Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2016 30 "We're excited to work with GE Appliances to bring hands-free voice control to major appliances like refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers and more for the first time," said Charlie Kindel, director, Amazon Alexa Smart Home. "One of our goals with Alexa is to enable voice control on every device within the home, and this collaboration gets us one step closer to achieving that. We can't wait for our Alexa customers to try it out." Available today, the entire connected Monogram and GE Appliances suite , including Café ™ and Profile ™ products will integrate with all Alexa-enabled devices including Amazon Echo, Amazon Tap, Echo Dot and Amazon Fire TV. There will be more Alexa functionality coming soon, including the GE Appliances connected window air conditioners. MAYTAG RELEASES FINGERPRINT RESISTANT STAINLESS STEEL KITCHEN SUITE This fall, Maytag will be featuring easy-to-clean Fingerprint Resistant Stainless Steel in all major kitchen appliances, so they look as good on the outside as they work on the inside. Products will include a refrigerator, top control dishwasher, kitchen range and microwave. The Maytag French Door Refrigerator with Fingerprint Resistant Stainless Steel Exterior features PowerCold ® , chilling the compartment down quickly. Dual Cool ® Evaporators to manage humidity levels with an evaporator for each compartment allows frozen foods to stay dry, cold and at their best. The fridge also features the Store-N-Door ® Ice Dispensing System, which places the ice bin in the refrigerator door, allowing space for tall items without compromising ice production. Temperature-Controlled Wide-N-Fresh™ Deli Drawer gives you an ideal space for large party platter and deli trays. The Maytag Top Control Dishwasher with Fingerprint Resistant Stainless Steel Exterior has the most powerful motor on the market to make this dishwasher strong enough to handle your dirtiest dishes, including dried on egg yolk and peanut butter, without pre-rinsing. The 4-blade stainless steel chopper disintegrates food particles that come off your dishes so they don't recirculate during the wash. The PowerBlast™ Cycle removes stubborn, stuck-on food with high pressure spray jets, increasing temperature and hot steam to finish the job. The Maytag Range with Fingerprint Resistant Stainless Steel Exterior features faster baking and roasting with true convection and a third heating element, which helps keep temperatures consistent. Power Preheat and Power™ burner brings the heat fast. The Maytag Microwave with Fingerprint Resistant Stainless Steel Exterior features a sensor reheat to adjust to whatever you're cooking with ideal time and power settings to help prevent overcooking. The 2.0 cu. ft. capacity and an interior cooking rack provides plenty of room when you need to heat more than one dish at once. For more information, visit www.Maytag.com. KEVIN BROWN NAMED PRESIDENT OF VIKING RANGE Kevin Brown has been named president of Viking Range, a Middleby Corporation company, based in Greenwood, Miss. Mr. Brown will be responsible for the overall operations, sales and engineering initiatives at Viking Range. "Kevin has been an effective and respected leader with Viking customers, employees and vendors over the past several years, and he has proven time and time again that he can deliver results," said Selim A. Bassoul, chairman and CEO of The Middleby Corporation. Under Kevin's direction, an entirely redesigned line of Viking product for all appliances was manufactured under new, rigorous quality-testing processes. This redesign of every product in a short period of time resulted in significant improvements in reliability and performance across all Viking product categories. "I am proud to lead Viking into a new era with our redesigned and award-winning residential technologies," said Mr. Brown. "Viking is a well-known, established brand and we now have everything in place to move forward and grow with our new product offerings and by expanding our domestic and global reach." I N D U S T R Y [ N E W S ]

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