Samsung’s President of Consumer Electronics, BK Yoon, believes home appliances are ‘the next big thing’. Not double denim, Barry’s Bootcamps or Wills and Kate’s sprog. APPLIANCES. Plus, he wants to ‘turn household chores into aspirational experiences’, starting with a new EcoBubble washing machine, unveiled at their European showcase this week. Ok then.

Now Samsung’ s EcoBubble technology itself is nothing new – in fact it’s been around for a couple of years. It works by drawing the water and detergent into a bubble generator. This not only means the detergent dissolves and gets working faster, it also penetrates fabrics more quickly and evenly, so the wash doesn’t need to be as hot to give you good results. Using cooler water is less harmful to your clothes, and less damaging to your household budget, too, since you’ll save on the cost of heating it.

Anyhoo, what ‘s new about the WF80F5E model, seen above, is its posh Crystal Gloss finish, and a new Stain Away cycle that automatically tackles 12 types of stain, including blood, tea, wine, lipstick and grass. The dial and buttons are apparently more intuitive to use – although I’m not sure whether the fact they now ‘respond to the slightest touch’ is necessarily a good thing if you’ve got kids or pets – or a large derrière like mine. And there’s also a Smart Check function. Download the Smart Check app and if anything goes wrong with the machine a barcode will appear on the screen. Scan it with your phone to find out what’s the matter.

But wait, I haven’t got to the best bit. Sit down people – this is a biggie, albeit a technology that’s yet to confirmed as coming to the UK. So basically, Samsung has developed an app that will allow you to turn on your washing machine, set the cycle and run it remotely. All it needs now is to create a robot to pick up stray socks and pop them in and we’re in business.

The WF80F5E and its sister the WF70F5E are out this month, and come in Black, White and Graphite, prices TBC.

There were also a few more appliances that aren’t yet ready for the UK market, but I reckon they’ll be with us by the end of the year:

1. Samsung’s very first dishwashers – in fully integrated, semi-integrated and built-under versions. They have Storm Wash, so you can place your grubbiest pans in a dedicated area at the back of the bottom basket and they’ll get special attention from some powerful jets. There’s also a cycle that allows you to clean delicate glasses at the top and dirty dishes at the bottom, and a clever cutlery tray that clicks flat so you can scoop out the clean knives and forks, rather than having to remove them individually.

2. Samsung’s first tumble dryer – An A-50% energy-saving condenser dryer that uses heat-pump technology.