Beyond Connected Home Kitchen Reviewed

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.semperaptus.com/reviews/r011805.shtml' target='_blank'>http://www.semperaptus.com/reviews/r011805.shtml</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Salton Incorporated brings Windows CE into the kitchen with the Beyond Connected Home line of appliances. One of the first product lines to truly connect devices with each other and the Internet. Like a computer network, the Beyond Connected Home theory bonds common appliances in your household to help relieve the everyday monotony of making coffee, bread and microwave foods. These appliances connect with a central computer (either the iCEBOX Entertainment Center or the Beyond Home Hub) to receive updated recipes, the exact atomic time, and communicate their current status back to the iCEBOX or Home Hub."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/p_icebx.jpg" /> <br /><br />The iCEBOX is a stand-alone Windows CE appliance, containing a DVD/CD player, TV Tuner, FM Radio and video input for monitoring your kids or the front door. Logically enough for a kitchen appliance, a waterproof wireless keyboard and remote control are included. You can network the iCEBOX to the Beyond coffee maker and the Beyond Bread Maker and Beyond microwave. The last two contain barcode scanners that apparently allow you to receive 'complex cooking advice'. (Stop sniggering at the back. ;-)) There's a couple of severe gotchas though. Wifi is a pricy optional extra and talking of price, the iCEBOX alone will set you back US$2,350. So, this is the sort of toy for someone with a lot of dough in every way. The amusing review is well worth a look for glimpse into your future. Wirelessly connected coffee makers; their time will come . :morning:

[egads]

If it cost US$350 AND had Wifi I'd think about it, but at US$2,350 8O

What are those folks smoke'n ???

[garrans]

I think $500 would be about right WiFi included. $700 if it had a touch screen also. Then I'm very interested.

Program the bread maker through it (automatically download the configurations based on the recipe you use... pretty cool).
Set the coffee to turn on at 6:30am.

Waaaay to expensive.

Did you see the caption on the reviewers web page "For the $2,350 price tag to equip your kitchen with the Beyond system, you could hire a butler and a hooker to do ten times the amount of work."

Ouch, but true.

[ctmagnus]

For the $2,350 price tag to equip your kitchen, you could hire a butler and a hooker to do ten times the amount of work.

What kind of work does this guy do?

[allenalb]

the reason devices like this cost so much is simple supply and demand. they have to charge a lot, because hardly anyone will buy it. it seems like a neat toy, and we all like gadgets here, but most of us would never give this a second thought at the prices we think we would.

would any of you REALLY spend 500 if it had wifi and a touch screen? no, you would probably buy another PDA to play with :)

now if you had money to burn, you WOULD consider it, and the price it's offered at wouldn't bother you.

at least that's how i look at it. i spend 200 a month on blank dvd's to archive discovery channel, so it's all relative :)

[x999x]

sniggering

Do you mean Snickering? Because I find your word offensive.

[marcm]

For the $2,350 price tag to equip your kitchen, you could hire a butler and a hooker to do ten times the amount of work.

What kind of work does this guy do?
8O I don't know, but it must have been a typo, maybe he meant cooker, even though that would be bad grammar for cook or chef. Either that, or some very strange thoughts entered his mind...
Maybe the kitchen would be nicer if you could control it with your Pocket PC... :wink:

[webdaemon]

Cheap old laptop with wireless: $150 on eBay

X-10 controllers: (I dunno how much those go for)

Turn on your coffee maker, bread maker and whatever else automatically without spending 2,350: Priceless!

Obviously this wouldn't work with electronic appliances but do you really need your coffee maker to download more coffee making recipes anyway?

But with the wireless laptop you can download stuff on your own and have it right there in the kitchen...

[Gremmie]

the reason devices like this cost so much is simple supply and demand. they have to charge a lot, because hardly anyone will buy it. it seems like a neat toy, and we all like gadgets here, but most of us would never give this a second thought at the prices we think we would.

would any of you REALLY spend 500 if it had wifi and a touch screen? no, you would probably buy another PDA to play with :)

now if you had money to burn, you WOULD consider it, and the price it's offered at wouldn't bother you.

at least that's how i look at it. i spend 200 a month on blank dvd's to archive discovery channel, so it's all relative :)

uh...i see what you're trying to get at, but doesn't quite fit the scheme of the economics you're talking about, although it fits some things out there.

Since it's made to connect to a special center/hub, it seems like the price may be high because people with these 'hubs' will want this device for their cherished center/hub. This would create an 'inelastic' supply curve, which would fit within your explaination. This is the same reason Sony can get away with charging a high price for their memory.

[szamot]

come on people. Call in the good old Audrey from 3COM, a couple of x10 plugs and guess what you are under $250. Not to mention the satisfaction of actually building it yourself. Been there, done that, bought a t-shirt and did not make a movie of the week. Audrey is the way to go. Need I say that I have 2 working for me?! These guys are on cheap glue I think.

[Mitch D]

sniggering

Do you mean Snickering? Because I find your word offensive.

I know Jonathon well enough to know he meant no offence x999x, the british tend to use words we here in North America might find strange or even offensive. They are not meant to offend anymore than the name "Randy" as example, a name here, a totally different meaning there...

[Typhoon]

This looks way too expensive. They listed the specifications w/no DVD writer? lol it looks like it is supposed to sound special *just because* it has a TV tuner. Why not a DVD writer, touch screen, wi-fi, bluetooth, etc?

[carphead]

This looks way too expensive. They listed the specifications w/no DVD writer? lol it looks like it is supposed to sound special *just because* it has a TV tuner. Why not a DVD writer, touch screen, wi-fi, bluetooth, etc?

Don't think CE supports DVD Writers.

I can see a use for this. Admittedly not at that price but in a couple of years when the price drops sure I'd buy one to replace a TV.

[Typhoon]

This looks way too expensive. They listed the specifications w/no DVD writer? lol it looks like it is supposed to sound special *just because* it has a TV tuner. Why not a DVD writer, touch screen, wi-fi, bluetooth, etc?

Don't think CE supports DVD Writers.

I can see a use for this. Admittedly not at that price but in a couple of years when the price drops sure I'd buy one to replace a TV.

Ohhh ok...Yea that is a good point! Would you think twice? Considering that computer TV Tuner's TV picture quality has always been worse than regular TV...isn't that the case? But if it has a 300 GB HDD, yea it might be okay...

[Jonathon Watkins]

sniggering

Do you mean Snickering? Because I find your word offensive.

I apologise if I have offended you X999x. No offence was intended. The WordNet dictionary defines snigger as follows:

"The noun "snigger" has 1 sense in WordNet.

1. snicker, snort, snigger -- (a disrespectful laugh)"

There's a similar definition at Freesearch (http://www.freesearch.co.uk/dictionary/snigger). The "Lexicon of "American English" and "British English"" (http://s88932719.onlinehome.us/english.htm) shows that snigger and snicker are just the different UK and US ways of saying the same thing, like colour, color, Aluminium, Aluminum etc. It's just the old thing that Churchill spoke about, that Great Britain and the United States are two nations divided by a common language. :wink:

Now, lets :nonono:.

The advantage of this over a mini mac and LCD is that it's waterproof (and interfaced with the bread maker etc). :wink:

[felixdd]

Any reason why I should pick an iCEBOX over a minimac and an LCD?

[h3seaking]

x999x:
Why not do a little research before you get offended? I'm offended you posted without doing research.

[Typhoon]

Any reason why I should pick an iCEBOX over a minimac and an LCD?

good idea