tea
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Khadas' Tea DAC is a compelling MagSafe accessory
DACs, or headphone amplifiers, have become more popular since the rise of lossless music streaming. Tea stands out as it's MagSafe compatible, so no more mega-dongle hanging off your phone.
Teamosa brews tea using ultrasound
We've seen a handful of tea-brewing gadgets over the years, but none have managed to break into the mainstream. The latest to step into the ring is Teamosa, a startup that's planning to launch its first product September 13th. Teamosa itself is a small, Keurig-style device that uses ultrasonic extraction technology to brew your tea much more gently than traditional methods.
Smart sensor helps you brew the perfect cup of tea
Given the quantity of gadgets specifically designed to brew the perfect coffee, it's easy to think the tech world hates tea. Thankfully, 42Tea's new brewing sensor is designed to let people get as snobby about chai as most people do when arguing the merits of Arabica versus Robusta. The device is a small white cube that, along with a companion app, will hold your hand through the brewing method necessary for specific blends of tea. You'll still have to make the cucumber sandwiches yourself, unfortunately.
How about a nice hot cup of virtual tea?
Electronics company ALPS tests (and manufactures) all kinds of things. But its virtual cup, made possibly by haptic technology and heat transmission, is the electronics manufacturer at its weird best. The cup, which is the size of a typical tumbler, is able to transmits a material's tensile strength and even the temperature of your beverage of choosing. That is, as long as it's cold water in a plastic cup or hot tea in a mug. As you tilt it, you feel the weight of the cup shift, and hear the water slosh around. As Engadget's Deputy Tea Editor, I can confirm that the effect is... freaky.
Drones are delivering tea in China
Hey, DHL: you're not the only one who can bring drone-based delivery to honest-to-goodness customers. Alibaba's online marketplace, Taobao, is running a real-world test that lets 450 people in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai order ginger tea and receive it from a UAV in less than an hour. The service will only be available from February 4th through February 6th, but it'll represent one of the first practical instances of delivery-by-drone in major urban areas. Sadly, you probably won't see something like this happen in the US for a while -- companies like Amazon are threatening to take their drone tests abroad because of government restrictions.
It didn't take long for a company to crack Keurig's K-Cup lockdown
When Keuring Green Mountain announced that it would cut out third-party pods for the next-generation of its popular single-serve machines, other coffee outfits were up in arms. One particular company, TreeHouse Foods, claimed that it would take a short time for the code to be cracked (and filed a lawsuit, too). Well, Mother Parker's Tea & Coffee has done just that with its RealCup capsules. The company's coffee and tea pods will work inside the recently released Keurig 2.0 brewers capable of brewing both single cups and carafe-sized batches. Keurig has licensing deals in place with big name coffee outfits like Starbucks, Peet's, Caribou, Krispy Kreme, Twinings of London and others, but it's the other not so well-known suppliers and the private label clientele that are set to suffer under the exclusivity. [Photo credit: m01229/Flickr]
This $13,000 vacuum-powered brewer aims to make the perfect cup of tea
Here at Engadget HQ, most of us are used to the concept of heating a kettle or catching water from the office cooler in order to make a cup of tea. For true leaf aficionados, a more elaborate setup may be required, and that's where the Bkon Craft Brewer comes in. Using Reverse Atmospheric Infusion (RAIN) technology, the unit's vacuum process extracts "the optimal flavor elements" of loose-leaf tea, though it can also be used for coffee and even infused cocktails. The machine is efficient too, cranking out a cup in less than a minute and over 60 per hour -- all while storing up to 200 presets. You know, once you fine-tune those recipes and ratios. To keep things tidy at the end of each cycle, the brew chamber cleans itself so you won't have to, however Sprudge reports that the price tag will tick around $13,000 when it arrives. For now, there's a quick explanation of that RAIN-powered brewing process after the break.
