For the most part, an iron is an iron. It's a flat piece of metal that you heat up to smooth out your clothes. There's a compartment for water, and it allows you to spray down your clothes so they smooth out easier and don't get burned. Pretty straightforward stuff.

But that doesn't mean there's nothing new to be done with the design of an iron. The Steam Iron, designed by Tatasuya Kobayashi, doesn't bring much new to the table in terms of functionality, but it's certainly a whole lot prettier than your standard iron. And isn't that half the battle?

Yanko Design, via Ubergizmo