Sears is adding Alexa support to its Kenmore smart home appliances

Amazon’s Alexa assistant is now able to control an even wider range of home

appliances. Smart appliances from Sears and its Kenmore brand are joining the list of hardware that can be used through voice commands to Amazon’s Echo lineup of speakers and other Alexa-enabled devices. GE and Whirlpool have already integrated similar support across their respective products, and now “the full line of Kenmore smart appliances” — air conditioners, refrigerators, and more — can be controlled with a new Alexa skill, Kenmore Smart. Owners of connected Kenmore products can say commands like "Alexa, tell Kenmore Smart to set my air conditioner to 70 degrees" to make adjustments without having to walk over and do it the old fashioned way: with buttons. Or with the remote that came with your air condition that always gets misplaced. Amazon will also begin selling Sears’ Kenmore products directly, which is a significant bit of good news (and a new sales channel) for the struggling department store chain. The company has acknowledged “substantial doubt” about its future prospects, according to Bloomberg, after years of losses brought on by its flailing attempts to compete with retail competition — including Amazon’s giant e-commerce presence.                                                                                                                           https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/7/20/16005072/sears-kenmore-alexa-now-available