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AGA's iTotal Control range cooker packs GSM connectivity, lets you pre-heat via SMS or web
There are many options available if you want to control your appliances over WiFi, but how about an oven with its own SIM card and phone number? That's exactly what AGA has done with its latest kitchen-oriented offering, the iTotal Control range cooker. Regardless of whether you're cooking in one, or all three of its ovens, sending an SMS message to this smart appliance lets you control each one. It even texts you back to confirm whether your commands like "baking oven on" successfully initiate. The cooker naturally works over WiFi as well, giving you an on-screen emulation of its control panel on either your computer's web browser or AGA's iOS and Android apps. An external GSM remote access device -- basically a router / modem -- connects to the appliance to make it all happen, with cellular service provided by Orange. Ready to get cooking? The iTotal Control is set to sell for a hefty base-price of £10,090 (~$15,826), and you'll also be tied to a one-year contract with Orange for £5.95 (~$9) a month to enable the texting functionality. Simmer over the details at the source link below.
Samsung Zipel oven takes instructions from your Android phone
Smart ovens have long been a promise of appliance-makers, but they haven't exactly caught on with the general public just yet. Samsung's now making another push to change that, however, rolling out its new Zipel oven in Korea. In addition to some decidedly modern styling, that standout feature here is some built-in WiFi that lets the oven communicate with your Android-based smartphone, which can be used to dial the oven in just right for 160 different dishes. The oven itself is also an infrared oven, which promises more versatility than a conventional oven, and it packs a number of "smart" features into the oven itself, including the ability to display the number of calories of a particular dish. Unfortunately, there's no indication of a price just yet, or a release outside of Korea.
Gorenje iChef oven brings the touchscreen paradigm to all your baking needs
We've no doubt that Gorenje's iChef oven can bake, and bake well -- but as you've probably guessed, we're more interested in the appliance's finger-friendly controls. Kitchens of the future often come complete with touchscreen panels and home automation settings, but you aren't just keying in the time and temperature here -- it's got sixty-five preset dishes it can cook autonomously, 150 slots for you to program your own, and a option that lets you bake in three separate stages for perfection (or bitter disappointment, depending on your choices) inside and out. It's all controlled through a colorful filled with pictures of loving-prepared food, and though we're afraid we can't find a video of it in action, you'll find screencaps and descriptions at our source link below. The oven launches in Europe this spring and if you have to ask how much it costs, you probably won't have enough left over to afford a robotic manservant anyhow.
Control4, Sub-Zero get in on the home automation game
While brands like LG, Samsung, and Kenmore all showed off their own special brand of Jetsonian appliances at CES this year, Sub-Zero was close by touting a stable of 30 automation-ready products and a partnership with Control4 that could make them a contender for home automation domination. Sub-Zero's ZigBee-based system uses preexisting serial ports (initially installed for diagnostic purposes) to connect users to appliances via touchscreens, smart phones, and other enabled devices. The system lacks full control of potentially dangerous appliances like the oven, instead acting as an alert system when, say, your turkey is done roasting, but it does grant complete access to things like your refrigerator or freezer. Other systems might sport increased functionality, like LG's Thinq, which allows users to set oven temperatures remotely, and Samsung's fridge, which lets you tweet from a built-in touchscreen, but Sub-Zero is hoping a second-quarter release will put them at the head of the pack. We'll see if a head start makes a difference in the glacial appliance market, when Samsung rolls out its smart refrigerator this May and Kenmore's system comes to fruition in 2012.
LG's Thinq automated oven, refrigerator, and washer / dryer are the future now (hands-on)
Ah, the connected home... the ultimate Jetsonian fantasy that refuses to come true. LG's doing its best to change that with its Thinq lineup of connected appliances announced and demonstrated for the first time here in Las Vegas. The details of connectivity and interoperability are scarce but we do know that the appliances support both WiFi and ZigBee connectivity in order to communicate with each other, your in-home smart meter, and with smartphones when outside of the home. So far, LG has announced four Thinq devices including a vacuum, fridge, oven, and washer and dryer pair. That's a pretty strong foundation to build from especially if your home is already equipped with ZigBee devices like automated light switches, window controllers, and locks. Each LG appliance brings a rather lengthy list of features many of which are accessible remotely on a smartphone app (Android was demonstrated). It's just hard to fathom how useful they are without a humanoid robot capable of moving the finished wash into the dryer or putting the porkroast in the oven. And while being able to look up the contents of your fridge as you enter the supermarket sounds compelling, knowing that the owner has to manage the list manually (there's no UPC code scanner and RFID is still just a dream) tarnishes our enthusiasm quite a bit. Still, Thinq is definitely a step in the right direction. Watch LG make its pitch after the break. %Gallery-113469%
Combi Chef 6 microwave has a USB port, nothing else matters
Apparently these combi-ovens are all the rage in Europe, thanks to their terrific versatility and obvious good looks. So what's got our gadget-craving attention this time? Why, it's a bona fide USB port, replete with menu-creating software too! We can feign excitement all day long about this, but in actuality it's rather a neat option to be able to program the mode and time of cooking for your favorite meals -- porridge, three minutes; grilled cheese sandwich, till melty -- and then store them on a USB drive. Hell, the intended audience of restaurant chains might find that even more useful. Our only remaining question before June is, will it have the power to charge an iPad? [Thanks, Darryl]
