Surf Among Suds With Web-Enabled Washing Machine

Just over three months after it introduced an Internet-enabled refrigerator, South Korea's LG Electronics has launched in Asia its second Net-ready home appliance.

The newest member of LG Electronics' family of Net-enabled appliances, an Internet-ready washing machine, was unveiled by the company in Seoul last week. Unlike current machines, which have a fixed number of wash programs, the new Internet LG Turbo Drum washing machine can connect to the Internet to download new programs to match new fabrics, company representatives explain.

LG built its own Web site to provide the programs, although, unlike the refrigerator, the washing machine can't directly go online. With no built-in modem, the machine must be connected to a PC in order to hook up to the Internet and download new software.

The washer has a built-in 4.2-inch LCD through which you can navigate and find programs, and it has 4 megabits of flash memory to store the downloaded software.

Family Expansion Planned

If that isn't clever enough, LG Electronics says it is developing a home network modem for the machine. When fitted, it will let you remotely monitor and program your machine from anywhere on the network.

The machine is the result of a three-year development project that involved 30 engineers and cost roughly $3.5 million, according to the company. The next project likely to be released is an Internet microwave oven that can go online and download recipes, say LG Electronics staff. The company expects it to be unveiled next year.

Although LG Electronics may be first to Web-enable a washing machine, other home appliances with Internet access are available from several companies. (See "Yet Another Home Net Standard Arrives" and "Can Your Refrigerator Surf?")

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