World's First HDTV Refrigerator Unveiled

Here's something that can help you next time you can't make out what Rachel Ray is whipping up on the small screen: the world's first high-definition TV refrigerator, which is exactly what is sounds like (a refrigerator with a built-in, 15-inch HDTV). Today LG announced that by next May, its next-gen fridge would be making it Stateside.

As with last year's SDTV model, the new unit has a built-in recipe bank (with more than 100 pre-loaded dishes) that can be accessed via the screen, which will also display slide shows of your own USB-uploaded photos. It also gives you regular weather updates (via a wireless pager network) on a dedicated four-inch screen right above the ice-and-water dispenser.

I'm still not sure why the world needs these things, exactly, since I'd rather have a more portable TV I can move around because I cook in different parts of the kitchen. For those kinds of cooks, I'd recommend Toshiba's kitchen-optimized, water-resistant, RealSteel 20-inch LCD.

Still, an HDTV refrigerator is progress nonetheless.

Would you put one of these things in your kitchen? If so, why an HDTV refrigerator over a more portable flat-panel TV?