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GE, Viking Offer Cooking Connectivity

NEW YORK — GE Appliances and Viking Range are among the latest majap makers to add or enhance wireless control within their cooking lines.

For the former, a new GE Brillion mobile app release will allow current owners of its connected GE Profile wall ovens (models PT9550, PK7500, PT9050 and PK7000) to preheat, set the timer, check cooking status, and receive timely notifications over their smartphones.

According to GE’s connected home product manager Mike Beyerle, the app upgrade, available for iOS and Android, represents the first time that consumers can add features and capabilities to a remote-enabled GE appliance after it’s already been installed.

The connected wall ovens are available in 27- and 30-inch single- and double-oven configurations with black, white or stainless finishes, and range from $2,300 to $3,800 at retail.

Meanwhile, Viking has teamed up with iDevices, a developer of app-enabled products, to build wirelessly connected majaps for the manufacturer’s Professional platform.

The first product from the collaboration is a wireless temperature-monitoring system for the Viking Professional 7-series range. iDevices designed a Bluetooth Smart meat thermometer, dubbed iGrill, that can be retrofitted into the range. The thermometer can connect to a users’ smart device up to 200 feet away through a free iDevices Connected app, which is available for iOS devices. An Android version is scheduled to launch in late 2014.

With the wireless monitoring system, the Viking temperature probe and the app, consumers will be able to select the food that they are cooking, leave the probe in the food item, and then receive an alert on a smart device indicating the food reached its desired temperature.

The app also features exclusive recipes, temperature graphing, social-network sharing and customizable timers.

“The Internet of Things is experiencing unprecedented growth, and consumer brands are quickly realizing the need to develop products to meet consumer demand,” noted iDevices CEO Chris Allen.

The Viking Professional 7-series range features 23,000 Btu burners with brass flame ports adapted from Viking’s commercial product line, and are paired to a convection oven.

The range was one of more than 50 Viking products introduced earlier this month at the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas, where the company enjoyed a packed booth and an overwhelming response, marketing director Tim Tyler reported.

Avon, Conn.-based iDevices specializes in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi solutions, including an iShower waterresistant Bluetooth speaker. The company recently raised $4.25 million in venture capital funding, which will be used primarily for retail inventory.

The GE and Viking connectivity upgrades coincide with an update to Dacor’s Discovery iQ line of smart wall ovens and dual-fuel ranges, showcased last month at International CES, that provides remote cooking control and other expanded Wi-Fi capabilities (see TWICE, Jan. 7).

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