LG Home Automation 'SmartThinQ' Hub Apes Amazon Echo

When Amazon released its Echo "smart home" device (our review), it seemed very likely that it'd have some great competition before long. With CES 2016 right around the corner, we're sure to see such competitors at the show, but LG decided to beat everyone else to the punch by announcing its take on things today.

The "SmartThinQ" is designed to be the central hub in a connected home, able to provide notifications and let you control a variety of other devices. In one moment, you could check your calendar reminders, while in the next, you could see how much time is left on your dryer load.

Connected devices that SmartThinQ supports include washing machines, refrigerators, ovens, robot vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, and anything else with a sensor that supports the AllJoyn Alliance open source framework. We'd image that beyond what is explicitly mentioned, you could ultimately use SmartThinQ to control room temperature and lock your doors if you have such capabilities.

It's important to note that while LG would undoubtedly love you to go bonkers with its assortment of smart home appliances, as mentioned above SmartThinQ can work with any appliance that follows open source standards. This is obviously very important, as a device that's locked into one vendor wouldn't see much success.

It's also worth noting that SmartThinQ doubles as a speaker, which can stream music from a Bluetooth device. As seen in the above shot, the device will be available in two colors; black, and gold. At the moment, there is no word on pricing, or a release date, but perhaps that info will trickle out at CES itself.