Watch Bryan Roper check washing machine data with Cortana at Samsung's CES event

By John Callaham
last updated

Earlier today at CES 2016, Microsoft and Samsung revealed a partnership that will allow Windows 10 to link to Samsung's Internet of Things devices like home appliances. The partnership was shown off briefly at Samsung's IoT presentation at CES, which included apperances by Microsoft's Windows and Devices head Terry Myerson, and our favorite Microsoft presenter Bryan Roper.

As shown in the video above, starting at around the 27:50 mark, Roper came up on stage to show how Windows 10, demonstrated on the newly-announced Samsung Galaxy TabPro S 2-in-1 tablet, could be used to get information on Samsung appliances via Cortana. For example, Roper asked Cortana if someone was currently using a washing machine, and Cortana replied that that would indeed the case for the next 30 minutes.

An even cooler demo showed Roper asking Cortana what the wash loads were for each member of the family. After a brief sound glitch, Roper got Cortana to pull data from the cloud to show the wash load of each person in the family. The demo was both a great way to show how Windows 10 and Cortana could be used in a connected home as well as another fun presentation from Roper.

Source: Samsung (YouTube)

John Callaham
John Callaham
94 Comments
  • Over an hour. That's some presentation!
  • I'm confused. If the video is 1 hour 3 mins 30 seconds long, how can I start watching Brian at 1:03:29? Am I missing something?
  • It's around the 29 minute mark; the middle of the posted video. Maybe two minutes long.
  • Me too
  • Not missing anything, just plain lucky
  • Does this mean that Apple will start adding washing machines to their toasters and refrigerators attack?
  • Hey cortana i am running low of clothes?
  • Brace yourselves. Its the return of the Fedora. :D
  • @Electroodude16:
    It's back. But with a new mission.
    Now it's SNOOPING "like a boss" on his housemate's affairs...
  • Washing like a boss!!!
  • Lmao
  • @rferrara90:
    More SNIFFING "like a boss" through other people's laundry...
  • Exactly...
  • All these years, and I've been washing clothes without the help from a computer.......I think I can live without this. 
  • All this is years people have been living without internet. Can you live now without it too? The same applies to smartphones, cars, TV etc etc etc etc etc. If we all think as you, the humanity could be still using square wheels.
  • Internet adds nothing to these appliances. Its a useless gimmick.
  • The internet adds a small set of features, which may not be attractive to most. That feature set will grow and more people will benefit.
  • Same like 3D movies!
  • It's only useless to those that are too small minded to see the possibilities. Right off the bat I can think of knowing exactly how much time is left on your dryer to increase your efficiency, or to make sure your clothes don't sit in the dryer in a crumpled ball. I'm sure others can come up with other excellent uses too.
  • People often forget to take damp clothes from washer and put in dryer... IOT enabled washer can send a notification to you phone or laptop to put damp clothers in dryer... You washer can keep track of loads since last time you bought detergent and send that info to cloud, Cortana can keep track of washer detergent loads left, once you go below a threshold it can remind you to buy detergent. If you add a location based reminder, it can remind you when you go to you favorite store (costco, target etc). We could have many possibilities like that.   Are these essential? probably not, but mostly can make life easier for some (or many)
  • I just turn the end of cycle alarm on. Beeep! Washer done. Beeep! Dryer done. Make that claimed to be done. (The dampness sensors never have been the brightest bulbs on the tree. Another 10 minutes will fix that.) The detergent bottle already has a neat feature to remind me to buy more: weight. I get the coolness factor. But the reality is the coolness factor won't be worth the extra $500 added to the cost of the appliance. I'd rather spend that on a phone.
  • It's not useful to *you*, someone else may find it useful.
    Also, not only won't it always add a big premium to the price, it'll only get better.
  • Thank you. Besides, that's what the house staff are for.
  • The internet adds huge potential to these appliances. What a usless comment
  • Someone always throws out "useless" and "gimmick". This is new, using both.
  • This would be awesome for shared complexes. My apartment has a service like that but it isn't worth a crap. I would love to be able to ask Cortana if a washer is available before I get my hamper and go down the hall.
  • Hey Cortana, which washer has not yet been used to wash Blank's skivvies or Blanki's doggie diapers?
  • That is the most useful I see this tech being.
  • Good for you. Seeing that my washing machine runs its cycles based on the load (and other factors) rather than running on set cycle lengths I like not having to run up two flights of stairs to check on the machine two or three times. And don't get me started on dryer time estimates. It's as if LG used Microsoft's "Time remaining" code from Windows on their dryers.
  • 5 minutes left on load. *Comes back in 5 minutes* 10 minutes left on load.
  • This is just an example of the possibilities.  IOT built into A/C units, heaters, coffee makers, ovens even Roombas.  Don't be so closed minded.
  • Then Do it without a washing machine
  • It helps with integrating your home with all your appliances and electronics. This way you can save energy and water, especially when you're not at home.
  • Hey Cortana, where the heck is my other sock?! =s
  • Damn Billy!
  • He ate 40% of the fridge!
  • Cortana demo fail! I think they swapped to a pre recorded demo once Cortana stopped listening...
  • Yeah did you see terry after the video had his hands on the thigs? Prob cleaning off the sweat from his near heart attack. When is Nadella replacing him?
  • was your porpuse (both of you) to write such a stupid comment? becuase if it wasn't intentional... I would be worried. maybe you are siblings and think alike (worse) ​Terry is the most important person at Microsoft and the one that can make everything better for everyone on Microsoft ecosystem, maybe you don't understand Terry's job, but maybe you should think and read before speaking on a comment section. in other words, use your brain before speaking or you will look dumb (again). because Terry is the one that should be there, and Bryan is a nice addition to make these demos more interesting. technology is a hit and miss thing, specially on live places and speeches, besides cortana needs internet to work properly. or just the big room, or just the noise that could be there, or simply anything so maybe that was a reason it failed there? but I don't expect you to think about it, you and other complaining about one error that happened with cortana.
