[3g-g]

Here's an inventive use of SMS! More "remote control" of household items would be fantastic. Really what I want is a way to program my Sky+ when not at home, a little portal with access from my mobile would be great, I can't see why it's not in place already as most peoples Sky boxes are plugged into a phoneline.. ho hum. Anyway, I'm away to walk downstairs to put the kettle on.


A peculiar electric kettle

Of all tea contraptions yet, the whackiest may be "ReadyWhenUR," an electric kettle that starts boiling water when a cell phone user sends it an SMS message with the words "SWITCH ON." The kettle has a receiver containing a person's cell phone information, and when the receiver gets the SMS, it starts heating water. British tea maker PG Tips, a division of Unilever PLC, came up with this product, inspired by the cartoon Wallace and Gromit.

It could be ideal for lethargic folks like me. Sending an SMS in the morning to initiate boiling could allow me to stay in bed for a few extra minutes.

The £100 (US$174) ReadyWhenUR kettle will become available in 2006 in certain U.K. stores, a PG Tips spokeswoman confirmed, after rumors about the product started spreading around the Web late last month. It will only work with SMS messages sent using U.K.'s Orange cell phone network.

This product will try to "revolutionize teatime," according to PG Tips. The British tea industry has taken a battering, with tea bag sales falling over 9 percent in the last two years, according to research from Mintel Group. PG Tips is also offering a £10,000 prize to an innovator who can discover a "fun and original way to make or drink a cup of tea." Only U.K. residents are eligible, and the contest lasts until Jan. 31, 2006.

http://www.infoworld.nl/idgns/bericht.phtml?id=00256F6C005C22FC00257090007B86D0

[MORPH]

Years ago there was talk of every household appliance having bluetooth capabilities, including your home phone. You simply texted the command to your home phone which then controlled said appliance via bluetooth. Nice idea, shame it never cam to fruition.....still, there is time yet!

[Hands0n]

802.11 mate, that's what yer want, 802.11, trust me guv. None of this 10 metres stuff yer know. Bluetooth? Nah, yer wastin yer time yer is.

£100 for a kettle that turns itself on with an SMS? I've got one of those already, but it didn't cost anywhere near that much. I normally use it on the way home from the last job of the day. Brilliant it is. Its called "The Mrs".

I'll get me coat.

[jayd]

802.11 mate, that's what yer want, 802.11, trust me guv. None of this 10 metres stuff yer know. Bluetooth? Nah, yer wastin yer time yer is.

£100 for a kettle that turns itself on with an SMS? I've got one of those already, but it didn't cost anywhere near that much. I normally use it on the way home from the last job of the day. Brilliant it is. Its called "The Mrs".

I'll get me coat.


Less than £100?? You got a bargain. Mine costs over twice that every month.

Don't shut the door yet. I'm grabbing my coat and I'm right behind you.

[purplesweetie]

But, the advantage of bluetooth is that it dont constantly give you earache like the Mrs.






My coats already on!! and Ive phoned my dad for a bed for the night.

[Ben]

Mhmm, it's an interesting idea to be sure, but I'd rather see household devices being IP networked so you could, say, have a 'control panel' on an Internet-enabled mobile phone that allows just such things as switching the kettle on, the oven, the heating, hot water etc etc.

Still, it'd be fantastic fun to find out someone's kettles phone number and make it whistle every now and then :p