Meet Samsung’s Family Hub: The Fridge Of The Future
Remember when the fridge was simply used as a place to chill food? Those days are well and truly over, with the release today of Samsung’s Family Hub, a next-generation design that doubles as a fully connected household command centre. The 671-litre, four-door fridge features a 21.5 inch LCD touchscreen where you can post calendars, surf the web, pin photos and kids’ works of art, and leave notes for family members.
It acts as an entertainment hub too, allowing you to watch your favourite television programme by connecting with your Samsung Smart TV or stream music to play through built-in or wireless Bluetooth speakers. It even boasts voice control so you can activate the various functions hands-free – perfect for when you’re in the middle of cooking.
But perhaps even more appealing to anyone running a busy household is the Family Hub’s online shopping feature. Samsung has teamed up with Woolworths to create a customised app so you can do all your online shopping and compile and keep track of grocery lists right from your kitchen. The app also syncs neatly to your smartphone or tablet so if you find yourself in-store you can see at a glance what you need to pick up. And if you can’t for the life of you remember what you’ve got in the fridge? Not a problem. The Family Hub boasts three tiny, high quality cameras that capture an image of the fridge’s contents every time the door closes, which can then be streamed directly to your smart device. You can even assign expiration reminders to specific items, so you know which ones are nearing their use-by date.
“With Australians leading such busy lives, it’s all about looking for ways to make life more convenient,” says Jeremy Senior, Head of Home Appliances at Samsung Electronics Australia. “The Family Hub is so much more than just a fridge – it’s about food management, entertainment and connectivity. But most importantly, it’s about making life easier.”
Whizzbang techno features aside, the Family Hub also does an impressive job of looking after your chilled goods. With a chic black stainless steel finish, the fridge boasts plenty of space for large platters and dishes, and a Triple Cooling system that allows you to control the three main zones and maintain even humidity levels while minimising the mixing of odours. There’s even a flexible compartment that can be converted from a freezer to a fridge – a handy feature if you’re entertaining and need extra space for food or a few bottles of wine. “Our Australians@HOME study revealed that over 90% of Australians want a fridge with customisable spaces, so we’re incredibly excited to deliver another refrigerator with dedicated features which allows the product to be turned into a fridge or freezer depending on the needs of the consumer,” says Senior.
Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator (SRF670HB), $7,499, Harvey Norman; www.harveynorman.com.au. Or visit www.samsung.com.au for more information.
The Woolworths App will be made available in October 2016.