An Oven That Runs Android

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Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 9, 2013 @01:14PM from the things-nobody-asked-for dept.

Google85 writes "Dacor is exhibiting an oven that runs Android at CES 2013: it pulls together a 1GHz processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM and Android 4.0.3. It also cooks food. At the front of the Discovery Wall Oven, there's a 7-inch LCD touch panel. From the article: '...The oven-maker's Discovery IQ controller cooking app will offer up interactive cooking guides, recipes and all other things cooking, although you'll still be able to install more standard apps from Google Play. The built-in cooking app offers preprogrammed dishes and adjustable timings for several dishes, while you can even program the oven to cook food remotely from any Android device.'"

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finally! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-09 13:15 · Score: 5, Funny

intel beats ARM! (at excessive heat production)
1. Re:finally! by bigtrike · 2013-01-10 04:17 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  The oven uses dual P4 chips for heating elements.
Compromised system by Dexter+Herbivore · 2013-01-09 13:18 · Score: 5, Funny

That's all I need, to have someone compromise my oven with malware and burn my roast.
1. Re:Compromised system by tokencode · 2013-01-09 13:29 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Or "overclock" your oven and burn your house down....
2. Re:Compromised system by Cryacin · 2013-01-09 14:52 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Don't be ridiculous. A vertical oven interface can't possibly work! Human's aren't built that way for touch technology and will suffer from Gorilla Arm when cooking dinner. The classic tablet surface interface of the hotplate is the only real solution and why the iPlate technology exists. - Tim Cook
  
  --
  Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
3. Re:Compromised system by alostpacket · 2013-01-09 15:44 · Score: 2
  
  I'm pretty sure you could hard-wire safety mechanisms that prevented this.
  Similar concept here: http://hackaday.com/2012/10/13/open-source-android-thermostat/#more-87901
  A post by the creator in his forums:
  
  As a few people have pointed out, there is some risk that your heater may get stuck in the on state or off state if the app or your phone was to lock up. I've added a few safeguards against this already in the code and am going to add a few more, but I'd like to also find an all mechanical solution to this to ensure the thermostat fails safely if it does fail.
  The best solution I know of is to use three bimetal switches to:
  Break the circuit on the heater to turn it off if the temperature gets above 100F
  Connect the circuit to turn on the heater if the temperature gets below 45F
  Connect the circuit to turn on the air conditioner if the temperature gets above 100F
  The problem is most of the major manufacturers of these switches do not sell directly to the public. You have to place bulk orders. The few I have found such as these ( 1, 2, 3) are large, heavy, overkill and somewhat expensive. It would be hard to fit three of these in the case, and more may be needed when multi-stage support is added.
  There are several cheap thermal fuses, but these only appear to be available for higher temperature ranges. The only reasonable solution I have been able to find so far are these switches from Amico. (104F NC, 104F NO). The only problem with these is they are Chinese made and have not been UL certified. I think an uncertified mechanical fail safe is a whole lot better than no mechanical fail safe at all, so unless someone knows of a better option I plan on including these in the next design. I really hope someone can provide a better option though.
  http://androidthermostat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5
  
  --
  PocketPermissions Android Permission Guide
The iOS oven by Andy+Prough · 2013-01-09 13:24 · Score: 5, Funny

will only cook recipes previously approved by Steve Jobs. Fanboys will quickly realize that all other food was crap anyways. It will cost $5,000 more than the Android oven.
1. Re:The iOS oven by tokencode · 2013-01-09 13:31 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  But I bet it would make some great Apple pie....
2. Re:The iOS oven by Andy+Prough · 2013-01-09 14:19 · Score: 2
  
  Well, since Apple's already got the patent on "method for mixing things and then heating them", it will be the ONLY oven that can LEGALLY make you a pie. Of course, if you want a pirated pie...
3. Re:The iOS oven by Andy+Prough · 2013-01-09 15:05 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Your family recipes will no longer belong to you. But, for $0.99 each, you will be able to use them on up to 5 different iOven devices. Your recipes will not work on Android ovens.
4. Re:The iOS oven by Andy+Prough · 2013-01-09 16:02 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  What about the Fandroids who'll lash out at anything that isn't from the hand of Google? Where do they fit into your sad little world?
  Eating badly cooked food and marveling over how "free" it is while trying to ignore a non-stop stream of advertisements screaming at them from their ovens.
An excess of computers, wasting energy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-09 13:30 · Score: 2, Insightful

