Crave

(Credit: Appliancist)

Coming to the kitchen as what appears to be the first of its kind, this contraption keeps drinks cold when you're nowhere near the icebox.

The sink, designed by Meneghini, uses either air or water refrigeration to cool beverages and snacks. All you do is press a button, and a compressor that sits in the bottom of the sink pushes cold water or air through the perforated disk that sits underneath your refreshments.

The sink has specially designed metal fixtures that act as bottle rests and a center peg that can be used as a platform for a plate of fruit or cheese. If you'd prefer not to use refrigeration, it functions as a normal sink.

During this week of everything green and earth friendly, we choose to shine a light (preferably compact fluorescent) on the ridiculous side of green gadgetry.

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EPISODE 134

Solar bra brings conservation closer to the heart

Squirrel light an eco-friendly form of rodent worship

Laser-etched laptop tray made from recyclable materials

Hitachi’s ‘green’ refrigerator turns out blue

Trivia: We spill a lot of gas on our lawnmowers

Pleo (robotic dinosaur) now extinct

Craft Fail (thanks Jeff!)

(Credit: KitchAnn Style)

Going "green" is a huge movement, with companies around the world releasing products that have less and less of an environmental impact--or, at least, that's what they want us to believe. As consumers' interest in eco-friendly products gets higher, so does the temptation to embellish a product's green credentials.

According to The Mainichi Daily News, Hitachi Appliances, a subsidiary of Hitachi and currently Japan's biggest refrigerator maker, seems to be the first company to have fallen for the temptation to claim a product is green when it isn't.

Of nine refrigerator models the company released between September and November of last year, including the "Eiyo Ikiiki Shinku Chirudo V" and the "Big & Slim 60", six are not eco-friendly at all and the other three are far from the level of eco-friendliness the company advertised them to be.

If you are like me, your patio has more in common with a dirty playground than the "indoor living room with complete kitchen amenities," that appliance maker Dacor envisions.

A little fridge for a big BBQ

(Credit: Dacor)

That's a nice vision. If it's your vision...and a big ol' cooler on the patio or porch doesn't cut it during backyard parties, and a full-size fridge is totally out of the question (next to the garden is rather excessive), this refrigerator from Dacor might be the thing for you.

The Epicure outdoor refrigerator is designed to match nicely with Dacor's outdoor grills, which are available in 52- and 36-inch widths.

This fridge, which measures 33 inches tall and 24 inches wide, fits under a counter on a patio or deck or within a kitchen layout tight on space.

It's available with a stainless steel door and comes with a left- or right-hand door swing option.

The refrigerator is somewhat hardy, withstanding temperatures from 50 degrees to 109 degrees Fahrenheit (wouldn't leave it out in a snowstorm). It's fairly roomy for beverages, too, holding up to 124 cans of soda or 50 bottles of wine.

If you're worried about noise, this fridge boasts a vibration-free compressor. It also has an electronic control panel that allows you to change the temperature with the touch of a button. A charcoal filter also removes stinky odors.

Samsung is exploring the world of designer refrigerators. The company has enlisted the help of Jasper Morrison, a designer with a knack for slick modern tableware, electronics, lighting, and anything else he turns his mind to.

His work on the Samsung Side-By-Side refrigerator line has made for appliances that wouldn't look too out of place in a museum exhibit. Samsung will be selling them in a variety of finishes, but--based on the pictures on Morrison's site--the true design aficionado will want one in white.

The Samsung Side-By-Side

(Credit: Jasper Morrison)

Beyond the smooth, minimalistic appearance of the Samsung fridge, it offers plenty of innovative features that will turn this fridge into a basic creature comfort. The machine is energy efficient, employing a multicooling system to cut your energy bills. It also promises to reduce those smells that fridges seem to collect after only a few hours of use--and I promise, if anything can reduce the overwhelming scent of borscht in my fridge, I will love it forever.

But the real gem of this refrigerator's design is the Cool Select Zone Drawer. Looking fairly similar to a microwave, but located inside the fridge, this drawer offers a multitude of options, from flash freezing to optimal produce storage. It's literally the coolest gadget I've seen in a while.

