A smart refrigerator, also known as internet refrigerator, is a refrigerator which is able to communicate with the internet. This kind of refrigerator is often equipped to determine itself whenever a food item needs to be replenished.

History

By the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the idea of connecting home appliances to the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

(

Internet of Things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other com ...

) had been popularized and was seen as the next big thing. In June 2000, LG launched the world's first internet refrigerator, the

Internet Digital DIOS The LG Internet Digital DIOS (also known as R-S73CT) is an internet refrigerator released by LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG E ...

. This refrigerator was an unsuccessful product because the consumers had seen it as unnecessary and expensive (more than $20,000).

Controversy

Security

In 2000, Russian anti-virus company

Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Lab (; Russian language, Russian: Лаборатория Касперского, Romanization of Russian, tr. ''Laboratoriya Kasperskogo'') is a Russian Multinational corporation, multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider head ...

warned that in a few years Internet-connected fridges and other household appliances may be targets of net viruses, such as ones that could be designed to make your fridge door swing open in the middle of the night. In January 2014, the California security firm Proofpoint, Inc. announced that it discovered a large “botnet” which infected an internet-connected refrigerator, as well as other home appliances, and then delivered more than 750,000 malicious emails. In August 2015, security company Pen Test Partners discovered a vulnerability in the internet-connected refrigerator Samsung model RF28HMELBSR that can be exploited to steal Gmail users' login credentials.

Support

In late 2014, several owners of internet-connected Samsung refrigerators complained that they could not log into their Google Calendars accounts, after Google had discontinued the calendar API earlier in the year and Samsung failed to push a software update for the refrigerator.

Examples

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool. Electrolux products sell under a variet ...

ScreenFridge *

Husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that ma ...

br>Intelligent Fridge
* LG Internet Digital DIOS * LG GR-D267DTU * LG Smart ThinQ LFX31995ST *

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

RH2777AT HomePAD Internet Refrigerator *

Samsung T9000 The Samsung T9000 is a smart refrigerator that runs Android (operating system) made by Samsung Electronics and introduced along with a soda-making fridge in CES 2013. It was succeeded by the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator line which runs Tizen. ...

Zipel e-Diary *

Whirlpool A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

GD5VVAXT Refrigerator

Popular culture

*The 2000 film ''

The 6th Day ''The 6th Day'' is a 2000 American science fiction action film directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rapaport, and Robert Duvall. In the film, a family man of the future is illegally cloned by ...

'', features an Internet refrigerator which informs Arnold Schwarzenegger that the milk is over its expiring date and asks him to confirm a new order. *The 2004 film ''

The Stepford Wives ''The Stepford Wives'' is a 1972 satirical "feminist horror" novel by Ira Levin. The story concerns Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer, wife and young mother who suspects that something in Stepford's environment is changing the wives fr ...

'', features a smart fridge that can tell whenever it has no juice, etc. in Joanna's new Stepford home. *The 2012 film '' Total Recall'', features a smart refrigerator that is covered by a touchscreen which enables the user to leave notes and messages. * ''Silicon Valley'' features a smart fridge that is bought by Jian-Yang, after the old fridge broke down in Season 4 episode, "The Patent Troll". The smart fridge is able to communicate in friendly male voice and give a warning if the food items are expired, which bothers Gilfoyle enough to hack it. In season 4 finale, "Server Error", thanks to his hacking, Pied Piper's plan for the new Internet is proven by the 30,000 smart fridges connected together that create the new Internet, as he hacked using some of their code, replacing his dead server, Anton, who backed itself up to the smart fridge before it died.

References

External links

* * {{Ambient intelligence Home appliances Internet of things Food storage Cooling technology Food preservation