LG Electronics USA revealed Tuesday that its 2018 LG 4K Ultra HD OLED and Super UHD LED-LCD TVs with AI ThinQ smart technology are now compatible with Alexa-enabled devices through the LG SmartThinQ Skill for Amazon Alexa.
At the same time, a pair of the company’s 2018 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players–the LG UBK90 ($246.99 street retail) and UBK80 ($196.99) — have hit retail shelves.
The addition of the LG SmartThinQ Skill for Amazon Alexa on 2018 LG TVs now enables customers who have purchased a 2018 LG 4K OLED of Super UHD LED-LCD TV to activate an Alexa skill to tap into the interactive AI voice control network over the home Wi-Fi system to operate basic television control commands simply by telling Alexa what to do.
Amazon’s Camera, Photo & Video Deals
Amazon Fire TV 4K Ultra HD Set-Top Media Adapter with Alexa
Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote
Amazon Echo Plus Voice Controlled Wireless Speaker and Home System Interface
Amazon Echo Dot Voice Controlled Home System Interface
Amazon Echo Spot with Alexa and Screen
4K Ultra HDTV Specials From Abt
Best Selling Soundbars and 5.1 Surround Systems
The orders are received by optional smart speakers and other Alexa-enabled receiving devices. Among the more common such devices are Amazon’s Echo, Echo Show, Echo Dot, Echo Spot and Echo Plus smart speakers.
“By asking Amazon Alexa to talk to LG, you can control your TV, as well as turn on your air purifier, turn off your ice maker, start your robotic vacuum and more,” LG said.
From there the system is activated by saying “Alexa” as the activation word followed by an audible command to make adjustments for volume, playing a program, pausing, starting, stoping, fast forwarding, channel selection and other controls.
So, for example, users can bark commands such as, “Alexa, turn up the volume on my living room TV” or “Alexa, change the channel to CNN on my kitchen TV” to have the action performed automatically. Customers can also open specific LG webOS Smart TV apps by saying “Alexa, ask LG to launch YouTube on my bedroom TV.”
The capabilities of LG’s premium 2018 AI-enabled TVs can also be expanded with LG AI ThinQ artificial intelligence and new LG OLED Alpha 9 intelligent processor (C8, E8, W8 models). The intelligent voice control on LG AI TVs enhances connectivity and control for the smart home and beyond.
“The addition of Amazon Alexa compatibility to our 2018 LG AI-enabled TVs spotlights LG’s commitment to developing category-leading TVs that combine innovative technologies with the widest range of convenient, user-friendly interfaces,” said Tim Alessi, head of home entertainment product marketing at LG Electronics USA. “LG’s open platform-open partnership- open connectivity ecosystem enables LG AI products to work with the most popular smart platforms to deliver the most convenient and customized smart home experience tailored to a consumer’s specific lifestyle.”
Amazon’s Camera, Photo & Video Deals
Amazon Fire TV 4K Ultra HD Set-Top Media Adapter with Alexa
Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote
Amazon Echo Plus Voice Controlled Wireless Speaker and Home System Interface
Amazon Echo Dot Voice Controlled Home System Interface
Amazon Echo Spot with Alexa and Screen
4K Ultra HDTV Specials From Abt
Best Selling Soundbars and 5.1 Surround Systems
Support for the LG SmartThinQ Skill for Amazon Alexa on 2018 LG TVs adds to LG’s rapidly growing AI ecosystem that includes the industry’s most extensive range of Wi-Fi-enabled smart appliances.
Additionally, LG’s more advanced 2018 4K OLED models (C8, E8, and W8 series) have advanced powerful Alpha 9 intelligent processors offer more advanced levels of picture and sound quality. All of the 2018 4K OLED and Super UHD models (the B8 OLED series and the Super UHD models) have Alpha 7 processors powering AI ThinQ capabilites.
Most models support four different flavors of high dynamic range (HDR), including HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG and Technicolor HDR, in addition to built-in Dolby Atmos 3D audio decoding.
Meanwhile, LG is helping buyers support those televisions with some of the best available content by offering two new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players.
The new LG premium player, model UBK90, outputs Dolby Vision dynamic metadata as well as HDR10, while the UBK80 supports only the HDR10 format with static metdata.
UBK90 also features two HDMI outputs (one for video, one for audio only) and built-in Wi-Fi. In contrast the LG UBK80 has only one HDMI port and an Ethernet port.
By Greg Tarr
Have a question for the HD Guru? HD GURU|Email
Copyright ©2018 HD Guru Inc. All rights reserved. HD GURU is a registered trademark.
Stay connected