Rob:
You sum up my experience with "all in one" units.
They really,really, really suck.
Its a pity they aren't vacuum cleaners as they'd might do a better job.
Can't say much about the "lady who cleans up" concept - I find, that even the live in ladies get snarky about doing all the washing.
I don't know if "top loading dryers" are a useful product or not.
F&P (obviously, from the Press Release) thinks its on a winner and they don't usually make mistakes with their appliance products.
BTW: Bitt, in case you're unclear, the model mentioned in the article will be a 110Volt model.
And it will support either gas or electricity for the heat to dry the clothes so, I guess if its gas powered it won't need much electrical power at all - only enough to run the electronics and spin the drying drum.
The voltage inside the unit is only 50volts DC [or thats what the "motor" uses], as its a direct drive permanent magnet motor.
It has a switch mode PS out of the "waters reach" which takes the mains voltage and drops it 50volts DC.