Wednesday, February 10, 1999 Published at 15:30 GMT
Making your kitchen cool
What can I have for supper?
Screenfridge, as it is called, allows you to send and receive e-mail, watch television, pay bills and handle personal banking. You can also keep food in it.
The prototype device, to be launched in the year 2000, is the combined work of ICL, who provided the computer software, and Electrolux, inventors of the robotic vacuum cleaner.
Vision of the future
"Imagine this," says Adrian King, president of ICL's Retail System Division. "You're in the kitchen and notice that you are running low on eggs.
"You swipe the carton past the barcode scanner, which makes a note on its personal 'shopping list'. You do this for all the items that you need.
"When you're ready, you send the list to a nominated supermarket who can then make up and deliver the order to your home."
Rise of Kitchen Managers
"Internet shopping is taking off, but until recently it was mostly the sale of books, CDs and other leisure or entertainment items," says Graham Grage of Electrolux's newly formed New Business Unit.
"Also, it focussed on the PC or Web TV, which are not in the right place for people we call Kitchen Managers. This development brings home shopping directly into the kitchen and thus into the hands of the Kitchen Manager."
"The next stage in computing is one that is moving computing devices beyond the desktop into everyday everyday appliances, says Stephen Emmott from NCR's Knowledge Lab, "including washing machines, fridges, telephones and clothes.
"We'll see intelligence embedded in everything we come into contact with."