[Courtesy of Youmi]
SEOUL, Feb. 07 (Aju News) -- Naver, South Korea's web service giant, has forged a strategic partnership with Chinese hardware maker Xiaomi. Through the partnership, all Xiaomi IoT devices released in South Korea will be linked to Naver's AI voice assistant service Clova.
"Youmi, Xiaomi and Naver will work together to bring Clova into Xiaomi products sold in South Korea," Byeon Sung-hwan, a deputy manager at the sales marketing department of Youmi, the country's sole distributor of Xiaomi, told Aju News Wednesday.
The three companies signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday. Byeon said consumers can control Xiaomi's IoT devices by giving voice commands using the Clova service, which is available through Naver's smart speaker or a smartphone app.
Xiaomi has gained global popularity for cost-effective and good quality products, but the brand was not popular among many South Korean consumers because its smartphone app for controlling IoT devices such as smart light bulbs, air purifiers and robot cleaners provides no Korean language service.
"We are also working on the localization of the apps," Byeon said, adding the app's Korean version would be released soon.
Naver is integrating AI to its services. Last year, the company launched an AI-based image search and language translation services along with smart speakers installed with Clova. Naver formed a strategic alliance with LG in 2017 to connect smart home devices to a home network using Clova.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
