[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics announced on Nov. 19 that Naver’s AI platform Clova will be adopted for its smart speaker ThinQ Hub. 

This latest move is expected to help expand the application of ThinQ Hub, which so far has been primarily used for operating household appliances. 

When the ThinQ Hub was launched in April with newly added voice recognition features, it was criticized for having limited usage. Clova gives users access to music, news, translators, and other information. 

ThinQ Hub by LG Electronics.

ThinQ Hub is the only AI speaker on the market that displays information on-screen. Home appliances including TVs, refrigerators and washers, can be activated through ThinQ Hub. In addition, with the new partnership with Naver, users can now access Naver’s music streaming service with a simple voice command. 

LG is currently linking various AI platforms to major home appliances. In addition to its proprietary platform, the AI platform that works with LG Smart Appliances has been expanded to include Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Naver’s Clova. 

With the new partnership, LG plans to apply a variety of services to ThinQ Hub, according to sources.

By Alex Lee (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)