This looks like a great idea from Nieman Marcus. It’s a portable ice machine; absolutely vital when the weather’s fine and you’re out camping or having a picnic somewhere.

The product page was distinctly thin on detail though, so anxious to get all the facts and figures for our coolest-gadgets readers, I started an online chat with the lovely Deborah Weatherly.

Deborah was very helpful, but typed slower than an arthritic elephant. Before I got fed up and signed off I did manage to get a few details.

The portable ice generator is certainly compact at 16 inches high, with a footprint of just 17×17 square inches. Weighing just over 16 kilograms, it could easily fit into a car boot. But it isn’t strictly portable in my view because it needs a mains power supply, though I guess most camping sites these days have a mains supply, or if you had an inverter it could run from a car battery.

You can choose from three different ice cube sizes, presumably using different trays, and can make up to 12 cubes in 6 to 8 minutes, which is about long enough for the ice to be ready in time for the next Vodka Martini – shaken not stirred of course!

The portable ice machine, $400 from Nieman Marcus.

Found via Cooking Gadgets.