Saint Louis - Business and Technology News

Internet Refrigerator Is "Residential Gateway"
in Digital Home Network
CHICAGO, IL, (PRNewswire), Jan. 13, 2002 - LG Electronics, a leading global consumer products manufacturer, debuted the first stage the first stage of its Living Network System at the International Housewares Show in Chicago. Utilizing the Internet Refrigerator as the "residential gateway" to the home, LG's Internet Microwave, Top Load Internet Washer and Internet PAC will be linked to one another via a digital home network.

"These products bring to reality LG's vision of a new class of 'smart' appliances that have the ability to communicate with each other through LG's Living Network System. The Living Network System utilizes the Internet refrigerator as the "residential gateway" to the home - allowing appliances to interact via a digital home network," said Simon Kang, President, LG Electronics, U.S.A., Inc. "As we refine this technology, we envision everything in the house to be tied together through the refrigerator since it's the only appliance on 24 hours a day."

Moxi Media Center Is "Best of Show"

Photo courtesy of Moxi Digital, Inc.

Jan 6, 2002 (Newstream) - The Moxi Media Center, by Moxi Digital, Inc., won "Best of Show" award and "Best of Category" award at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week.

The device, which is a combination of a digital set-top box, video and music jukebox, media server, and Internet gateway and firewall, enables network operators to deliver advanced video, music and data applications to subscribers. The Moxi Media Center integrates all major formats of video, audio, and animation into a single, easy-to-use solution for the consumer.

"My entire career has been focused on delivering on the promise of home entertainment," said Steve Perlman, founder, president and CEO of Moxi Digital, Inc. "At Moxi, I've assembled the ideal team, technology, customers and partners to make this a reality. We look forward to delivering consumers an integrated solution that simplifies and enhances their enjoyment of entertainment in the home, as well as providing broadband operators with a vehicle to deliver advanced services comparable in cost to their basic digital set-top boxes," said Perlman.

Beyond the core set of video, music and data applications in its flagship product, Moxi has architected its platform for the delivery of future services such as IP telephony, digital imaging and online gaming so that network operators can enable new revenue-generating applications easily through software upgrades. The Moxi Media Center solution is expected to be about the same cost as the least expensive digital set-top box in a typical home configuration.

Moxi is backed by a $67 million first-round investment from such industry powerhouses as America Online, Cisco Systems, EchoStar Communications Corporation, Mayfield, Vulcan Ventures, The Barksdale Group, The Washington Post Company and Macromedia Ventures.

The Internet appliances are an important part of LG's recent entry into the U.S. home appliance market. The company is introducing a full line of premium-quality products under the LG brand name, which is already the number one brand in more than 20 countries around the world.

"LG Electronics has pioneered and continues to lead the industry in developing cutting-edge digital home appliances," said Kang. "Our vision is to create appliances that go beyond a simple mechanical function, like heating food or keeping it cold. Instead, these next-generation appliances will perform greater tasks, such as collecting recipes, preparing meals and keeping pantries stocked - tasks that require intelligence. They will be interconnected via the Internet refrigerator and work together to become our assistant homemakers."

Internet Refrigerator
The refrigerator became an early target of designers and engineers seeking to bring the Internet into the kitchen. LGE was the first company to introduce a digital refrigerator, the Digital Internet Refrigerator, in June 2000 in Korea. It is the first product to apply moving-image communication technology - formerly available only with multimedia products - to a home appliance. The refrigerator will be available to U.S. consumers in the fourth quarter of 2002.

The 26-cubic-foot refrigerator features a high-quality 15.1-inch TFT-LCD and its own LAN port to enable Internet surfing and shopping, as well as two-way videophone calls with friends and family. It can also be used for watching TV, listening to music and e-mailing messages to friends. In addition, a digital camera mounted on top of the LCD enables video messages and digital still photos to be created, exchanged and printed out.

The refrigerator makes extensive use of touch screens, a simplified graphics user interface, electronic pen and voice messaging for a user- friendly experience. Using these tools, consumers can check real-time price information on groceries; obtain tips on food, nutrition and recipes; be reminded of scheduled events; be informed when to change the refrigerator's filter, and learn cooking methods for products stored inside.

"The Internet refrigerator does more than just chill food and dispense ice cubes," said Kang. "Consumers can use the Internet refrigerator as a TV, radio, Web appliance, videophone, bulletin board, calendar and digital camera."

LG has invested more than $12 million over three years to develop the appliance. Its research team of 55 submitted a total of 75 patents both within and outside Korea.

Internet Microwave Oven
The Internet microwave, which has an embedded modem and LCD panel, will enable consumers to download recipes from the Internet, automatically set appropriate cooking directions and "sense" when a food or drink is perfectly heated. By downloading information from the Internet, the microwave will be able to cook food automatically. There is also a function for consumers to bookmark major food-related sites for the latest information and cooking trends.

The microwave is also designed to allow a direct connection to grocery stores for consumers to order groceries from connected retailers in the comfort of their own kitchen. The microwave will be available in the fourth quarter of 2002.

Internet Turbo Drum Washer
LGE has achieved a world-first with its commercially viable digital washer. This leading-edge home network product can continually download new wash-cycle programs from the Internet for different kinds of clothing. It features a 4.2-inch LCD window and 4Mbit flash memory.

Unlike conventional washing machines, which operate only according to factory settings, the Turbo Drum can actually tailor the washing program to the user's preference with the help of the Internet. By downloading instructions from the Turbo Drum Web site, http://www.lgewasher.com, consumers reprogram the machine's washing method, thereby creating a customized wash each time. Eventually, the machine will allow control and monitoring of its operations from a remote location.

Consumers get better washing performance with lower energy consumption from a tilted drum that is designed to lean forward 12 degrees. This eliminates vibration and noise, saving water consumption by 30 percent and power consumption by 25 percent, while increasing washing performance by 34 percent. The tilted drum also makes it easier to remove clothes from the machine.

LGE invested more than $3 million over three years to develop the machine. The more than 30 researchers on the project earned 107 patents both within and outside Korea. The Internet washer (WT-R1081TP) will be available in the fourth quarter of 2002.

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