Better to have a $1 low-power embedded CPU with an API, an external interface (Ethernet, USB, WiFi, ...) and no display, so the oven can be integrated into a home network and controlled by a widget running on the user's own computer. Every appliance independently trying to do everything simply adds complication, with no benefit.
"Apple pulp cookies" using Android by jkrise · 2013-01-09 13:43 · Score: 3, Funny

should be the first recipe on the free book that comes with the oven.
"Apples think too much of themselves. When beaten to pulp however, they are delicious to consume. Apple pulp ideally needs to be roasted slowly to a crisp, using our special Android program. Although this app is free, and we have not applied for any patents, it is unlikely you will get this on an Apple iPhone anytiime soon. So enjoy your daily dose of "Apple pulp cookies" to keep the doctors and lawyers away."

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If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Re:How will they prevent it from overheating? by ArchieBunker · 2013-01-09 13:43 · Score: 2

Now I know you're trying to be funny (and failing because the K7 cpu smokes when the heatsink is removed) but you raise a valid point. Most stoves with the fancy displays eventually burn out or fade after a few years due to the oven heat. So now my oven is totally useless because the display quit or a solder joint on the pcb failed.

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Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
5 years from now by Kryptonian+Jor-El · 2013-01-09 13:47 · Score: 4, Insightful

When android 4.0 is completely obsolete, and so is the hardware in the oven, what are you going to do? No apps will be compatible. This stuff needs to be modular, so you can remove it and upgrade it; the electronics will be outdated loooooong before the oven needs to be replaced

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1. Re:5 years from now by NIK282000 · 2013-01-09 13:56 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  If it's going to be a "smart" device I would expect it to be about the same build quality as phones and MP3 players. In 5 years the batteries wont hold a charge, the door wont stay shut and you'll have to put a rubber band on it to keep the on button pushed in. Then you can justify getting a new one!
  
  --
  Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
2. Re:5 years from now by melchoir55 · 2013-01-09 14:51 · Score: 2
  
  I have apps on my android phone from about 5 years ago. They work fine. All you are going to want on the thing, presumably, are apps related to cooking or the oven itself.
  You won't need to upgrade the hardware, because you aren't going to upgrade the software. You're going to leave the OS on it as-is for 15 years and use it to run super-simple apps which you could probably run on a computer built in 1999.
  If I were designing this thing in hobbyist mode I probably wouldn't even have bothered making something with specs as high as the manufacturer is supplying.
3. Re:5 years from now by ikaruga · 2013-01-09 20:32 · Score: 2
  
  This device is so niche that I'm pretty sure the only people developing apps for it are the maker itself and a small community of fans, both of which know the specs and limitations of the device they are targeting. It's not like there is a standard oven control protocol either so no need for compatibility between other similar devices either. And I'm definitely not running an oven app on my phone either(might consider it for my gaming PC though). Having Android in this oven is like having some form of linux on some washing machines or dvd players. It's there just because the maker though it would be easier to use an open source OS than to build one from scratch.
  Also, Android apps tend to be very backwards compatible, and you definitely won't be running anything intensive on an oven either.
Awesome! by GODISNOWHERE · 2013-01-09 14:12 · Score: 2

Now all it needs is some hot new apps!

*Ducks*
5 years from now? Not a problem. by Andy+Prough · 2013-01-09 14:16 · Score: 4, Funny

Windows 12 EB (EasyBake version) will be out of beta by then.
Finally! by istartedi · 2013-01-09 14:27 · Score: 4, Interesting

Finally! Appliances that last less than two years. Regular shoddy merchandise cut the replacement time to about 5 years, but that wasn't good enough. We need appliances on a two year update cycle. This is especially true for the refrigerator. The damned things last for decades. Decades, I tell you! That lousy refrigerant that also lubricates the pump. Awful stuff. Finally we can get those on a two-year upgrade cycle too.
Oh, BTW, "we" are the manufacturers. Customers? I think we heard of those one time. We turned them into "consumers". They WILL comply.

