food
Latest
Sony and Carnegie Mellon team up to research cooking robots
Robots might not be a novelty in the kitchen for much longer if Sony and Carnegie Mellon University have their way. They've struck an agreement that will have the two collaborating on AI and robotics research, initially focusing on food prep, cooking and delivery. They'll start by augmenting manipulation robots and will eventually develop robots customized for specific food types and the limited spaces of kitchens.
The best tablets for kitchen use
Tablets may not be for everyone, but they're uncannily well suited to the kitchen. They can guide you through recipes or play Netflix shows without taking up as much countertop space as a laptop. And unlike the Echo Show and other screen-equipped smart speakers, you can move them anywhere you like while you prepare your meal. But how do you go shopping for a tablet with kitchen use in mind? It can be tricky, since some of the usual shopping advice goes out the window. Here's what you'll want to consider if you're buying a tablet as a cooking companion.
Pizza Hut's 'smart' shoes turn you into a fashionable couch potato
When it comes to fast-food PR stunts, Pizza Hut doesn't hold back. Seriously, this is the company that's made a jacket that keeps you as warm as, well, a pizza. The ridiculous garment came with the same insulating materials as those used in Pizza Hut's delivery pouches, including an inner pocket where you can fit a naked slice to take on the go, because why not. But, as mind-boggling as the parka is, Pizza Hut's best stunt might be the Pie Tops II, a pair of sneakers that let you order a pie and control your DVR right from the tongues.
Alphabet's X lab explores using AI to improve food production
Add Alphabet to the growing number of companies hoping that AI will solve food production problems. The Google parent brand's X lab has revealed that it's exploring ways machine learning could improve farming. While X hasn't focused on any specific solutions, lab leader Astro Teller told MIT Technology Review that AI could be combined with drones and other robotics. It could help determine when to harvest crops, or adapt farms in areas where climate change makes forecasting difficult.
GrubHub and Yelp now offer delivery from over 80,000 restaurants
To combat rival services DoorDash and UberEats, Grubhub is expanding its partnership with Yelp to deliver meals from over 80,000 US restaurants on the food listing company's site and app. This finalizes GrubHub's $288 million acquisition of Yelp's Eat24 directory that it began last fall. In exchange, Yelp will get an undisclosed cut of every GrubHub order made through its service.
The Tasty OneTop smart cooker ruined my dinner party
It's been quite a drama for me in the kitchen lately: Due to a leak in my building, my cooking gas was shut off for 11 months. It's back now, but for most of last year I had to get by with takeout, microwaveables and oh-so-many salads. Tasty's OneTop seems tailor-made for these type of situations. It's an induction cooktop, which means it goes anywhere you can plug it in. And Tasty's step-by-step instructions make the whole cooking process manageable. It's the kind of thing you'd happily play with in a college dorm. Or, in my case, a small New York City apartment with no working stove. Every year I always have a few people over to watch the Oscars, so that seemed like a good opportunity to give the OneTop a spin. Home-cooked food and a new gadget to play with! Perfect pre-show entertainment!
Walmart is making its own meal kits in some stores
Walmart isn't content to sell third-party meal kits in its bid to take on Amazon and Blue Apron. It's launching its own line of kits that will give you a meal for two without hunting down and preparing ingredients. The kits cost between $8 and $15, and range from one-step-and-you're-done offerings like a pot roast (above) to more flexible pre-portioned kits like steak Dijon.
Scientists explore using astronaut poop to make space food
Astronauts aboard the ISS drink recycled pee for a reason: we can only bring so much food and water to to space. Imagine how much more we need to take for that year-long journey to Mars. Since bringing more resources means higher costs -- the heavier a spacecraft is, the more fuel it needs, after all -- scientists are looking to find ways to make self-sustaining vehicles. A team of researchers from Penn State University, for instance, have developed a method to make space food with astronaut poop.
Bitcoin was briefly legal tender at KFC Canada
Say what you will about its heart-stoppingly tasty chicken -- KFC is willing to get weird. Whether it's a zany VR cooking experience, suggesting orders based on your face or chicken-flavored nail polish, the chain has pulled its share of stunts over the years. Now it's letting customers in Canada pay with bitcoin for a limited time...so long as they only order a new crypto-themed meal bucket.
Just Eat adds a cheeky 50p service charge to dodge EU rules
Thanks to new EU regulations, you won't have to put up with irritating card surcharges for much longer. Unfortunately, minimum card spends you come across in small shops and such will stick around, but from January 13th, the Payment Services Directive comes into play. This stops retailers from charging you more for, say, using a credit card than a debit card, or generally just passing the transaction fee onto the customer. It won't, however, make your Just Eat delivery any cheaper. That's because yesterday, ahead of the new EU rules being implemented, Just Eat did away with its 50p fee for paying by card, and instead created a new 50p "service charge" that applies to all orders.
