When’s a fridge not just a fridge? When it’s a Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator. The company is just one of many promising to bring the Internet of Things into our homes, but with this gobsmackingly-featured fridge it really has gone for it, declaring it is ‘transforming the communal kitchen experience’ no less.
I know what you’re thinking, it’s a fridge, it keeps things cool, maybe it makes ice, what’s the big deal? Well be prepared to be surprised. For starters the Family Hub Refrigerator is the first fridge to have cameras inside of it, three of them in fact. Every time you shut the door it takes a picture of everything in your fridge and uploads it to the cloud. That way when you’re out shopping you can literally see what’s in the fridge and work out what you need and don’t need - although yes you will have to start taking the eggs out of their boxes if you want to know how many are left.
The front of the wonderfridge (as I’ve just dubbed it) has a display, as you might expect, a pretty sizeable 21.5in Full HD LCD display (Samsung losing points here for not opting for a curved OLED of course). Using this you can apparently manage your goods’ expiry dates and even shop with online partners to stock up.
The screen also works as a ‘digital family command center’ which sounds amazing, as I’d love to have digital command of my family, rather than very tenuous influence I currently wield. In reality this amounts to a shared digital calendar, virtual post-it notes and the ability to pin photos and the like for all to see. It’s a nice idea and having it integrated into a device that your children must use to feed themselves makes it harder for them to claim not to have seen it (though they still will).
The Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator entertains too, with a built-in speaker for music streaming and Bluetooth. It can even screen mirror whatever you’re watching live on your Samsung Smart TV, so no reason to miss a goal when you go to the fridge to grab a beer.
Apparently it can also store a huge quantity of food, both chilled and frozen, and yes of course it makes ice too. Prices are yet to be announced but if you have to have the best of everything then this looks to be the ultimate fridge.
