Thread

Owners mourn spoiled food after firmware update bricks Samsung smart fridges

323 points · 336 comments · nonfamous

9cb14c1ec0 · 1790257028 · focus · HN ↗
Meanwhile, my non-smart fridge continues to run just fine. Why do we need smart fridges? That was always a bad idea.
1. Legend2440 · 1790258111 · focus · HN ↗
  The trouble is that 'smart fridges' turn out to be just a regular fridge with an android tablet on the front. Which is useless.
  I would love a fridge with a camera inside and a smart enough AI to tell me (1. what's in the fridge (2. how long it's been there and (3. what I've eaten from it. Some companies have tried making this kind of fridge, but AFAIK they don't work very well.
  1. crisnoble · 1790258992 · focus · HN ↗
    Maybe some fridges have cameras with object detection and can tell you what % your milk remains, but this one does not do any of that.
    Features that are smart listed on the product page[1]:
    Family Hub™ 21.5”: Family Hub™ keeps your family connected from anywhere; search recipes, share pictures, stream music, access YouTube and control your smart devices all from your the fridge* (*A WiFi connection and Samsung account required)
    SmartThings Energy: SmartThings lets you monitor and manage your smart refrigerator's power usage; get energy saving tips and alerts to help lower your electric bill all from your phone.
    Now Brief: The Now Brief provides a daily overview of information including the weather, your schedule and latest health data on your Family Hub ™screen, when it's not in use; customize your Now Brief dashboard using your favorite apps and widgets to get a quick glance of what's relevant to you.
    <a href="https://www.lowes.com/pd/Samsung-30-cu-ft-Smart-French-Door-Refrigerator-with-Dual-Ice-Maker-Stainless-Steel-ENERGY-STAR/5014610033" rel="nofollow">https://www.lowes.com/pd/Samsung-30-cu-ft-Smart-French-Door-...
    Extremely uncompelling stuff. Now add in that it is probably beaming your usage habits for your ad profile, always listening for voice commands, and apparently will break into freezing mode, and I cannot imagine why anyone would even consider this. If they were giving them out for free or paying people to put in their house, their existence would make sense tp me. Now I've learned that n>1 people paid multiple thousands of dollars for this and I assume it is not the only model out there.
    vel0city · 1790266989 · focus · HN ↗
    > get energy saving tips
    Here's a tip to save some electricity on the fridge: unplug all the smart stuff.
    A fridge only uses a couple kWh a day and there's not much to optimize other than "keep the door closed" and "don't overfill it".
    Just about the only thing I might want to see on a smart fridge door is maybe a shared family calendar that can sync with an external calendar provider, and that's not even listed as a feature.
    steveBK123 · 1790284331 · focus · HN ↗
    > Just about the only thing I might want to see on a smart fridge door is maybe a shared family calendar that can sync with an external calendar provider, and that's not even listed as a feature.
    Fundamentally due to product lifecycle expectations, I wouldn't even want that!
    I hope a fridge will last 10+ years.
    Unfortunately any SaaS/cloud-connected piece of hardware is going to have some combo of firmware/OS/security/app update deprecation well before 10 years is up. The last people I expect to maintain software that long is the maker of a fridge.
    vel0city · 1790285757 · focus · HN ↗
    CalDAV has been a standard for nearly 20 years. This feature could be done in a way that doesn't require to to talk to their servers, you could just put in the URL for whatever calendar you already have.

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