LG Uplus showcases home IoT platform in Seoul

LG Uplus held a demonstration of "Home Internet of Things (IoT)" services at its new HQ "New Life Experience Room" in Seoul on Sunday. The local telecommunications company unveiled six new home IoT services, which will be launched in the latter half of this year.

One of the new services was the U+ Energy Meter, the first-of-a-kind technology in Korea. Others included a room temperature regulator, a door lock, a switch and a wall socket, and a window opening and closing notification service, all of which is controlled via smartphone. U+ Energy Meter, the energy-saving technology service developed through collaboration with domestic start-up ENCORED Technologies, enables users to check home electricity usage amount in real time and keep the statistics including usage amount compared to the previous month’s. Gas Lock and home CCTV Momca 2, two other services unveiled last year, were demonstrated at the experience room.

LG Uplus’ home IoT platform is connected with Z-wave, a wireless solution that interacts with electronic devices and sensors. LG Uplus revealed its plan to open this platform to various manufacturers, IT companies and service providers.

LG Uplus is developing services to apply the home IoT platform to other home appliances including air conditioner, refrigerator and washing machine. If commercialized, this service will implement home IoT environment where a user can start a washing machine from outside before returning home, or the air conditioner automatically turns off when a user leaves home. “LG Uplus will become the industry pioneer leading the home IoT technology through continuous development of intelligent home IoT services and open source policy with other suppliers,” said Managing Director Ahn Seong-joon of Converged Home Division.