Samsung unveiled its latest smart appliance at CES this year, deemed the Family Hub Refrigerator, which features a 21.5 inch, 1080p touch screen on the front, equipped with intelligence both inside and out.
The smart fridge is the first appliance to feature Amazon Alexa, the always-listening digital assistant that debuted last year in Amazon’s Echo device. Alexa will function exactly as it does on the Echo and answer any questions when addressed.
Inside, the Family Hub Fridge includes a pair of cameras that take photos of the contents each time you open and close the doors. You can access these images on the Samsung app on your smartphone (available for iOS or Android), allowing you to check if you have enough milk or eggs while you’re at the grocery store.
While you can ask Alexa to create a shopping list and the items will be put in the checkout queue at Amazon, it is not integrated with the core food shopping engine that is powered by Instacart. Samsung did, however, announce a new partnership with Mastercard called “Groceries by Mastercard,” that allows consumers to shop for groceries at FreshDirect and ShopRite straight through the refrigerator.
The Family Hub Fridge features a gorilla-glass-covered screen that is designed to act as a replacement for magnets you can no longer attach to contemporary stainless steel refrigerators. It also comes with the Tizen OS-based embedded computer that allows you to write handwritten notes with either a stylus or your finger, and is equipped with numerous calendars that Samsung wishes to integrate with iOS and Android through a third-party tool called Sticki. The smart appliance lets you send photos to it from your phone, tablet, or computer, and stream music through services like Pandora and Spotify through either integrated speakers or Bluetooth-connected ones.
Priced at approximately $5,000, the Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator is expected to begin shipping in May 2016.
Source: Mashable
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