| Salton unveils home appliance network powered by Windows CE .NET |
Jan. 10, 2004
 Kitchen appliance maker Salton Inc. unveiled a group of networked home appliances that are intended to "make life simpler, more convenient, and fun" at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas. Salton's "Beyond Connected Home" product line features a coffeemaker, breadmaker, and microwave controlled via Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless and AC powerline networking from two "command centers" running Microsoft's Windows CE .NET embedded operating system.
Salton's Beyond home products architecture
Key products in Salton's new Beyond home family include . . .
iCEBOX Kitchen Entertainment and Command Center
This Windows CE .NET based multifunction device provides broadband Internet access, television, a DVD and CD player, FM radio, and home video monitoring capabilities.
Additionally, the iCEBOX functions as a "command center" for other Salton Beyond appliances, communicating with them via an AC powerline network. A browser on the iCEBOX gives family members the ability to log into the Beyond Network, where they can program the Beyond Coffee Maker, select recipes for the Beyond Microwave Oven or Bread Maker, update the family calendar, and set information preferences for the Beyond Home Hub. Salton says the iCEBOX will soon be able to communicate with products of other manufacturers in addition to its own Beyond family of appliances.
The iCEBOX is offered in two versions -- a counter top model and a flipscreen model which hangs from kitchen cabinetry (pictured above).
Additional technical details on the iCEBOX are available in this WindowsForDevices.com device profile.
Beyond Home Hub
Also powered by Windows CE .NET, Salton's Home Hub device is described as an entertainment and command center for the bedroom or kitchen that enables family members to check the time, weather forecast, traffic reports, and financial information. In addition, Salton says the device provides the functions of a high-quality clock radio featuring two-alarms and a hi-fi CD player.
The Home Hub also serves as a gateway for the various appliances in the Beyond family, offering functions similar to those of the iCEBOX described above. According to Salton, the Home Hub connects to the Internet and the Beyond website, where its information is updated automatically. It communicates to the Beyond appliances through the home's AC wiring, enabling the appliances to have their settings updated from the Beyond website.
Connected Appliances
The initial appliances to be offered as part of Salton's Beyond family include a microwave oven, coffee maker, and bread maker. As mentioned above, the iCEBOX or the Beyond Home Hub communicates with these devices via the home's AC wiring. - Microwave oven -- the oven is automatically programmed to cook food perfectly based on a swipe of the barcode on a package, according to Salton. ("No more guesswork. No more burnt popcorn.") The oven retrieves recipes from the Home Hub, which can store up to 4,000 recipes and connects nightly to the Beyond Network to retrieve new or favorite recipes.
- Coffee maker -- the device can be programmed from the iCEBOX or the Beyond Home Hub to automatically make coffee according to a schedule that can be updated from a web browser. If the coffee maker lacks water for its next scheduled coffee making time, the Home Hub or iCEBOX sounds the alarm!
- Bread maker -- like the microwave oven, the bread maker can be programmed with recipes for favorite bread and cake mixes by scanning the barcodes on the mix packages -- recipes are automatically downloaded by the Home Hub and transfered to the bread maker. The bread maker can also prepare jams, cheesecake, fudge, and pizza dough.
Other Beyond home appliances will be added in the future, including phones, lighting control, games, monitoring and security devices, health and fitness devices, and networking to other home systems, according to Salton.
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