(Images by Mokase via Facebook)
It seems that there really is no end to the possibilities with smartphone apps and gadgets, and once again a new gimmick shows us that the relationship between food and drinks and technology, is an ever expanding world. A recent Kickstarter initiative, has taken the two things most people can’t live without, and stuck them together, creating a smartphone case that dispenses a single espresso, on instruction from a linked app.
Immediately alarm bells sound at the thought of liquid physically attached to your phone but Mokase guarantees its safety. The case has been crafted by a pioneering team of tech and design gurus in Italy. I can only imagine that the gadget won’t be well received by local coffee purists, however Mokase’s ambition is to revitalise the Italian tradition and not offend it.
How does it work?
The actual coffee sits in a special disposable encasing called the Mokaromi wafer, which preserves the liquid for up to 3 months. When it is time to drink, the user will instruct the connected app and the 25ml of coffee (a normal espresso is around 30ml) will be heated up, before the vacuum seal of the coffee cartridge is broken and coffee is ready to be dispensed through a special alloy pipe.
The phone case is 1cm thick, and is available for newer models of iPhone, Samsung, LG and Huawei. Customers can buy the coffee wafers in packs which hold the ready made espresso, along with a little compressible espresso cup.
A lasting product?
The concept is undeniably nifty, but I cannot see further than the fad. The marketing approach (see video below) was to sell the idea of saved time with a Mokase, where a woman is about to enter a coffee shop but decides she is too late for work. She is then saved by the Mokase when a friendly stranger gives her an espresso right out of his phone. Hopefully he had a fresh cartridge in his pocket, else he might actually have to buy a coffee in an actual coffee shop.
Jokes aside, the technical creativity behind the Mokase is something we cannot ignore, and it is not the first time designers have tried to merge the existence of smartphones and coffee (Daily Mail reported on a phone case with attached coffee cup holder back in 2013), but it is certainly the most evolutionary.
The Mokase is priced at $49.90 (R656.21), and can be bought online here.
The Food24 team is pretty eager to test the Mokase out! What are your thoughts? Over-the-top gimmick or reliable product you now cannot live without? Let us know in the comments section below.