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EMBEDDED I-WAY EXPLOSION

by Tom Cantrell

Start ı Pivotal Price Point ı Ready For iReady? ı Web Wakeup Call ı Sources and PDF

If you think the concept of an Internet appliance is a pipedream, you may be the one smoking something. Judging by the developments at the second annual Embedded Internet Workshop (EIW), getting gadgets on the web is easier and cheaper than many people may realize.

My own view is that just about anything with moving electrons is a candidate for webification, including traditional appliances. The only issue is the cost of getting online. The less it costs, the more gadgets weıll see headed in that direction. If it can be done, it will be done.

During the keynote by Intel VP Tom Franz (bottom line: Intel is going to be as much about communication as computing), an interesting discussion arose surrounding the concept of a web-enabled microwave oven. Conventional thinking recognizes that a WebOven would give the manufacturer a way to download bug fixes and run diagnostics. Thatıs well and good, but frankly the idea doesnıt sound all that compelling.

But, imagine you toddle over to the supermarket and pick up (unless you decide to order it over the web) a Gourmet-Dinner-In-A-Box containing meat, potato, veggie, and so on. Each item goes into an individual compartment of your spanking new superscalar WebOven, which can cook up to four dishes simultaneously with independent timing and power settings.

Need to read a complicated four-chapter label and punch in directions for each course? Nah, just run the box past the WebOvenıs barcode reader and hit the Cook button. The WebOven knows what itıs trying to cook and what its own capabilities are (i.e., the individual cooking modules may be specialized in terms of wattage, carousel, sensing capabilities, etc.). All it needs are the proper directions.

Those directions are stored locally in the oven using flash memory. Whenever an unrecognized dinner is encountered, the WebOven automatically calls the food manufacturer to download the update. Better yet, anyone who feels like splurging can just click over to WolfgangPuck.com or JuliaChild.com and have a celebrity server be their individual chef for the evening.

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