A model touches a panel screen installed in a newly introduced "Internet Refrigerator" at the opening of the PC World Expo in Makuhari, east of Tokyo, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1998. The unique refrigerator is connected with all household euipment like, telephone, air conditioner, bath, television, security, etc., which could be controlled by the touch panel or verbally through a built-in michrophone. ASSOCIATED PRESS

Internet ovens and refrigerators are on the horizon

Web posted October 1, 1998

Associated Press

MILAN, Italy -- Need an oven with Internet access? How about a refrigerator smart enough to keep track of what's inside, store recipes and make your grocery list?

High-tech companies in Italy and Japan are betting you do, or will, in the near-future.

In Italy, Merloni Elettrodomestici announced a new product line Wednesday that includes appliances that can do everything from preventing blackouts to surfing the Net.

The ``intelligent oven'' even has remote-control cooking programs and will soon have built-in Internet access for recipes.

Under the brand name Ariston Digital, Merloni has also developed washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers and cooking appliances that can communicate with each other -- and the outside world.

Merloni, Europe's fourth-largest home appliance producer, plans to unveil the new product line at the Smau information and telecommunications show in Milan in October and start selling it in the second half of 1999.

The company spent five years and about $18 million to develop the new line, but says the futuristic appliances will only be a little bit more expensive than more conventional items.

Meanwhile, a Japanese company has developed what it calls the ``internet refrigerator.''

With a speedy Pentium II microprocessor and huge hard drive, it packs more computing power than most home PCs, and has separate compartments for fruit and vegetables.

The refrigerator -- unveiled Wednesday at the opening of the PC World Expo in Makuhari, east of Tokyo -- is controlled with a touch panel monitor in the door or verbally through a built-in microphone.

The company that developed the refrigerator, V-Sync, recommends using it as the command center of a wired home by hooking it up to similarly equipped household appliances such as telephones, air conditioners and televisions.

More than 600 computer-related companies are displaying products at the annual computer expo in Japan, which runs through Saturday.