Appliances

LG has announced that three premium appliances featuring its HomeChat service are being readied for launch in South Korea. With HomeChat, the contents of the new smart fridge can be viewed remotely, washing machine cycles be started from afar and an oven set to pre-heat.

The Anova Precision Cooker aims to bring sous-vide into the more affordable end of the spectrum with a self-contained unit that turns an ordinary cook pot into a sous-vide appliance.

Italian product designer Simone Rebaudengo has created a connected toaster that becomes unhappy when it goes unused, drawing attention to opportunities for e-waste to be reduced.

LG HomeChat will allow users to issue commands and receive status updates from their smart appliances by texting them with simple, conversational language. According to the company, you will literally be able to ask your washer "What're you doing?" and it will respond just as a person would.

The success of Nest's smart household devices has caught the eye of Google CEO Larry Page. In a clear statement that it believes the future of the home is a connected one, the company today announced its acquisition of Nest for US$3.2 billion.

Signalling that Apple's Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad (MFi) certification may be set to play a bigger role in ushering in the "Internet of Things," Chinese manufacturer Haier has unveiled the first white good to be certified by the MFi program, a smart air conditioner.

Like other home automation systems, Ninja Sphere can monitor and allow the remote control of connected devices, but offers expanded capabilities with its gesture control interface and the ability to map the location of devices in the home in real time.

Fancy coming home to find a swarm of flying mini robots doing your cleaning? That's the futuristic picture of domestic bliss envisioned by young Colombian designer Adrian Perez Zapata, whose "Mab" has won this year's Electrolux Design Lab competition.

Say you're a former Apple engineer who can't shake his hankerin' to simplify clunky products. What do you do? If you're Tony Fadell, then you take boring and complicated home sensors, and give them an Apple-like makeover. Fadell's Nest Protect is his company's new take on the smoke alarm.

Siemens got the ball rolling at the 2013 IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin today, using the first press conference of the event to unveil a new model that features “vacuumTechnology.” There are no prizes for guessing that this involves using a vacuum to keep food fresher, longer.

Farm 432 is a device for kitchens that breeds and collects fly larva as a renewable protein source for less squeamish diners. As unappetizing as it may sound, the designer hopes that convincing the Western world to add insects to its diet could help increase the planet's overall food supply.

The Wattio home energy system can monitor and control the home almost entirely through a smartphone, tablet or PC.