ICL freezes Intel out of clever fridge market

Readers will recall how at last year's Intel Developer Forum, we were shown a clever freezer which managed an entire family's existence (see Intel thinks intelligent fridge will rule roost in 2005). But, it was carefully explained to The Register, this was simply a possible "future technology". However, now ICL has beaten Intel and actually launched an electronic fridge, linked to the Web so that you never need run out of eggs, cheese and beer. Adrian King, president of ICL's retail systems division, enthused wildly about the technology. "You notice you are running low on eggs. You swipe the carton past the barcode scanner, which makes a note on its personal shopping list. Then you send the list to a nominated supermarket." Hmmm. Long-toothed readers will recall that ICL a fair while back introduced a desk which had an embedded Sinclair computer in it. That bombed too. ®