For those who don’t know, Samsung doesn’t just make smartphones and laptops. They’re literally involved in the broader consumer electronics market and more. At CES 2018 they announced their next generation Family Hub refrigerator which they say takes connected living to a whole new level. The new Family Hub refrigerator is literally one of the anchor products for Samsung’s vision of Bixby and connected home control. Samsung’s new platform allows users to sync up food storage and meal prep, keeps the family connected and organized, and provides new entertainment methods. Of course, Samsung was pushing the Bixby angle very hard at CES 2018 and they made sure to let us know Bixby features prominently in this fridge.
“Since Family Hub’s introduction in 2016, consumers have embraced it as their home’s digital command center to help manage food, family, and fun. We’ve been listening closely to current users and created a new Family Hub that’s even smarter and more advanced than before,” said John Herrington, Senior Vice President, General Manager of Home Appliances, Samsung Electronics America. “The integration of Bixby and SmartThings into the Family Hub is bringing a new level of intelligent connectivity into the room where people spend the most time: the kitchen.”
The new Family Hub works with Samsung’s SmartThings ecosystem which means you can control most your IoT devices from the fridge. So now not only will you be able to see what’s in your fridge without opening it, you can also see who’s at the front door using a Ring doorbell. Samsung is also touting “enhanced food management” with this fridge. With the View Inside app, you can see what’s in the fridge from your connected device. Samsung also provides a new Meal Planner feature that personalizes meal plans by dietary restrictions and more. For good measure, Samsung is also throwing in a Deals app which is supposed to help users find the best deals on food in their area.
Samsung is also hitting on keeping families connected and organized with customizable calendars, photos, and notes. They were keen to point out that Bixby could recognize individual voices and give back personal information based on the user’s voice. One example given was, “Hi Bixby, what’s new today?” and Bixby would return news, weather, and calendar specific to that user’s voice.
With innovative TV and music options, the original Family Hub transformed the kitchen into an area for socializing with family and friends. Users can access millions of songs through various music streaming platforms and live radio apps, and mirror their Samsung Smart TV. The new Family Hub also features AKG Premium Quality Sound Speaker for sound that is deep in bass and rich in mid-range. Additionally, users can now stream content from their smartphone to the Family Hub refrigerator.
The video below shows a bit of what the fridge can do, although you will notice they don’t use Bixby as a wake word.
https://youtu.be/-_7IcNensZc
What do you think of Samsung’s new Family Hub? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
