LG kicks off gadget gala with 'wallpaper' thin TV
LG Electronics showed off a "wallpaper" thin television and task-tending robots that learn, as a day packed with gadget unveilings got underway Wednesday in Las Vegas.
As in years past, the South Korean consumer electronics giant staked out the opening slot in a day rich with back-to-back press briefings by industry titans on the eve of the official opening of the annual Consumer Electronics Show.
LG touched on hot themes at this year's show -- including robots, appliances equipped with artificial intelligence, and self-driving car technology.
A surprise star of the presentation was a strikingly thin Signature OLED flat-screen television simply branded "W."
The super high-definition TV measured just 2.57 mm thick in a 65-inch screen model. LG boasted that a larger screen model garnered a CES Best of Innovation Award.
"Why the 'W'?" LG Electronics USA marketing vice president David VanderWaal asked rhetorically during the presentation.
"Wallpaper. Window. Wow," he said.
The screens are designed to affix to walls with magnetic brackets, protruding less than 4 mm.
LG also announced all its new appliances will synch to computing power in the internet cloud, using data analysis and machine learning to adapt to people's habits and needs.
A new refrigerator heading for the US market featured a touch-screen display that could be used for a host of purposes including looking up recipes, tracking food, recommending music, or even voice-command Amazon digital assistant Alexa to tend to tasks such as ordering staples from the online retail titan.
"In 2017, appliances will get smarter for you every day," said LG chief technology officer Skott Ahn.
LG robots that took the stage included an Airport Guide that the company said would soon go to work at Seoul's Incheon International Airport to help travellers with tasks like checking flights and finding gates.
LG also showed off cleaning and lawn-mowing robots, and said it is working on robots for senior care and security services.