Every once in a while, a company sweeps into a longstanding product category with a radical new design. Sometimes it's flash-in-the-pan. Other times it's Dyson with its transparent dustbin and cyclonic vacuum tech, or Keurig with their single-serving coffee pods. Those were initially dismissed as gimmicks, but within a matter of years, competitors piled in to copy them and the categories were forever altered.

Whether this new type of blender from Tiger, a Japanese appliance manufacturer, is a gimmick or not remains to be seen. For now, it's generating both buzz and rave reviews.

The Tiger SLB-A10U blender features a unique 45-degree blade arrangement. The company says that the angle "mixes thoroughly upward and downward," providing smoother blending results with less prep work required. Frozen foods don't need to be broken up in advance, for instance, nor do whole fruits and vegetables need to be pre-chopped.

With the incumbent design, "when the food and the blade are horizontal, the blade rotates as if it were cutting the skin of an apple," the company writes. "As a result, blenders with horizontal blades have a tough time processing whole fruits." Tiger reckons their design blends much more efficiently:

"It can powerfully crush vegetables and fruits into small pieces with its strong cutting ability to crush whole ingredients. The diagonal structure creates a water flow that engulfs the ingredients, resulting in a smooth finish that is pleasant to the palate. It's also capable of pulverizing ice and frozen fruit, which many standard blenders warn against."

Tiger's new blender may have also come along at just the right time, from a marketing perspective. These days there's no shortage of (paid) smoothie-crazed health influencers thrilled to have a shiny toy to show off, and that undoubtedly helps drive sales.

Speaking of sales, buckle up for the price: The blender will set you back $400.