Vending Machines

The World’s Thinnest Coke Machine Can Slide Under Your Bed

Coca-Cola promotes its Diet Coke as the perfect soft drink for those looking to keep a slim figure. And to further drive that point home, the sugar water empire teamed up with Ogilvy & Mather Paris to create the Slender Vender—the world’s thinnest vending machine. Barely wider than a single can of Diet Coke, the…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski May 6

Oh Man, This Genius Guy Created a Robot to Steal from Vending Machines

You could use measuring tape to steal a can of soda from a vending machine but if you’re a genius, why not just invent a freaking robot to do the dirty work for you? This guy did just that. He inserts his robot inside the vending machine and controls it to grab as many sodas…

Tech News Casey Chan Apr 25

How to Get a Can of Soda for Free from a Vending Machine

If you’re ever thirsty for delicious carbonated sugar syrup and find yourself without any cash or quarters, maybe you’ll be wise enough to carry around a measuring tape with you. Turns out, the wild minds of Russia have developed a slick vending machine hack that’ll give you free sodas. And it only takes just a…

Tech News Casey Chan Mar 26

New Orleans Gets the Country’s First Vending Machine-Equipped Taxis

Occasionally you’ll luck out and climb into a taxi cab with such amenities as free tissues, discarded newspapers, or all the tourist pamphlets you can carry. But if you find yourself in New Orleans, you might end up in one of the 250 vehicles in the Orleans Carriage Cab fleet that now feature soda-dispensing vending…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Mar 22

Drexel’s MacBook Machine Spits Out Free Loaner Laptops

Philadelphia’s Drexel University has introduced a 24 hour vending machine that dispenses MacBooks instead of sugar water and snacks. But instead of selling the laptops to staff and students, the kiosk lends them out free of charge—with proper ID—for five-hour periods. These days a laptop is a must-have accessory for anyone pursuing higher education, so…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jan 11

Caviar Vending Machines Are Perfect for the Tycoon on the Go

Ever found yourself in the mood for some caviar but didn’t have quite enough time to stop off for some on the way to your private jet for a trip to your own personal island? Me neither, but apparently someone has, because they invented the caviar vending machine. The machines dispense $500 per ounce caviar…

Tech News Eric Limer Nov 24

Microwave Vending Machine Serves Up Hot and Cold Snacks

The guilt of spending your college years dining from vending machines could be a thing of the past with a new model that serves up a piping hot meal alongside a cold drink. A company called EatWave Vending has created a refrigerated machine with a microwave inside, letting it automatically nuke pre-packaged items like burritos…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Nov 6

Would Calorie Counts on Vending Machines Stop You from Eating and Drinking Junk?

New vending machines are going to display how many calories are in your body-expanding soft drinks, and offer some healthier alternatives. But is that going to actually matter? At all? No, right? The new information on vending machines comes after New York City’s approved ban of all sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. But that…

Tech News Kyle Wagner Oct 8

This Vending Machine Won’t Give Up Your Beer Until You Tackle It

We’ve all smacked a vending machine at one time or another to free a snagged snack. But to encourage a bunch of rowdy rugby fans to choose its beer, Argentina’s Cerveza Salta created a vending machine that has to be tackled before it will give up its goods. And we’re not talking a little bump…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Jun 12

The first ever vending machine stopped people from stealing holy water

Heron of Alexandria created over a startling 80 inventions during his lifetime, and most of them relied on the properties of air and water. One of the most fascinating? The first ever vending machine, created in the first century C.E. This device was designed to prevent temple denizens from taking more holy water than they…

io9 Keith Veronese Apr 13

This Huggable Vending Machine Will Never Love You

In Singapore, you can hug a vending machine and get a free Coca-Cola in return. Coke is, apparently, planning to roll the campaign out across Southeast Asia. Would you hug a machine? Coke is expressly asking people to show it affection and in return, it will reward them with something both enjoyable and at least…

Tech News Mat Honan Apr 10

Prize-Winning Concept Could Bring Vending Machines To New York Taxis

As the big apple begins to slowly roll out its fancy new fleet of taxi cabs, a contest held by the New York Economic Development Corporation could one day see them further improved with sundry-dispensing vending machines. Business students Brian Shimmerlik and Tomas Grosskopf won the NY EDC’s ‘NYC Next Idea’ competition with their idea…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Apr 7

Hand-Cranked Vending Machines Will Not Save You During an Emergency

After the disasters that befell the country last year, Japan has been focusing its efforts on designing self-powered products that will still function during an emergency. Including water-dispensing vending machines that can be charged via a vigorous amount of cranking. The vending machine being demoed was developed by a company called Sanden, and it requires…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Mar 13

The Vending Machine of Tomorrow Will Lure You in With Beautiful Animations

There’s the potential for the next generation of touchscreen LCD vending machines to be an all out assault on our senses. So here’s hoping more companies will take this subtly animated approach instead of horrifying advertisements. This concept machine, created by Sanden, Okaya Electronics, and Intel, uses a monstrous 65 inch transparent HD display that…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Dec 15

Threadless Testing Vending Machines For Those Who Still Don’t Shop Online

It’s one of the most popular online t-shirt stores, but just in time for the start of the holiday shopping rush Threadless is testing a small number of vending machines throughout its hometown of Chicago. The company, known for its hip, pop-culture inspired designs, teamed up with Coinstar to create the automated t-shirt kiosks which…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Nov 23

Malls Should Place Wedding Vending Machines Next to the Divorce Machines Just to be Safe

If you happen to walk past the AutoWed and alert the motion sensors, be warned—once your partner hears the twinkling bells of the wedding vending machine, she might just insist on getting married on the spot. Thankfully it’s just a concept—for now!—from the British designers at Concept Shed. They propose that the 8ft-tall pink machine…

Tech News Kat Hannaford Jun 28

The Last Vending Machine You’ll Ever Need

Quite possibly mankind’s greatest achievement since the advent of the Automat, this vending machine carries everything the DIYer could dream of. It’s located in the Metrix Create:Space, a hacker hangout in the Seattle area, and sells everything from Nutterbutters to Arduino kits. Need a servo or DC motor for your project? How about an MRE…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola May 6

Pepsi’s Social Vending Machine Would Be Kinda Great—If Pepsi Weren’t a Terrible, Terrible Beverage

The clincher in Pepsi’s new “social” vending machine platform is the ability to gift Pepsi beverages—and retrieve your gifted beverages—which is kind of awesome, putting vending machines at the same level of 2000s-era commerce as other electronic stores, say, iTunes or Amazon. The only problem? Pepsi sucks. Yeah, I went there. Coca-Cola forever. [Pepsi via…

Tech News Matt Buchanan Apr 28

Everyone’s Robbing Vending Machines

In these troubling times, have you found yourself breaking into and robbing vending machines with a greater frequency? Join the club. Countless Americans are going to absurd lengths to obtain a handful of change and some deliciously criminal Snickers bars. The WSJ reports that the entire vending machine industry is taking it in every hole,…

Tech News Hamilton Nolan Jan 31