LG unveils Hub Robot to compete with Amazon Echo and Google Home

LG unveiled its own competitor to Amazon Echo and Google Home on Wednesday – a home assistant that can play music and tell you the weather but also order your vacuum cleaner to start cleaning the house and turn on your oven. The Hub Robot, which LG said will go on sale in 2017, was shown for the first time in Las Vegas ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show, which opens to the public on Thursday. The device – a little white machine that has two glowing blue "eyes" on the front – appears to be a direct competitor to Amazon Echo and Google Home. Introducing the Hub Robot, David VanderWaal, vice-president of marketing, home appliances & consumer at LG, described it as "your intelligent home assistant". It can also play music, tell you the about the weather and traffic – all things that Amazon Echo and Google Home can do.