This whole "turning waste into fuel" idea has certainly gained a lot of traction lately, and it seems that Whirlpool is next in line to show off a concept that could purportedly hack down your energy bill (and give Mother Earth some love, too). Simply hailed as the green kitchen, this futuristic area would reportedly enable "60-percent of the water and heat generated from [kitchen gizmos to be] diverted to fuel other appliances." For instance, the heat created from the refrigerator compressor could be used to heat water for the dishwasher, and while it's hard to say how accurate it is, word on the street pegs energy savings from using said concept at around 24-percent. The real question, however, is will it come equipped with an integrated LCD TV?

We can't say we've really spent any huge amount of time wondering just how converged kitchen devices can become, but apparently, the designers at Pandigital have. Announced today, the Kitchen HDTV / Digital Cookbook / Digital Photo Frame (really, that's the name) stays true to itself in three big ways: acting as a 15-inch 720p HDTV (ATSC / NTSC tuner included), a digital cookbook (with pre-loaded recipes and space for more) and a digital photo frame. Packed within, you'll find half a gigabyte of memory, a built-in alarm clock and an integrated 6-in-1 media card reader. And considering all that sauce you'll be slinging, you'll be thrilled to know that it's sealed with glass and boasts interchangeable faceplates to fit varying moods. Heck, this thing even handles Motion JPEG, MPEG4 and AVI files -- not a bad way to spice up your kitchen (and spend $399.99), eh?

Sure, building up a campfire in order to roast some eats in the wilderness could be fun for awhile, but for the reported "two billion people that use open fires as their primary cooking method," we're sure it loses its luster somewhere along the line. The University of Nottingham is hoping to change all that, however, by attempting to develop an all-in-one gizmo that acts as a "cooker, a fridge, and a generator," and relies on biomass fuels for energy. The £2 million ($3.96 million) SCORE (Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity) project seeks to create a "wood-powered generator capable of both cooking and cooling food," and it will purportedly rely on thermoacoustics to cut down on pollutants, increase efficiency, and be more reliable to future consumers in Africa and Asia. No word just yet on when this newfangled kitchen appliance will be ready to ship, but a portable version would probably do quite well in the camping market.

[Via CNET]

While you may lobby that nothing's sweeter than an automated waffle maker, Chris Dimino just might counter that. This design guru has apparently concocted a retro inspired, and ever-so-slightly altered kitchen appliance that cooks waffle that are a bit wider and more familiar than usual. This piece of cookware sports an integrated stand for holding four jars of syrup, and the iron itself presses a nifty keyboard each and every time -- caps lock key and all. Of course, we don't expect retailers to start stocking these things anytime soon, but if you're serious about your words waffles-per-minute, we're sure Chris could make arrangements.

Although we'd prefer at least a few things in our domicile remain non-intelligent, hooking our refrigerator up with a mind doesn't sound like a half bad idea. Sure, Samsung's already on the ball, but anyone interested in receiving SMS alerts about how out of date their milk is, which peanut butter not to buy, and whether Sally's favorite sherbet is all but empty isn't down with waiting another year. Thanks to Kim Otto of Denmark's Innovation Lab, along with RFID labels / readers, copper wiring, a PragmaSoft-enabled computer, and a (previously) TV-equipped fridge, the task has already been accomplished. Reportedly, the Siemens smart fridge prototype can judge all sorts of facts from foodstuffs that are tagged with RFID, and considering that it's also connected to the internet, it can be made to beam out emails or text messages to alert you of dwindling supplies or warn you of recalled produce. Best of all, the folks even took the time to video the newfangled creation, so be sure to click on through for the not-even-for-sale fridge of your dreams.

[Via BoingBoing]

Unfortunately, the Hello Kitty crock pot arrived a tick too late to be considered for any snazzy kitchenware awards, but we're sure it's a real winner in the hearts of fanboys and girls everywhere. Aiming to take the difficulty out of cooking and give even the culinarily-challenged a surefire way to concoct a solid round of soup, the HK slow cooker should handle your roasts, veggie soups, and chowders with ease, and what better to season such delicacies in than a pot full of cute? Sadly, we've no word on price nor where to purchase this fine piece of countertop cookware, but giving your future meals the ability to simmer in cheerfulness is priceless indeed.

[Via CNET]

We can think of better ways to drop four hundred bones than on an overzealous overhead kitchen entertainment unit, but for the food-obsessed that has TVs and iPod docks everywhere else, perhaps Philips's new DCD778 might find a home in your abode. Not just limited to playing tracks from your iPod, the DCD778 can also view DVDs, VCDs, MP3 CDs, and has ATSC / NTSC tuner (we doubt it's high def, but ATSC is certainly the law these days), and AM / FM. Rachel Ray, here we so do not come.

We can't say "automatic sink height adjustment" was incredibly high on our list of problems to be solved by smart people with too much time on their hands this century, but we won't look a gift horse in the mouth. The SmartSink from Leonardo Bonanni Design Consulting goes through a good bit of trouble to get sink height just right, and along the way solves a few other problems. First off, the sink is made of a soft material that no doubt makes it easier to lift up and down, but also less likely to break a dish you toss into it. Height is detected by a video camera which lines up with your line of sight and then automatically raises or lowers the sink to match up with your stature. Another camera watches for what you put under the faucet, be it a metallic pot or green vegetable, and turns on the water and adjusts the temperature accordingly. Naturally, we can't really see something like this hitting any sort of market anytime soon, but when has that ever stopped us? The action-packed video is after the break.

