Your fridge just texted: Japan electronics firms pin hopes on 'smart' appliances

Japan's currency has been cheap for over a year now. There goes that excuse.

Japan's currency has been cheap for over a year now

Umm, no. It was as strong as 94 yen to the dollar in the middle of June, 88 yen at the beginning of this year.

This new technology will drive people more insane than they are already..very stressful to me.

Yippee! Fridge-pecked as well as hen-pecked!

kickboard: "Umm, no. It was as strong as 94 yen to the dollar in the middle of June, 88 yen at the beginning of this year."

And now 104 yen to the dollar or so, no?

Anyway, I think they've got a good chance at making some seriously good products, but they need to be cheap and efficient or Samsung will mop the floors with them. No cute Hello Kitty perikura options, and no spam from Rakuten, please. Just develop a product that will allow you to input your preferences, allow you to pre-program food orders to be delivered, and let you know when things are low (before confirming orders), etc. Keep it simple, but smart.

I want my fridge to keep food cold, my washing machine to wash clothes and that is all. I don't need to have a social interaction with it or get text messages from it. Gimmickry, and nothing but.

They might label the machine "smart", but the purchaser can't be very smart if they need to rely on their fridge to suggest recipes and track groceries. A pen and paper track groceries. And for cutting energy costs? Many applicances have a timer or some such device. No need to talk "to the cloud".

MapleG: "A pen and paper track groceries."

So do a quill and ink, or a stick in the sand. Technology progresses. Pen and paper are dying, for better or worse. I agree with you on the needlessness of a fridge suggesting recipes and ingredients (unless it's something you've programmed), but it'll all be this way in the near future.

The smart appliances were first thought of by Samsung and LG.. over 10 years ago when they came up with fridges that had a computer flat screen, and computerized, internet connected fridges which alerted the user what foods needed to be bought. They weren't wildly successful due to the consumers who don't want to pay out outrageous amount of money for a simple fridge. Now the Japanese companies are getting on board, but that's not going to save them.

Adding LCD screens and "communication" to appliances for the sake of calling it "smart" is anything but smart.

How about a modest rechargeable battery dock in your fridge/AC/washer dryer that can operate it for an hour or two when power goes down, or even more interestingly operate every day/week whenever power rates are peaked out or when the power company needs to limit the power on a hot summer afternoon (a la "demand response")? The dock would add very little cost, add something that a environmentally conscious consumer can easily identify as a benefit, and allow utilities/municipalities/etc. to subsidize or incentivize the actuall battery cost (which for only an hour or two of operation would be well under US$100 in quantity)...my great idea! (I've seen a prototype and unplugging your fridge and seeing it still working is actually pretty cool experience).

This is bound to start a fire some how.

And now 104 yen to the dollar or so, no?

No. It is 102. It hasn't been 104 for over 5 years.