Samsung has established its foothold in the “smart kitchen” arena with its Family Hub smart refrigerator line. With these refrigerators, food management is streamlined, and their interior cameras, accessible via a smartphone, allow owners to look inside and also allow them to create shopping lists and to order groceries directly from the screen via services such as Grubhub and Nomiku. A whiteboard feature on the LED touchscreen turns the refrigerator into a “digital billboard” photo- and message-sharing tool. And family members now have the ability to create personal profiles using avatars or their own photos. On the kitchen entertainment front, Spotify and TuneIn streaming service accessibility has been added. A planned expansion of the Family Hub refrigerators’ features includes home control capability of third-party connected-home products such as lights, door locks, security cameras and wireless speakers, via the Samsung Connect app.
Bosch Home Connect is the company’s first collection of connected-home appliances for the U.S. market that lets clients operate their appliances remotely through a single app on their smartphone or tablet. The line of connected Bosch appliances is growing and includes built-in coffee makers, dishwashers, wall ovens and refrigeration – plus the 800 Series Compact Laundry Pair, which is the first connected compact washer and dryer on the market. With these new connected products, creating the perfect cup of coffee while hosting friends and family, or preheating the wall oven from another room, are just a few of many new possibilities. The line is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Amazon Dash Replenishment, Nest, and IFTTT (If This Then That) – a service that will, for example, flick the lights in the TV room once the laundry cycle is complete.
Induction cooktops by Miele communicate with certain range hoods through a technology called con@ctivity 2.0. Once the induction cooktop is turned on, the hood automatically comes on and adjusts based on whatever the level the cooktop is set at, freeing the cook from the need to manually power it on, for optimal ventilation.
The company also offers a new line of dishwashers that interact with the Miele@mobile app that allows the homeowner to check the status of the cycle or start a cycle from a smartphone.
The latest Jenn-Air Connected Wall Ovens that work with the brand’s existing iOS and Android apps now also respond to Alexa voice commands, allowing homeowners to verbally set timers, initiate preheating, and change cooking modes and temperatures.
The ovens also offer compatibility with Nest thermostats and advanced cooking algorithms that take the guesswork out of achieving restaurant-quality results at home, and these connectivity features can be upgraded over time. Jenn-Air iOS and Android apps can also access the company’s Culinary Center, an interactive, image-driven system offering chef-tested cooking programs to provide guidance for 30 food options and their variables.
Jenn-Air’s newest 72-inch counter-depth French door refrigerator also features Wi-Fi connectivity, providing remote control to maintenance reminders to food preservation features. A Max Cool setting, for example, lowers the temperature for a select period of time and can be activated prior to loading the refrigerator with food so that conditions for the refrigerator’s contents are optimized when loading. If extra ice is needed for entertaining, the Max Ice feature can be remotely activated to increase ice production.
