Hold on, my fridge just texted me

The Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing this week and a highlight – to me, at least – is the newest in Big Brother ... I mean, “smart” ...  appliances.  LG brings us the ThinQ (http://bit.ly/xRVQUY) refrigerator that “transforms the appliance into a food management system."  Here’s the deal: ThinQ is equipped with a scanner, inside camera and voice recognition software.  Go to the store, bring home your food, scan as you put it away and voila! You’re on your way.  The ThinQ lets you know what foods lurking in there are about to expire, alerts you to veggies reaching their final days, comments that you’re running out of eggs, etc.

Even cooler is ThinQ’s ability to impact your personal food plan.  Whether you want to lose weight, eat more protein, or even cut certain ingredients out of your diet, each person in the household can input their goals, plus details like weight, BMI, etc.  ThinQ then lets you know whether the foods you’re about to eat fit your preferences, suggests recipes, even turns on your stove.  The sensors in ThinQ link directly to your smartphone, sending you texts to keep on track, to let you know what you’re running out of and/or to give you shopping suggestions while you’re in a grocery store. 

The technology in the ThinQ refrigerator is advanced in other ways, too.  Like its ability to chill wine or beer in minutes!  The refrigerator is just part of a new line of smart appliances— washers, dryers, stoves, etc.—keeping humans informed about energy use and myriad other things, hopefully, making our lives easier and more streamlined.