Ian Turner is a zookeeper at Longleat Safari Park. He is also rather forgetful. After taking some pictures of his meerkats for a new zoo brochure, he left his Canon EOS in their enclosure. Apparently the alpha male, Monty, secretly harbors a gadget obsession, and jumped at the chance to snap a few shots of his family for posterity. Have a look at his sub-par photos below.
IvanAnywhere is an office robot designed by computer programmer Ivan Bowman to occupy his spot at the office while he lounges at home. Instead of merely chatting online with coworkers, Bowman has equipped IvanAnywhere with a camera and touchscreen computer so that he can video chat in real time. IvanAnywhere is fully mobile and moves through the office via remote control.
Software interface aside IvanAnywhere is a pretty simple creation. In addition to the webcam and computer, he has speakers and a motorized wheelbase emanating from a metal rod. Looks like we’re getting closer to co-existing with robots in all facets of life, as depicted in films such as Metropolis. [TheRecord via Make]
Don’t you hate accidentally smiling at 17% capacity and having no one tell you? Omron has released what they’re calling “Smile Measurement Software,” which tells you what your smile factor is on a scale of 0 to 100%. The software uses 3D face mapping technology to, “ensure accurate smile detection and measurement even when the subject is not looking into the camera”—which is great for when you’re really trying to get 83% joy out of someone.
The software can be used on digital cameras, mobile phones and things of that nature to —well, I’m not sure. It’d be a useful little gadget to put in a screening room for a comedy, or measure how happy your friends are in your company. Either way, I eagerly await to see what creepy uses are thought of for this technology. [Akihabara News]
If there’s one device that needs some features raped into it, its the remote control. Acoustic Research showed the ARRU449 universal remote at CEDIA today in all its Wi-Fi goodness. Available in October, the gadget’s built-in Wi-Fi technology allows you to use your connection to get the latest weather reports, sports scores, headlines and what’s playing on your favourite channels right to the colour LCD display on your remote control — which, by the way, now has a colour LCD display.
The ARRU449 can handle everything from your DVD player to your DVR to a satellite receiver. Yes, its nice to not have to change the channel or squash the picture to see what’s playing elsewhere, or change what the girlfriend is watching to get the latest sports scores, but for $399.99, the girlfriend can go to hell — I’m sticking with my sticky 3-year old remote control.
Rather than just tell you what’s great (and terrible) about the hot new Vudu video-on-demand box, I thought I’d show you, so come on…
Intel introduced their quad-core Xeon 7300 series processors. [Reuters]
newVideoPlayer("IFA_verdict_gawker.flv", 475, 376); IFA 2007, allegedly the biggest consumer electronics fair in the world, had it all. But it happened on Labour Day weekend, so you probably missed all of our video hands-on and reviews of never-before-touched products. Here’s the complete guide to the very best:
If you’re looking for something a little more war-like in your touch-sensitive computer table then stand aside sexy Milan and much sexier Rosie — the TouchTable is here. Northrop Grumman, a defence contractor that sounds like a cross between a lovable Ogre and a Nazi general, is showing off the TouchTable next week at a defence conference in London. The device — something they’ve had for several years now — is what they call an “integrated collaboration environment,” or, much sexier — ICE. The TouchTable display looks a lot like something you’d see in Dr. Evil’s lair and lets you move your hand across the table, shift images sideways, zoom out, zoom in — in other words, think of a war planning table as built by Apple.
Good news, robot fans! Honda’s ever-so-cute robot friend ASIMO is going to tour Australia this October. Exact dates and venues are yet to be finalised, but it will be hitting a number of major cities around the country. That’s all we have for now, but we’ll certainly be doing all we can to get up close and personal… we might have to rush the stage to do so, but hey, he’s OUR robot friend, too! -Seamus Byrne
We got plenty of news here on the latest Nikon Coolpix line up, and now we’ve got the full list of local prices and release dates to share. The first two are free, but the rest will cost you a jump.
Coolpix P series Coolpix P5100: Now – $649 Coolpix P50: October – $429
