Home appliances to talk to owners

(AFP): Mobile phones aren’t the only things getting smart. Home appliances are too. On display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) along with the latest smartphones and touchscreen tabletcomputers are ovens, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and other products for the "connected" home. South Korea’s LG Electronics line of "Thinq" household appliances are connected to a home Wi-Fi network and can be controlled by a smartphone or a computer. LG refrigerators with touchscreen LCD displays let users keep tabs on where food items have been placed in the machine and when they expire."You can use a drag and drop system with icons or voice commands," said Patrick Steinkuhl, product insight manager

"You can say things like ‘Ground beef top shelf.’ It has default expiration dates built in but if you want to change those you can," he said. "You’re in complete control."An owner of the LG refrigerator can access its contents while shopping via a smartphone and figure out, for example, whether they need to pick up another gallon of milk or orange juice.

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