Whirlpool’s Centralpark ‘Connected’ Fridge/Freezer is a Little Hokey

Giving Connected Kitchens a 'Whirl'

From the November, 2001 issue of CE Pro

Although the public has seen many a fridge with built-in Web pads, thanks to slick PR campaigns, in fact little seems to be happening today in terms of Web-enabled or interconnected white goods.

To date, exposure for Web-connected kitchens has come largely from the makers of Internet appliances such as 3Com that tout the kitchen as the next great haven for Internet access.

But then, look what happened to that initiative.

"If you go to my mom, she doesn't know who 3Com is," says Jim Fanning, director of home solutions for Whirlpool. "But she knows Whirlpool."

And that's why the famous maker of major appliances thinks it can be the first company to deliver interconnected and Web-enabled appliances to U.S. kitchens.

At the recent PCBC show for home builders, Whirlpool was the only exhibitor--major appliances or otherwise--to show Web-connected kitchens.

In its typical demonstration, Whirlpool shows wireless Web tablets tucked into a holster on the refrigerator and mounted on hinges beneath kitchen cabinets. From there, recipes are summoned by voice, messages are left for the kids, and calendars are kept for the whole family.

Technologically, the whole scene centers around an OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative) gateway that receives feeds from Whirlpool via the Internet. The gateway connects to a wireless 802.11b hub, which in turn communicates with the Web pads.

For kitchen- and home-control applications, the gateway links to a powerline modem, which issues commands to connected appliances, and receives feedback that it can share with service providers via the Internet gateway.

Whirlpool hopes to deliver the connected kitchen by the first quarter of 2002, although the company is still mulling over its method of distribution and installation. The company does plan to target home builders directly and is considering tapping the CE Pro channel for showcasing and installing the technologies.


At the Pacific Coast Builders Show (PCBC) in 2001, Whirlpool techs fuss with the OSGi gateway underneath the sink in order to get the connected appliances to ... connect.