Are you looking for an alarm clock to do double-duty as secretary for your day's appointments, or do you want a coffee maker that know you are grinding the beans too fine? Then Microsoft and Fugoo wants to talk to you later this year!

The two companies are working on the "next generation" of household gadgets, appliances and accessories that are not only connected to the internet but will also use a standar API for communicating with each other.

Fugoo is a company founded by John Hul and Chris Chung of eMachines. a Collaboration between tech companies have seen the formation of The Open Fugoo Alliance to further the development of the "Fugoo Block". This will be the first complete, open, and free hardware and software platform.

These blocks will contain an x86-based VIA CPU and WiFi and they can be integrated into everything from washing machines, refrigerators to coffee makers. 

The Fugoo Block runs Windows technology and are capable of rendering HTML and Javascript and can even run applications in parallel or in the background.

Other examples of what the block can do includes a smart fridge that can automatically place an order online for goods that are running low, a lawn sprinkler system that checks the Internet for the day's rain report before starting.

There are great ideas for certain among the handful that Microsoft is using to wet our appetites, though Fugoo Blocks will have to power some truly practical applications and not just a coffee maker before people will start buying.