Features

For years now we've been hearing about internet fridges, and in fact a few models came to the market about five years ago. But despite all the hype about what internet fridges might be able to do, the first models were little more than a fridge with a flat-panel, touch-sensitive screen fitted to the door and an internet-enabled PC hidden away somewhere inside. To say that they didn't take the world by storm would be an understatement. After all, why would you choose to browse the web standing in front of your fridge when you could do so sitting at a desk or in an armchair in the lounge?

But the internet fridge is far from dead, according to Samsung's Chae Hee-kook. In a statement made just a few months ago, Samsung revealed it was working on a new intelligent fridge that would do a lot more than display webpages on its door. Using RFID technology, the fridge would keep track of groceries as you put them on its shelves or removed them. If milk or orange juice were to run low, for example, the fridge would notify its owner. Alternatively, it could offer recipes using the available ingredients.

You wouldn't have to be standing next to the fridge to interact with it. You could call the fridge from the supermarket to check what groceries were over their expiry date and what you needed to buy. Eventually, the fridge will be able to re-order goods automatically for delivery directly from the supermarket. When will you be able to pick up one of these RFID fridges from your local electrical store? Chae Hee-kook told the Korea Times: "Some foretell 2008 or 2009 as the debut year of our RFID fridges. But we can't say for sure because nobody knows when RFID tags will become widespread."

	1 The internet fridge will be available "some time soon", apparently.