U.S. appliance manufacturer Kohler has announced that it will bring a new series of smart home products at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, along with a new software platform called KOHLER Konnect, designed to bring voice recognition capabilities to its offerings with the help of Amazon’s Alexa. The company will showcase a new smart kitchen faucet, voice-controlled showering system, kit for filling and draining bathtubs automatically, and an intelligent toilet with an accompanying seat.
The firm’s new products will rely on KOHLER Konnect designed to be used on smartphones powered by Android and iOS. The application uses the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, supports voice commands, and can be used to remotely control faucets, shower heads, smart toilets, and mirrors. According to KOHLER, the Verdera Voice Lighted Mirror is the “first announced” bathroom mirror to feature Amazon’s Alexa built-in, though that particular title only appears to pertain to the firm’s own products. Judging by the press renders shared by the company, the mirror presents a clean and inconspicuous design that could be easily mistaken for a regular bathroom mirror, unlike HiMirror’s Plus solution which is also powered by Alexa. Another product set to be showcased at CES 2018 is the Sensate kitchen faucet which, in conjunction with the KOHLER Konnect platform, can be remotely controlled to perform a variety of tasks, from turning the water on or off to changing the water volume. Next in line will be the DTV+ showering system which can also be voice-controlled to adjust the showerheads and water temperature, as well as shower duration and background music. The company also claims customers who already own the previous DTV+ system can also take advantage of these new KOHLER Konnect capabilities by adding a separate module to their setup.
Finally, Kohler’s next trade show appearance will also include the introduction of the PerfectFill kit designed for bathtubs. The system can be set to fill a bathtub automatically at a level and temperature specified by the user using voice commands, and the system can drain the bathtub remotely. The final three products designed to work with the KOHLER Konnect platform include the Touchless Response toilet, the Numi Intelligent Toiled, and the PureWarmth toilet seat, but detailed specifications of these offerings are yet to be listed. Pricing and availability details also haven’t been disclosed, save for the Verdera Voice Lighted Mirror which will be launched in three different sizes with prices ranging from $800 to $1200 for the larger 40-inch model starting March.
