LG+애플 ‘AI 스마트홈 기기’ 7종 공개, 도어락·온도조절기…

LG Electronics and Apple have joined forces to venture into the artificial intelligence (AI) based smart home market. The two companies have jointly developed seven types of IoT devices for smart homes, marking the full-scale launch of their collaboration. On March 13 (local time), LG Electronics and Apple held a product launch event in New York, Manhattan, where they unveiled these seven smart home devices.

The devices include indoor and outdoor cameras, doorbells, smart locks, and temperature regulators and sensors. The plan is to initially launch these products in the US, Canada, and the UK. The distinguishing feature of this partnership is that both companies have developed the products from the initial concept phase together. Each device can be used on Apple's platform as well as LG Electronics' smart home platform, 'Sycu'.

These products will be sold under LG Electronics' brand, with Apple contributing to design and functionality development.

These new products leverage AI to analyze users' lifestyle patterns and surrounding environment, providing situation-appropriate functions without any manual intervention. The smart temperature regulator, for example, analyzes the user's location, time, weather, and other factors using an iPhone and Apple Watch to automatically adjust indoor heating or cooling.

The door lock uses the user's movement and entry intentions to open the door without any manual intervention. It also strengthens security by sending alerts to the user's mobile device if unauthorized entry or product damage is detected.

Industry analysts believe this partnership marks Apple's strategic move to expand its footprint in the smart home market, which has been dominated by Google and Amazon. Apple possesses a robust ecosystem of smartphones, tablets, and wearables but has struggled to make significant inroads into the smart home market. By collaborating with LG Electronics, which has manufacturing and production capabilities, Apple can reduce the burden of building products from scratch while expanding its Apple ecosystem's reach.

LG Electronics also sees this as a significant opportunity. With its smartphone business exiting, it can attract Apple iPhone users to its smart home ecosystem through this partnership. This collaboration also expands the range of 'Clex' devices, once exclusive to LG Electronics, into housing security and life automation fields.

Speaking on the significance of this collaboration, Lee Je-hyun, the Head of LG Electronics' Life Home Appliance (HS) Platform Operations Center, said, "We will provide a safe and intuitive AI home experience by combining LG Electronics' expertise in home appliances and living spaces with Apple's unrivaled user experience and strong security capabilities."