According to Reports, Amazon is Developing a Smart Fridge
It appears that Amazon is developing its own smart fridge, as reported by Insider. Internally known as “Project Pulse,” it is being developed by the same Amazon “physical-stores section” responsible for the high-tech Amazon Go retail locations.
Project Pulse, according to Insider, “tracks your inventory and purchasing history, predicts what you desire, and gets it delivered.” The fridge could also keep track of expiration dates, recommend recipes based on the contents of your fridge, and provide a simple way to order more food from an Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods grocery store.
According to Insider, Amazon’s move into fridge has been in the works for at least two years and is being led by “a director of computer and artificial intelligence,” Gopi Prashanth. There’s no way to know if or when Amazon will launch the device, but if it does, the company will likely cooperate with other manufacturers, according to the article.
The concept of an intelligent fridge isn’t new. Both Samsung and LG have introduced kitchen equipment that can recognise food, communicate with digital assistants like Bixby, and even place orders for more supplies. For a fridge to operate, Amazon has to have a network of grocery stores as well as computer vision work done on identifying grocery products in Amazon Go convenience stores and Dash carts already.
Amazon is well-positioned to undercut its competitors on pricing and simply integrate another smart home device into its ecosystem following years of development on Alexa, as the company has done in other product categories (most notably, thermostats). A spokesman for Amazon said, “We don’t comment on rumours or speculation.
Of course, you should take this information with a grain of salt. There are many things Amazon might try without ever releasing them because of its size and resources. Amazon-related leaks and rumours have been all over the place. According to Bloomberg, the business was not going to make an announcement about its long-awaited robot at its fall hardware event, but it did, sparking a variety of emotions, including privacy worries.
No one knows what Amazon will do next, but the corporation recently astonished everyone by releasing an Alexa-enabled microwave.
