A nice hot cup of tea is very much something Australians are known for offering, but the next cup could be specially designed to keep that tea toasty.
Cups aren’t typically built with technology in mind, and are made for purpose: the typically ceramic and stainless steel shapes hold our beverages for us to drink, gradually seeing the temperature change over time.
If you’re a tea or coffee drinker, it means a cup of hot something will eventually end up becoming something much, much cooler, so drink up while it’s warm enough to bring to your lips.
Over time, we’ve seen technology try to change that, what with USB cup warmers of sorts, a sort of USB-powered hot plate you could leave your mug on that would warm from the bottom.
But what if the mug could just do that for you?
Enter a gadget on its way to retailers across the country, as Ember drops an update to its first smart cup released a few years ago. Not literally, mind you, because the goal of a cup or mug of anything is to drink it, not drop it.
However, drinking a cup of something warm is entirely the point of the Ember Temperature Control Smart Mug, a real mouthful of a name that translates to something rather easy to understand: a mug that can monitor the temperature of your bevy and keep the insides warm until the battery runs out.
Not just your ordinary mug, Ember’s Smart Mug (yep, that’s a thing) has four sensors and a processor inside to measure the temperature of what you’re drinking. While it can’t cool a drink, it can keep it between 50°C to 62.5°C for a little over an hour.
It’s an update to the range, it seems, with improvements in the hardware and size, moving on from the original 178ml Ember Cup (6oz) to offer two larger sizes, with the 295ml Ember Mug 2 (10oz) and the taller 414ml Ember Mug 2 (14oz), offering roughly 80 minutes of battery life for each.
“The innovation behind our smart drinkware delivers an easy to use consumer experience but taps into the very latest smart heating and battery technology,” said Alex Andrews, Business Development and Sales Manager for Ember in Australia and New Zealand.
“This proprietary technology delivers a strong point of difference in the market and a premium experience that we believe Australians will embrace.”
In terms of charging each smart mug, Ember uses a charging station that looks like a saucer, which recharges the battery inside. However, you won’t want to throw either in the dishwasher, with the Ember Smart Mugs not dishwasher safe, though they can be handwashed and submerged in up to one metre of water, we’re told.
They’re also only made for warm drinks, with no way to cool your cold drinks. For that, you may want to refer to a classic piece of technology known as “ice”, which is often made by freezer compartments in fridges.
If warmth is what you want, however, Ember’s Smart Mug range is available online through Amazon, Ember’s own online store, as well as David Jones and JB HiFi, priced from $130 to $220 for the big mug (below).
