There's nothing more frustrating than opening up the freezer and discovering that you're out of ice, especially when you know it will take hours to make new ice from scratch. Specialized ice makers already exist on the market, but they also take time, and can be noisy and cumbersome -- not exactly a welcome addition to your home or a crowd-pleaser if you're having friends over.

Thankfully, the wise folks at Thanko have a solution to your problem. The IceGolon, in spite of its name vaguely reminiscent of an ice golem, is an ultra-compact and quiet ice maker that can produce bullet-shaped ice cubes in just six minutes.

Measuring about 9.5 inches wide, 10 inches long, and 11.5 inches high, it's almost half as small as the competition and far more quiet (under 50dB in use), so it's perfect for a table top, a counter, a living room, bedroom or any place where you'd like to enjoy a cold drink.

Making ice couldn't be easier. You just pour water in to the fill line...

Then -- and this is really a nifty feature -- you push the "Select" button to choose between two different sizes of ice, small and large, to suit your beverage needs.

In as little as six minutes for small size and eight minutes for large size, you have 7 ice cubes ready to chill your beverage. The ice is automatically transferred to the storage bay and another batch of ice is made, until the sensor detects that the bay is full and stops the process.

This video shows the whole process in action:

For now, it's available online from the Japanese Thanko web store but Thanko also sells their products internationally, so it may just be a matter of time before you can purchase it officially in your country. If you can't wait and are going through an intermediary to have it shipped from Japan, please note that it's a 100 volt (50/60 Hz) device running at 120 watts, so you'll need a step-up or step-down transformer if your country has a different electrical system. All of the technical details are available on the web store page.

Whether you're having a glass of whisky or some iced coffee, the IceGolon is ready to deliver.