Thanksgiving is coming up next week, and kitchens are about to get hectic as families pile in to cook a myriad of stuffing dishes, sweet potato casseroles, pumpkin pies, and roasted turkeys for the holiday meal. Just in time, GE appliances now give homeowners an on-hand sous chef to tame the kitchen chaos.
GE Appliances has partnered with Amazon to add Alexa skill sets to its WiFi connected appliances. Homeowners working in the kitchen can now ask Alexa, the voice who “lives” inside the automated Amazon Echo system, to assist with tasks around the kitchen, such as preheating the oven, checking the internal temperature of a meat while cooking with an integrated meat probe, or starting the dishwasher, all with a simple voice command.
But Alexa isn’t acting alone. Meet Geneva, the unique character created by GE Appliances and Monogram for the built-in Alexa skill set. Geneva launched in September of this year and is the first Alexa skill set from the company to control a broad range of kitchen appliances, including refrigerators, dishwashers, wall ovens, ranges, laundry and more. Homeowners can say things like, “Alexa, tell Geneva to preheat my oven for turkey,” “Alexa, tell Geneva to set the oven timer for 10 minutes,” or “Alexa, ask Geneva when the dishwasher will be finished.”
For a fun added holiday perk, Geneva is also designed to get into the holiday spirit. When speaking with her on Thanksgiving day, she may reply to users with a “Happy Turkey Day” or a “Gobble Gobble”.
This isn’t GE’s first collaboration with the web services company. In October, GE integrated Amazon’s Dash Replenishment feature into their dishwashers. The technology provides homeowners with a built-in feature that will automatically order more detergent through their online Amazon account when the machine detects it has been through a certain number of wash cycles and is therefore running low on detergent pods. The order will then be delivered right to their door.
