Focus switches to IoT appliances as LG give smartphones the cold shoulder

Now that CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) has been and gone we can expect most of the world’s IoT and M2M start-ups to disappear into hiding for another year. But for the companies dominating the tech industry, this is just the beginning of a promising 2017 for them. Hoping to take a different approach this year, LG showcased their Smart InstaView fridge in Las Vegas. But why IoT appliances?

LG start the New Year with IoT appliances

Unfortunately for LG, 2016 was a rather bumpy ride in regards to smartphone shipments. With almost $400 million lost in operating expenses in Q3 alone, it was obviously time to change tack. So they decided to move away from mobile phones and focus on smart fridges and IoT appliances.

Unveiling the InstaView smart fridge

At CES17, LG unveiled their fridge of the future to the world. The purpose of the fridge is simply to make our busy lives easier, and by easier I mean lazier. One of the InstaView’s biggest features is the 29-inch touchscreen display located on the door.

If you were to knock on the display like a door, with just a couple of taps the screen will turn transparent unveiling the contents of your fridge.  Though this sounds extremely futuristic, the disappearing smart fridge display is somewhat spoiled by the realisation that we’re now lazy enough to have technology that eliminates the need to open doors.

That being said, the gimmick of having movie-style technology in the hub of your home is pretty cool. This comes to fruition when we talk about the other big feature of LG’s fridge, Alexa. That’s right, LG’s smart fridge integrates Amazon’s intelligent assistant, Alexa.

Alexa will take charge of your kitchen as she remembers your to-do list, orders you food when you’re running low and even allows you to view the contents of your fridge whilst shopping (via your smartphone); this is a great feature to ensure you don’t overstock on certain items. Could this be the future for consumer IoT?

There are new IoT appliances in town

This companionship between two leading innovators in today’s technology could be something that highlights what our future will be like. For years now we’ve been dreaming of an effortless world where all of our tasks are simplified. We can now achieve this by connecting our appliances to the internet, and this alliance gives us an insight into what we’ve got to look forward to. So just think, what if all of our household appliances are integrated with AI and IoT?

In reality one of these smart refrigerators won’t revolutionise our lives, in fact it’ll probably just burn a hole in our pocket; but this is the first IoT appliance that looks as though it has a future. As we see more of our household items communicate not only with each other (M2M) but with us, we will begin to fully understand the benefits of a connected lifestyle. Although consumer IoT has been dabbled in, there are huge opportunities within the industry, that when taken advantage of will create the connected future we’ve all been waiting for; LG’s InstaView smart fridge is just the beginning.

If you’d like to know any more about IoT and how it could take your business to industry 4.0, then please give us a call on 0333 313 5005. Alternatively you can email us at hello@infisim.com.