CES 2013 was more than just oversized TVs and smartphones-- "smart" appliances also make an appearance, with vendors insisting that, yes, fridges, ovens and even the humble fork need wifi connections and smartphone control.
Attracting much attention at the show was the latest Samsung take on the fridge, the T9000, a gargantuan 4-door number with a 10-inch touchscreen running on a custom OS. It has a wifi connection and runs a variety of apps, including Twitter, Epicurious and even a Google Calendar client.
It also has advanced coolilng technology (supposedly to keep food fresh for longer while an Evernote app allows the sharing of photos, videos and recipes. From the fridge. Amazing
LG also had a full kitchen range at CES 2013, with smart fridges, washing machines, ovens and robot vacuum cleaners. The unique selling point here is NFC-capability allowing users to check on appliances with a simple tap of a smartphone.
Examples seen at the LG stand include choosing washing machine programs via smartphone or smart fridge software sending a recipe program to the smart oven.
However our favourite CES 2013 kitchen device is not only smaller, and might actually prove useful-- it is the HAPIfork, a fork able to track and control how quickly you eat. Should you eat too fast (a problem that might cause overeating and digestive problems) the fork vibrates until you, well, slow down.
Recorded data is sent to PC and uploaded to the cloud, and can also be accessed via smartphone app.
Is the kitchen truly the next CE frontier? If so, expect more smart appliance announcements in the days to come...
Go Samsung Home Appliance Innovations at CES 2013
Go HAPIfork
