GE Appliances thinks the future of connected homes includes a $1,200 Kitchen Hub that sits above your range. The company has come to CES with the 27-inch smart display which features Google Assistant and works with all sorts of connected and smart devices.
As if we didn’t see this coming, we’re finally knee-deep in the Jetsons-like era that with automation and remote control over our home life. And if this latest announcement is an indicator, it won’t exactly cost us an arm and a leg.
Sure, the Kitchen Hub is almost entirely want, not need. We’ve gotten by for decades without anything like this, but now that every little thing we have is automated, connected, or smart, it makes sense. Why not have one large display that ties the house together… and plays Netflix?
The GE Kitchen Hub is designed to fit in the space above your oven range and houses both a touch display and a ventilation system. Moreover, it has an overhead camera which can snap pictures of the meals you’re preparing as it happens. Another camera is found on the front which means video calls, checking the front door, and virtual face-to-face interaction.
Kitchen Hub Features
- Built-in Google Assistant, allowing owners to create grocery lists, plan meals, search the internet for answers or even control the thermostat
- Access to thousands of recipes through SideChef, as well as guided cooking features and precision cooking capabilities
- Live video chat functionality with multiple camera angles, including a forward-facing lens so owners can video call mom for cooking advice or simply catch up with friends
- An overhead cooktop-facing camera and ample task lighting to make it easier than ever to share the latest culinary masterpiece on social media
- Access to calendars and schedules for streamlined organization and efficient household management
- Connectivity to other smart home devices, like temperature control, lighting systems and cameras, and the ability to access and control a variety of productivity and smart home apps using the Kitchen Hub as the single portal
- Interoperability with other connected appliances, including Café™, Monogram®, GE Profile™ and Haier™ brand washers, dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators, air conditioners wall ovens, cooktops, microwaves and ranges
The Kitchen Hub is enabled by the U+ Connect platform and lets you manage your smart home from one central location. Want to play music? Dim the lights? Start the washer? Brew coffee? All of these are possible, plus myriad other controls.
Like other smart displays and smart speakers, the real fun comes in the way they all work together. To that end, the Kitchen Hub ties into Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, Amazon Dash Replenishment, Nest Labs, Drop, IFTTT, SideChef, Hestan Cue and Innit.
The GE Kitchen Hub will run somewhere between $1,200 and $1,400 when it arrives in May 2019.
