Electrolux's Infinity I-Kitchen refrigerator has an embedded Linux system that lets you control the fridge over the Internet. It's the kind of luxury addition you'll most likely find on every fridge in two to three years, and yet it's not as exciting as it should be.
Besides being what looks to be a fairly large and otherwise adequate refrigerator, the Electrolux (aka Frigidaire) Infinity I-Kitchen sports an embedded 480x800 touchscreen display that's running Linux behind a slick user interface. Through it, you can control all kinds of different aspects of the fridge, down to the temperature and humidity of each individual compartment. This is useful, I guess, but that's all the fridge-specific functionality that you get. The fridge can also display photos and recipes and calendars and stuff, but that's just doing the same thing as all of the other computers that you probably already have lying around, or maybe even mounted on your fridge already.
When I think of a fridge with a computer in it, I think of something that integrates itself into a total interactive fridge experience. I want a fridge that pays attention to what I put into it and how much I eat, and then updates my shopping lists. I want a fridge that keeps track of nutrition, and lets me know when food is going bad. But most of all, I want a fridge that can check and see that I all I have is a handful of green beans, an expired can of mandarin oranges, Cap'n Crunch, and BBQ sauce, and then suggests five different gourmet dishes I can make in under 10 minutes that don't involve complicated cooking techniques like boiling water.
Let's go, Electrolux! I know you've got the imagination for this stuff, so make it happen.
In the mean time, the Electrolux Infinity I-Kitchen refrigerator is available for about $3,500, and only in Brazil.
Electrolux, via Born Rich
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