The lovely exterior and advanced gadgetry come with a price tag, however: Most retailers seem to be going with $1,600 for the larger models, although a few had models on sale for Memorial Day.

If you dream of turning the front of your refrigerator into something other than a place to stash alphabet magnets and smudged Christmas photos, so does Whirlpool.

Whirlpool again is sharing a vision of a fridge-as-high-tech launchpad, which is not a new idea, as veteran industry reporter Julie Jacobson notes here. (Whirlpool, among others, has been touting ambitious visions of a connected kitchen for busy housewives and househusbands since 2000.)

The iGo recharger

(Credit: Whirlpool)

Whirlpool's Centralpark refrigerator, announced last fall, uses a power outlet on the top of the freezer door.

Vendors are starting to offer devices that work with the outlet and hang from the fridge.

Jacobson claims Whirlpool's so-called Centralpark initiative might not be ambitious enough, even calling the fridge a "little hokey."

Nonetheless, Whirlpool's Centralpark model nabbed an Innovations 2008 Design Engineering award from the Consumer Electronics Association and was named one of the year's hottest new products by Home Magazine.

iGo, owned by Mobility Electronics, is the latest to sign on with Whirlpool's Centralpark plug-and-play initiative.

IGo makes a recharging station that works with Notebooks, iPods, MP3 players, Bluetooth headsets, portable game devices, cell phones, and various other gadgets. While Notebooks are probably not the best device to recharge on the front of your fridge, (maybe on top of it????) iGo's gadget-charging device promises to work with more than 2,700 smaller gadgets.

The Centralpark connected refrigerator costs about $2,000. The first (and only) product available for it is Ceiva's Wi-Fi digital photo frame (about $249). The frame has an 8-inch LCD screen and a built-in card reader for displaying thousands of photos on the refrigerator door.

Future offerings will include Ambient's 7-day Forecaster, which brings current and seven-day weather for 150 U.S. locations to users; Brandmotion's iPod speaker station, which holds any size iPod; the Clio Vu Web tablet; and Quartet's Qnote message center, which offers a dry-erase writing surface and ambient surface illumination.

(Credit: Thumbs Up UK)

The preponderance of digital photo frames has been a standard rant in this space, and for good reason. Not only are they overproduced and overmarketed in every iteration, from keychains to cubes, but they can also be found in practically every size imaginable.

Yet here's one that may prove to be a good idea despite its original pedestrian concept: a tiny digital magnet for the refrigerator door. Rather than having a virtually useless display all of 2.4 inches and 320 x 240 resolution, we've got a far more practical application. If you're trying to lose weight, you can post photos of your most unflattering depictions as a deterrant to the munches. Or, if you're an optimist, you can program a slide show to track your progress as you shrink down to a manageable size.

And if that doesn't keep you from ripping the door off its hinges, there's always the "Fridge Alert" as a second line of defense.

(Credit: Whirpool)

Contrary to popular belief, we really are responsible types here at Crave (sometimes), so we don't want to leave the impression that we advocate refrigerators that feature only alcoholic beverage dispensers, whether they serve wine, beer or hard liquor. (We'd rather combine that function with the TV or pool table, for the sake of practicality.)

For the teetotaling Craver we suggest Whirlpool's new "Espresso" fridge, which has a built-in coffee maker and water filter so you can be your own barista without ever leaving the kitchen. Appliancist says the java fridge was "designed by Whirlpool engineers mainly for the British market, where people consume close to 70 million cups of coffee every day." So much for tea.

(Credit: Asko Cylinda)

It's a good thing colleague Caroline McCarthy is swamped at DigitalLife, or she'd be accusing me of blatantly poaching on her beat with this item. (And she'd be right.) But some things just can't wait.

Behold the "HomePub" fridge freezer from Sweden's Asko, which brilliantly designed a special tap recess so it wouldn't take away any internal space--obviously anticipating potential spousal objections. Appliancist says there's also a shelf inside made especially to store "spare kegs," as if there are such things. And the whole appliance, which lists for about $1,048, is even treated with an antibacterial silver-ion finish for germaphobes.

All of which gives us the idea for a slogan: "Asko and you shall receive." Apologies.