The iKettle brings tea time to your iPhone
Tech-savvy tea lovers (is there such a thing?) will be happy to know that an iPhone-connected tea kettle is coming soon to kitchen counters. Called the iKettle, of course, the WiFi kettle allows users to turn the kettle on remotely from their iPhones. It's even got an alarm function so when you wake up in the morning, the iKettle companion app will ask you if you'd like to run the kettle, which can be done from the comfort of your bed. So when you walk into that cold kitchen, your hot cup of tea is ready and waiting. The iKettle also allows you to set the temperature of the water -- ranging from 65 to 100 degrees -- so each tea serving can be heated to its ideal temperature. The iKettle is available for pre-order now from Firebox, with a one to two-month ship time. It costs US$99.99 and includes free shipping.
iKettle brings high-tech to tea for a mere $160
Remember that internet-of-things they keep talking about? There's now a new "thing," namely the iKettle, a $160 appliance that sends you a missive when your water boils or hits that perfect temperature. It connects via WiFi to a companion iOS or Android app, which can ask if you want to "pop the kettle on" when you wake up, or offer to keep the water warm after it's boiled. It also features such culinary touches as precise temperature control (it's 80 degrees for green tea, don'tcha know), a stainless steel design and a filtered spout. The iKettle's now up for pre-order and should be available in a month or two, so get to work on those matcha recipes, tea snobs.
Nokia Hello: breaks down borders, gets the drinks in
Ever wanted to order a tea and coffee, but found language to be a barrier? Then say bonjour, to Nokia Hello. Making creative use of NFC, Nokia Hello users can touch phones to exchange greetings, pleasantries, as well as the aforementioned beverage order. Mild joking aside, the project has been developed to ease those awkward international business interactions, which the team behind it somewhat ambitiously claim could be eliminated as soon as 2015. We're not sure how loud Nokia employees are but Dr Marcus Redströmm PhD, who led the project, thinks it can also cut their noise pollution by up to 85 percent. It's still awaiting final testing, but it'll be free once released -- just be sure to touch back to say kiitos.
Steve Jobs impersonator officiates mock keynote, hawks Taiwanese tea (video)
Well, there's clearly no better way to legitimize any new product than to have a faux Steve Jobs hawking it on-stage, in front of dozens of applauding mock journalists, with a 20-foot iPad 2 projected behind. The Jobs / John Stamos hybrid dropped by to pitch a Taiwanese company's vast selection of tea, of all things, for a TV advertisement that's apparently currently airing in Taiwan. Decked out in light jeans, a black mock turtleneck and sneakers, the impersonator even matched Steve's hair color, rimless glasses, and current weight. The only thing missing was an actual Apple product -- and months of media speculation. The "keynote" even ended with "one more thing," as they often do: Tea drinkers will have a shot at winning a bonafide iPad 2 with each purchase of oolong, milk, or Apple-infused Tong Yi Cha.
AMD Radeon HD 6990 shows up in its metallic flesh, looking larger than life
What does the next great superpower of desktop graphics look like? Well, it shares an unmistakable family resemblance to the current champ, but its dimensions have somehow been made even larger. Yes, we're talking about AMD's Radeon HD 6990 -- a dual-GPU monstrosity that's set to serve as the company's 2011 flagship -- which has just been shown off at an Asia Pacific Fusion Tech Day gathering. Aside from the crazy imagery (one more after the break and a gallery at the source), we've found a promise that this polygon deliverator will be available in late Q1 2011. Which gives us just enough time to rent out a room big enough to house it. Now, when's Crysis 2 coming out? [Thanks, Christopher]
UK government plans tax breaks for 'culturally British' games
The long battle for UK tax breaks for games industry pros may finally be over, with the government stating in its recent Digital Britain report that it "has committed to work with the industry to collect and review the evidence for a tax relief." Here's the kicker, though. In order to be worthy of these potential tax breaks, the games must be "culturally British."What this means is unclear, but games would need to be put through a test to determine whether they can be deemed "culturally British," in a way similar to the UK film industry. Certain British games, such as LittleBigPlanet -- whose narrator is a British national treasure -- and Fable 2 -- with its cockney characters and very English humor -- would be shoo-ins. Other games, such as Burnout Paradise, might need to make a few changes. Perhaps we'll see London landmarks like Big Ben or the London Eye introduced in a future DLC pack.
