Vitamix unveils an updated personal blending machine, the S55

CHICAGO --- The IHS 2015 show is all about small appliances for the home and what could fit that bill better than a sparking new personal blender? Priced at $459, the freshly announced Vitamix S55 certainly doesn't run cheapm but its designers say it's built to slice and dice with speed, power and good looks.

A followup to Vitamix's well built S30 , the S55 is also meant to tackle your morning smoothie. Vitamix touts the S55's metal drive system, saying it not only helps owners remove its sharp blades and base for safe extraction, the product is tough enough to turn hard nuts into butter.

What's unclear though is how different this machine is from its previous incarnation. Both come with travel jars and larger pitchers for party-size culinary creations. Expect the Vitamix S55 to cost $459 and be sold both through Williams Sonoma and Vitamix.com.