Cook dinner, Alexa! Amazon unveils smart microwave

AMAZON has unveiled the latest appliance to make our lives in the kitchen easier – a microwave you can use with a minimum of effort.

The unit is voice-activated when connected through one of the internet giant’s Alexa devices and allows users to cook items with a simple command.

Rather than tapping in the required cooking time and settings yourself, say ‘one potato’ and the AmazonBasics Microwave bleeps into action – with the Alexa virtual assistant working out how long it needs to be cooked for. All you need to do, of course, is remember to pop in the potato.

The product, priced at around $60, is being launched later this year in the US where it will include an auto popcorn replenishment feature that will remember how much you’ve cooked and order more when stocks are low.

Amazon is keen for people to include more smart gadgets in their homes, thus bumping up Alexa sales in the process. Smart home hubs can do things such as turn up the heating or switch on lights.

And Amazon also announced the launch of Routines for Kids, which critics may dismiss as lazy parenting, with the machine stepping in to do things such as read a bedtime story.

When a mother or father says: ‘Alexa, good night’, the machine may switch of the lights or play a lullaby to help a child get to sleep.