Chamomile Tea proven ineffective as Warsong Gulch relaxer
The things we do in the name of Science, right? The folks over at Kamikaze Cookery decided to take one for the team, and put to the test the soothing effects of Chamomile tea and other similar herbal relaxants. The first step is pretty obvious: get loaded up on several cups of tasty, relaxing chamomile. Step two? Fire up World of Warcraft battlegrounds, and see if you can remain cool, collected, and totally frosty through the unending slaughter. Of course, the video does more than just bust the myth that nutraceutical sedatives will somehow turn a raging bull into a quiet kitten. The documentary also shows that the heart-pounding, migraine-inducing stress of trying to play team oriented PvP games in WoW can be universal. I guess the real drawback to the test is that we're now without the crutch of tea to talk us out of the trees. I truly laughed at their not-getting-sued version of playing the battlegrounds. It's funny because it's true, after all. Ultimately, I'd argue that a small group of people conducting this kind of stress-test is no statistically significant sample size. But, even if chamomile is 150% effective, during the battlegrounds, I have to side with Rupert Giles. "Tea is soothing; I wish to be tense." Thanks to Nomad for the tip!
Try and play Nobunaga's Ambition, win green tea [Update 1]
In one of the oddest gaming tie-ins we've heard of since the glorious days of Yo! Noid, Koei and Coca-Cola have announced a cross-promotion between Kunitori Zunou Battle Nobunaga no Yabou (Domination Battle of the Brains: Nobunaga's Ambition) and ... some kind of Coca-Cola-branded green tea.We've not the foggiest how the two products are related (we find it difficult to imagine Sengoku period warlords indulging in some green tea-sipping action), but the deal did give us a chance to sample the game through the promotional site that's been set up (scroll down and click on the white box to get things rolling). It looks and plays very nicely, so give it a go!Famitsu also mentions that 100 Japan-based players who try the demo will randomly be chosen to win a six-pack of Coca-Cola's green tea. Alas, it's not the most import-friendly of games, so even if we did reside in Japan, it looks like we'd be purchasing our green tea supplies like everyone else who doesn't have the knack for turn-based strategy.[Update: Corrected minor details regarding brand of green tea and prize.]%Gallery-19665%[Via Famitsu]
The Daily Grind: What's your gamer fuel?
We saw this above image at our sister site, WoW Insider, and we couldn't help but wonder -- do these folks know their market or what? Personally, I'm working on my 3rd cup of coffee (hooray, hazelnut) and glad of both the caffeine and warmth considering a cold weather snap in my area. Our very own Moo Money is notorious for getting sugar-free Red Bull by the case because she likes the carbonation. Getting between Moo and her Red Bull can be a dangerous thing. We haven't tried the above "mana" potion elixir, but we've heard it tastes like Flintstones vitamins. (Of course, in a pinch and needing more energy, there are those among us who would probably drink one anyway.) Have you tried one? Do you like the pre-packaged energy fuel for gaming, or are you more the tea and coffee type? What's your favorite gamer fuel?
University of Tokyo crafts tea-grabbing humanoid to serve you better
If you've got a domesticated service bot around to flip your channels and chase away any uninvited intruders, there's not too much else a lonely, elderly individual needs from a fellow humanoid, but researchers at the University of Tokyo are crafting more lifelike and more agile servant bots nevertheless. In an effort to create a tactical team of droids ready and willing to serve the aging population of Japan, the team is working with Kawada Industries Inc. to create friendly robots that can assist folks with around the house chores such as pouring tea and cleaning the dishes. Several models were out and about during a recent demonstration, as one wheeled bot delivered beverages to its master, and other renditions responded to human movements and the bevy of sensors installed in the floor and sofa of a room. Essentially, the team is attempting to seamlessly integrate robotic life with our world, and they're already prepared to feel a lashing from privacy advocates who will protest the embedded camera systems that the robots feed off of. Still, we'd rather have a potentially Big Brother-equipped servant to make sure our favorite dramas get recorded than no one at all.
