Sidechef seems to be everywhere these days and now GE Appliances is going to make sure its smart kitchen consumers have access to its widely expanding features. The new partnership between the two companies was announced recently at the Smart Kitchen Summit in Seattle, where it was revealed that the SideChef app would be a major feature on the company’s new GE Appliances “Powered by SideChef” Kitchen Hub coming in 2019.
“Our partnership with SideChef is one more way we are creating experiences for owners that are not only innovative, but also useful and memorable,” Shawn Stover, vice president of GE Appliances’ Smart Home Solutions Team, said in a statement. “Whether consumers want to save money, eat healthier, or impress family or friends, SideChef has a recipe to match their needs. This integration is so smart that if a SideChef recipe calls for preheating the oven, no manual operation is required — it will happen automatically.”
As we reported previously, the GE Appliances Kitchen Hub first debuted at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, where the 27-inch smart touchscreen that doubles as an oven hood got quite the attention for its voice and gesture-powered commands.
For DIY chefs at home, the SideChef app enables a GE Appliances-enabled smart kitchen to take advantage of more than 5,000 recipes including meals planned by popular bloggers and renowned chefs as well as recipe search, meal planning, digital cookbook creation, and step-by-step guidance.
Simultaneously, the GE Appliances Kitchen Hub enables Wi-Fi connectivity, a live video feed, a camera that focuses on the stovetop for posting to social media, hands-free commands, and smart appliance control.
At the same event, GE Appliances also announced a new venture with smart-cooking system Hestan Cue to create induction cooktops and ranges for its Café appliance line. Using Hestan’s equipment and technology, the new ovens can automatically adjust cooking temperatures as consumers work through video-guided recipes. The cooktops also offer features like heating pans to an ideal temperature for common dishes such as omelets or scrambled eggs.
At CES in January, GE Appliances said the new Kitchen Hub would be available now but the device’s commercial launch has been pushed back to 2019. It’s expected to retail for around $600.
GE Appliances’ new market endeavors come during a somewhat turbulent time for the appliance manufacturer. Earlier this month, the company announced that it would create 400 new jobs in Kentucky as a direct result of a $200 million-plus investment in its laundry and dishwasher production facilities in Louisville.
Almost simultaneously, Haier Group, the parent company of GE Appliances, suspended plans to sell products made in the U.S. in China, citing the deepening trade war between the United States and China. Haier Group, which acquired the appliance manufacturer for more than $5 billion in 2016, had planned to start selling its kitchen products in China next month.
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