The highest priced smart thing in 2016: a fridge

Nothing beats a refrigerator when it comes to keeping things fresh, right? And, as not all fridges were made equal, some people are prepared to pay top dollar for some high tech chill.

According to Fox Business, the high-end model of the Samsung ‘Family Hub’ fridge-freezer combo takes the crown as the most expensive smart device of 2016. And it’s been quite a year for smart devices, with gadgets like Amazon’s Echo and Google Home being among the most popular gifts this holiday season. However, as Fox notes, most smart home devices cost from under $100 to a few hundred.

Samsung’s top smart refrigerator, on the other hand, retails for about $6,000. That’s a cool few thousand bucks above most other smart appliances on the market.

True, it comes with a 21-inch touchscreen, connects to your home’s wifi, and can be controlled via your smartphone. If that’s not enough, among other high-tech features the Samsung sports cameras that allow users to see what’s going on inside the fridge even when they are away from home. So, let’s say you are at the grocery store trying to remember what you need to buy. Just take out your smart phone, tap the screen a few times and it’s like you’ve just opened the door to your fridge: you can instantly see you have way too much apple juice and definitely not enough ice cream.

Still not impressed? How would you like your fridge to play your favorite tunes and allow you to watch TV on that gorgeous touch screen? It’s a Samsung after all. Today’s smart fridges can also order groceries for you. Plus, you’ll be able to use the refrigerator’s features to leave electronic notes for your family, set alarms and reminders, and more.

Smart devices have become trendy in 2016

Of course, there are other smart fridges on the market that don’t set you back $6,000 while still being able to perform a lot of tasks besides keeping your food well refrigerated. They are still generally more expensive than ordinary refrigerators, but hey, they connect to the internet.

In 2016, the Internet of Things (IoT) market has been growing, with smart home devices and appliances such as connected lightbulbs, home security systems, TVs, thermostats, vacuum cleaners, toothbrushes etc. becoming more popular with consumers.

Chances are, your home is getting smarter with every new device you are buying, as internet connectivity is increasingly present on household appliances.

Experts predict 2017 will continue this trend, as companies are investing more in IoT. Internet giants such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft have been showing a growing interest in the smart home and are aggressively marketing smart devices. Intelligent assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant are no longer limited to your phone or tablet, and have morphed into smart home hubs allowing users to easily control their entire household.

Fox Business cites McKinsey research analysts predicting the IoT market will grow more than 30% year over year through 2020.

Security challenges

But with more and more smart devices available, how safe are we in the new era of the Internet of Things? Experts seem to be sure of one thing: the dangers to our digital security and privacy are increasing. That’s largely due to the fact that many smart devices are not build with security in mind and, unlike computers and smartphones, can’t be protected by antivirus software.

Such unprotected devices can make homes vulnerable to hackers. Besides dangers to your bank account and private information, weak IoT security could allow cybercriminals to use smart household devices in large scale attacks aimed to disrupt commercial or governmental websites.

One of the best ways to protect your smart home is using Bitdefender BOX, a device that incorporates hardware, cloud and software designed to safeguard all devices connected to your wi-fi network.