The following e-mail will be sent on your behalf.

 has sent the following story to you from ElectricNews.net.

The story is available from https://electricnews.net/news.html?code=285952

Now you can wash your clothes on the Net
Tuesday, October 17 2000
by Paul Drury


A washing machine that is connected to the Internet and downloads individual wash
cycles on-line has been launched by Korean firm LG Electronics.

The frequency of wash, spin and rinse on the Internet LG Turbo Drum Washing
Machine is downloaded from the Internet and set for different wash loads. The
world's first fully commercial digital washing machine, it took more than 30
researchers three years to develop.



LG Electronics has taken out 107 patents on the product worldwide. The machine
has a 4.2-inch LCD window and 4 Mbit flash memory. 



It also runs LGE's own software called IOP to connect the washing machine to the
Internet. Through a communication cable that comes with the machine, it can be
linked to a PC to find a washing programme suitable for the type of clothes
placed in it.



Programmes are downloaded from a special Internet Turbodrum washing machine Web
site. With just a click of the load button, a new washing programme can be stored
in the machine.



And when a terminal for the home network and access modem currently under
development are added, householders will be able to control and monitor the
washing machine's operation from a remote location. 



LG Electronics is currently developing a wide range of digital home products. In
June, it introduced the Internet refrigerator where with a LCD screen, the
refrigerator can be used to surf the Internet and as a video phone.



Within the next year, LGE will be introducing an Internet microwave oven where
all cooking information from recipes and ingredient tips to cooking times can be
downloaded from the Internet.