appliance

A lot of the "conceptual gadgets" we feature here are just for laughs. Case in point: Buster the snail vacuum. But this one, called Coo.Boo, I think is actually pretty neat. It's shaped like a spatula, but it's actually a "digital cookbook" that wirelessly collects recipe information or even audio-visual cooking lessons from your computer and displays them on its screen.

I love to find recipes on food blogs and recipe sites, so this could be really cool so that I don't have to either jet back and forth from the stove … Read more

There's another blogger here on Crave who is trying to convince all our readers that I am unhealthily obsessed with penguins. Not true. Yes, I think they're cute. Yes, I think the occasional penguin gadget is kind of cool. But come on, Mike. First, it's not an obsession. And second, the market has become so saturated with the penguin motif that I'm ready to say: I'm over it.

I mean, check out this penguin humidifier that's available in Japan. Way overkill, even though it would probably be easy to mod into a nice device … Read more

The age of the digital kitchen has arrived. Not only are "smart" appliances finally making their way into homes (and not just Tomorrowland exhibits at Disneyland), but they're multitasking as well.

Take, for example, the "Intelligent Oven" by TMIO: It can refrigerate and cook in the same space, which can be controlled over the Internet or cell phone. And lest you think all this is some cheap parlor trick, Gizmodo says the uber-oven employs "NASA-based command and control engineering," as well as "green" technologies developed by the space agency. If you'… Read more

I'm female. I don't mind pink. In fact, I kind of like it. I wore a pink shirt the other day, and my iPod is housed in a hot pink iSkin. I wouldn't buy a pink RAZR (the quintessential example of a pink gadget) but if someone gave one to me along with a nice fat data plan, I'd take it. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I'm not a pink-hater.

That being said, I see absolutely no reason for the existence of a baby-pink George Foreman grill, which GadgetCandy drew our … Read more

We hadn't realized that the Age of Transparency had made its way into the kitchen, but apparently it has in Japan. On prominent display at the National Electronics' Invention Station in Tokyo were a refrigerator, a washing machine and an air conditioner all with completely transparent casings, according to Gizmodo.

It's interesting to note that, while the trend in many domestic products seems to be leaning toward the neon, these Japanese appliances have gone the opposite route altogether with no color at all. That would be OK with us in theory, but we wouldn't want to subject … Read more

It's Friday, so it must be time for a vodcast! James and I get into a little argument about bicycle safety (he clearly doesn't know what he's talking about), but otherwise I'd say it was a very informative show. I learned, for example, that fridge + minibar = perfect bachelor pad appliance! Here are the links:

No, these aren't the lockers from "Napoleon Dynamite," but they're close. They are architect-designed refrigerators that will go head to head with yesterday's Big Chill coolers in Crave's first and possibly last weekend Domestic Appliance Faceoff.

These vibrant appliances are manufactured by Smeg (could they please change their name?) and come in dozens of Crayola colors plus models clad in rainbow stripes and even the Union Jack, a la Austin Powers.

The ones shown here, which we spotted on Appliancist, aren't exactly our taste, but they certainly could be worse. We'll let … Read more

As every worthy domestic god or goddess knows, kitchen appliances are everything. And they must be as fashionable as they are practical.

Alas, few companies truly understand this aesthetic--but, thankfully, D.R. Cooker is one of them. The latest display of the appliance designer's creative prowess is the crystal ball range hood. The look of this "remote-controlled extractor hood" is surprisingly versatile: As Appliancist points out, it can be interpreted as a disco ball or a chandelier, making it appropriate for a kegger or a cotillion. Our take: It would be the perfect companion to this designer washing machine.… Read more

Cell phones and MP3 players aren't the only things that can be gussied up. Yes, even the lowly washing machine can become a swan with the right wardrobe. Well, sort of.

Samsung is apparently taking a Vegas approach to domestic appliances with this red washing machine (or is it magenta?) by Korean designer Andre Kim. By the looks of this photo, he and Samsung apparently think the stainless-steel Viking-range look is out. (If this is the alternative, we beg to differ.)

But we're no experts. If Swarovski can do a fridge, why not do your laundry in style … Read more