Not quite smart enough

As the “smart” revolution spreads from phones to other electronics, some manufacturers are hoping to make a bundle by selling refrigerators that spew out recipes based on what’s inside, robotic vacuum cleaners with remote-controlled cameras, and washers and dryers you can monitor from your phone.

But if you’re thinking of a futuristic home like that of the Jetsons, think again. These smart appliances are not all that smart, at least not yet.

“It’s been around for a while and it hasn’t caught fire,” said Neil Strother, an analyst at Pike Research. “It seems like a cool dryer here, a fancy refrigerator there. It needs to be better packaged where if I pay an extra $200 for an appliance, show me the payback.”

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