Design | Wellness | Cabinetry
Home appliance manufacturer LG Electronics is introducing new cooking ranges that feature the company’s innovative ProBake Convection™ technology.
While convection cooking is not new to the home market, LG’s gas slide-in range with a rear element is an industry first. (BlueStar’s PowR Oven in the Platinum Freestanding Range was the first rear burner in a pro-style range.) Continue reading “LG ProBake Convection Ranges”
Meet June, the first oven with artificial intelligence (AI).
June is a countertop oven, which looks like a more sophisticated version of your standard toaster, with a 5-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi, a quad-core Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, a high-definition camera that’s protected behind insulated glass and a single stainless control dial that’s its only real physical button. The feet of the June oven are scales that weigh whatever’s inside the oven (or on top of it).
Using smart technology, June identifies the type of food, weight and internal temperature, and then recommends the time and cooking temp suitable for your meal. All you have to do is select “OK.”
“This is going to go down in history as the first kitchen appliance which was artificially intelligent,” –Nikhil Bhogal, June co-founder
This tiny oven boasts 1,800 Watts of power and a roomy 1.0 cu. foot interior thanks to the control panel built into the insulated glass door.
June can cook a 12.5″ pizza or a small turkey with the carbon-fiber heating elements working with convection fans and a temperature probe.
It seems all new ovens these days have an app for your iPhone (sorry, android users) and June is no different. June’s co-founder and CTO, Nikhil Bhogal is a former Apple Engineer. Other members of the June team have worked on the iPhone, the Apple Watch, GoPro cameras and Fitbit fitness trackers.
Nikhil Bhogal and Matt Van Horn, co-founder and CEO, are on the cutting edge of optical recognition technology. The June oven can currently recognize 15 foods by distinguishable micro-textures. While June can recognize the different between a pork chop and steak by recognizing fat patterns, it cannot yet identify different cuts of meat.
The June team feels this new oven is a good fit with about 80% of the market that does not want to use a 5.0 cu. foot oven for a small meal or half a dozen cookies; however, the $1,495 price tag means it’s not for everyone.
Your June can be reserved with a $95 deposit. The company says the oven will cost $2,995 next year once it is widely available.
That being said, there’s the question of making an expensive appliance investment in an unknown company. Warranty information has not been released yet and if the June has a problem who do you call to fix it?
Even though June is a countertop appliances, it is a powerful 45 pound one and many homeowners may find they will need a dedicated 20 amp circuit to plug the June into.
I think a smart oven has to be treated like any other internet connected device and consumers need to know if patches and software updates will be available after they purchase their model. I’d hate to purchase a $3,000 oven and find out it can’t communicate with the newest iPhone.
We live in a designed world and we believe everybody deserves good design. The ongoing collaboration between design engineers and customers has changed the course of appliance design for us as a company and for those who use our products day in and day out.
Fisher & Paykel are striving to set themselves apart from the competition with their ActiveSmart refrigeration technology.
ActiveSmart consists of a microprocessor, interior temperature sensors, independently controlled variable speed fans and multiple air ducts. The microprocessor controls how the refrigerator operates based on changing patterns of use. The sensors continuously send information to the microprocessor, which analyses and adjusts the fan speed and compressor operations accordingly to deliver a consistent and stable temperature. Continuous feedback means that ActiveSmart has the ability to respond to intelligently adapt to daily use to help save energy, cooling and defrosting only when they need to without compromising on food care.
Taking the idea of the flexible DishDrawer and ActiveSmart refrigeration technology, Fisher & Paykel developed the CoolDrawer, a multi-temperature drawer-based fridge. It can be placed anywhere in the kitchen or home and the CoolDrawer provides five temperature settings to deliver total flexibility – fridge, freezer, chill, pantry and wine mode.
One of the worst things about replacing a refrigerator is waiting for he new unit to cool to the desired temperature. Fisher & Paykel’s Rapid Chill feature is very convenient. Independent variable-speed fans control airflow through multiple air ducts to all compartment as well as rapid chill and freezing to ensure food safety and maintain food quality.
Fisher & Paykel built-in appliances are designed to install flush with existing cabinet openings – provided you have 25″ of depth and 72″ of height. The depth of the newly designed refrigerators is 23.75″ without the door panel. This shorter design might prove to be easier to work with than other 84″ models but some families may find the 16.8 cu. ft. (5.1 freezer, 11.7 refrigerator) of storage inadequate for their needs.
Viking Range, LLC is extending a recall on Dishwashers from 2012 to include 18,600 models sold in the US and Canada.
In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, Viking is voluntarily expanding a previously announced recall of Viking 24″ wide dishwashers to include certain Model 200, Model 325, and Model 450 dishwashers manufactured before April 1, 2011.
An electrical component in the dishwasher can overheat, posing a fire hazard. Viking has received 21 reports of actual fires.
If you own a Viking dishwasher, locate your model number and check it against the chart. The first six numbers in the serial number are the manufacture date in MMDDYY format.
This recall affects dishwashers in all finishes sold at appliance and specialty retail stores in the US and Canada from July 2008 through March 2012 for between $1,225 and $2,000.
If your dishwasher is part of the recall, contact Viking for your free in-home repair at 1-800-241-7239 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.