LG Debuts 'Hub Robot' to Compete With Google Home and Amazon Echo

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, LG today unveiled the Hub Robot, an adorable Amazon Echo and Google Home competitor. The Hub Robot, which LG has created with a "friendly, anthropomorphic design," interfaces with smart home products and interacts with people in multiple ways.

Powered by Amazon's Alexa voice recognition technology, the Hub Robot can respond to commands to do things like turn on the air conditioner or the lights. It features an interactive display that can offer up information and images, and with a built-in speaker, it can play music, set alarms, provide weather updates, and more.

The Hub Robot is more interactive than competing products from Amazon and Google, with the ability to move, swivel in place, and express a range of emotions by displaying a face on its built-in screen.

lghubrobot
It is able to respond to customers using body language, such as nodding its head when it is asked a question, and it keeps track of in-home activity, monitoring when family members come and go. With facial recognition capabilities, it recognizes each member of a family and provides customized greetings and information.

LG says the Hub Robot is designed to be put in a place where the family gathers, such as a kitchen or a living room, and additional mini robots will be introduced alongside the Hub Robot that can go in other rooms of the house.

LG has not announced a ship date for the Hub Robot, nor is pricing available, but it will likely be competitive with the Amazon Echo and the Google Home, which are priced at $180 and $129, respectively.

As in-home hub solutions grow in popularity, rumors suggest Apple is working on its own connected smart home device that's similar to the Amazon Echo. It's said to be powered by Siri and equipped with a speaker and a microphone. The hub will work with HomeKit, and there's a possibility it could be combined with another product, such as the AirPort or Apple TV.

The hub has supposedly been in development for two years and is in the prototype testing phase, but it's not clear if and when it will see an official release.

Tags: CES 2017, LG

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...

Top Rated Comments

BuffaloTF Avatar
108 months ago
Eve! Now just give me a Wall E to take out my trash for me...
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Arran Avatar
108 months ago
20 years ago, we were promised personal robots that we would control. They'd do all our heavy chores and never complain.

Then the cloud came along and we get this 'robot' that doesn't really do anything. And it's not even clear who's controlling it or who benefits.

What I want:

* My laundry picked up off the floor, put in the hamper, the hamper dumped into the washing machine, the machine started, monitored and then everything moved to the dryer before being ironed and hung up in my closet.
* Then the floors need vacuumed.
* The car washed and vacuumed.
* The lawn cut.
* The windows cleaned.
* The bathrooms cleaned.
* Shoes shined.
* Beds made.
* The dishwasher loaded, started and then everything put back into all the right cupboards and drawers.
* Oh yeah, and the dinner made! :)

That's what a real robot does. No complaints and no sneaking behind my back to tell Google and Amazon what a domestic slob I am!
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BuffaloTF Avatar
108 months ago
As if I want the NSA IN MY HOUSE. No thanks.
How did you manage to deliver this message to us? Carrier pigeon? Be careful with them, I see pigeons all the time stealing tin foil from trash cans because they think a hot dog is inside them...
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chrjy Avatar
108 months ago
Please check your personal judgments about products at the door. We readers can see the image and make
our own value judgments; we don't need our reporters to tell us whether or not a product is 'adorable' -- that's biased reporting.
Did someone get out the wrong side of the bed this morning?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Noerdy Avatar
108 months ago
Neat. Apple needs to step up their game and release their in home assistant asap. Meanwhile I just bought 6 amazon dots and I'm pretty happy with them.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chester Stone Avatar
108 months ago
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, LG today unveiled the Hub Robot ('http://ces2017.lgnewsroom.com/news/lg-expands-iot-ecosystem-lineup-futuristic-robotic-products/'), an adorable Amazon Echo and Google Home competitor.
Please check your personal judgments about products at the door. We readers can see the image and make
our own value judgments; we don't need our reporters to tell us whether or not a product is 'adorable' -- that's biased reporting.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)