At CES 2018, Whirlpool has announced that its smart appliances will now support Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, allowing customers to control their appliances from anywhere in the house with simple voice commands.
“We believe a smart home should learn, adapt and grow with how families care for each other,” said Jennifer Tayebi, communications brand manager, Whirlpool brand. “By teaming up with Google and Amazon, we’re providing families with a unique way to interact with their appliances to get chores done their way and on their time.”
Benefits of the Google and Amazon collaborations include hands-free help from the Google Assistant and voice-control appliances with Amazon Alexa. With voice command capabilities throughout the kitchen lineup, families can ask how much time is left on the microwave, set and adjust cooking mode, set temperature and time on the range, start a cycle on the dishwasher or set temperatures in the refrigerator.
In addition to capabilities in the kitchen, simple voice commands in the laundry lineup allow families to start, stop and pause the washer or ask how much time is left on the dryer. The firm said it is making it easier to use voice control through Alexa-enabled devices. Now families can simply ask “Alexa, defrost five pounds of chicken” or say, “microwave for two minutes on high.”
“With more connected home devices introduced each year, it can be a challenge to make sure they all remain interconnected,” said Ryan Craig, senior manager, Internet of Things global strategy and partnerships. “By introducing the collaboration with the Google Assistant on Google Home in addition to our previous collaboration with Amazon, we’re hoping to offer a more connected smart home ecosystem for families.”
In addition to voice-controlled capabilities with Amazon Alexa, Whirlpool brand is also introducing Amazon Virtual Dash Buttons to its refrigerators that have touchscreens. With Virtual Dash Buttons, Prime customers can order their favorite everyday products like beverages, snacks or paper towels straight from their LCD screen on their appliances.
