Sunbeam Unveils 'Smart' Appliances
In Effort to Set Standards in Market
By JAMES R. HAGERTY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Sunbeam Corp. is introducing a line of household gadgets that communicate with one another, including an alarm clock that shuts off the electric blanket and tells the coffee maker when to start brewing.
Sunbeam's new 'smart' appliances, such as the Thalia Timehelper alarm clock, can communicate with each other over electrical lines
The Boca Raton, Fla., company hopes to be a leader in the race among manufacturers to set standards for such "smart" appliances. But Sunbeam, weakened by heavy debt and huge losses over the past two years, faces tough competition from bigger companies, including General Electric Co. and Sweden's Electrolux AB, which are developing their own ways of linking appliances to one another and to the Internet.
Separately, General Electric said it has signed an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to develop "technology solutions and standards" to connect home appliances and other consumer devices.
At a household-products show that opens in Chicago this weekend, Sunbeam plans to demonstrate nine prototypes for smart appliances. Aside from the clock, blanket and coffee maker, they include a smoke detector, a mixer, a bathroom scale and a blood-pressure monitor, as well as a kitchen console and a personal digital assistant that would control household devices and connect with the Internet.
Microsoft Strikes a Deal With GE Forging Web-Appliance Standards (Jan. 13)
Whirlpool Plans Launch of Internet-Ready Refrigerator (Jan. 7)
This Washer Cleans -- and Thinks; Merloni's Machine Utilizes Net (Dec. 2, 1999)
The products will go into mass production by year end but won't be widely available in stores until early 2001, Sunbeam said.
Sunbeam is using microchips from ZiLog Inc., Campbell, Calif., and networking software from emWare Inc., Salt Lake City. The gadgets will communicate with one another mainly via a home's standard electrical wiring, Sunbeam said. "These products you literally plug in -- and that's it," said Jerry W. Levin, Sunbeam's chairman and chief executive officer. Sunbeam hasn't set prices, but Mr. Levin said they will be within the mid-to-upper range of appliances already on the market.
Sunbeam's HLT Smart Mixmaster
Sunbeam believes that eventually one type of communications network will be used to control all or most of the appliances in each house, Mr. Levin said. He hopes other appliance makers will embrace Sunbeam's system, called Home Linking Technology, or HLT. To promote HLT, Sunbeam has created a subsidiary, Thalia Products Inc., and may sell part of the unit and seek a separate stock listing for it.
Mr. Levin said he believes Sunbeam's way of linking gadgets could be adapted to other network technologies being developed by Sun Microsystems Inc., among others. "We think what we're doing is compatible with everything that's out there," Mr. Levin said.
Sunbeam suggested dozens of ways in which its new gadgets could exchange information. For instance, the alarm clock could automatically reset clocks on other devices after a power failure. It also could search the Web for weather data or news headlines to be presented on the clock face when the alarm rings. The smoke detector could send warnings to devices in other rooms. The blood-pressure monitor could chart progress and e-mail updates to a doctor.
Many other companies are offering such visions. GE's appliance unit, for instance, is exploring such things as a refrigerator that would keep track of what items had been removed and tell the microwave how long to cook them. A spokesman said GE hasn't set a date for introducing such products.
Write to James R. Hagerty at bob.hagerty@wsj.com |
