rates are at their
lowest. Consumers can also select the washing time themselves, and if they have
to do the washing at a peak time, the washing machine will recommend the most
energy-efficient cycle.

In cooking, LG ovens will
offer three cost options — low, middle and high — that take into account both
the duration of the cooking cycle and varying costs of electricity.

Similarly, LG’s smart refrigerators
can use a unique algorithm to adjust various functions, such as defrost time
control, to offer further savings on energy bills at peak times.

LCD displays on LG’s
smart appliances shows daily, weekly or monthly reports detailing the products’
overall levels of energy consumption and associated costs. Daily totals for
electricity usage and subsequent charges will be accessible on smartphones and
tablet PCs.

The platform’s Smart Access
feature also allows consumers to monitor and control appliances outside of the
home. Using a smartphone or tablet PC, users can manage their washing cycle or
set their refrigerator temperature, while alert messages will be sent to the
user’s smartphone or tablet PC to signal the end of a washing cycle or a
potential product issue.

Controls will extend to
LG’s new Hom-Bot robotic vacuum cleaner, which can be activated remotely to
clean or even feed a pet, the company said.

 Another Thinq feature, dubbed Smart Adapt,
allows consumers to download the latest services and technology upgrades for
their appliances via a Wi-Fi connection, including new pre-programmed microwave
oven cook times, as well as advanced cycles for washing machines.

 A fourth smart element, LG’s food-management solution,
allows consumers to identify, locate and determine the expiration date of food
items within their refrigerators via an external LCD display, through voice
recognition, or remotely by smartphone or tablet PC while grocery shopping.

In addition, LG’s
previously introduced smart diagnosis feature, which allows technicians to troubleshoot
mechanical issues over the phone, will now alert owners to minor problems via
the units’ display panels, will on later models contact them by Wi-Fi
connection via the consumer’s smartphone or tablet PC, and allows them to
diagnose their washing machines at home via a downloadable mobile application
on their smartphone.

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