Filed under: Household

For whatever reason, toasters are redesigned entirely more often than most any other kitchen gadget, but the Trapdoor Toaster may actually be an alternative worth checking out. First off, the item you see above is no concept — as a matter of fact, it’s available for purchase right now at Hammacher Schlemmer. Essentially, this thing inhales bread, bagels and frozen waffles, toasts ‘em to your preferred level of brown / black and then shoots them out below onto a serving tray. Sadly, this removes that iconic eject function that makes traditional toasters so fun to watch, but it does prevent you from scalding your fingertips as you try to dig out slices from the fiery slots. Novel? You bet. Worth the $79.95 asking price? Not on your life.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

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Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, Household

We can’t help but love when a plan comes together, and if you’ve been hesitant about replacing your kitchen hood while secretly longing to redirect those funds towards a new LCD, there’s a compromise staring you right in the face. Faber’s luxurious Imago+ multimedia hood boasts a stainless steel / glass finish, fits nicely above your range and includes a 19-inch LCD TV with a 1,440 x 900 resolution, 300 cd/m2 brightness and 850:1 contrast ratio. Unfortunately for you Americans, the internal tuner caters to DVB-T signals, though the decent lineup of ports will allow you to connect up other sources of content. Mum’s the word on a price, but again, those having to ask will probably be forced to pass.

[Via Appliancist]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Think you’re the nerdiest BSG nerd on the face of this particular planet? Oh, yeah? Then bust out your Mr. Wizard plastic wallet and head on down to the read link, because any true fan simply will not be able to eat breakfast again without the Battlestar Galactica Cylon Toaster. Supposedly the device is limited in quantity, as only one batch is being created specifically for Comic-Con. Those who’d rather get in line now instead of paying 4x more on eBay in a month can plunk down $65 and wait for shipments to begin on July 29th. Mmm, Cylon toast.

[Via Register Hardware]

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Filed under: Household, Peripherals

Though Whirlpool managed to pick up a few new partners to make gizmos that played nice with its life-simplifying centralpark connection system back in January, there still aren’t many options out there to make good use of it. Thankfully, the outfit has just lassoed in Mobility Electronics, which is all set to reveal its iGo charging station for centralpark refrigerators; the unit will enable users to juice up cellphones, DAPs, laptops and pretty much any other rechargeable gadget out there from the comfort of their own kitchen. The forthcoming device will obviously be compatible with every last iGo tip, theoretically allowing you to recharge “over 2,700 different gadgets with the simple switch of a tip.” No word on pricing / availability, however.

[Via CNET, thanks Yossi]

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Filed under: Household, Peripherals

Though Whirlpool managed to pick up a few new partners to make gizmos that played nice with its life-simplifying centralpark connection system back in January, there still aren’t many options out there to make good use of it. Thankfully, the outfit has just lassoed in Mobility Electronics, which is all set to reveal its iGo charging station for centralpark refrigerators; the unit will enable users to juice up cellphones, DAPs, laptops and pretty much any other rechargeable gadget out there from the comfort of their own kitchen. The forthcoming device will obviously be compatible with every last iGo tip, theoretically allowing you to recharge “over 2,700 different gadgets with the simple switch of a tip.” No word on pricing / availability, however.

[Via CNET, thanks Yossi]

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Filed under: Robots

Never mind getting tesla coils to fix your supper, just hit the on switch on your own personal humanoid. Reportedly, the creature you see above has been loaded with learning algorithms that enable it to repeat actions that it learns. Wonder if anyone realized that this totally demented critter just learned to slice more than ham? Stay sharp, kids — the video’s after the break.

[Via Hacked Gadgets]

Continue reading Humanoid learns to cook breakfast, fend for himself

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Believe it or not, tesla coils are good for more than just creating lighting, protecting one’s laptop or cranking out a sweet tune — and the folks watching a dazzling demonstration at Maker Faire 2008 can attest to that. Apparently a group of prototype (1 / 12 scale, no less) coils were seen sparking up the evening in San Mateo, California, but it wasn’t the visual energy or unmistakable hum that caused all that saliva to form in the mouths of onlookers. Oh no, it was the fact that a dozen hot dogs were simultaneously roasted and made ready for safe consumption. Check out a video of the action right after the break.

Continue reading Tesla coils seen wowing onlookers, cooking hot dogs

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Filed under: Household

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Filed under: Household

This whole “turning waste into fuel” idea has certainly gained a lot of traction lately, and it seems that Whirlpool is next in line to show off a concept that could purportedly hack down your energy bill (and give Mother Earth some love, too). Simply hailed as the green kitchen, this futuristic area would reportedly enable “60-percent of the water and heat generated from [kitchen gizmos to be] diverted to fuel other appliances.” For instance, the heat created from the refrigerator compressor could be used to heat water for the dishwasher, and while it’s hard to say how accurate it is, word on the street pegs energy savings from using said concept at around 24-percent. The real question, however, is will it come equipped with an integrated LCD TV?

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays, HDTV, Household

We can’t say we’ve really spent any huge amount of time wondering just how converged kitchen devices can become, but apparently, the designers at Pandigital have. Announced today, the Kitchen HDTV / Digital Cookbook / Digital Photo Frame (really, that’s the name) stays true to itself in three big ways: acting as a 15-inch 720p HDTV (ATSC / NTSC tuner included), a digital cookbook (with pre-loaded recipes and space for more) and a digital photo frame. Packed within, you’ll find half a gigabyte of memory, a built-in alarm clock and an integrated 6-in-1 media card reader. And considering all that sauce you’ll be slinging, you’ll be thrilled to know that it’s sealed with glass and boasts interchangeable faceplates to fit varying moods. Heck, this thing even handles Motion JPEG, MPEG4 and AVI files — not a bad way to spice up your kitchen (and spend $399.99), eh?

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Filed under: Robots

Nonhuman chefs are far from extraordinary, but the latest culinary guru crafted in Japan has a taste for the extreme. Reportedly, the EZ Order Robot was spotted in Osaka whipping up octopus balls (of all things), but apparently, the creature was able to concoct the dish totally from scratch. Interestingly, the demonstration wasn’t really established to showcase its kitchen prowess, but rather to highlight other capabilities such as speech recognition and the ability to perform routine tasks without human intervention. Click here for the video, but remember, we’re not responsible for ruining your appetite.

[Via Live Science]

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Filed under: Household

For those yearning to add more flavor to your dishes (at any cost), look no further than Heidolph’s VV Micro Evaporator. Aside from rocking a Chemistry lab-inspired design, this device essentially acts as a small distillery by extracting flavored juiced from nearly any food. Users simply toss a few berries (or similar) into the glass evaporation flask, and the device subsequently heats things up until a “vacuum pump reduces the air pressure in the flask, which drops the boiling point of the water inside to as low as 112ºF.” Afterwards, the vapor rises into a condenser where it’s left to cool and collect into a final dish for your enjoyment. Overkill, we know, but what’s a cool three grand to a chef who’s obsessed with his / her art?

[Via Popular Science]

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