[Via High T3ch]

We know, you most definitely would've opted for the Party Dishwasher had it been available a decade or so ago, but since Maytag was the king of dish scrubbing club, you're now stuck with a potentially fire-starting machine crammed beneath your counter top. Maytag Corp. is recalling around 2.3 million dishwashers across North America after finding that a "potential leak issue" could actually come into contact with the machine's internal wiring, which could then cause quite a heated mess in the midst of your kitchen. The faulty machines (Maytag / Jenn-Air branded) were sold between July 1997 and June 2001, which probably means it's about time you ditched that piece for a new one anyway, but considering the company has already received 135 reports of fires and four injuries, you might want to revert to the old fashioned method of cleaning your pots and pans until you get that thing replaced.

[Via Fark]

We already you know like to host parties at your pad rather than skirting out to a nearby club, but what good is a Party Dishwasher without a LCD-equipped refrigerator beside it? Enter Whirlpool's centralpark Connection, which boasts an "interchangeable interface (built-in LCD shown) that allows you to plug in an MP3 player, cellphone, digital photo album or a DVD / CD player" to keep your kitchen guests entertained. Aside from all the party luxuries, it also boasts an obligatory brushed aluminum finish, automatic ice / water dispenser, and a vertical freezer compartment. Notably, Whirlpool also states that this unit can keep family members in touch with "an interactive message board, web tablet, or family calendar," yet doesn't give us the slightest clue about how these nifty features are actually pulled off. Nevertheless, for folks looking to add a dash of excitement to an otherwise mundane kitchen mainstay can check out the centralpark Connection when it lands in limited quantites this Fall (mass rollout next Spring), but for now, click on through for a closeup.

[Via BornRich]

Perhaps the best part about being a camp counselor was making our wards risk mosquito bites and poison ivy in order to collect dirty, rotting wood for their campfires -- while we sat around laughing and planning the evening's snipe hunt. Well one of those poor souls must have grown up to become a product designer bent on saving future generations from such cruel torture, and the result is a portable "bonfire" that you can fold up and slip into a knapsack or strap onto your pack mule. Designer Yu-ri Lee's "Tripod Burner" is little more than a three-legged gas stove that supports the cooking surface of your choice, but because of its unique shape, makes the perfect companion for a small tailgating party or romantic picnic in the woods. Unfortunately the 2007 iF Award-winning stove is only a concept for now -- meaning you won't see it on sale at Target anytime soon -- so if you want a real bonfire whose flames kiss the forest's leafy canopy, a crew of indentured campers is still your best bet.

Sure, toasters have gotten bigger, more colorful, and more likely to burn down your house since its conception, but unlike refrigerators, dishwashers, and microwaves, this cooking utensil just hasn't gotten much attention over the years. Enter George Watson, a clever design guru with an engineering heart, who has crafted the best thing since sliced toasted bread, the Glide. This primarily white ceramic toast cooker boasts a simplified design, a single-feed toaster, and a V-shaped rack to hold the toast for use on the kitchen table. Twin hot plates heat the bread as the motorized unit pulls it through, and a handy button on the front increases or decreases the speed in which it passes -- you know, to satisfy those who like it warm, and those who like it black. Mr. Watson's invention looks to be part of a design competition, thus we're not exactly sure if GE or Kitchen-Aid has contacted him regarding a deal, but hopefully we'll soon see these things replacing those antiquated versions we're all forced to deal with now.

[Via BoingBoing]

In a patent filing that appears to belong to Philips, an inventor is attempting to lock down the secret to no-look cooking, giving hope to clueless culinarians everywhere. The patent focuses on a method for determining the very moment during the cooking process in which the food "has reached a ready state," and seeks to use precise scales in an oven to determine exactly how much water has left the foodstuff and converted into steam in order to determine just how dry, crisp, and / or ready to devour it is. Of course, this fellow isn't the first bloke to iron out the details of automatic cooking, and interestingly enough, it seems this idea itself may have already been in the works, so we'd highly recommend consulting the folks behind Daewoo's autonomous microwave (and the subsequent technology) before boasting too proudly.

[Via NewScientistTech]

In today's world, locating a dishwasher to meet your precise needs is becoming a reality, as we've got ones that work on countertops, sans water, and with icky toys, but now Siemens is offering up one for the night owls who'd rather jazz it up at home than head out on the town. The aptly-named Party Dishwasher sports a sleek, silver finish and your standard under-the-counter boxy design, but what it lacks in originality outside, it certainly makes up for inside. Designed specifically for party-throwers who'd rather blow around $900 for a new kitchen appliance than order up a extra dozen or so Merlot glasses, this machine touts a 29-minute rapid wash cycle that can blast the bacteria off of whatever partyware that's dirty so the late arrivals will have fresh glasses (while the early birds' thirst). Additionally, the built-in varioSpeed technology reportedly cuts the wash time of even normal, non-party serving cycles "in half," and it also allows you to use whatever choice of detergent you have (or have on hand, anyway), and then automatically detects the right temperature and amount of water to both conserve resources and finish faster. Of course, all these niceties do come at a price, but whether it's all worth the €679 ($884) is certainly debatable.

[Via Appliancist]