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For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Re:Next thing by webmistressrachel · 2013-01-09 14:28 · Score: 2

Will it have arms and hands to do the dishes?? I'm in... OH wait, if it gets hacked it could attack me while I'm using "manual mode"...

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This tagline was transcoded to result in at least one smirk. If you experience failure to smirk, please consult your Gen
Could be useful by steveha · 2013-01-09 14:30 · Score: 4, Interesting

I know the consensus on /. is going to be that this idea is totally silly.
But, I can think of a few features I wouldn't mind having on a smart oven:
* It joins my home network, and I can put a widget on my desktop showing current oven temperature and the value of any countdown timers running.
* It has optional temperature probes, so if you want to do your meat right, instead of cooking by time you cook until the meat hits the correct temperature. And the current temperature appears on the desktop widget I mentioned above, and an alert fires when the temperature hits a certain value.
I have a meat temperature probe that came complete with a remote display/alarm. (The worst thing about it: if you take it out of range, it never goes off. It really should have a "watchdog" feature where it says "hey, I haven't received a heartbeat in a while, I must be out of range or something" and the alarm goes off.) I would love having the oven on my home network, using open protocols; let's face it, if I'm waiting for a pie to cook or something I'm going to be at my computer.
I can think of sillier ideas.
* Lots of fancy cook cycles. I looked at TFA and it seems they already have this one covered.
* QR codes on foods you cook in the oven, and you wave them past a cheap camera on the oven and it sets up the cook cycle!
* Multiple, convenient, named timers. The "Pie0" timer is almost done, but the "Pie1" timer has another ten minutes on it. I wouldn't buy one just for this, but I'd use it if I had it.
* Voice input for things like setting timer names?
This isn't the hottest idea I've ever heard, but it's not completely half-baked.

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lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
1. Re:Could be useful by RCSInfo · 2013-01-09 14:44 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I like where you are going. The idea of an oven with Android isn't bad, but it should do a lot more than the oven in the article. I'd definitely add one thing to the wish list - a camera. At the very least it could give me a video feed of what is cooking that I could stream to my desktop or phone.
  
  After the technology takes off, I then would like to get some photo recognition software going. My ideal oven will indicate when food is done by using color and pattern recognition that it downloaded from the Internet along with the recipe.
2. Re:Could be useful by ClosedEyesSeeing · 2013-01-09 16:00 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  This isn't the hottest idea I've ever heard, but it's not completely half-baked.
  Yeah, I'm starting to warm up to the idea.
The people who design these things by kilodelta · 2013-01-09 18:39 · Score: 3, Informative

Should be forced to read "The Toaster Story". http://ronald.naweb.com/funnies/tech02-toast.html
blast from the past by plaut · 2013-01-10 00:20 · Score: 3, Interesting

"In the future, the proof of a person's technical skill will be based on their
ability to boot linux on random objects. Those who are able to get a bash
prompt on a toaster oven will be gods that walk among us, constantly harping
on our choice of distribution."
--deathbyzen (slashdot.org 14-Dec-05)
Quit trying to make computerized kitchens happen! by RevWaldo · 2013-01-10 01:33 · Score: 2

It's never going to happen!

OK, maybe not never, but they've been pushing the idea of computers making life in the kitchen for Suzie Homemaker a breeze since practically the days of Bletchley Park and its never completely taken off. "It can keep an inventory of ingredients you have on hand! A full database of recipes! Develop nutritionally complete meal plans! Automatic shopping lists! Step-by-step cooking instructions with automated temperature controls!"

And the people saw these innovations, and thought....meh.

Probably everyone here has a microwave that let's you put in the time/power for dozens of food items with the mere push of a couple of buttons - "press Potato once for one potato, twice for two potatoes" - and we can barely be bothered to even use that. (I used the Water button on mine for my morning cuppa tea, but that's it.) We just go "eeeeehhh, three minutes sounds about right." Cooking is still a realm where people are perfectly comfortable with winging it.

.

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Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!