I never developed a taste for tea, or hot leaf water, as it should be more accurately called. But how else am I going to justify spending $71 on a novelty stovetop kettle shaped like Darth Vader’s helmet? It’s even got a tiny replica of Vader’s lightsaber for its handle. How am I supposed to resist that? I’m only…
Screens dominate almost every room in our homes, but to date they’ve only made minor inroads into the kitchen. You’ll mostly find them sequestered onto tiny fridge doors, but GE wants to change that with its new Kitchen Hub range hood that hangs a 27-inch interactive screen over your stove.
Sometime in the past three or four years there was a breakthrough in waffle-making technology that paved the way for simple appliances that can churn out the malty treats in endless novelty shapes. But during that waffle-making revolution, one machine has leaped ahead of the pack with its ability to make tiny,…
Released last year, Google Assistant hasn’t really proven itself useful outside of checking the weather, searching Google, or setting an alarm using voice commands. So far it’s been limited to just basic features that are more than matched by other smart assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. But Google is…
Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's roundup of the most interesting toys we’ve seen this week. It’s a Guardians of the Galaxy blowout as we’ve got life-sized Groots, creepy plush Groots, and a fancy cassette player. But wait—there’s more, including a very swanky David Bowie figure and a very large Iron Man. Check it out!
Impressed by late-night infomercial ads for blenders that can hack and slash through ice, nuts, and rocks? They might as well be primitive neanderthal tools compared to NightHawkInLight’s latest creation, which can turn potatoes into slivers and cabbage into coleslaw in the blink of an eye.
After you watch this video of an adorable little girl named Rayna greeting and hugging a new robot friend, you’ll come to the realization it will never hug or love her back—because it’s actually a discarded water heater. (Sad!) Shortly after that, you’ll also come to the realization that kids clearly aren’t being…
If you find your kitchen counters cluttered with food-specific gadgets and appliances, you finally have a good reason to get rid of them all. The culinary innovators at Nostalgia Electrics have created the only thing you’ll ever need: The Bacon Express, a toaster that cooks delicious slices of pork instead of bread.
Robots have been cleaning our floors ever since the first Roomba arrived 14 years ago, but it’s not a completely hands-off chore yet. You still have to occasionally clean out your robovac’s dirt bin, which Black+Decker is making a little easier with its new Smartech Robotic Vacuum that compresses debris into discs…
It’s one of the simplest appliances in your kitchen, but how many times have you popped bread in a toaster, only to have it nuke your slice because the previous user had it set to well done? Too often, which is why Griffin Technology’s shiny new Connected Toaster isn’t that absurd of an idea.
For some, winter means warm sweaters, skiing, and tropical travels. For others it means dry air, cracked skin, and uncomfortable sinuses. But instead of digging out the humidifier as the temperatures drop, you can instead build yourself this perfectly safe living room tornado machine that works using water mist.
Upright vacuums with the dust bin and motor all attached to the handle can be a bit heavy to push around, but canister vacs are notorious for constantly tipping as they roll across your floors. Possibly taking inspiration from those classic Fisher-Price Weebles toys that never fall over, Dyson has created a canister…
You’d think that the first robot vacuum from a company like Dyson, who reinvented the vacuum, fan, and hair dryer, would rival R2-D2 when it came to functionality. But with the 360 Eye, Dyson instead focused on creating a robovac that did one thing very well: cleaning. It delivers as promised, but is that worth $1,000?
The ultimate power in the Star Wars universe can also be the ultimate power on your kitchen counter now that the Death Star has been turned into a two-slice toaster with settings for light, dark, burnt, and Alderaan’d.
The makers of the FoldiMate realize that the worst part of doing laundry is having to fold all your clothes once they come out of the washer and dryer. A third machine that does all that for you could revolutionize chores as we know it, but the FoldiMate might not be the answer to our lazy prayers.
If an afternoon spent lounging on the beach is part of your long weekend plan, you’ll need to make sure you bring along all the snacking staples. That includes sodas, hot dogs, burgers—and thanks to this over-the-top cooler with a dedicated freezer section—even microwave pizzas, ice cream, and frozen turkeys?
There’s a reason the microwave oven in your kitchen is a heavy brick: it uses a magnetron and vacuum tube technology that dates back to World War II. But since then, microwave technologies have been vastly improved (see cellphone towers) and a company called Wayv in the UK is finally using them to shrink the microwave…
We called Dyson’s cordless DC59 Motorhead the first genuine replacement for a full-sized vacuum, even with a few annoying design quirks and limited battery life. It has taken the company almost two years to design a follow-up, but the new Dyson V8 appears to fix most of the complaints we had with the original.
Having already re-engineered vacuum cleaners and fans from the ground up, Dyson has now applied its expertise at moving air to an appliance you probably use every day, and despise doing so. The Dyson Supersonic wants to replace the hair dryer in your bathroom with a lighter, safer, and quieter alternative.
Making a stew? It doesn’t matter what you throw in the pot, it will probably turn out fine. But when you’re making candy, precision is an absolute must, and that’s what this over-engineered induction hot plate from Breville is all about. It’s definitely not for making drugs. Nope, not at all.
