Two new devices are taking the work of making coffee out of your hands with voice-recognition software and the power of Apple.

If you had a talking coffee maker would you need anything else? It chats with you, it makes coffee. Who needs friends when you have that?

Well, it turns out we’ll still need our friends because even though the new Speak and Brew coffeemaker takes voice commands, it’s vocabulary is a bit limited. The product was just one of the many new appliances on display at the International Home and Housewares Show that kicked off this week in Chicago.

Billed as “the world’s first voice recognition coffeemaker,” the product will retail for about $80 when it hits shelves in the future.

How does it work? First, the machine says, “Please say the time you would like to brew your coffee, including a.m. or p.m.” Then, you tell it the time and spend an extra five minutes snuggling with your pillow instead of shuffling in front of the coffee pot.

“It’s a sophisticated mechanism,” said Evan Dash, one of the machine’s inventors. “It’s basically got a computer chip in it. So it can wind up getting tripped up over itself just like a Windows computer. Instead of pressing control-alt-delete on this, you just unplug it, plug it back in and you’re good to go.”

If you want to check out this amazing, if admittedly complicated, machine, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until it hits stores. The International Home and Housewares show is only open to exhibitors and those in the housewares industry.

Would you like whipped cream on your app?

A new app for the iPhone makes making espresso at home easy. The Barista (aptly named) was an “App store pick of the week” two weeks ago and is making its way into phones for the low, low price of just $0.99 right now.

The app gives step-by-step instructions on crafting espresso beverages, explains coffee geek terminology like tamping and Americanos, and gives you a range of tips to help perfect your technique at pulling the perfect shot. It even gives you tips for trying your hand at latte art.

The good people at Apple also suggest using the iPhone’s camera to take pictures of your drinks and track your progress as you learn more. The app’s creators, Barista App, plan to add more content in the future and promise that updates will be fee.

Want to win it instead of buying it? Go to this website and drop them a line about your favorite espresso beverage. Barista App has provided the site with two promo codes to get the app for free and the website will draw a winner at random.

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