appliances

Air filters are bringing sexy back

There are some household gizmos that I thought would never get "sexy." Air purifiers, for example. I thought they were doomed to look like a cross between air conditioners and old-school computer towers for the rest of history. But Blueair's Airpod, as featured on Eclectic Detective, has proven me wrong. The Airpod looks like a cross between a wrapped gift box and a high-end audio speaker (though its design, as well as its name, is clearly inspired by the iPod), and comes in four pretty patterns to match your impeccably designed living space. They retail for around $… Read more

Mmm, bacon! (Vegetarians need not apply)

In today's high-paced, BlackBerry-powered world, a lot of things have been made more expedient (and more annoying) through the use of high technology, but there are a few things that gadgets just can't seem to solve easily. One of the biggest ones: waking up. We've seen loads of crazy alarm clocks recently, from the one that you have to chase around to the one that flies to the one that you have to dismantle like a bomb. But here's a prototype for an alarm clock that actually might work: instead of an alarm, it wakes you … Read more

If Captain Jack Sparrow had a toaster

I'm not really sure what this gadget's product page is saying, because it's all in German. But regardless, I want this toaster. It's sleek, black, and printed with a skull-and-crossbones as well as a bizarre Guns & Roses reference ("Sweet Toast of Mine") and get this--it'll brand your toast with a skull-and-crossbones as well.

Then your toast can have a pirates-vs.-ninjas battle with your Wee Ninja. Arrrrr!

(Via Notcot.org.)

It's a spatula. It's a cookbook. It...doesn't exist yet

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

Penguins are soooo played out

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

An oven fit for an astronaut

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

Did George Foreman approve this?

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

Japanese appliances take it all off

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

Crave gets lost in the jungle!

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:

Bring nature into the shower Stereo speakers for your bike Finally, a combo fridge-bar Bar codes can be your friends Doodling, with a digital twist Whew! That was exhausting; someone pour me a cold one! See you next week.

More fridges in living color

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