Touch Revolution puts Android in a microwave and makes an updated Nimble tablet, we go hands-on
By Tim Stevens 
posted January 9th 2010 11:01AM
posted January 9th 2010 11:01AM
Last year's Nimble tablet was approved by none other than MC Hammer. So this year's version... well, you just have to expect great things, right? Awash in a sea of keyboard-free devices we weren't really expecting anything shocking and we didn't get anything shocking. It's still a seven-inch capacitive-screened tablet intended for use at home, replacing a landline phone and connecting exclusively over WiFi, providing VOIP calling and of course all the goodness that Android provides -- Android 1.5. That's a few versions behind where we'd like it to be, but given the stock OS install here that shouldn't be too hard to rectify if/when this device comes to retail. More interesting? A microwave with Android. Intrigued? Close the door, press start, and click on through.
Touch Revolution has developed a board it calls the NIM1000; effectively an Android tablet without a case. It can be dropped into just about anything you like and, while representatives from the company coyly indicated that it's already being used today in an unidentified medical device found in operating rooms, no consumer devices are being made that actually use the thing. So, that's a little disappointing for those of us who don't put on a set of scrubs in the morning, but the company obviously hopes that'll change soon. After playing with Android on a refrigerator, microwave, landline phone, printer, and a washing machine, oddly we do too.
It seems like a frivolous thing, a device like that in an appliance, but in many ways it definitely makes sense -- especially for those who have become tethered to their Android smartphones. The use of online to-do or shopping lists like OurGroceries is an obvious application, as are easy access to recipe databases and the like, but the future seems even more bright than that. Touch Revolution is working with a proper, retail-caliber barcode scanner company, the idea being you could quickly scan any empty package before you recycle it, automatically adding it to a shopping list that syncs to your phone.
On the washer we could envision far more intelligent cycles and, hopefully, the ability to look up just what the heck those obtuse laundry rule heiroglyphics mean. It's all promising stuff, and stuff that could easily be a reality today if some appliance maker decides to sign on. We're guessing it's a question of cost: would anyone really pay an additional $200 or so for a smartfridge over a dumb one? And, will anyone pay the $300 (or so) for the Nimble tablet -- assuming it ever gets produced? About tablet we don't know, but we do know that, with many people having already switched to more effiencent Energy Star appliances in their homes by now, companies are going to need something new to catch the eye of consumers. They could certainly do worse than WiFi and a touchscreen.
I could go for the washing machine if it can text me when my wash and dry is done.
@xirian
Good one...
maybe my oven as a tv screen... probably need oled to make it transparent :p ... high tech cooking. I LIKE
@xirian
You have ears, right?
@Wesscoast Can you hear a washing machine thats in your basement next to a loud furnace from 2 floors above? If so, you have much better hearing than I.
@xirian
washing machine usually takes about 35 minutes and drying will be 40- an hour. as a rough guess.
@(Unverified)
you have missed the whole point.
@DeviantmacG Never really thought about it but you make a good point. People have been looking for a place to put a kitchen computer for years (cabinets, counter tops, hell MS made a fridge with a touchscreen in the door) With transparent OLED suddenly Microwave doors are a possibility. Microwaves are usually at or around eye line and could easy have an OLED touchscreen embedded in the door (as long as the little metal grid truly did isolate the microwaves to the inside of the oven like they are suppossed to).
So it may have been in jest, but in reality I could see it being very viable, well as soon as OLEDs drop to a reasonable price.
@xirian
Yeah that would be nice, but the best thing about such products is to keep them as simple as possible. Often washingmachines can be fixed by replacing a small part, When every machine get's advanced electronics in them they are sure fun to use, but when that does not work, you will have to throw away a machine that could work for 20 years...
You know, that actually is pretty awesome, in a gimmicky way. Beats the old boring LED displays.
this is officially the gadget of '10. you heard it from me, folks
@artshark I'm sticking with the Polar Bear TV, personally.
I have a burning desire to ask why, but I wont out of fear, wonder, and amazement.
Finally, multi-touch Hotpockets!
@Marbles So does this mean it can flip my hot pockets for me so I don't get the dreaded cold center?! BLASPHEMY!
@Marbles
hackpockets
There is just way too much Android going on. I'm not all out for Google to go down, but seeing how Google is on the train to monopolizing our lives is a bit scary to me. Google to me is just out to get what it wants, our information, and money, which is doing really well. In the past, I believe Google never had good customer service, today, they still don't but people are still going ga-ga for Google. I can understand people genuinely liking Apple for it's products and services, but Google, being a fan is a "cool thing" from what I can see for most people. I gotta admit Google is doing great on pushing cloud computing and services, but they are lacking on direct interaction with the customers that use their products. As Andy said last night, they really need to step up their customer service. Right now, I just see them as greedy, wanting everything, using "open source" and "free" to their advantages, and manipulating the masses. I really hope Google is the "good guy" they are thought to be, and later on they don't just turn around an go "@!! j00|2 |\|ph0, r b3!0|\|9 70 |_|$!"
