Designed by Professor Masahiko Inami and his team at Keio University, Foldy the robot uses commands entered into a PC program along with a ceiling-mounted camera to locate and properly fold your laundry every time. After folding instructions for various types of clothing have been entered into the program, Foldy can work autonomously. A RC vehicle is probably not the most practical device for this purpose, but I'm glad to see that someone has invested a lot of time and effort in solving this critical problem. Until a commercial solution arrives, I'll stick with my current system:

[Robonable via Plastic Pals via Coolbuzz]

The OVO Washing Machine concept takes and ordinary front loader and swaps the clear glass panel for an information-packed display. So from across the room, you can see, hey, my socks have four minutes left, or, ooh, my favorite sports team just won the big game.

Just imagine your buddy calling you up for his next Super Bowl party. You politely decline. Because you, sir, have laundry to do. [Yanko via DVICE]

While the laundry was indeed being washed, pressed and dry cleaned, it had one additional cycle — every garment, sheet, glove, pair of pants, was first sent through an analyzer, located in the basement, that checked for bomb-making residue. The analyzer was disguised as just another piece of the laundry equipment; good OPSEC [operational security]. Within a few weeks, multiple positives had shown up, indicating the ingredients of bomb residue, and intelligence had determined which areas of the city were involved. To narrow their target list, [the laundry] simply sent out more specific coupons [numbered] to all houses in the area, and before long they had good addresses. After confirming addresses, authorities with the SAS teams swooped down on the multiple homes and arrested multiple personnel and confiscated numerous assembled bombs, weapons and ingredients. During the entire operation, no one was injured or killed.

What an amazing operation. On the one hand, the privacy-minded part of me wants to object to tricking normal people into having their clothes inspected my the feds. On the other hand, this operation arrested bomb-makers who were planning to kill people without ending a single human life.

In any case, this is an amazing example of thinking outside of the box and a real-life operation that rivals any Hollywood movie. [Washington Post via Kottke]

The device sports an all clear body and is programmed to begin the wash cycle once your clothes pile up to a certain weight. After giving your unmentionables a good rinse down, it sends a message to your PC or cellphone via its integrated wi-fi. Other than the annoyingly unimaginative name (trust me, iAm as iSick of iThis and iThat as you guys are), this gadget idea seems pretty golden. [Born Rich]

While the Alternative Clothes Cleaner unfortunately still remains in the realm of fantasy, I'd like to believe that someday an appliance like this will finally exist. Then we can all place bets on how many cosmopolitans I'd need to chug before I can pull out my unmentionables in front of the cutie two sofa-washers down. [DVICE]

According to the designers it's 60% faster to load this sort of line up, versus conventional pegs, and 90% faster to take them down. You won't lose any pegs, and of course drying your clothes in the fresh air is so much the eco-friendly option. Seems neat to us, but there's no word on availability or pricing. [Cord-o-Clip via Treehugger]

Sigbritt's son is internet-hardware wizard Peter Löthberg, who installed the system in his mom's house to prove a modulation technique that allows data to flow between routers that are up to 2,000km apart without any data loss—or intermediary signal boosting or routing.

Sigbritt—whose weeks-long pr0n-n-WoW marathons are now long past—put it to other uses. Hafsteinn Jonsson, head of the fiber connections for the local network Karlstad Stadsnät, says:

She mostly used it to dry her laundry...It was a big bit of gear and it got pretty warm.

Alas, the gear is gone now, leaving Sigbritt with a relatively sluggish 10 gigabits to play with. Peter has taken the equipment even farther out, to further test his distance theory. Later this summer Sigbritt might get a 100-gigabit system, though, one that, according to Jonsson, can be used for the "neighbors' laundry too." [The Local]

To be conducted in Atlanta homes between today and early September, Laundry Time is built around a connected laundry solution that links a washer and dryer to a home network and sends text messages about the laundry's progress to a computer, TV and/or cell phone. The technology lets consumers manage the laundry process from remote locations such as a grocery store or soccer game, freeing them up to go about their day rather than forcing them to stay home to manage the process.

Whirlpool Tests 'Smart' Washers Controlled by Cell Phones [Mobiledia]

Washer/Dryer combos aren't anything we haven't seen before, but this one features a tilted-drum so children and the elderly can easily load and unload clothes. That is, actual elderly citizens living by themselves, not lazy middle-aged men making their parents do their laundry for them.

This machine is targeted for the Asian market, and has a heat-pump dryer so "no heater or water is used during the dry cycle." We guess that's good? We're no laundry experts. I don't even have any clean clothes left—I'm so very naked. Go go breeze-blogging! – Jason Chen

Panasonic washing and drying machine [Appliancist]

It won't do your whole laundry load, so college students, you're out of luck. It is capable of doing 16 items in one run. According to the BBC, who first reported on the (aptly-named) WashDryIron, it can save the average Joe 10 days a year in ironing time. We're not sure how they estimate that kind of thing, but if you're an ironing fiend, then Mr. Blackwell's going to retail this for around $1,500.

WashDryIron [PopGadget]

Body Box An Automated Washing Machine with the Luxury of Bathroom [Bornrich]

A message from your Laundry [Smart Mobs]