LG Electronics launches its latest smart speaker

LG Electronics rolled out an artificial intelligence (AI) embedded smart speaker, the ThinQ Hub, on Sunday, its latest move to expand its smart appliance lineup.

The smart speaker is based on an AI virtual assistant, Clova or CLOud Virtual Assistant, developed by Naver Corp., Korea’s top internet portal operator.

Home appliances including TVs, refrigerators and washers, can be activated through ThinQ Hub, the company said.

Clova, which is similar to Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, combines speech recognition and natural language understanding to respond to users’ questions and to call up information, such as the weather and news.

Unlike previously launched AI platforms, Clova utilizes big data to provide various customized services depending on users’ culture and geography.

The two companies agreed earlier this year to cooperate in the AI sector.

Yonhap