Tossing a bag of popcorn in the microwave is much easier than dragging out the hot air popper, except that you have to watch it like a hawk to make sure it doesn’t burn. Alternatively, you can swap out your dated microwave for this new model from Whirlpool that actually listens to the popcorn as it pops to make sure your snack never gets scorched.
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I’ve seen some strange inventions over the years, but this might be one of the strangest. It’s a special device that’s designed to pop popcorn – one kernel at a time.
The Oncle Sam popper was created for ECAL’s Low-Tech Factory show – the same exhibit that brought us the Rocking-Knit Chair. Students Laurent Beirnaert, Pierre Bouvier and Paul Tubiana designed this contraption that individually pops kernels of corn to perfection. Just load up the dispensers with popcorn, oil and salt, light the flame, and turn the crank, and you’ll have a big bowl of popcorn just in time for the movie to be over. Here’s a video of the exciting popping process, in case you can’t visualize that.
It’s all rather ridiculous, I suppose, but after finding out how many calories movie theater popcorn has, it does make me think this might be a little bit more of a healthy alternative.
[via designboom via Laughing Squid]
Popcorn is already considered a healthy low-cal snack for dieters, but when you seriously need to shed the pounds, you’ll want to replace your hot air popper with the Oncle Sam. It makes just a single piece of popcorn at a time, providing a four calorie snack that won’t leave you feeling guilty at your next weigh-in. More »
Do you have trouble getting popcorn into your mouthhole? Yeah, I know it can be tricky to reach into the bowl and perfectly align your hand with your mouth to ensure the popped kernel ends up in the right spot. Well, there’s finally a solution to this first-world problem, courtesy of the Popinator.
The fine folks at Popcorn Indiana conceived of this ridiculous gadget, that’s sole purpose is to locate your mouth and fire a single kernel of popcorn at it from up to 15 feet away. According to the “electrical engineer” in this video, the machine uses binaural microphones to detect when somebody says “Pop!” and then triangulates their location so it can adjust the popcorn launching mechanism.
Whether this is a real device, or simply a publicity stunt for a viral video, it’s pretty awesome. (Especially the screwy blinking lights on the front.) Though I doubt they’d ever be able to bring the Popinator to market, as they’d probably be inundated with choking lawsuits from idiots who don’t know how to catch popcorn in their mouths properly.
[via VVV]
Popcorn can be a fantastically healthy potato chip alternative, but always ends up playing second fiddle. So in an attempt to finally claim snack world supremecy, a company called Popcorn Indiana has created the Popinator, a voice activated kernel cannon that promises to be the perfect weapon to finally dethrone chips—at least if it ever becomes a reality. More »
Before you ask: it looks like the real deal. Popcorn, Indiana has decided that it’s just too much trouble to reach into that bag or bowl and has devised the Popinator, quite possibly the world’s only smart popcorn launcher. A binaural microphone array on the machine’s front listens for a clear “pop” command — say the magic word and the Popinator will aim one of its many corn projectiles at your mouth, no hands required. We’re still working to glean all the details, such as whether or not the snack delivery vehicle will be a commercial project and how much money it would take to install one at home (and, we’ll admit it, the Engadget offices). In the meantime, you can hop past the break to catch one of the most appetizing and laid-back promo videos you’ve likely ever seen.
[Thanks, Peter]
Update: Popcorn, Indiana has answered back and says the Popinator is currently an in-house project, but it may well become something you can buy if everything lines up. We’ll let the full statement speak for itself:
“All we have to say is: it is a work in progress right now. We certainly hope that one day it will become a commercial project, but as of now there is no shipping date and no price tag. It is purely a fun internal project we are toying with here at Popcorn Indiana. Based on the very positive responses we are getting online, we think this is well worth looking into as a commercial product.”
Filed under: Household
The Popinator voice-activated popcorn launcher: because greasy hands are just so 2011 (update: yep, may become a product) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
If you’re a streamer who shuns plastic disks and their ilk, but still wants 3D, there’s good news: Syabas has announced the Popcorn Hour A-400 network media player. Thanks to a dual-core video processor, the box can mulch through 3D Blu-ray content (ripped, presumably), while also supporting studio-level features like detail enhancement and debanding. Like its A-300 predecessor, the streamer can dock a hard disk for content storage, and connects to your network via ethernet or optional WiFi. Other connections include an SD card reader, HDMI 1.4, eSATA and USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 (pending confirmation). On top of giving you access to your own content, the Syabas Apps Market brings YouTube, BBC’s iPlayer, and 90 or so other free or premium channels. It’ll hit stores in October with a €289 price tag, so if that sounds like your bag of popcorn, see the PR for more info.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Popcorn Hour launches A-400 streamer for €289 with ‘studio-quality’ 3D video processing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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I hope you liked my use of the word “moviegoer” in the title, since it is a real word. Just like “perfooligan,” a word that describes someone who is the perfect hooligan – the epitome of being a moron. (I take that spot, if you were wondering, so don’t even think about it.) This Buttered Popcorn Vodka opens up so many possibilities! Too scared to watch the Saw movies? NOT WHEN YOU’RE BOOZED OUT OF YOUR MIND! You know what – let’s just go crazy right now. We’re going to make some Toaster Strudel, and it’s three in the morning, and it’s not even three in the morning, because the only time I see is TOASTER STRUDEL TIME. “How many?” How many times I vomited or how many bottles of popcorn vodka?
You know, this is the weirdest thing I’ve posted about in a while, and I make some weird posts. I put a picture of a forty year old man in lizard body paint on my Tumblr, and guess what? SO MANY REBLOGS. I took a tip from Charlie Sheen, and it turns out that being BLAZED all of the time is the best time for creativity. *Tries to balance a shoe on someone’s nose*
Please, my friends, drink this Buttered Popcorn Vodka responsibly. Don’t make a fool of yourself as I did in the last couple of paragraphs, and never…. ever… use Twitter while you’re intoxicated. Those things shoot out into the internet-o-sphere, and you can’t get them back. EVER. That picture of your special area is probably on every Twitter feed in the state by now – even Anthony Weiner is laughing at you, and his last name is an informal term for male genitalia.
You can get the Buttered Popcorn Vodka for $13 at a place called Party All The Time And Drive Cars Into Swimming Pools The Party Source, if you’re into that kind of thing. I’d much rather that you didn’t waste your life by drinking it away, so I’ll give you a few articles to feast on instead: the Beard Cozy for your beer cans and Star Wars Water Bottles. I just saved you thirteen bucks, friend.
Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a blog full of geeky lists!
The world’s most famous astromech droid – R2-D2 of Star Wars fame, who has seen Darth Vader as Anakin Skywalker back in his younger Jedi days, is an extremely resourceful astromech droid, more often than not using his logic circuits to be able to get out of sticky spots without the need for any Jedi powers. Well, this time around, we have R2-D2 being a server of popcorn and drinks, retailing for $48.95 a pop in the form of the Disney Star Wars R2-D2 Plastic Popcorn Bucket & Drink Stein Set.
Needless to say, food and drink are not included with each purchase, where you will open up R2-D2′s head so that it will reveal the space required to hold your favorite beverage, while the popcorn bucket can be detached and hung on the side when it is in use. This special edition popcorn bucket was created to commemorate the re-opening of the Star Wars attraction which happened early last month. Definitely one for the hardcore Star Wars fan, others might just want to pick this up as a novelty item.
[ R2-D2 now carries popcorn and drinks copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
