The smart home trends range from light, blind and heating control to energy management to improve air quality and smart kitchen appliances. Many manufacturers offer an app with which all connected devices can be controlled.
Smart living is currently on everyone's lips. It should make our everyday life more comfortable and safer. The smart home topic did not go unnoticed at the IFA 2020 Special Edition. Lighting, blinds and heating control as well as devices for the kitchen and for improving air quality are trends that seem to be emerging. Various manufacturers such as Apple, Google, LG and Schneider Electric offer smart home systems. Many providers have an app that can be used to control all networked devices in a smart home system.
Control the Apple HomeKit with Siri
For example, an iPhone or iPad running at least iOS 10 can serve as a hub for the Apple HomeKit. Connected devices can be controlled via the Home app. According to Netatmo (www.netatmo.com), the app can be operated manually or via Siri voice control. The only requirement to use voice control is an iPhone or iPad with the latest version of iOS, a HomePod, an Apple Watch with the latest version of Watch OS, or a latest-generation Apple TV.
Products from other manufacturers could also be implemented in the Apple HomeKit. Here you should pay attention to a symbol for compatibility: "Works with Apple HomeKit." Manufacturers offering smart home products compatible with HomeKit include Phillips, Netatmo, Fibaro, Tado, Elgato, Logitech, Koogeek, etc. According to the Apple website, Apple's smart home portfolio includes alarm systems, cameras, lights and bulbs, lawn sprinklers, sensors, switches, heating and air conditioning, and bridges.
«Okay Google, good morning»
With the so-called Nest Hub, Google offers a digital picture frame as a hub that, according to Digitec, displays memories and photos of loved ones via voice command. With the Nest Hub, all devices could also be controlled by voice command. Users could simply have recipes and other information from the internet read out to them or shown on YouTube. Thousands of devices such as lamps, cameras or televisions are compatible with Google Nest. Music from streaming providers such as Spotify, Deezer and TuneIn can also be played free of charge via the integrated speakers. The Nest Hub also serves as a scheduler. With the voice command “Ok Google, good morning”, the picture frames would show all appointments and reminders at a glance. You can also plan your own processes and display the shortest route to work. With "Ok Google, good night" you can turn off the light and set an alarm.
Other products from Google's smart home portfolio include the Google Home Smart Speaker, Nest Wifi, Google Chromecast, Nest Hello Doorbell, the indoor and outdoor cameras Nest Cam IQ Indoor and Outdoor, and the smoke detector Nest Protect.
AI platform
At IFA 2020, LG Electronics (LG) surprised with a new type of keynote compared to all previous IFA trade fairs (ET Elektrotechnik has already reported on this). So entered Dr. IP Park, LG's CTO, hologramed the stage to present the company's vision for the future of smart home: Life is Good from Home. And further, CTO Dr. IP Park states, "These unprecedented times have made us more uncertain about the future," remarked Dr. Park. “This is a unique opportunity from LG's perspective to truly change the world, to create new possibilities for our own four walls. As a leading lifestyle innovator, we have redoubled our commitment to create new and even better products and services that enable customers around the world to live well."
LG's AI platform, LG ThinQ, is constantly evolving, creating new services, solutions and business models that continue to lead the change. "LG ThinQ is the beating heart of our life-enriching, innovative solutions," said Dr. Park while demonstrating how the updated LG ThinQ app provides a user-centric experience ranging from customer support to consumable shopping. With the help of the app, AI-based proactive customer care (PCC) can analyze the operating status of devices and provide feedback or even maintenance or repair instructions.
dr Kim Kyung-ho, Executive Vice President of LG Business Solutions Europe, was succeeded by Dr. Park on stage to introduce LG ThinQ Home. ThinQ Home is a real living space in the South Korean city of Pangyo. ThinQ Home will show how LG's vision Life is Good from Home will be implemented in reality as the ideal future home to enable a safer and more comfortable lifestyle through the company's latest devices and IT technologies.
In Korea, Dr. Park personally introduced the IFA audience to LG ThinQ Home and demonstrated Home Concierge, a smart mirror designed to provide easy and complete home control by controlling devices and home energy consumption through a state-of-the-art energy panel. The display also connects to the EV charging station in the home, allowing homeowners to remotely monitor and control the charge level of their EV.
