Fondling Bodum’s latest product line at the International Home and Housewares Show, I become enamoured not just with the array of colours, but the hand feel of their kitchen appliances: Spongy but durable, cutesy but designed for people to actually use.

Bodum’s Bistro line is a follow-up to their toaster from last year – a design I said left me with “an aftertaste of the ’90s”. But I’ve since changed my tune. In person, the colours pop just right. And, while I don’t see the purpose of a rubber toaster, it makes complete sense in a hand blender. (Note: items like Bodum’s new electric kettle keep the nubs but ditch the rubbery finish.)

Bodum’s new Bistro products won’t be available until the second half of the year, but here’s a complete price list for when they pop up later this year:

Clockwise from the top: BISTRO Electric Burr Grinder, BISTRO Blade Grinder, BISTRO Electric Juicer, BISTRO Handheld Blender, BISTRO Electric Water Kettle, BISTRO Hand Mixer and ETTORE Electric Water Kettle.

e-bodum®

The individual products in the collection include:

BISTRO Electric Burr Grinder: The BISTRO Electric Burr Grinder crushes the coffee beans between conical burrs rather than chopping them, preventing the coffee from losing its characteristic taste and aroma. By twisting the upper bean container, the variable grind settings can be adjusted from a coarse French Press setting all the way down to a fine ground for espresso, depending on the brewing method or personal taste. The BISTRO Electric Burr Grinder comes with an attractive, static-free borosilicate glass PRESSO container that conveniently sits within the base of the unit to collect ground coffee during use and also features a non-slip silicone band for secure handling. MSRP: $US99.95 USD

BISTRO Blade Grinder: The BISTRO Blade Grinder is equipped with a powerful motor that allows the stainless steel blade to cut the coffee beans quickly and efficiently, resulting in flavorful ground coffee. The transparent lid allows users to see the coarseness of the coffee while grinding, as the longer the grinding time the finer the resultant ground coffee. Ideal for using in 60 second intervals, users can grind just enough coffee needed for brewing 8 cups in a BODUM press at the simple touch of a button. MSRP: $US29.95 USD

BISTRO Electric Citrus Juicer: This BISTRO Electric Citrus Juicer features a sleek modern design and powerful motor allowing users to quickly extract juice from their favourite citrus fruits. To use, simply press a halved orange, lemon, grapefruit or lime onto the top of the press and, in seconds, freshly squeezed juice pours out of the spout and into a glass or jug placed at the base of the unit. Easy to clean and compact enough to store on any countertop, the BISTRO Juicer is ideal for daily use! MSRP: $US99.95 USD

BISTRO Handheld Blender: For added convenience in the kitchen, the two-speed BISTRO Handheld Blender is ideal for pureeing soups, blending smoothies, mixing drinks and more! The unit’s blending wand is perfect for reaching deep into bowls, pots and pitchers and the thumb-activated power and speed-setting buttons make it perfect for one- handed use. The BISTRO Handheld Blender features an elegantly contoured handle, reducing hand strain while using. Additional blades and blending beaker included. MSRP: $US49.95 USD

BISTRO Electric Water Kettle: The cordless, compact and streamlined BISTRO Electric Water Kettle is designed to rapidly boil water with energy-saving speed. Available in two sizes – 1.0 liter/34 oz. and 1.5 liters/51 oz. – this kettle is perfect for heating water for coffee, tea, instant soups and more. Special features include see-through, easy-to-read water level indicator and overheat control. MSRP: $US49.95 – $US69.95 USD

BISTRO Hand Mixer: The smartly designed and highly practical BISTRO Hand Mixer putsafreshspinonthetraditionalelectricmixer! Easilyconqueringanymixingtask–from beating egg whites into fluffy meringue to blending dense brownie batter – the BISTRO Hand Mixer glides easily within a bowl and its retro-styled handle allows for comfortable use for both right and left-handed users. Featuring five mixing speeds, the BISTRO hand mixer is sure to become the next kitchen essential! MSRP: $US59.95 USD

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ETTORE Electric Water Kettle: Last but not least, we flashback to the Eighties when BODUM was set to produce an electric kettle designed by the late Ettore Sottsass. The kettle was originally part of a great line of electrics, however, due to technical challenges at the time, the kettle was not able to be produced according to its intended design, until now. Sottsass was the initial co-founder of the furniture design group, Studio Alchimia, back in 1976 and later became the founder of the design cooperative, Memphis Group, whose legend and amusing style has become synonymous with Postmodernism Design. The Memphis Group not only experimented with the combination of various materials and shapes, but also with colours. They often worked with pastels and this is the reason why – in keeping with Sottsass’ own wish before his death – BODUM has initially decided to launch ETTORE in 3 pastel colours – blue, green and yellow. The ETTORE Kettle will have a capacity of 1.7 litres along with all of the convenience associated with a high-quality electric kettle. For more complete details on the ETTORE Electric Kettle, please refer to the separate press release, to be available soon. MSRP: $US99.95 USD

