Smart Homes, when will they arrive!!? Well they have been around since the remote control! But let’s take a look at what’s going on right now in the field of Smart Homes in South Korea… From my point of view (the consumer!) we need to get the industry focusing on interoperability, since we don’t want to get our own homes stuck in vendor lockdowns.

Excerpt from the Article: … It is a concept that is now a reality, but the next house we saw was a mock up of what things could be like.

In South Korea’s vision of the home of the future we will all wear mini-PCs on our wrists, which turns things on or off, opens doors, and tracks the wearer’s position in the house at all times.

Smart wardrobe
Style advice is offered by a mirror on the wardrobe

Here, everything is voice activated, and the fridge can provide you with recipes which use the ingredients inside, and let you know if your food is out of date.

It relies on the food packaging containing radio tags, or RFID labels, which can be read by the fridge each time it passes through the door.

But will the food industry or consumers be prepared to pay more for this? And what about food that does not come in lots of packaging? …

• BBC NEWS | Click | Smart homes a reality in South Korea

‘Intelligent’ Robots Hold Rich Potential for Korea R2D2 May Soon be Your Household Companion Korea’s Smart Robot Ambitions Catch Int’l Attention October to See Venture Into Space-Age Robot Utopia Korea has developed its own android capable of facial expressions on its humanoid face, the second such machine to be developed after one from Japan. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy invited some 60 children to the Kyoyuk Munhwa Hoekwan in Seoul to introduce Ever-1 to the public. The name combines the first human name found in the Bible, Eve, with the “r” in robot.

• Korea Unveils World’s Second Android

Even more embarrasing news, please hold while I wipe the tears of my face…

* CNN | Microsoft: MSN site hacked in South Korea

* Slashdot | Korean MSN Site Hacked