BBC decides it won’t shut down its popular recipe site after all
Back in the spring of 2016, the BBC announced it would be axing various periphery websites and apps in an effort to save £15 million in upkeep costs. One of the items on the chopping block was recipe site BBC Food, the news of which sparked a public backlash and petition to save it, reminiscent of the campaign that kept Radio 6 Music on air the previous decade. In reaction to this, the BBC was quick to clarify the catalogue of over 11,000 recipes would remain accessible through the Good Food site, the online complement to the print magazine of the same name, run by commercial arm BBC Worldwide. Whether the recipes would be easily searchable and filterable by ingredient, chef and programme, as well as what was to happen to other handy features like video tutorials, was unclear. But these questions no longer need answering, as the broadcaster has now confirmed BBC Food is going nowhere, and will remain online and updated just as you've always known it.
Amazon Alexa now controls your microwave
Alexa's smart home skills aren't just for turning on the lights or locking your door these days -- now, they can help fulfill your culinary ambitions. Amazon has added cooking abilities to its Smart Home Skill framework, letting you control microwaves (and eventually conventional ovens) with your voice. Instead of pressing umpteen buttons, you can simply ask Alexa to "defrost 3lbs of chicken." Suffice it to say this could be helpful if you don't want to start cooking right away, or if you just hate your microwave's interface.
Just Eat made a 'magic wand' for ordering food
Just Eat, we need to talk. Your latest invention, a food-ordering "magic wand," is ridiculous. I get that you want to have some fun over the Christmas period — and somewhere, your marketing department is having a good chuckle — but you've gone too far. Enough is enough. First of all, is it meant for the kitchen or the bedroom? Actually, don't answer that. Then there's the operation. You have to download a separate app (ugh), login and make an order the old-fashioned way. Only then can you repeat this order — and nothing else — by waving the wand around like Merlin.
Walmart sells meal kits to challenge Amazon and Blue Apron
Walmart's never-ending quest to beat Amazon has it venturing into unfamiliar territory: meal kits. The big-box retailer has started selling just shy of 30 meal kits (such as a Thai crab curry) from multiple brands. How much you'll pay varies, but it's not uncommon to pay $35 for a meal for four. There are also bundles, such as a $60 Everyday Supper pack that serves three meals for two people. The brands themselves fulfill the orders. This isn't a subscription service like Blue Apron, but it's helpful if you'd like a fanciful meal without hunting down ingredients. And importantly, Walmart will soon compete more directly with Amazon's meal kits through an app tie-in.
Prepare yourself for 'Super Mario' cereal
It seems even the Mushroom Kingdom eats cereal like the rest of us. Following the release of Super Mario Odyssey, breakfast blog Cerealousy has uncovered a new breakfast treat with Mario and Cappy on the box. Inside, you'll find star-shaped oats and marshmallow pieces in the shape of Super Mushrooms, 1-Up Mushrooms and ? Boxes.
Deliveroo offers £6 restaurant 'Lunchbox' service in London
It's midday, your stomach is growling and you haven't brought a packed lunch. You could go outside and queue for some Pret a Manger, or — if you live in east London — you could try Deliveroo's new Lunchbox service. It's a £6 meal deal from various restaurant partners including Motu, Yoobi Sushi, Franco Manca, BabaBoom and Mother Clucker. The service is available between 12 and 3pm, Monday to Friday, and the menu changes at the start of every week. Food is prepared in "Editions" — delivery-only kitchens built by Deliveroo — and can be dropped off almost anywhere in "The City" or Canary Wharf. (More places will be added over time.)
One of Tesla's first Semi truck buyers is a Canadian grocery chain
Tesla only just unveiled its Semi electric truck, but it's already lining up honest-to-goodness customers -- and we don't just mean for testing, either. Canadian grocery chain Loblaws has pre-ordered 25 of the giant EVs to haul food to its stores across the country. That's a larger purchase than Walmart (which ordered 15 for its test), and no small commitment when Tesla hasn't even revealed the (likely high) price. It may seem odd for Tesla to score one of its most important orders beyond the US, but it makes more sense knowing Loblaws' strategy.
Recommended Reading: The church of AI
Inside the First Church of Artificial Intelligence Mark Harris, Wired You may know Anthony Levandowski from being at the center of Waymo's lawsuit against Uber, but he's also the "Dean" or leader of a new religion of artificial intelligence. Wired takes a look at Way of the Future's doctrine, Levandowski's role and the quest to create the divine AI.
Postmates' first food deliveries outside the US start in Mexico City
Lyft isn't the only major American online service dipping its toes in foreign waters this week: Postmates is starting its first food deliveries outside of the US with a launch in Mexico City. Hungry people in several districts of Mexico's capital can order from 1,000-plus restaurants with a 35-peso ($1.80) delivery fee and typical delivery times around 35 minutes. To make itself part of the community, it's both donating 10 percent of sales to earthquake recovery through the rest of 2017 and is giving customers 1,000 pesos (about $52) in delivery credit until December 15th.
Postmates promises 30-minute grocery deliveries in New York
Postmates isn't just for late-night take-out delivery anymore. The service just launched grocery delivery in Los Angeles, Manhattan and San Francisco. It's called Fresh. More than that, the firm completely overhauled its app to make ordering a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper or a loaf of bread (or basically anything else you forgot while at the grocery store) a lot easier. A post on Medium claims that it shouldn't take more than a half an hour for your goods to arrive -- supposedly a quarter of the time some of its competitors. It's about the same wait time for a Postmates booze drop-off. Amazon Fresh, on the other hand can take hours to make a delivery.