An actively heated mug has a body with a chamber that can receive and hold a beverage and a heating element to actively heat the chamber, batteries, and circuitry that controls the operation of the heating element. A user interface is electrically connected to the circuitry and has one or more buttons actuatable a) to turn on the heating element, b) to adjust a temperature setting to one of multiple temperature settings to control the operation of the heating element to heat or maintain the liquid at a user selected temperature setting, and c) to turn off the heating element.

Quite often it is heard that people complain about having cold food at their places of work. The problem is not localized to a particular geographic area or age, it affects everyone who prefers having hot food at workplace or college. The Smart Lunch box aims at providing hot food to users anytime and anywhere they want. It uses heating elements along with microcontrollers powered by batteries to provide heat even in the absence of a power outlet. The batteries have to be sufficiently charged well before hand, the box can be controlled to set temperatures and timer through a mobile application which simplifies the user interface and also reduces human intervention. The box can also be used as a noodle maker by using hot water. The technical applications are immense. This invention can be of great help to various working sects of the society.