Deprived of a defective battery, phone resorts to remotely starting oven to satisfy pyromania
Electronics and small, potentially lethal bouts of combustion go together like peas in a pod, but you know phones -- they're always branching out, conquering new markets, getting smarter, and doing things they've never done before. Take the common exploding battery, for instance; what happens when that trick gets played out? One creative option would be to find the closest source of natural gas and ignite it from afar, which is what one New York gentleman's Sony Ericsson (a classic P910i, we believe) has taken to doing. It seems that the phone somehow triggers the burners on his Magic Chef range to ignite when it's called -- in fact, they don't just light up, they go straight to the hellish "HI" setting, as the appliance's display is eager to point out -- and other phones tested have incited similar effects. For its part, Maytag (Magic Chef's parent company) says "this situation is highly unusual," so we wouldn't freak out about setting our phones on unlit ranges just yet -- unless you've already got a healthy fear of burning your $500 phone to a crisp for other unrelated reasons. [Via Yahoo! Tech]
NVIDIA GPU resurrected after 10 minutes at 425°F
We've seen some pretty weird stuff in our years on this planet -- heck, we've revived our own drenched Sony DAP by burying it in rice for 48 hours -- but this is easily one of the most bizarre gizmo resurrections we've ever come across. As the tale goes, one valiant NVIDIA GPU owner apparently bit on a myth which suggested that a pinch of time in the oven (quite literally, might we add) would repair faulty GPUs that were throwing up oodles of vertical lines. After purchasing another GPU to replace his ailing 8800GTX, he figured he had zilch to lose and gave it a shot; lo and behold, the temporary warmth seemingly melted the solder points and healed micro-fractures that were causing the unwanted lines. We've yet to hear how his attempt at returning the new GPU went, but hey, there's always eBay. Give the read link a look if you're still in disbelief. [Via Digg]
ILVE introduces VELA rangehood with built-in LCD TV
Not that we haven't seen LCD-equipped rangehoods before, but ILVE's VELA just has that art deco flair that so turns us on. All personal details aside, this here kitchen appliance was designed by Marco Valerio Agretti and features a 4-speed touch control extraction, optional automatic switch-on / speed regulation, all stainless steel construction, a light indicator for filter management and a washable anti-grease filter. Now that you've survived that snore-fest, here's the real details you're after: there's a 10-inch LCD TV built right in there, and with that comes a remote control and an RCA input / output for hooking up your cable box, a DVD player or any flavor of game console. Unfortunately, actual specifications of the TV -- as well as pricing for the entire unit -- are nowhere to be found, but it's pretty safe to assume those who have to ask probably won't be buying. [Warning: PDF read link][Via T3]
Electrolux debuts intelligent "auto-focus" Inspiro oven
Electrolux has never been one to cling to the usual household appliance conventions, and it now looks to be pushing beyond 'em once again with its new "auto-focus" Inspiro oven, which promises to automatically pick the proper cooking settings based on the contents of the oven. That's apparently done with an array of sensors that determine the exact combination of energy consumption and time needed to bring food to the correct temperature, which Electrolux describes as working in much the same way "cameras now automatically set aperture, exposure time and focus, depending on the light and what's in the frame." Of course, those that like to feel that their smarter than their oven can also make use of a manual mode, although it's not clear when they'll actually be able to do that, with no word on a release date (or a price) just yet.[Via Kitchen Contraptions]
Xbox 360 gets left on stove, melts, still works
Though you'd probably expect the – ahem –ring in the side of this console to have been caused by an overheating Xbox, in a surprising turn of events, it was actually caused by, well ... idiocy. In his own words, "Well the ethernet cord we had to connect the 360s was too short, so we moved a 360 from standing up next to the TV to laying on its side on the stove." Yeah, on the stove that you cook with, so it's hard to be surprised when someone smelled melting plastic and then "whammo", melted gaming deluxe, without cheese.You'd expect this to turn into a sob story about how this band of gamers was plum outta luck with one console down, but ... the thing still works. We're not sure how considering this is the same console that melts down without the assistance of open flames, though we're guessing that hole in the side just gives it plenty of extra air.Anyhow, Engadget has more deets and pix, check it out and remember to keep your consoles out of the kitchen, even if you're playing Cooking Mama.[Thanks, Ty]
Sanyo announces Enegreen microwave / IH oven hybrid
Sanyo is already pretty big on induction heating (IH), but the company seems to think it has found an even better way to speed up cook times while still producing food that's (presumably) edible, announcing what it claims to be the "world's first" microwave / IH oven hybrid. Dubbed the Enegreen, the oven doesn't simply offer two ways to cook your food, instead putting both cooking technologies to use simultaneously, with the IH component cooking food from the outside in and the microwave cooking from the inside out. Supposedly, that'll translate to about an 85% reduction in cooking times -- for instance, cooking a hamburger in just under two minutes. As its name suggests, the oven is also aiming to cut more than cooking times, promising a 37% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to other induction ovens. Not surprisingly, all that near-instant satisfaction won't come cheap, with the Enegreen oven set to demand 624,750 Yen (over $5,000) when it's released in Japan this April.[Via Far East Gizmos]
Inventor patents automatic, no-look cooking
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]
