Categories
Connected Objects Cooking

The CHiP is a dedicated cookie oven for sweet teeth

Cookie: Merely saying or writing the word instantly conjures up pleasing thoughts of chewy goodness. One can never go wrong with set of freshly baked cookies, which is why the team behind the CHiP wants to bring it to kitchens everywhere.

The CHiP smart cookie oven does one thing and one thing well: Perfectly bake cookies in under 10 minutes. It does this with its QuickConvect Air Flow System that uses a four-inch convection fan to blow hot air through special air channels, not only ensuring the tastiest cookies but also energy efficiency in baking them. Now by itself, this would make the CHiP no better than a standard oven, especially since it only can bake cookies. But combined with its companion app, users can set various baking modes sporting varying schedules and, more crucially, order ‘cookie pods’ similar to the coffee capsules used by products from companies like Nespresso.

Categories
Kids/Babies Technology

This mechanical canine is a CHiP off Aibo’s shoulder

As devoted owners of the  Sony Aibo face the mortality of their precocious robo-pups, the rest of the world realizes how close a mechanical companion and their human caretakers can really be. Aibo isn’t the only case of digital attachment: everything from the Tamagotchi to, a certain extent, the AI we interact with every day in the form of Siri and other virtual assistants all kindle this unlikely connection.

WowWee, an established company that specializes in creating intelligent robots, is looking to assuage fears of post-Aibo loneliness with its CHiP robot dog. Instantly, the charming four-wheeled, dual stereo-ed computerized canine barks, whimpers, and growls its way to the heart by showing affection to whoever is sporting the included smart band. With it, the user can have CHiP follow him/her around, control it directly or issue it a ‘sic ’em’ command. Crucially, the band contains a like button to reinforce behaviors and change its personality over time.