Hunter Fan Company adds Google Assistant compatibility to its line of smart fans

By Lulu Chang Updated January 11, 2018

There’s no shortage of Amazon Alexa-enabled speakers, home security gadgets, and appliances, but soon there could be a similar number of Google Assistant-controlled tools as well. A few months after Hunter Fan Company announced the addition of Alexa to its products, the firm has also introduced Google Assistant compatibility as well. At CES 2018, Hunter became the first and only brand in its industry to be compatible with all three home automation hubs: Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home.

You can now activate Hunter’s fans with a voice command directed to any one of the three major smart assistants, which allow you to choose the speed and lighting level of the device. Setup requires you to combine a Hunter Wi-Fi-enabled fan with the SIMPLEconnect app that can be found on the Apple Store or Google Play. Afterward, you can link your smartphone and smart fan with Alexa, Siri, or Assistant.

Recommended Videos

The Apache ceiling fan retails for $399 on most ecommerce sites, and is claimed to create powerful air movement without making much noise. You can also change your fan’s direction from downdraft to updraft, depending on the season. At $349, the Hunter Signal is a more affordable model that comes equipped with an LED bulb as well as a reversible fan.

The Symphony is the most pared-down model of the lot. It sells for $299 and is available with a matte nickel finish.

“Our innovation is driven by our consumers’ evolving needs. So when we looked at how to continue to bring functionality and thoughtfully designed products to the marketplace, partnering with Amazon was a natural next step,” said Hunter CEO John Alexander. “The connected home is forecasted to grow even more in the coming years, and we’re excited for the opportunity to provide products that consumers desire, along with the performance and technology they expect.”

The company’s first smart fan was introduced in 2015 at CES, where it debuted with HomeKit connectivity. You can find Hunter SIMPLEconnect products at HunterFan.com, as well as in lighting showrooms, home centers and ecommerce sites around the nation.

The company boasts more than 10 different style and finish combinations, starting at $200.

Update: Hunter fans are now compatible with Google Assistant as well.

Former Contributor

Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…

Topics

Emerging Tech

Remember Samsung’s Ballie home robot? It may finally be inching closer to reality

Leaked app wireframes give the strongest hint yet that Samsung's Ballie home robot, first shown at CES 2020, might still be headed toward an actual release.

Samsung Ballie robot in a room next to a dog feeder.

Samsung's rolling home robot has been the industry's longest-running "will it ever actually ship" joke, and I'll admit I'd mostly given up on it. Now, there's finally a glimmer of hope.

Samsung first unveiled Ballie as a concept at CES 2020. Then, it showed it as a significantly upgraded version four years later. However, the company never confirmed a release date or committed to releasing it at all.

Smart Home

The US foreign-made robot crackdown is coming for future Roombas too

Future Roombas face new US sales hurdles, but existing models are unaffected

Roomba 980

The FCC has already made it much harder for foreign drone makers such as DJI to bring new products into the US. Now, the same crackdown is reaching a machine far more likely to be moving around your living room.

The US government recently added foreign-made advanced robotic devices to the FCC’s Covered List. The announcement appeared focused on humanoids, robot dogs, and industrial machines, but an FCC spokesperson has confirmed to The Verge that robot vacuum cleaners are covered too.

Branded Content

The GOKO M6 Robotic Lawn Mower Brings Industrial Robotics to Modern Lawn Care

7 reasons this AI-driven powerhouse makes hands-free yard work smarter than ever

Grass, Lawn, Plant

Robotic lawn mowers can save homeowners hours of manual yard work, but not every model is designed for challenging properties. While many perform well on flat lawns, larger yards with uneven terrain, steep slopes, and multiple mowing zones require a mower built for more demanding conditions.

Developed by GOKO, the consumer robotics brand of Robot++, the GOKO M6 is an industrial-grade 4WD AI-powered robotic lawn mower that brings more than a decade of industrial robotics expertise to residential lawn care. It combines AI-powered four-wheel drive, advanced navigation technologies, and AI QuadVision obstacle detection to tackle complex landscapes with less manual intervention.