A Kitchen Computer That's Actually Useful?

twilightzero writes: "I was at the Rochester Area Builders' Home Show (Rochester, MN) today and ran across what looks to be first actually useful and practical computer appliance I've ever seen. Called the iCEBOX, it mounts under your cupboard or sits on your countertop, but I found the under the cupboard model much more attractive. It includes an LCD display on a tilt/swivel mount that locks up out of the way to protect the screen, a DVD drive and with DVD software so you can watch movies or listen to cd's while cooking, cable ready 125 channel tv receiver, and the ability to act as a remote monitor for a camera (as in a baby's room or the front door), useful for all you X-10 owners. But the best touch, IMHO, is the spillproof, shockproof, greaseproof, and washable wireless keyboard that comes with it, an absolute necessity for the kitchen. It also includes a modem and NIC and says it's compatible with any dialup or broadband service that doesn't require the downloading of software (i.e. prodigy yes, AOL no). There's no mention on the website about the hardware or software that it's running but with its name I might assume it's running Windows CE or Pocket PC...not sure though, since it also says it's not compatible with MSN. I'm thinking about redoing my kitchen sometime soon, I might have to put one of these on the list for installation ..."

Comments

It'll be useful...

[kabir]

when it can do the dishes, get the shopping done, and have dinner waiting for me when I get home.

Until then it's a waste of space.

Re:It'll be useful...

[Klaruz]

Your dishwasher can (1) do the dishes. The computer can (2) watch your shopping list and have whatever you need delivered, and then, (3) have takeout delivered.

Of course (1) doesn't involve the computer, and (2) and (3) don't really involving *using* the kitchen, but hey, at least you get to be lazy.

knives + movies = match made in heaven

[Mr. Quick]

"I don't know what happened, I was watching 'Jingle All The Way'
and I must have been engrossed by the performances of Sinbad and Arnold,
but the next thing I knew I had lost two fingers and there was blood everywhere."

Something even more space efficient...

[Magus311X]

1U essentially. would take up less room. has a DVI and DVD too. Exhaust is side mounted too so air can escape pretty easily. Mounts under the cupboard without a problem.

Sleekline 1260

These guys make absolutely bulletproof power supplies too. But take this, throw in a wireless/RF keyboard/mouse combo, and put in a 15" flat panel ($200 now?) and you have something for the kitchen or wherever.

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Missing some key features

[yzf750]

The flipdown one is $2995.00. OUCH. Still it is a neat device, but missing a few key features I think. Where is the touch screen? Recipie program? Wireless? I couldn't find if it would play streaming audio from my server. Since it doesn't look to allow loading of software, no AOL or MSN, how does it get updated for new software? I really would like to have a LCD panel WITH touch screen in my kitchen that I could view recipies and play streaming audio with. Oh well, back to coming up with something myself I guess.

What I'd rather have

[Enry]

If I want to listen to a CD, I'll turn up my amp, or tune into Digitally Imported on my PC and be done with it. What I'd rather have in the kitchen is a recipe server. Something with...say...the Joy of Cooking built in, along with plugins for other recipe books, and the ability to input my own recipes.

So lessee, I'm in the mood for a chicken dish. What recipes have chicken in them?

Windows CE.NET

[Ldir]

If you dig around in the Press section, you can find a little more information. For example, this is quoted from a publication (?) called "Twice", whatever that is:

Icebox, LLC, the makers of a line of kitchen-centric interactive TV terminals, announced here that it will develop an interactive kitchen entertainment terminal as a rapid development partner for Microsoft's Windows CE.NET operating platform. Windows CE.NET is an embedded operating system designed for maximum interoperability between CE devices while allowing a broad range of Internet-based features including instant messaging and home networking capability using such standards as wireless 802.11. Icebox, LLC executives said the "thin client" OS needs minimal storage memory and is said to be ideal for typical CE devices that have only DRAM or internal Flash memory chips to store software programs. Other key benefits of the new version of the OS are said to be: reduced overall cost to consumers, faster delivery of products to market, and an open environment for third party developers to write additional software programs. Also, because device and software interoperability is enhanced, Windows CE.NET products will be less likely to crash, iCEBOX exeuctives said. iCEBOX executives said the new OS should cut down on product development cost since it is designed to require a minimal amount of customization when manufacturers plan to add new features or functions. Earlier iCEBOX products had been based on a Wind River operating system. Home networking and interoperability between CE devices will be enhanced as Microsoft expands its list of manufacturer partners building Windows CE.NET into next-generation devices. As a rapid development partner, iCEBOX has agreed to have a Windows CE.NET-enabled kitchen terminal by the second quarter of the year. The company is demonstrating an early prototype with an undercounter LCD display design at CES. iCEBOX expects its first Window CE.NET product will leverage such applications as Microsoft's calendar system for a family calendar. The company's kitchen terminals combine TV reception with DVD, and CD playback, and Internet access. "We're not inventing anything new, but it's useful," said Heidi Mikkelsen, Icebox's marketing manager. "You can have your morning coffee, see the news and check on the kids. And it doesn't take up a lot of counter space.

