While their newest innovations include two ground-breaking refrigerator models, a revolutionary induction stove, a stackable cube cooling system for multiple rooms in your house, and an incredible shoe storage system, the real star of Samsung’s newest line this year was the futuristic Family Hub.

Family Relations Made Easy

John Herrington, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Home Appliances for Samsung Electronics America, was brimming with pride and enthusiasm as he introduced the 2020 Family Hub to the CES crowd. “In the five years since we launched Family Hub, we have introduced innovations that reflect the new ways that busy, modern families are managing their daily lives,” he said. “The latest Family Hub is the most innovative yet, with more personalized, intelligent features that enable busy families to stay better connected to one another.”

Indeed, the 2020 Family Hub not only simplifies meal planning and grocery shopping, it also includes communication features that enable family members to share events, interests, and milestones from remote locations. No one misses a thing, regardless of whether they’re out of town or just stuck in traffic and unable to be home in time for dinner.

The Family Hub Refrigerator

AI-improved cameras inside this smart refrigerator scan what you have on hand, plan meals around those ingredients, and provide smart recipes based on a set of dietary guidelines you customize. It can plan meals for up to a week and prepare a shopping list of food items you need to replenish. In addition, Whisk, an AI invention recently attained by Samsung NEXT, adjusts recipes based on how many people are on your guest list, compiling a shopping list with items that can be used in multiple recipes.

Family Affairs

Besides making meal planning and shopping easier than ever, Samsung’s new “Family Board” display allows every member of the family to share audio and video favorites from their personal devices on a virtual bulletin board.

Safety and security are huge concerns for most families, and Family Board also lets any family member observe and have power over more than 1,000 SmartThings-compatible products throughout the house. Inside and outside lights can be turned on or off, the inside of any room in the house can be monitored, and you can even remotely adjust the temperature of any room.

More Life-Enhancing Appliances

Samsung continued to wow at CES with more a couple more home systems that make life better and easier. The BESPOKE refrigerator is not only customizable to meet your practical needs and aesthetic tastes, it also boasts a “Flex Zone,” which is easily adaptable to chill or freeze, depending on your needs. The unique new Cube Refrigerator series includes three mini-refrigerators in multiple colors made to store Wine, Beer, and Beauty Products. They can be stacked or stowed anywhere in any room and are so quiet you can have one next to your bed with no sleep interruption.

The Portable Slim Double Induction system lets you prepare meals anywhere in the house. The two induction burners have nine different settings and can be used separately for smaller pots or as one large cooking surface for grills or oversized pans.

Samsung’s Shoe Care System pampers those pricey shoes of yours so they last longer, feel fresh, and always look brand new. It also deodorizes, dehumidifies, and dries whatever types of shoes the members of your family might wear.

The post Samsung Debuts Pioneering Lifestyle Home Appliances at CES 2020 first appeared on Dornob.

For all the strange and wonderful Brutalist buildings that have sprouted up all over the world, the style has rarely translated to functional design objects that are usable in real-world contexts. A Brutalist chair, for instance, might consist of solid concrete blocks set within a steel frame — not exactly comfortable. It tends to be more successful when it manifests as sculpture, lighting, or inert decorative objects. Now, this espresso machine is here to destroy our preconceptions about what Brutalism can look like in the home, using concrete to a surprisingly beautiful effect.

San Francisco Bay Area design studio Montaag presents the AnZa Espresso Machine, an appliance unlike any you’ve ever seen. Born in its creators’ Berkeley backyard shed, the AnZa is more than just the sum of its parts. Its origins lie in the unusual pairing of a design studio and an espresso repair shop sharing the same workspace.

The studio believes that “every designer has the responsibility to bring something new to the table. In a sea of coffee machines, we asked ourselves: if something is made from the same material and produces the same quality coffee as other machines in its price point — then where is the added value? AnZa’s added value comes through its material choices, thoughtfully rendered and completely real, and its accessible functionality. Combined, AnZa delivers a café-quality experience, truly earning a bit of valuable real estate on your home countertop, and in a fashion unlike any other appliance.”

Along with the concrete model, the AnZa is also available in glossy white Corian. Both machines will be equipped with connectivity, so users can remotely program them and integrate them into their smart home systems. While many unconventional high-end design objects remain intangible concepts or prototypes, never becoming available to the public, Montaag began crowdfunding for the AnZa just last week, and the machines are expected go up for sale to the broader public in early 2018.

“After several years of design, prototypes, and refinements we’re ready to hit GO! on full-scale manufacturing,” says the company. “This campaign will secure the funds to do just that.”

It’s chic, it’s minimalist, and it’s a seemingly solid hunk of concrete on your kitchen counter. Don’t worry, though, the concrete is actually just a veneer. In reality, the AnZa isn’t much heavier than a conventional coffee machine. Plus, it appears to be just as serviceable. Hoping to snag one for yourself? You can stay updated on its progress by signing up for emails on the AnZa website.

The post Brutalist Espresso Maker Made of Concrete first appeared on Dornob.