LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--What if you could find out when your dishwasher cycle would be finished, preheat your oven or find out if your clothes are clean—all with the sound of your voice? GE Appliances, a Haier company, is the first Alexa skill to control a broad range of kitchen appliances including refrigerators, dishwashers, wall ovens, ranges, laundry and more.
“Voice connectivity has a big role in the Internet of Things, as well as in the home,” said Liz VerSchure, vice president responsible for GE Appliances connected strategy. “Integrating our connected appliances with Alexa will help make consumers’ lives easier, more productive and a little more fun.”
Have your hands full or cleaning up a mess? GE Appliances and Alexa now make it possible to preheat your oven with just your voice. Hate to leave the kids while you check on the wash? Ask Alexa the status of your cycle and save a trip.
Last year, Amazon launched the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) and Alexa Voice Service (AVS), allowing developers to build Alexa skills or integrate Alexa directly into their hardware, product or service. Alexa is the brain behind Amazon Echo, a cloud-connected speaker that offers hands-free voice control for everything from music to weather and alarms. Today Alexa has over 2,000 skills and continues to grow, with new skills being added by third parties like GE Appliances, who want to connect their products to voice capabilities.
The Alexa skill built for GE appliances and Monogram® products has a unique name, which is “Geneva.” This way, Alexa device owners can use and control their GE Appliances products by simply saying, “Alexa, tell Geneva I want hot water,” which will tell the connected refrigerator to get hot water ready. A few other skills include:
- “Alexa, tell Geneva to turn on Sabbath mode.”
- “Alexa, tell Geneva to preheat the oven to 350 degrees.”
- “Alexa, tell Geneva to set the oven timer for 10 minutes.”
- “Alexa, tell Geneva to set the water heater to 110 degrees.”
- “Alexa, ask Geneva if my laundry is clean.”
“We’re excited to work with GE Appliances to bring hands-free voice control to major appliances like refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers and more for the first time,” said Charlie Kindel, Director, Amazon Alexa Smart Home. “One of our goals with Alexa is to enable voice control on every device within the home, and this collaboration gets us one step closer to achieving that. We can’t wait for our Alexa customers to try it out.”
Available today, the entire connected Monogram and GE Appliances suite, including Café™ and Profile™ products will integrate with all Alexa-enabled devices including Amazon Echo, Amazon Tap, Echo Dot and Amazon Fire TV. There will be more Alexa functionality coming soon, including the GE Appliances connected window air conditioners.
About GE Appliances
GE Appliances, a Haier company, makes moments that matter for our owners through our passion for making great appliances and providing unparalleled services. We make with our hands, heads and hearts. We make with integrity, inventiveness and ingenuity. For more than 125 years, we have been creating a legacy of invention—we’ve electrified and modernized life, bringing convenience and fun to kitchens. GE Appliances products include refrigerators, freezers, cooking products, dishwashers, washers, dryers, air conditioners, water filtration systems and water heaters. For more information on GE Appliances, visit www.geappliances.com.
