If you thought the Made For iPod fridge was a novel idea, how about the iGorenje washing machine and oven that can be controlled remotely from your iPod? Thanks to a piece of free software, your iPod Touch or iPhone could be a remote control for your kitchen.
The Slovenian appliance manufacturer isn’t the first to put forward a home networking solution for the kitchen – remember LG’s internet fridge? – but it is the first to use an iPod Touch or iPhone as the control device and it looks like it could be the first practical and affordable application when it rolls out next year.
Thanks to a piece of software that’ll be a free download from Gorenje’s site, your iPod Touch will be able to wirelessly access your wi-fi oven and take control of it. You could, for instance, put a joint of meat in there and then choose a preset cooking pattern to roast it while you are out, so that’s it’s ready when you arrive home. The helpful Igorenje program has a range of presets to suit each meal and it can be updated whenever necessary. Likewise, you can load the washing machine in the morning and then activate it remotely from the office. Of course, timers can already achieve this to a certain extent, but this is the next step and the upgradeable nature of the software could introduce more functionality.
Out 2009 | £TBA | Gorenje
I think this is a load of novelty bollocks. After all, I can decide when my washing machine finishes when I’m loading it – I don’t need any more control than that. And my oven can do the same thing.
But this is much more flexible than a timer because you can start the wash cycle whenever you want. And with the oven, it’d be cool to be able to turn it on when your first dinner guest arrives without having to go to the kitchen. Armchair cooking! Sure, a big part of it is just showing off, but this is the best network idea for appliances so far.
I wish my dishwasher had a Twitter account, but I’d settle for a washing machine that also hung out the wet clothes when it finished cleaning them.
Or a robot slave.
I’d like a fridge that tells my phone what’s about to go off, so when I go shopping I don’t miss anything out. As for the cooker, mine doesn’t have a timer, I prefer to use the smoke alarm.