whirlpool

Three years ago, we switched from an ordinary refrigerator to a French-door, bottom-freezer model, and the difference in space is nothing short of amazing. If you spend just a little bit of time planning your fridge layout, you'll quickly find that you really can open just one door most of the time to reach your favorite drinks and quick snacks. But when you need to store trays of food for easy access, you have the space, and a terrific presentation. Slide open the full-length deli drawer and wow your guests--really! I have at least two friends who bought a … Read more

The Whirlpool Velos SpeedCook oven/microhood is a big, powerful appliance that taps the latest technology to let you cook four ways with one oven.

With 2 cubic feet of space, this oven is also roomy enough for large family or group use. (However, it weighs a whopping 88.9 pounds, something to think about if you are considering an over-the-range option.)

The SpeedCook is versatile, functioning as a microwave, an oven, a convection oven, and a steamer, so it does everything from defrosting meat to making popcorn to baking cookies to speed-heating a roast for dinner.

Different power levels … Read more

Like it or not, our lives depend on energy. Lots of it. In fact, the United States alone consumes more than 3.35 terawatts per year, enough energy to run that computer you're reading this from for about 35 billion years, give or take a few million.

In an effort to decrease our environmental imprint and be smarter about how efficiently we're using our energy, several companies have introduced "green" models of their products. Though the Green movement started as a few political conservationist groups in the early 1980s, it is now responsible for one of … Read more

It's looking like the end of an era--or a century--for GE, which is drawing interest overseas in its 101-year-old appliance unit.

LG's CEO Yong Nam is considering a deal. "We are looking into it very carefully. I cannot share with you more than that," Nam commented cryptically at a news conference today.

Meantime, there's word that China-based Haier Group, which made an unsuccessful bid for Maytag in 2005, is also eyeing the unit, which might fetch between $4 billion to $8 billion, according to reports.

If you dream of turning the front of your refrigerator into something other than a place to stash alphabet magnets and smudged Christmas photos, so does Whirlpool.

Whirlpool again is sharing a vision of a fridge-as-high-tech launchpad, which is not a new idea, as veteran industry reporter Julie Jacobson notes here. (Whirlpool, among others, has been touting ambitious visions of a connected kitchen for busy housewives and househusbands since 2000.)

Whirlpool's Centralpark refrigerator, announced last fall, uses a power outlet on the top of the freezer door.

Vendors are starting to offer devices that work with the outlet and … Read more

The Internet fridge I saw at CES doesn't do what I want it to do. It does not know when I am running out of milk. It does not sniff out the moldy cheese hiding behind the mustard to tell me it's time to throw it out. What the Internet fridge does is this: It has a mounting bracket and a power port on its front so you can install fridge-centric devices.

Stay with me here.

Whirlpool makes the refrigerator in question. I really don't expect you're going to buy one. Another company, Data Evolution, makes … Read more

Contrary to popular belief, we really are responsible types here at Crave (sometimes), so we don't want to leave the impression that we advocate refrigerators that feature only alcoholic beverage dispensers, whether they serve wine, beer or hard liquor. (We'd rather combine that function with the TV or pool table, for the sake of practicality.)

For the teetotaling Craver we suggest Whirlpool's new "Espresso" fridge, which has a built-in coffee maker and water filter so you can be your own barista without ever leaving the kitchen. Appliancist says the java fridge was "designed by … Read more

Having conquered the living rooms of grandparents everywhere, Ceiva's digital photo frames have set their sights on a new target--the refrigerator door. As ridiculous as that might sound, it's really the next logical step in kitchen-media convergence: We've already seen a steady rise in fridge TVs from Samsung, LG and other manufacturers, after all.

Ceiva's partnership is with Whirlpool, a deal that makes sense because of the appliance maker's "Centralpark Connection" networked line of iceboxes; Ceiva provides slide shows received by online feeds, so it's a natural fit. The Whirpool frames will … Read more

Crave has featured all manner of luxury items for humans, but we've been woefully (and unintentionally) remiss when it comes to the same for lesser beings. In a first step toward rectification, therefore, today we offer something for our pelted friends--a paw spa.

This mini-whirlpool is like a Jacuzzi for four-legged loved ones, though it's big enough only to soak one aching paw at a time. Available at Amazon Japan, it even comes with a matching towel and "a special super-absorbent mat," according to Plastic Bamboo. Little did we know that Japan's agenda for a … Read more