General Electric may have a host of smart appliances in the works, but looks like one Indesit may beat it to the punch -- at least on the washing machine front. The Italian home appliance firm just unveiled a ZigBee-compatible washer at the Freescale Technology Forum in Florida this week, capable of communicating with the smart grid and then timing its loads according to variable electricity cost. We can't find a single detail beyond that, except that it uses one of Freescale's ZigBee radio chips, and that this particular washer appears to be destined for Indesit's Hotpoint-Ariston label with the company's Aqualtis auto-detergent dosage technology built right in. We can tell you're on the edge of your seat. No word on pricing or availability, and no, we don't know if it will tweet when your load is done. For more information on Freescale's ZigBee technology, go to www.freescale.com/zigbee. For more information on Indesit's Smart Washer or Smart Grid programs, go to www.indesitcompany.com
