GE hopes to cram the entire kitchen into a single block

[MUSIC] Hi, I'm Andrew Gephardt for CNET. I'm here at GE's new microfactory in Louisville, Kentucky, called firstbuild. And I'm with the prototype of their new micro kitchen. The idea behind the micro kitchen is packing everything you need into one six foot long kitchen module. So in here we have a sink with a retractable faucet, a capacitive faucet, a cutting board, a dish washer, a fridge, freezer, a induction cook top, advantium microwave, and a regular old oven all in one mono [INAUDIBLE]. The concept here is really cool. They're looking to tailor this to the ever growing number of millennials and baby boomers who are moving into the city, and want the same level of premium kitchen but need it in a smaller space for their apartments. That said, this much compacted premium is gonna cost, as the estimated retail for this thing right now is $15,000. But you can start to see the justification for the cost when you pull it apart. The advanteum microwave all on it's own is gonna be a couple of thousand dollars. The induction cook top is new technology that directly heats your pans and keeps the rest of the surface cooler. Not to mention as it's all one smooth glass surface. You can cook as many things as you can fit on there. So right now they actually have touch screens controlling everything here. And hopefully at some point they'll add Wi-Fi capability as well, which means you can control it from your phone. That's gonna all depend upon the input they get from the community that they're gonna be using to help them finish this product. My concerns here are that those who can afford this might be able to still afford apartments where they can fit a full-size fridge or a full-size oven. The reduced space might not let you keep your week's worth of food. Also, this is still a prototype and getting high-powered heating and cooling appliances right next to each other is going to be a very tricky challenge. [INAUDIBLE] So the micro-kitchen is gonna be a work in progress for a while. But the very first versions you can buy, you'll be able to buy in quarter four of this year, 2014. With the microkitchen at GE's first build, for CNet, I'm Andrew Gepheart. [MUSIC]