Walton launches new smart fridge that ‘can kill viruses on food’

Bangladesh’s tech giant Walton has introduced a new smart fridge that the company says can kill viruses on food and be controlled by mobile phone from anywhere in the world.

The firm said in a statement on Thursday that the engineers of its Fridge Research and Development Department has released the non-frost 6A9 model of the fridge based on Internet of Things or IoT technologies on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

“In Bangladesh, only Walton has been manufacturing IoT-based smart fridge and thus this is a great milestone not only just for Walton but also for the local engineers as well as Bangladesh,” the statement said.

Engineer Md Shohel Rana, in-charge of Walton Smart Refrigerator’s Structural Design, said that the 6A9 model has more than 50 percent energy efficiency with an intelligent inverter technology.

The new smart fridge’s intelligent germ termination ionizer system is resulted in automatically destroying germs of any bacteria and viruses on the surface of the food, he said.

The other sophisticated features are included door alarm, child lock, human detector, digital display, 3D matrix speed optimization human detector.

The 6A9 model is designed with side-by-side door made of tempered glass that gives the fridge an aristocratic look and ensures maximum storage capacity, Rana said.

The smart fridge can be had at Tk 80,900.

Engineer Abdul Malek Sikder, in-charge of Walton Fridge R&D Refrigeration-Electronics Department, said the fridge can be connected to the internet via WiFi.

The customer has to install a special app called ‘Walton Smart Appliances’ on his or her handset to control the settings of the fridge from any part of the world by selecting the fridge option of the app.

Sikder added that the Walton smart fridge has Artificial Intelligence-based 3D matrix speed optimisation technology that ensures maximum cooling effect with optimum power consumption.

Also, an extensive energy-saving intelligent inverter compressor is used along with completely eco-friendly R600A refrigerant free from CFC and HFC, according to the statement.

There is an LED light inside the fridge to save more than 50 percent electricity.

The non-frost feature will allow no ice to accumulate in the inner body.

Because of the ioniser technology, if any bacteria or virus is present on the preserved food, it will be destroyed automatically.

If the fridge door is open for more than one minute, an alarm system will ring automatically.

Tapas Kumar Majumder, head of Walton R&D Department, said, "IoT-based smart technology has been added to the Walton fridge as a continuation of regular research on the technology."

Anisur Rahman Mallick, chief executive officer of Walton Fridge, said, smart fridge is a new addition to Walton Fridge as well as to the domestic market.

“This trend of offering more and more products rich with new technologies and features to the buyers will continue,” Walton said in the statement.

Walton Fridge is offering a 12-year guarantee on compressors with a one-year replacement option.

In addition, Walton is offering free after-sales service for up to five years with four years warranty on spare parts.