Anyone know what their previous products were ("based on a Wind River operating system")? Another blurb mentions that the iCEBOX is from the same people who developed the George Foreman grill.

I agree that they've come up with an ideal form for kitchen use. I'm not sure if it's worth $3000, but it's pretty cool.

Saw it last year, didn't like it.

[AndyMan!]

This has been out for a while. I saw the Icebox at the Atlanta Builders show last february. At the time my company was considering partnering with them.

The booth lackey clearly liked demoing throwing the keyboard into the sink in the booth. IMHO, this was it's best feature.

My single biggest complaint is that the entire machine is done in firmware. There is no disk, and no OS per se.

At the time (last year) the Icebox shipped with it's own custom browser. It didn't have Adobe or flash plugins, and because the software was done in firmware, there was no ability to install these plugins.

This machine is entirely rigid in it's application. This makes no sense in the world of Internet where standards seem to change monthly.

The people behind the Icebox clearly come from a consumer electronics background. These machines have more in common with a DVD player then a PC.

As I mentioned, the waterproof keyboard is the only "feature" of this machine that actually has value. I'd like to see more "Internet Appliances" pick up on this.

_Am

What would be really useful in the kitchen

[selan]

...is a food inventory system, something that would keep track of how much milk, eggs, etc. I have in the fridge. It would automatically print me out a shopping list before I go to the store and alert me when I'm running low on essentials. Or if I think I'm out of carrots I can call up the inventory and see that they're just buried in the second shelf of the pantry and, oh, they're about a month old, better use them quick.

Okay, I'm dreaming now but I don't think it's so far-fetched. It would need a way to input what foods you just bought and the amounts (bar code scanner?) and then what food you just used and the amounts. Combine that with a recipe database and you can input that you just made pancakes and it will automatically deduct milk, eggs, flour....

Of course, then the kid will sneak some chocolate cake in the middle of the night and the data will get all messed up. But a girl can dream :).

Re:What would be really useful in the kitchen

[LoudMusic]

That's an interesting site! Too bad that of the first five or six pages of movies (60 movies), I had only seen eight of them. That doesn't help the system tell me what movies I will like. And someone spent a lot of time putting those movies into a database and including information about them to build cross-referancable data.

It's close to what I was talking about. I live in a small town (population roughly 50,000), but there are three colleges (total of about 45,000 students) and a few large corperations that bring people in from neighboring cities (probably 15,000). So we have lots of resturants for lunch. Basically I thought it would be a cool idea for all the guys in our 'lunch group' to have a database that listed the resturants (in order) that we would like to eat at for lunch with the group. The server would keep track of where each of the individuals had eaten recently, and suggest where they should go next.

• Ordered list of resturants for each individual including last date/time they dined there
• Page to update information, including times the indivudual may have eaten there without the group
• Main page would include a list of everyone in the group with a checkbox next to each name. Before lunch, you check everyone's name that is in your group for the day. The server checks the database, and makes a few suggestions of where to eat that will make everyone happy. Then you tell it which one your group has chosen and it updates all the individuals in the database automagically.

If you have 15 to 20 people that usually group up to go to lunch, and everyone has 20 to 30 resturants in their 'personal favorites' list, I think the system would work quite well.

I thought it was cool, so did everyone else ... but they're too lazy to make such a cool idea happen. Oh well ... loosers.

~LoudMusic

Has Potential

[Stephen VanDahm]

I wish I had some sort of computer terminal in the kitchen that was somehow attached to a recipe database. This product would work except for two problems. First, it looks really hard to program -- I'm guessing that you'd need special drivers for it. Second of all, it doesn't appear to have a touch screen on it. I don't think I'd want to leave a keyboard sitting around the kitchen. It would get dirty quickly, and it would get in the way.

I want a simple X-terminal with a flat-panel touch screen that mounts under the cabinets like this one does. I could then write a graphical application that interfaced with the recipe database and control it by touching the buttons on the screen. This is close, but probably not what I want. Grrr....

But where's the barcode scanner?

[Restil]

For tracking groceries? How can one in this high-tech time we live in even CONSIDER attempting a task so complex as grocery organization without keeping very careful and accurate inventory via computer. With a barcode scanner to ease the entry and removal of items from the system. I mean, *I* have a grocery inventory system in my kitchen (although I've yet to figure out WHY).

Oh well. Maybe the next version.

-Restil

Another neato feature.

[edunbar93]

would be the option of letting it pick recipes randomly based on the ingredients in the fridge. I think this has already been done on some website or another, just that this would be that much more automatic. :)

Especially useful shortly before payday. :)

iCEBOX '02 = Mac Color Classic '92

[Sierran]

Heh. It looks nearly *identical* to my Color Classic.

I'm not sure why anyone would want the freestander, given the premium counterspace is getting to be (appliances, anyone?) but the cupboard-hugger doesn't look too bad. As long as it's got a decent browser for recipes, and (ideally) could talk to my TiVo/whatsisname box to show me the Iron Chef shows I recorded...