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Can Your Refrigerator Surf?

Cisco and Whirlpool join forces to Web-enable your home, starting with your kitchen.

By Eileen Smith, PCWorld   

Cisco Systems and Whirlpool Thursday announced their plan to develop a complete line of networked home solutions stocked with Internet-ready products and services, which are now only prototypes. Cisco launched its Internet home platform at the Consumer Electronics Show here this week.

If you want a window into the future, then CES is definitely the place. Whirlpool's major home appliances won't start rolling out until the end of this year, although a full line of products is currently in development.

"We focused on looking at consumers and their habits and behaviors," says Philip Pejovich, Whirlpool vice president of corporate technology and engineering development. "The dual-income household has a lot of pressure in terms of time."

Make Your Appliances Work For You

Whirlpool will help provide the Internet-ready home appliances and services that interact with the consumer and the Internet. The prototypes of an Internet-connected refrigerator and oven, wired with Cisco technology, are on display at the show.

"You're going to see a lot of ability for consumers to increase efficiency," Pejovich says. "[The appliances] can free up time so people can do the things they really want to do."

A portable handheld device will let you remotely monitor and control these networked appliances, zapping your kitchen with a Jetsons-like feel. For example, you can download recipes from an integrated browser, and then automatically program your oven to fit the recipe.

"Age and generation have a lot to do with what drives your usage profile," says Keith Fox, Cisco's vice president of worldwide corporate marketing. "My wife is a gourmet cook and she'd be the most interested in Whirlpool solutions and the way it affects her living."

A wireless and removable Web tablet resides in the refrigerator door. You can use it as a calendar, or to check e-mail, order groceries, or leave notes for other household members. Kiss those magnets and cluttered sticky notes goodbye.

The Money Factor

Sounds cool--but can your average consumer afford to be this connected? "The bottom line is that it has to be affordable to be successful in the marketplace," Pejovich says. "Home networking is making a big splash with the adoption of the Internet and the use of multiple appliances, so the infrastructure is already in place."

Cisco's Internet Home Gateway distributes broadband access throughout the home, and facilitates network use within a household. Consumers gain high-speed access through cable, digital subscriber lines, or wireless service providers.

"There's a huge demand today for higher-speed access," Fox says. "We don't care how it's distributed through the home. We just want to provide the Internet architecture for the consumer's personalized services."