[Bodum]

Oh, just 100mg of caffeine. To give you some perspective, that’s somewhere between a cup of instant and a double espresso, just from one little puff off a biodegradable tube. To give you overwhelming perspective, there’s this:

This can only end well! The Coffee Inhaler is available for $US3 a pop or a box of three for $US8. You know, if you want to share with friends or never sleep again. [Le Whif via Boing Boing]

Countercounterpoint: Carpuccino? Really?

A while ago we read that coffee-based biofuels were feasible. Knowing the internet as we do, we figured it was only a matter of time before somebody took that novel possibility and turned it into an absurd reality. We were right! The Carpuccino, a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco modified to run on ground coffee, will drive 337km between Manchester and London in the coming weeks.

The trip will require over 68kg of coffee, with the car getting a mileage of roughly five km per kilogram. The vehicle can hit speeds of 100kph, though the trip could take as long as ten hours, as the car has to stop every 100km to clean out its coffee filters (seriously).

The joke on wheels was built by the BBC1 show Bang Goes The Theory as a reminder that unconventional fuels can power vehicles. Sidebar: the Carpuccino’s trip will cost up to 50 times as much as it would if it were running on gas.

All that being said, I think we can agree to set aside whatever qualms we may have with the Carpuccino in light of its similarities, aesthetic and otherwise, to Doc Brown’s Mr. Fusion-equipped Delorean from Back to the Future II.

Espresso? Where we’re going we don’t need espresso. [Daily Mail via Green Diary]

That is, instead of staring silently, glass-eyed and slack-jawed, faces aglow with the soft light of a laptop, occasionally slurping coffee, rows and rows of slumped-over humanity. The place was packed. Bustling. Alive. I couldn’t find a place to sit.

It’s a vibe I haven’t seen in a coffee bar in a long time, especially not in New York. (The closet-sized abraco excepted, where everybody always seems ecstatic about being there, and perhaps not coincidentally, cannot sit.) People used to go to coffee shops to talk. Read. Or hell, enjoy coffee. Now they’re simply the other place to use a laptop: not home, not work. People sit affixed and silent. For hours. I’ve done it. But there’s no question: Laptops smother the atmosphere. So it’s amazingly refreshing to feel something different, people connecting to people, instead of gadgets.

Which brings us to the iPad. It’s supposed to be this third thing. Bigger than a phone, smaller than a laptop. It browses; it’s got books; it plays video. Can it possibly have a place in a laptop-free utopia? I asked Caroline Bell, who owns Cafe Grumpy, if she’s going to drop the banhammer on the iPad when they come out. Her reply surprised me:

I think iPads would make for some interesting conversations these days because you don’t see too many around yet…plus, they don’t take up much table space nor do they create a physical barrier between you the rest of the world when you put them down in front of you. So, I guess I won’t be adding no iPads to the signs just yet!

I wonder how long that’ll last.

The reason coffee nerds are hyped about the Slayer isn’t just because it’s obscenely expensive, or because of the way wood meshes with contoured metal to create a hulking, beautiful gadget, but mostly because of the way it allows a barista to easily play with pressure to do some interesting things – like start with a low pressure extraction, ramp up to full pressure, then back it down to get different textures or flavours – using the wooden paddles on top of the groupheads that adjust the mechanical valves which control water flow. (More on the Slayer and pressure here, and more of our own espresso coverage and explainers here and here.)

It’s somewhat finicky and different from other espresso machines that the managing barista at RBC said it took her two months to really master the machine. Interestingly, they’re testing out using the Slayer to do brewed coffee, to create something really different, but they’re not sure when they’re gonna offer it up. For now though, they’re pulling some of the best espresso shots in New York, at least judging by the two drinks I’ve had. [Slayer, RBC NYC]

It’s basically one of those coffee sleeves you get to keep from burning your hands, but with a few strong magnets embedded inside. So if you need an extra hand to tie your shoes, fiddle with a smartphone or PMP, you can just stick your coffee to the nearest street lamp. And it looks like it might be even more protective for our delicate nerd hands than those wimpy cardboard ones. [Lifehacker]

Photography

What Everybody Should Know About Cameras
The essentials of digital camera knowledge, from all the different types of cameras to image sensors to jargon like ISO, all in one epic spot.

