Appliances

The Electrolux Design Lab 2010 saw more than 1,300 entries submitted from students in more than 50 countries, but in the end, there can be only one. This year the title goes to Peter Alwin from the National Institute of Design in India for his entry, The Snail. In taking first prize, Alwin will receive 5,000 euro (approx. US$6,700) and a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design center.  Read More

Miele has announced its new smart grid ready domestic appliances at IFA 2010. These appliances have been designed to start automatically when electricity is cheapest, offering consumers energy savings. The first two appliances featuring smart-grid functionality will be a washing machine and a tumble dryer. The models can also be fitted with Miele’s gateway communication module, providing access to the appliances through a PC and the ability to monitor electricity rates.  Read More

It’s down to the final eight in the Electrolux Design Lab 2010 competition. Around 1,300 designers from all over the globe entered the competition this year, with the brief being to create space-saving home appliances that would be suited to life in the heavily-populated urban environment expected by 2050. The finalists will present their designs to a jury in London on the 23rd of September with cash prizes and an opportunity of a six month paid internship at an Electrolux global design center up for grabs. Will it be the virtual kitchen helmet, the gel refrigerator or the portable ultrasonic dishwasher that impresses the judges, or will it be one of the other five fantastically futuristic designs?  Read More

This year's Design Lab competition from Electrolux has seen 1,300 entries from 17 countries flood in for consideration. The theme for 2010 is the "2nd Space Age" and the 25 semi-finalists have just been announced. Soon that number will be further reduced to just eight, who will then battle it out to try and win a wad of cash and the chance to work at one of the company's design centers. But before that happens, let's take a quick look at what's on offer.  Read More

With home energy consumption and ways to reduce and manage it becoming an increasingly important issue, Intel has at this weeks CES shown its Intelligent Home Energy Management concept. Taking the form of a Wi-Fi enabled 11.5” touchscreen dashboard, the wall mounted system enables users to not only track their household’s monthly energy usage, but offers a host of other features like leaving video memos for other family members and a “goodbye” switch that instantly configures all appliances to their least consumptive setting – as well as reminding the user if they have left the stove on.  Read More

The fight for more environmentally-friendly ways of living continues and this time household appliances are getting a boost from innovative French manufacturer De Dietrich, which has come up with an efficient new way to clean the dishes - less power, recycled water and detergent-free.  Read More

Our crew on the ground at IFA, though not exactly master chefs, still know a good kitchen appliance when they see one. And they were very impressed by a demo of the Philips Robust Collection, five premium kitchen appliances fashioned from modern materials such as shockproof glass, plastics and metal die cast, with couplings made of Zytel plastic, a light metal replacement used by BMW and Mercedes for their sports cars. The result is a blender, food processor, hand blender, juicer and mixer that Philips says proved virtually unbreakable in drop tests, as well as looking good in any modern kitchen.  Read More