Most of us have two options if we want a hot lunch during the working week: a trip to the nearest Pret, Costa or KFC or joining the tedious wait to use the office microwave. Both eat into the precious hour we have to ourselves in the middle of the day. This smart self-heating lunchbox is designed to end all that and deliver you the warm lunch of your choosing, exactly when you want it.
A near-final prototype of the Heatbox, produced by a Dutch start-up following a successful Kickstarter campaign last November, is on display at CES this year. Powered by a hefty 18,000 mAh internal battery that will need recharging after three operations, the elegant-looking device uses steam to warm up its contents, ensuring no nutrients are lost in the process, and all it requires is a touch of water before you leave the house in the morning. It’s activated by a button on the front or, inevitably for a CES-demo’d device, through a smartphone app and it promises to heat your food within eight minutes. While big, the container is still portable enough to fit in most backpacks and it’s got a double-sealing mechanism, which the makers claim will prevent soup from leaking out on the way to work.
It does sound bloody dangerous to carry around an electric heater full of boiling hot food, but for those willing to take the risk the Heatbox is due to ship to backers later this year and, if you’re interested, you can still pre-order one for $209 on Indiegogo. [Engadget]
This post originally appeared on Gizmodo UK, which is gobbling up the news in a different timezone.