Smart Kitchens: Drop the Mic
Drop, a smart kitchen platform for “connecting all stages of the cooking journey”, has secured 13.3M in series A funding. The company’s mobile app is stocked with recipes that are – via partnerships with appliance makers including Bosch, Kenwood, GE Appliances, and Electrolux – integrated with kitchen equipment from said brands. For example, the app will convert recipes from cups to fluid ounces for those of us who are metrically challenged. It also sends temperatures, cooking times, and settings directly to the connected appliances for (hopefully) proper cooking.
The NPD Take:
- The kitchen is widely thought to be the next room for connected devices (smart faucets, fridges, ovens, and the like) now that we have made good headway outfitting our living rooms. The good thing about Drop is that it is appliance brand-agnostic, a bonus for kitchens that don’t have a nice matching set of appliances. Until the price premium for smart appliances comes down, however, the mainstream home chef is going to have to continue doing their conversions and setting their timers manually.
New Battery Operated Camera Not a Swann Song
Swann, mostly known for its not-networked security cameras perhaps more suitable for small businesses than homes, has introduced a wire-free indoor/outdoor camera that would look more at home…in a home. The aptly (but not creatively) named Wire-Free Security Camera comes with the usual features like 1080p resolution, 2-way audio, infrared night vision, and Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility. It also includes free face recognition, recognizing up to 10 people and sending alerts when a familiar face is at the door, as well as free cloud (7 days rolling) or local storage (2 days rolling). A 5-pack bundle is available for Sam’s Club shoppers for $499, while a single camera retails for $149 at various stores.
The NPD Take:
- There is no shortage of security cameras to choose from and Swann does not have marketing savvy and brand awareness that Ring, Arlo, and Nest have. However, the free rolling cloud storage is an advantage over, say, Arlo’s free 7-day motion- and audio-triggered recordings or Nest’s three hours of snapshots for free.