By now, pretty much everything in the home can be found on the market in both non-connected and connected versions — save for the toaster. This humble little kitchen companion is a mainstay in many a morning routine and is now undergoing a connected transformation into the Toasteroid.
The Toasteroid is exactly that: a smart toaster. It uses microfilament heating to toast intricate designs and messages onto bread that can be customized through a companion iOS/Android app. With it, it can also toast everything from the weather for the day to emojis for a little fun, or simply control the brownness of the toast with more specificity.
It’s a stunner, too: it features die-cast aluminum construction with an extra long and wide slot, cord storage down below, one-touch operation, and a removable crumb tray for easy cleanup. Each Toasteroid goes for $85 and is expected to ship in August 2017. Its Kickstarter campaign is looking for $150,000 by September 20, 2016 to see success.
The Toasteroid packs in equal parts fun and utility. While its toastages, or toasted messages, are nothing more than a novelty, it can still put a smile on the face. And for more serious users, it’s a solid toaster with features every modern toaster should have. A glaring omission? Scheduled toastings. How its designer missed that is hard to say. At least it won’t bug you about not using it often enough.