The company has released a steady stream of "smart appliances" this year, all of which use smartphones to connect with online services. The full lineup is on display at Ceatec, Japan's largest electronics show, just outside of Tokyo.

(See the appliances in action on .)

Panasonic's first efforts to bring its profitable home appliance business into the modern age have had mixed results. The company's cooking products, which include a microwave oven that can also steam its food and an advanced rice cooker, interact with an online menu service, and their cooking settings can be set to prepare a dish selected by the user.

Data from its scales, pedometers and heart monitors can be uploaded and combined online to provide fitness graphs and a historical record of health indicators. Everything worked well together in demonstrations on the show floor, but the services are limited to Panasonic devices.

In other cases, the "smart" features feel a bit forced. A washing machine can be set for users' specific laundry detergents selected from an online database, and a refrigerator keeps track of how many times its door has been opened each day.