Worlds Smallest Microwave is USB Powered

BeanzWave

The world smallest microwave wasn’t invented in some lab somewhere for an experiment or study. It was actually created by Heinz. Yes, the beans company.

And what’s more the device truly is portable – its USB connection means you can plug it in wherever you have access to a PC or a laptop. Now humanity can finally live its lifelong dream of being able to enjoy warm beans on a long train journey. Or something like that.

It’s called the BeanzWave. The product is only a prototype now, but the advanced technology used to make the oven so small will mean the retail asking price could be as high as £100. That’s quite a price, considering a fully featured standard sized microwave will generally cost around a quarter of that. We could be waiting until the cost of manufacturing falls before the product will be rolled out on a large scale.

Still, Heinz believes there’s a market for the ovens. Office workers who don’t have the luxury of a microwave will finally be able to heat food using their work computers, and students won’t have to use communal kitchens in order to enjoy quick snacks. According to Heinz’s own research, nearly 70 per cent of office workers don’t have the time to go out for lunch, so this may well be the perfect solution.

Heinz’s oven will be the perfect size for the companies popular ‘Snack Pot’ range that provides a small serving of beans for people who don’t have the time to open cans or make proper meals, a product which Heinz themselves call both ‘innovative’ and ‘successful’.

It might not be a cure for cancer, but it is pretty novel and if the price was right, we can see a lot of people buying one of these just because they can.

Posted on June 17, 2009 | Filed Under Tech