LG’s new smart fridge is powered by Alexa, Amazon’s digital assistant that you can find in its own line of smart speakers like the Echo and Echo Dot as well as Lenovo’s new smart assistant that was just announced yesterday, and a range of other new technology being announced at CES this year. LG’s new fridge is called the InstaView Refrigerator, and more than just containing a list of functions you can interact with through its 29-inch LCD touch screen display (which in itself is a rather useful feature), the Alexa software inside will make things even more easy and convenient for consumers as it will essentially make the fridge voice-controlled.
Granted, not all the functions of the fridge will be enabled by voice, but thanks to Alexa consumers will be able to speak to it for a handful of different reasons like ordering items from Amazon’s website in the event that you’re running out of something and need to restock. Like milk, for example. LG’s InstaView Refrigerator will be running on the webOS platform just like LG’s smart TVs, and beyond the Amazon-related Alexa voice control functions that will be integrated with it, the voice control will also enable users to do things such as view the contents of the fridge, which LG appropriately names “InstaView,” a feature which is obviously linked to the name of the fridge itself. To make this work, LG has fitted a 2-megapixel panoramic super wide-lens camera on the inside of the fridge door, which can capture images of everything inside and the user can then view these images on their smartphone when out shopping, which cuts down on the need for an actual shopping list, or at the very least a need to put everything on that list.
While this is still a fridge, this is also not just a fridge. With webOS there are a wide range of different functions that will likely feel so convenient consumers will wonder how they ever lived without them. Namely LG’s Smart Tag menu, which allows the user to add tags and other information like expiration dates of food onto the touch screen display so they’re never unsure of when food items and perishables might go bad. No muss, no fuss. Of course, Alexa might really be the star here, as this is not a watered down version of Alexa and it has full access to Alexa’s collection of 6,000 plus skills. Which means that even without an Amazon Echo, you can still talk to the fridge to control other internet connected smart gadgets in your home, such as lights, the thermostat, speakers, and more. LG has not mentioned any details yet on pricing or availability for the InstaView Refrigerator, but it will likely be launching sometime later in 2017.
