October 27, 2009
Samsung unveils Smart Refrigerator
The LCD Refrigerator with Apps comes with pre-loaded apps for family organization, recipes, and more
If someone were to try to guess my all-time favorite hobby by the activity I most commonly engage in during the day, it would be standing in front of my refrigerator. Sometimes I don’t know what I want to eat, so I just stand there and stare, walk away for a few minutes, and then come back to see if I just needed a fresh perspective to spot something I missed before. Or I need to stare at my calendar to see what errands I forgot to take care of last weekend. Or I need to scan my bouquet of post-it notes and coupons (that reminds me…my Old Navy $10 off coupon expires today…).
But now Samsung is doing away with all those post-its, calendars, and coupons with its new LCD Refrigerator with Apps, which comes with the tagline, “it organizes more than just your food.” It organizes your life.
Essentially, it’s a two-door refrigerator with a Wi-Fi-enabled LCD screen that comes preloaded with apps, including Google Calendar, to keep track of events; Epicurious, to find recipes; Pandora, for entertainment; Picasa Web Albums, for keeping photos (probably not the same as having cute little photos stuck to your fridge that you can look at while you walk by); AP News, in case you feel like reading the news on your refrigerator; and more.
Samsung kicked off its unveiling event on Tuesday with actress, singer, and mother of four, Vanessa Williams to get some star power behind the LCD Refrigerator.
“What I really like about Samsung’s refrigerator is that all of the apps I need are loaded into one LCD screen,” Williams said in a statement. “Whether I want to leave a note, check the weather, or figure out what’s for dinner, this fridge organizes it all for me.”
It seems silly, but it actually makes a lot of sense (except for the AP News app, that just seems silly. Who’s going to stand in front of their refrigerator and stare at the door to read their news? But I digress…). While most individuals now have smartphones to organize their daily lives, the refrigerator remains the central organization point for most families. It’s easy enough to note in your calendar that the kids have soccer practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4 p.m., that doesn’t do much to keep the family coordinated so that your partner knows when to drop off/pick up the kids, and the kids (assuming they’re old enough to navigate apps on a refrigerator) know when to be ready to go.
And this, naturally, leads one to wonder what other household appliances will soon become “smart” appliances. Will we have smart toasters next? Or smart crock pots? Or smart bread-makers? Probably not. What would you do with a smart toaster? You don’t want it over-thinking your toast until it’s charred.
Nevertheless, the road to smarter living has been paved, and it’s only a matter of time before most objects do, in fact, become “smart” objects (smart tables? Smart sofas?).
The Samsung LCD Refrigerator with Apps is available at national retailers, including Lowe’s and Best Buy. Consumers can get the fancy four-door French Door model for $3,499.99, or the two-door side-by-side model for $2,699.99.
Image source: Samsung.com
