By Claire Reilly
Samsung used last night’s Australian launch of the new Galaxy Note II to show off a range of other new products from its summer line-up, including a new Wi-Fi enabled refrigerator which arrives in retail stores this week.
The Samsung Smart Series Refrigerator is a French Door model with an 801-litre capacity, including a large main refrigeration cavity, a mid-height drawer known as the Flex Zone, and the lower freezer drawer.
In terms of refrigerator technology, the Smart Series features LED lighting, Samsung’s Twin Cooling Plus technology that separates the cooling for fridge and freezer and Space technology that increases the internal capacity without increasing the overall footprint of the unit. The Flex Zone can also be set to different temperatures to store things such as deli meats or beverages, and has a capacity of 62 regular drink cans.
The point of difference comes in the touch screen on the left door of the refrigerator, which features built-in Wi-Fi for connecting the fridge, an SD card slot for uploading photos and 8 built-in apps. These include a memo application for taking notes, a calendar (which can be synched with Google Calendars), a Grocery Manager, Twitter and a Photo app.
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Showing off the features and benefits of the new appliance at last night’s launch was Samsung Australia’s national product trainer – corporate marketing, Christian Jonoski.
“This is a premium product for a large family, an entertainer, that kind of customer that wants to show off a fridge, which we’re finding a lot of people want to do,” said Jonoski. “It’s a got a beautiful premium design.
“You’ve got eight bundled apps ready to go, but that’s kind of the lifestyle and entertainment factor. We also still haven’t forgotten that it is a fridge and we need great fridge technology built in there.
According to Jonoski, the Smart Series refrigerator joins Samsung’s previously released Wi-Fi-connected Air Conditioner as the brands “first key foray” into digitally connected appliances in the Australian market.
“We’re really pushing this connected lifestyle – it’s what a lot of people want,” he said. “We talk about smart TVs, smartphones, smart tablets. But what about a smart fridge, which you use every single day to keep your food fresh, why shouldn’t this be a smart product as well?
“That’s exactly why we’ve brought this product out. We think it’s going to help a lot of customers.”
The Smart Series refrigerator is available from RRP $4,999 and will be sold in Harvey Norman starting this week.
Samsung's national training manager, Christian Jonoski, with the new Wi-Fi Refrigerator.