  • Have you even used cortana before?  She can pick up damn near everything I say.
  • This guy could actually make _doing_ the laundry fun to watch.
  • cool
  • This guy is awesome and can make anything interesting.  But my favourite Microsoft presenter is still Panos. :-)
  • He's the best.
  • Yep. This is because with this guy, it is more about his antics; catch phrases and what he wears. With Panos, it is all about the product, and his love for it comes through in his voice.
  • As long as little Billy isn't eating the detergent pods, why be mad?
  • I guess you don't do the grocery shopping do you? :P.
  • LMAO xD
  • Notify me that the humidity inside the dryer tells the device my clothes are adequately dry and I will buy the device.
  • All modern dryers will automatically sense humidity and turn it off to your desired dryness level.
  • Yes, but do they send a notification when done or near done?
  • Our Samsung front load dryer is all "CYCLE DONE!" Clothes are always damp. Especially jeans.
  • I've heard of airing your dirty laundry, but...laundry OTA? It's coming haha.
  • "hey Cortana, preheat my oven to 350 degrees when I leave work"
  • That will be Fahrenheit ⚠
  • Non-American ovens burning food in 3... 2... 1... Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • And now he can wash his clothes like a boss wherever he is!
  • Apparently Cortana doesn't like doing laundry either!
  • Hey cortana ran out of toilet paper
  • He kinda sound like Eminem
  • More like the late, Mitch Hedberg; except on speed, not H.
  • If she would just work as well on my 950 as she did on my 1520 running the preview, ID be happy.
  • Bryan Roper's the coolest! Thanks for sharing, WC guys ;-)
  • I put detailed feedback about more Cortana-IoT integration last week. This is a step in the right direction in my opinion.
  • makes you wonder where it all goes once that kind of "inane" information gets handed off to the government, mil, and 3rd parties
  • Why ?
  • I have to say, IoT seems like a waste of time, skills, and resources that could go towards something more useful and revolutionary...
  • IoT spans such a large range of devices that the statement kind of makes no sense.
  • It makes sense. Give me an example - outside the "cool" factor - that makes connecting things to the internet that shouldn't be a worth while feat.
  • The demo was live. I'm on the audio team. I actually feed Bryan's mic to Cortana. This is necessary because of the acoustics of the room with a live PA and the reflections. We do it on all the shows I've done with them. Cortana is never pre recorded. That's the beauty of live demos.. risk.. and reward. Bryan is a great demoer. And Cortana always hears me great on my devices, too.
  • interesting..
  • All right you win. Now please tell your colleagues in the Cortana UI team bring back the solid black or solid white backgrounds in Cortana searches like in WP 8.1.
  • Not sure it works that way
  • Will my brand new LG washer only has Apps for IOS and Android. Pity that as usual ms is so late to the party
  • I can't wait for the first person to create a toaster/freezer/refrigerator/washer/dryer all in one hybrid that can be considered a fire hazard with the amount of voltage required to run that thing...
  • Don't worry, your fire alarm will notify Cortana to tell you it's on fire.:P
  • I dislike him. I know, I'm the only one on WC to think like this, but I simply can't listen to him.
  • and I am sure you don't have a good reason for that. if you have one it's probably a dumb one. he is a human anyway, and people like you disliking others for just the sake of disliking it's dumb. He speaks fast and his tone of voice might not be for tv commercials but he makes things interesting, in the end what's important is the product. at least Bryan knows how to speak and be fluent and nice and not like some people that get nervous and forget what they have to say. ​Nobody said you have to like him and ask him to sign your butt and chest, but disliking him? wow...
  • Are you related to the guy or something? You having a hard time at work? Chill out and dial back the aggression, you sound like you're ranting breathlessly. Why do you care if the other guy doesn't care for a company's spoke person?
  • Does this mean that Samsung will dump Tinzin and add W10 to their TV'S in the future? Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • Terry was great. I only watched some of the clip here and there.
  • Microsoft needs to make something like this (http://helloivee.com/) that can be put in each room that will allow you to talk to/trigger cortana from wherever you are and control OIT devices.  I would definitely buy one for every room if the price was right.
  • i know, since now when i say "Hey cortana" very often both my surfcae pro and Lumia answer me the same time. a little annoying.
  • Will it work on my 4yo samsung machine?
    Or i have to buy ms machine?
  • What do you think, setting as it's 2016 and they're previewing this stuff now..?
  • Hahaha, that was almost an epic fail when he was demoing Cortana knowing who's washing what and when...that's really creepy though...all that data and it's on a public cloud. I don't like that. I would never use such devices until they can all be hosted on my private cloud via my NAS.
  • LOL - all I want from my washing machine is to wash my clothes nice & clean. I don't need all these doo-dads.
  • All these doo-dads are slowly making Skynet a reality. Gathering a whole bunch of data and wherever data can be used for good intents, there's always the bad intent when it gets in the wrong hands, presuming it hasn't already. It's slowly materiallizing everything those SOPA and PIPA bills were going to do...thanks but no thanks.
  • That washing machine is PUMPED.
  • That would be the case if Panos was the one presenting it.
  • "Billy ate 40% of the fridge in 2 hours." :)
  • "I check my washing machine data from my Window 10 device like a boss!"
  • Because I've so wanted to check on my washing machine with my phone. This has to be the killer capability that's the reason for the high demand for 950's. Now as soon as I can check on my toilet paper supply, I'm in.
  • This is fu([