Even within the last week, the amount of times I had to play rock-paper-scissors with my girlfriend to determine who would put the kettle on probably reached double figures.

Half of the time, we end up competing again to decide who is going to make the tea.

With an iKettle, a number of those little battles are gone.

The little beauty was invented by self-funded British start-up Smarter a short jaunt away in Carshalton and has just hit the shelves of Currys-PC World and John Lewis, having already been stocked by Amazon and Firebox.

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Put simply, it hooks up to your wi-fi so you can turn it on and off using an app on your phone (or other Apple/Android device).

The scenarios when this is perfect is long – when you’re in the garden, when you’ve just woken up, when you’re just leaving the office (oh yes), when you just can’t be bothered to get out of your seat.

Of course, a number of these scenarios could be catered for using, say, a remote or a teasmaid, but the iKettle copes with all of them and, thanks to the wonders of wi-fi you can time the kettle to come on from miles away and through walls, the lot.

The question nearly everyone asked me about it was ‘because you’re not near the kettle, what if you forget to fill it?’ is simple to answer: it appears to be the same scenario as if you forget to fill any kettle before turning it on. Handily, and obviously, it’s pretty simple to turn it off again too.

The app is very simple to use – it looks basically like a remote – and, pleasingly for gadget fans, has more options than are strictly necessary on a kettle.

Who really needs a range of temperatures? Just boil.

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While the lid is translucent, the kettle also lacks a gauge on the side so you can see exactly how full it is.

I loved the iKettle, though my biggest problem is that I keep losing rock-paper-scissors so always have to get up to make the tea once my phone buzzes me to tell me it’s boiled.

Perhaps Smarter could team up with Nespresso for an all-in-one wifi-powered coffeemaker next time?

The iKettle costs £99.99. Go to wifikettle.com