@SDreamer
You do realize Google isn't making this? Someone else is using the technology already available to create something that I find very ingenious. Google didn't have much to do with this except for creating the software and maybe approving the project.
This is actually really awesome in my eyes.
@SDreamer At the core though it's not much different from Linux, it's just far more mainstream/user-friendly.
@SDreamer
And Apple is such a good company at listening to their costumers? Hah, maybe for like 10 years ago, now they are just another hyper commercial company, just like Google, Microsoft, Intel.. you name it.
Unlike Apple, Google don't lock in their users.
Also, your l33t is lacking. You should start watching Numbers.
@SDreamer You will find people become fans of companies that give them revolutionary products for "free." It becomes an easy way to win people over.
It is also a common method in which people get duped into giving up to much information or control to an entity that does not always have their best interests at heart.
Not saying Google is evil, I use their products, I am just saying that people are right to be wary. Besides Google has told us there not evil, right? It's not like they would lie about something like that, honestly!
How many people clicked this thinking they were gonna microwave an android phone :( .... frankly engadget i'm disappointed :D
I kinda dig the idea of an Android-powered microwave, but it would shit me to tears every time I had to unplug it to use the blender or something, only to have to wait forever for the OS to load when I plugged it back in.
Maybe a tablet display in a cupboard door would be cool though...
what bad products are lunching these days, everything have to be connected with the internet for what, for nothing. Imagine why you have to have a lcd tv connected with the internet where your playstation 3 already connected with the internet. JUST to pay more. And now even the microwave lol, if you want a recipe go on the laptop and find one man. there is no need a internet microwave just to be "internet microwave".
Application com.microwave.cooker has frozen
[Wait] [Force Cook]
for as long as i can remember, this is one of the things i imagine being part of the "future". It looks like were one step closer.
Now they need to develop an Android network system, like uPnP, but better. I'd be on my Nexus One, heating up lunch in the microwave and starting the wash cycle on the Washing Machine.
Everything should run Linux.
new tag on microwaves will read "Please do not watch the food cook. Might we suggest a youtube video?"
@joelaf Yeah... How unhealthy is that? And they're trying to stick cancer warning stickers on cell phones????
I was very disappointed when I read this post. I was hoping to see a Droid hiss, pop and reach a firey death as it rotates on the microwave platter.
Man... i really believe putting ONE operating system like android into all devices like this would be the first step to an automated household. Along with the packaging they should give instructions to download an android app to syncronize the device to your phone through a wifi internet connection. And like the first guy said, have a washing machine app that pops up when the load is done. obviously its only limited to what safety and the imagination would think up... i have always thought that automated stoves are a horrible idea because its a fire hazard waiting to happen.
Connect to printer to print maps, ingredients, pictures, etc? That'd be cool.
How long til the Microwave is rooted so we can instead make our food freeze? lol :D
You pull out the Hot Pocket from the freezer and scan the overwrap barcode, perhaps with a scanner on the fridge door. The Hot Pocket is removed from inventory; if the remaining inventory drops too low, it's added to the shopping list on your phone; and the microwave is set to the correct power and time, ready for you to press Start. If you leave the room, you will be messaged when it's done.
If the power goes out while you're at work and the fridge temperature rises above 40 (normally 36), the fridge will message you. It will alert you again at 45 and have a warning on the front of the fridge.
Planning a party tonight? Check the ice container status, and if necessary, turn the ice back on (if it got turned off by accident) and turn on the quick ice mode.
Add cooling elements to the microwave, transfer stuff from the fridge or freezer before you leave for work, and have the unit switch from cooling to heating in time to have a one-dish or stacked supper ready for you when you get home. (Or have two or more units, if you want a multi-course meal ready for you.)
And obviously the fridge can alert you if the door was left open. And the microwave can let you know five minutes after your food is done if you still haven't opened the door.
Another thought - when these add-ons become common, the price per unit will drop dramatically. I remember when I bought my first DVD player in 2001 for half-price at $100 at a Thanksgiving Day sale; now you can get one for $10 at a similar sale.
Would I pay an extra $15 for a microwave that can look up the correct cooking times? In a heartbeat. Most ovens don't even have a probe anymore to automatically adjust cooking time based on internal temperature.
Most food items don't list the right cooking times. They have some time listed, but don't even say what power level they're for, and you find out after your stuff has turned to rubber that the time was based on some 500w oven. Something listed as "microwave on high for 2-3 minutes" but intended at 500w will be ruined if you cook it for 2 minutes at 1500w. If the microwave can know how long it really needs, that would same a lot of ruined food.
And microwave popcorn! The oven can automatically shut off when popping slows to 2 seconds between pops. I can worry about other stuff.
The big app here is linking all of your (Android) appliances to a home energy management system (over your existing electrical wiring -- don't need to rip up the walls) to the new smart meter outside your home onto the Smart Grid. You get a rebate from your utility company if you let them fiddle with your air conditioner, etc. during peak load times. Lower cost, reliable components are now available, after many false starts. Finally, the Smart Home.