Around The Home

Even that most basic of kitchen appliances, the humble teakettle, is getting a high-tech makeover in the form of Breville’s One-Touch Tea Maker. The fully programmable unit takes the guesswork out of brewing that perfect cuppa by providing the right water temperatures and brewing times to suit different tea varieties. The device even does the “jiggling” for you thanks to a fully automated tea basket that moves up and down to gently agitate the leaves to precisely infuse your tea. Read More

On some summer days and nights, a good fan is all you need to keep your cool. But often it’s a case of being in the right place at the right time if you want to benefit from old-fashioned fan technology. The Segula Double-Circulator doesn’t just blow the air into the room like any other ordinary fan. Instead, it circulates the air in the whole room via two independent heads, which the manufacturers say is more healthy than a fan directly aimed at your body. The Double-Circulator also has an integrated ionizer to keep the air fresh. Read More

Washing machines aren’t exactly the kind of appliances you want to put on show in your home - which is one of the reasons they’re generally located in the laundry away from discerning eyes. But with around 74 percent of the world’s population expected to live in an urban environment by 2050 according to the UN, many people will be living in dwellings without a dedicated laundry and will be forced to house their washing machines in other rooms. With that in mind Electrolux has come up with a couple of sleek washing machine designs that can be integrated into a bathroom. Read More

As viewers of South Park will know, holding farts in can lead to spontaneous human combustion. Unfortunately letting one rip in the marriage bed can lead to the equally unwanted result of the withholding of snuggling. Thankfully there’s now a solution in the form of the Better Marriage Blanket that soaks up offensive “flatulence molecules” to keep any marriage smelling rosy through the most destructive Indian curry. Read More

In one of the more bizarre media announcements of recent times, News International's LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) British Tabloid The Sun is to publish a 3D edition on June 5 complete with 3D glasses, 3D editorial images, 3D adverts and a 3D Soccer World Cup schedule Wall Chart. It's yet another newspaper first for the Murdoch empire (along with recalibrating public morals by widely distributing images of bare-breasted women), though we suspect the motivation is more related to Murdoch's Sky Sports broadcasting the World Cup in 3D than by any forlorn hope of innovating a reversal of the Sun's circulation which has been in decline for 15 years. Read More

Korea's LG Display has developed an LCD panel that can display clear images even when its surface temperature exceeds 100° Celsius. Normally when the surface temperature of an LCD panel exceeds 75° Celsius, part of the display turns black, requiring a separate UV-blocking film, cooling system and protective glass and entailing additional costs and electricity consumption for safe operation. The panel will be cheaper than existing panels, much brighter and can be expected to accelerate the pace of growth of the overall public information display market. Read More

Robot floor cleaners designed to free us from the drudgery of keeping the house clean are nothing new. Robotic vacuum cleaners, such as the Roomba, Electrolux Trilobite and Neato XV-11, have already found a place patrolling the carpet in many homes, and now the Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner that was first announced at CES in January is nearly ready to report for duty on hard surface floors. Read More

We know it’s bad news for the environment (and our health) to use cleaning products that contain nasty chemicals, but until now, there have not been a lot of viable alternatives. Enter the Activeion ionator – it’s a cleaning product that transforms humble tap water into a super-powered, germ-destroying, dirt-removing dynamo – with absolutely no chemicals. That’s good news for your family, your pets and the environment. Read More

The Attach-a-tag is a clever way to label clothes. It consists of an applicator and a small button (or tag) that is laser-etched with the garment owner’s name. The tag is attached to a seam or brand label by the ergonomic hand-held applicator using a push and twist movement. The laser-etching is clear, resists fading and wear and can withstand industrial washing temperatures and dry cleaning. The tags can also be easily removed if the clothing is worn out or if your child has a (another!) growth spurt. Read More