The smart speaker is based on an AI virtual assistant, Clova or CLOud Virtual Assistant, developed by Naver, a South Korean Internet portal operator.
Clova is similar to Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri. It combines speech recognition and natural language understanding to respond to users' questions and to call up information, such as the weather, traffic and news. Clova utilizes big data to provide various customized services depending on users' culture and geography.
For example, consumers can ask "Find a restaurant near me," and Naver will return a restaurant name and contact information, distance and route to the specific destination and the estimated time required to get there. Naver Music's streaming music service is also available.
Home appliances, including TVs, refrigerators and washers, can be activated through the 249,000 won ($227) ThinQ Hub, the company said.
Earlier, LG Electronics announced plans to cooperate with domestic telecom companies such as SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, followed by Amazon and Naver. As a result, the AI platform that works with LG Smart Appliances currently supports Google Assistance, Amazon's Alexa' and Naver Clover.
LG Electronics plans to launch new products at 100 LG stores across the South Korea and expand its distribution network to all the stores by the end of this month.
