LG Electronics (LG) will begin rolling out Amazon Alexa support in 14 countries* to the company’s 2019 TV models featuring artificial intelligence. The update will be implemented through the Alexa app on 2019 TVs featuring ThinQ AI including LG UHD TVs, NanoCell TVs and OLED TVs.
Customers in North America will begin receiving the update this month, followed by customers in Europe and Asia in the weeks to come.
Following the introduction of Google Assistant on 2018 LG TVs with ThinQ AI, LG is delivering more choices and options with the addition of Amazon Alexa capabilities to its 2019 TVs with ThinQ AI. With the Alexa app, owners of compatible LG TVs can ask questions, control smart home products, access over 90,000 Alexa Skills and more, all without the need for a separate external device. And LG’s 2019 TVs can understand hundreds of voice commands and handle requests of greater complexity than ever before thanks to more advanced LG ThinQ AI conversational voice recognition technology.
Using Alexa Routines, users can link together a series of actions such as providing traffic information, reporting the weather and listing the day’s agenda items simply by saying “Alexa, start my morning.” They can also play music or audio books and take advantage of the numerous skills already available on the Alexa platform. And because Alexa is built-in, new updates and features for the voice service will continue to be available to LG AI TV users moving forward.
What’s more, LG 2019 OLED and select NanoCell TVs will receive AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support via a mid-year update. With AirPlay 2 support, owners of this year’s ThinQ AI TVs will be able to watch videos on the Apple TV app and other video apps as well as enjoy photos music on compatible LG TVs connected to an Apple device. And with Apple HomeKit, customers will be able to control the newest LG TVs with ThinQ AI by interacting with Siri or the Home app.
“The addition of Alexa support is another example of LG’s commitment to simplifying our customers’ lives,” said Brian Kwon, president of Mobile Communications and Home Entertainment companies at LG. “We will continue to enrich the user experience going forward with a diverse range of convenient AI services and features.”
* Supported countries at the time of this announcement include Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom and United States.
