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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Jenn-Air

Jenn-Air Wi-Fi Ovens Add Support For Nest

Often times in the smart home space, companies announce integrations or new functionality that seem…less than useful. Part of this is a result of the race to make the case to consumers that connected devices are going to make their lives better. But sometimes we hear about device integrations that not only seem like a good idea – but also just good common sense.

One example of this is an announcement this week from appliance manufacturer Jenn-Air that it has integrated Nest thermostat functionality into the Jenn-Air Wi-Fi connected ovens. The integration will allow the oven and the thermostat to talk to one another to communicate important information. If the Nest senses that there is no one home but the oven has been left on, it will send a quick notification via the Jenn-Air app to the user to let them know and give them the option to shut off the appliance.

The other integration is even more useful, allowing users to create rules that will change the Nest’s temp settings when the oven is set at a certain temperature. This is an aim to solve a fairly common problem – the kitchen and dining room areas getting too hot, especially in the warmer months, when the oven is on for long periods of time. The custom rules will allow Nest and Jenn-Air owners to be proactive and ensure the rooms remain comfortable during the cooking process. Perhaps the only thing missing from this announcement is an integration between the oven and Nest’s connected smoke detector. The oven is the culprit of many false (and maybe some real) smoke alarms, so an integration between a smoke detector and the oven to determine whether it’s appropriate to switch off the oven in the event of a real fire seems useful.

Jenn-Air has been an early appliance leader in the smart kitchen space, announcing earlier this year a strategic partnership with food data platform startup Innit to bring a new level of intelligence to cooking using their appliances. The new Nest integration will work through the Jenn-Air app and current Jenn-Air connected oven users will receive notification to update the app to the newest version, which includes the added Nest functionality.

Read more about the Jenn-Air news here.

 

The News Show: Smart Cookie Ovens & Malibu Bay Breeze (Podcast)

Mike and Ashley are back talking about the latest in the world of the connected kitchen and foodtech.

To subscribe to the Smart Kitchen Show in iTunes, go here. To download this episode, click here.

Stories discussed on the show include:

Appliance as a service 
Juicero’s new CEO
SideChef’s smart easy bake oven for cooking
Teforia’s $12 million infusion
Ashley’s experience with the Nima gluten sensor
Jenn-Air’s Nest integration
Ashley explains why Rhode Islanders are still drinking the Malibu Bay Breeze
A discussion of whether George Foreman actually invented a grill
Smart Kitchen Summit pictures are out!
SKS17 pre-registration has begun!

Enjoy!

Kitchen Tech Must Balance Longevity With Extensibility According To Appliance Execs (VIDEO)

One of the biggest challenges in bringing new kitchen technology to market is ensuring that appliances like smart ovens last a really long time.

How long?  Up to 20 years, according to Paul Bristow, Sr. Product Manager at GE Appliances, who along with other appliance execs spoke recently at the Smart Kitchen Summit on a panel entitled ‘The Self Driving Oven’.

The reason for such longevity is simple: Because that’s the expected lifespan of an appliance like a wall oven in a traditional home. That’s a tall order for appliance makers, particularly as they start to transition product development cycles to more closely resemble those dictated by the technology industry, where it’s not unheard of for a product like a smartphone to become obsolete in just a couple of years.

But according to Steve Brown, head of Whirlpool’s Jenn-Air business unit, adding new technology features such as Wi-Fi may allow appliance makers to future-proof their products through remote software upgrades.

“The exciting thing about having the oven connected is it will stay more relevant over time,” said Brown. “When we launched our connected oven last December, it didn’t have any integration with Nest and now it does. We will be adding voice recognition very shortly.”

But ensuring longevity goes beyond simply adding connectivity like Wi-Fi. According to June CTO Nikhil Bhogal, it also means making sure the hardware can grow over time as new features come to market, which means taking a more forward-looking approach than many of today’s consumer electronics.

“If you look at today’s consumer electronics, they’re built to today’s OS (operating system) stack,” said Bhogal. “Within 2 years when the OS starts adding additional functionality, the OS starts adding new functionality, it slows down and it becomes obsolete in 3 years.”

According to Bhogal, this often means over-building the hardware capability to ensure that it can take on new features over time.

“Part of the approach should be building with headroom to grow,” said Bhogal, who went on to detail how June has utilized powerful components such as the Nvidia K1, a processor that powers some of today’s high-end mobile gaming devices, when building the June Oven.

David Kender, the VP of Editorial for USA Today’s Reviewed.com, asked the panel if appliance makers are starting to shift their product planning approach to factor in newer, more cutting edge technologies.

The answer is yes, according to Jenn-Air’s Brown. “There’s been a change in the sense of urgency in the last 15 months.”

When Kender asked why things have shifted in the last 15 months, Brown pointed to the reduction in cost of components and the realization among appliance makers that the kitchen has fell behind other parts of the home.

“The kitchen is one of the least connected parts of the home today, oddly enough, because its one of the most important parts,” said Brown. “When people ask ‘why would you connect them’, I would flip around and ask them ‘do you really think these expensive electronics will be the only things in our whole house that are not connected?'”