Reinventing the home appliance
A Windows-enabled and Web-connected coffee maker like the prototype in this photo could check online for the proper grinding size of the beans you’ve just bought.
Although it seems like an ironic example of design gone wrong, Microsoft thinks this is exactly what we need and is now collaborating with Fugoo to bring Windows to a new generation of “neo-diginet†devices.
“Among the technologies Microsoft is highlighting in its booth at CES this year is a hardware and software platform for the next generation of more useful and flexible household objects, appliances and accessories. The Windows-based platform is the result of a collaboration between Microsoft and a recently formed company called Fugoo. Two of the concept designs featured in a video at the booth are a “net†clock that, in addition to giving the time, can also download and display a stock ticker and local traffic and weather reports, and a digital photo frame that can not only download your latest holiday photos, but can also be programmed to display anything else available on the Internet, from current news headlines and sports scores to full-length movies.”
