Today at CES, LG unveiled their smart home appliance line that uses their smart technology called LG THINQ. The appliances include a smart oven, a smart refrigerator, a smart washer/dryer combo and a smart robotic vacuum cleaner.

LG is pushing five new technologies in their home appliance line – Smart Grid, Smart Diagnosis, Smart Access, Smart Adapt and Food Management. LG claims that this software will let homeowners control and manage refrigerators, washing machines, ovens and robotic vacuum cleaners via a smart network.

“We’re excited to add home appliances to our largest ever line-up of total LG innovations ever to be shown at CES,” Young-ha Lee, President and CEO of LG Electronics Home Appliance Company, said. “By drawing on LG’s latest IT and mobile technology, our smart appliances promise to be real game changers, offering a big leap forward in convenience and efficiency.”

Smart Grid programs washing machines to do the washing at the most cost-effective times. The oven also taps into the smart grid to offer cost options that take into account the duration and electrical cost of the cooking. The refrigerators can also adjust their temperatures to take advantage of decreased energy rates.

Smart Diagnosis will take notice of anything that goes wrong with a home appliance. Take for example if the refrigerator door is left open, the appliance will notify the owner on its display panel. In later models, this will be done via Wi-Fi and send a message to the owner’s smartphone or tablet PC.

Smart Diagnosis will also be able to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong in case of a serious malfunction. It will allow service technicians to know exactly what’s wrong to save time and money.

Smart Access allows users to oversee their household chores regardless of their location. Through smartphones or tablet PCs, they can see the time left on food in the oven or check the temperature and contents of the refrigerator. It will even allow users to instruct their robotic vacuum cleaner to clean or watch over the house.

Smart Adapt downloads the latest options for the appliances, included pre-programmed recipes or washing cycles that best fit the user’s lifestyle. Food management goes hand-in-hand with Smart Adapt by letting users keep track of everything in the fridge and when it expires.

These smart appliances came out of nowhere and LG surprised everybody with this announcement. After the initial shock value sank in though, it makes sense. These are all excellent ideas that will make people’s lives easier. Now we just wait until our appliances start refusing orders and begin the robot revolution.

And no, this is not a joke, either. What we have is Samsung’s WiFi-enabled, embedded touchscreen-powered refrigerator, and as you can see from the lead image, the appliance features an touchscreen preloaded with various apps, including ones for Twitter and Weatherbug. If you’d like to show off your Picasa library while fetching a refreshing beverage for your guest, you can do that too, provided the guest follows you to the fridge.

In fact, there are two refrigerator models featuring the app-loaded touchscreen. The apps, according to the specifications PDF, are as follows:

- Memo
- Epicurious Recipes
- Picasa Photos
- WeatherBug
- Calendar
- AP News
- Pandora
- Twitter

Here’s a closer look at Samsung’s touchscreen:

Because the computing device is WiFi-enabled, it avoids the necessity of needing to be plugged into to a router or other hardwired connection. Samsung’s product description shows their intention behind the design:

Check the morning weather, browse the web for recipes, explore your social networks or leave notes for your family—all from the refrigerator door.

Is such a feature even necessary? Are people even at their refrigerators long enough to “miss” their electronic connection to the outside world, increasing the demand for such a feature? Do people not carry their smartphones when going to the fridge for some delicious pizza? Apparently, I’m missing the spirit of such an innovation.

If you’d like yet another connected device in your home, this time, in the form of a kitchen appliance, you’re going to have to pay a pretty penny to get it. The cheapest model refrigerator (30 cubic feet, side-by-side doors) goes for $2699, while the four-door model goes for $3499. That’s a hefty price to pay for yet another connected device, especially when all smartphones and tablet computers can do accomplish the same tasks, as well as many others, for a fraction of a price.

But then again, you wouldn’t be able to say you have an app-powered refrigerator, which is probably the reason most people would purchase such an appliance to begin with.

H/t to Uncrate for pointing this out.

There are companies that have a significant online presence, of course, like Sears, but I think it’s safe to say that unlike consumer electronics purchasing habits, major appliances (the industry calls the category "majapp", by the way) are still purchased based on in-store discussions with salespeople and hands-on experience.

The list of top Majapp retailers:

1. Sears, with $8.3 billion in major appliance sales in 2007 (a drop of 7.3% from their 2006 sales)
2. Lowe’s, with $4.3 billion in majapp sales (an increase of 3.1% over their 2006 sales)
3. Home Depot, with $3.8 billion in sales (an increase in 2.3% from 2006 sales)
4. Best Buy, with $1.9 billion in sales (an impressive increase of 8.3% over 2006 sales. Best Buy is really becoming a powerhouse in both majapp and consumer electronics sales!)
5. Wal*Mart, with $713 million in sales (an increase of 5.1% over 2006)
6. P.C. Richard & Son, with $602 million in sales (a drop of 4.1% from 2006 sales)
7. hhgregg, with $486 million in sales (a staggering increase of 36.6% over 2006 sales)
8. BrandsMart, with $269 million in sales (a decrease of 2.7% from 2006 sales)
9. Conn’s, with $224 million in sales (a 3.0% decrease over 2006 sales)
10. Costco Wholesale, with $211 million in sales (an increase of 0.9% over 2006 sales figures)

The rest of the top 25? Pacific Sales Kitchen & Bath Centers, Target, ABC Warehouse, ABT Electronics and Appliances, Menards, Sam’s Club, EXPO Design CEnter, R.C. Willey Home Furnishings, American TV & Appliances, Nebraska Furniture Mart, The Great Indoors, Appliance Direct, Kmart, Fry’s Electronics and Grants Appliance.

Somehow, in 2008 I expect to see some sort of company like "Appliances Online" or even Amazon show up on the top 25 list (after all, Grants Appliance is on the list with only $77 million in annual major appliance sales)…

Is it possible that major appliances will always be purchased primarily through a physical storefront, perhaps simply due to the complexity of delivery and installation? What do you think?

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