ReNews -- Remodelors Council News - 03/15/2005 (Plain Text Version)Don Novak CGR, CAPS, CKB, GMB View Graphical Version | Subscribe to NAHB Publications | Email our Editor... In this issue: Industry Trends: Are You Ready for the 'Smart Kitchen'?Proponents of smart kitchens that use a broadband-equipped home network to connect appliances with cell phones, pagers, office computers, laptops and other remote devices are targeting new home builders who are pre-wiring their kitchens to accommodate the new technology. Smart kitchens are included in “5 Technologies to Watch,” a recent report from the Consumer Electronics Association. “The American kitchen is about to take another step in its evolution,” the report says. “The need for speed control coupled with the desire for old fashioned ‘home cookin’ has led to the invention of several products that could make the kitchen the center of the home.” Referred to as hybrid white goods, the products include refrigerators with cable-ready television screens; refrigerators that can monitor the shelf life of in-box items using barcodes; ovens that can download and execute recipes via the Internet; and ovens that can store and cook food via a cell phone. “The rapid expansion of high-speed home networks and the rollout of smart kitchen appliances looks like a marriage destined for success,” the report says, projecting that the number of homes worldwide with home networks will jump from 35 million at the end of last year to 98 million by 2008. Whirlpool, IBM, Sears and Hewlett-Packard are among the companies that have been leading the effort through participation in the Internet Home Alliance, whose mission is to help build a market for products and services that require a broadband or persistent Internet connection. The companies have been collaborating to resolve basic design issues so there won’t be conflicts over standards and proprietary software and consumers won’t be confused about which device works with another. A recent survey by the group found that 42% of the nation’s single-family home owners — or 26.1 million households — are interested in new technology in a connected home, the report says. “Our research shows that busy consumers still blame themselves when they cannot provide their families with home-cooked meals,” said Henry Marcy, V, Whirlpool’s vice president for corporate technology and electronics. “Solving the food preparation dilemma would dramatically open up the market possibilities for us, especially because the kitchen is the command center of the home.” While industry’s goal is to connect all kitchen appliances so that they can be accessed by remote devices, there are some kitchen appliances that do not require broadband for basic service, the report says. One of them is Whirlpool’s Polara oven, which keeps raw food at the correct temperature during the day so that it can be cooked after work right away. For more information or to contact us directly, please visit www.NAHB.org | ©2005, National Association of Home Builders |