Why Lenses Are the Real Key to Stunning Photos
Despite what stupid spec wars would have you believe, a fancy slice of glass is just as important as silicon to taking a stunning photo.

When (Not) To Use Your Camera’s Flash
What is photography’s greatest scourge? mobile phone cameras? MySpace self-portraiture? No, it’s that dratted flash. Here’s when and how you should – and more importantly, shouldn’t – use it.

Why More Megapixels Isn’t Always Better
In short, 12 megapixels stuffed onto a tiny arse sensor looks like crap. Twelve megapixels with plenty of a room on a full-frame sensor can look pretty great.

Television

The Ultimate HDTV Cheat Sheet and Buying Guide
Read this before you go buy and HDTV, and you’ll have the Bing Lee employee spinning in circles. Or at least, he won’t be able to take you for a spin.

The Difference Between a $US600 TV and a $US6000 TV
There is a difference, and it goes way beyond the logo sitting front and centre. How much do all those extra inches cost? What about 120Hz, or hell 240Hz? The cost of a fancy arse TV, broken down.

What’s So Great About LED-Backlit LCDs
Any LCD display worth its salt—especially when it comes to laptops – is lit up by a bunch of LEDs, not the fluorescent bulbs that light up high school cafeterias. But, not all LED displays are created equal.

Audio

Why You Can’t Get Decent Headphones for Under $US100
Building truly great in-ear headphones is hard. Which means it’s expensive. We got an earful of the secret sauce that goes into the pricey headphones that sound oh-so-delicious, and why you can’t buy ‘em for a song.

The Difference Between $US100 and $US100,000 Speakers
Well the title really says it all, don’t it?

Why Analogue Audio Cables Really Aren’t All the Same
Yes, there really is a difference between analogue cables. And you want there to be.

Computers and Software

Why Quantum Computing Is the Future, But a Distant One
Computing with quantum physics! It’s as crazy as it sounds, so we’ll let quantum physicists explain it.

Why Stuff Crashes, And Why It Happens Less Often Now
Ever wondered what causes a BSOD or kernel panic? Notice how it happens a less often than it used to? (Though Firefox crashing every five minutes seems to make up for it.)

Android and How It Will Take Over the World
No, it’s not because of the mysterious Nexus One. The true nature of Android is a little more complex than you might realise, able to run everything from phones to nooks to set-top boxes. And Google’s giving it away for free.

GPGPU Computing and Why It’ll Melt Your Face Off
Graphics cards, they’re not just for PC gametards anymore. Thanks to new programming standards they’ll be accelerating everything on a computer that can take advantage of oodles of processing cores.

How Apple Affects Your Tech World Through Standards (Even You, Windows Guy)
The easy way to have power over technology and people outside of your own little domain: Create tech standards. Here’s a few Apple’s been instrumental in getting out there.

Microsoft and Standards
The flip side to how Apple plays with industry-wide standards, Microsoft just establishes them de facto, when it can. Here’s some of the bigger ones they’re responsible for.

Mobile Phones

How Cell Towers Work
Until Wilson explained how cell towers work, I always thought Stormtrooper fairies carried the signals from my phone to the Death Star and then to my mum’s mobile phone.

Bill Nye Explains Oleophobic Screens
Uh, Bill Nye. Explaining stuff. Do I need to say anymore?

Electricity

Why Every Country Has a Different F#$%ing Plug
There actually are reasons there’s like a billion different types of power plugs scattered across the world. I know you want to know why.

How Electrocution Really Kills You (With Adam Savage)
MythBuster Adam Savage tells us how electricity really kills you – surprisingly, it’s not by poaching your brains inside of your skull.

Coffee

How to Actually Make Coffee
Odds are, you’re doin’ it wrong. Here’s most of the major ways to make delicious coffee, with advice from our friends at Ninth St. Espresso, Intelligentsia Coffee and La Marzocco.

It filters water through a double activated charcoal filter in less than 10 minutes, and it can produce up to six cups of tea or coffee. The Coffee + Tea Maker just became available in the UK here, though there’s no word yet on if or when it will arrive elsewhere. Hurry up, people that make these decisions! My Starbucks grounds might not taste great, but with this they can at least look it. [Design Museum Shop via Unplggd]

How do you sell the idea of hot coffee to people freezing in a bus stop? You don’t need much, but McDonald’s has built a steam machine right inside the shelter’s marquee itself. Too bad that their coffee sucks.

[DirectDaily]