Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Robots
DIY Robot Does 3D Carving: Self-Replication Still Far-Off
11:30PM Gizmodo US Edition | Robots robots robots… from sexy ones to fighting ones, we love them here at Giz. But this amazing project by commenter winchy_matt over at Robosavvy has me in two minds. It’s a modified DIY hexapod robot with a motorised Dremel-tool nose, and Matt’s written some code that lets the robot move the cutting tool with precision, so it acts like a little precision CNC mill. And it’s amazing: wait til you see the video of it in action, carving out a model. But is this project a scary step towards self-replicating ‘bots?
Hardware
MRAM: A Blockbuster Slated for 2015 Release
11:15PM Mark Wilson | The Good News: Toshiba and Hitachi are both flaunting new technologies to make MRAM (the successor to DRAM) more plausible for public consumption. Plus, the United States and Korea both have begun national-level projects to develop the tech. More »
Peripherals
Asus Working on Handwriting-Pad Add-on for Eee PC
11:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | While modders are busily adapting the Eee PC for touchscreen capability, it seems that Asus has been working on an official handwriting recognition add-on. Demoed at last weeks Computex show, the Asus pad accepts English and Chinese (traditional and simplified) characters and simply plugs into the Eee’s USB port. It measures 10.9 x 11.2 x 1.8 cms, with the touch pad being a little over 5cms across. If you’re an eager hand-writing fan, you’ll have to wait though, as there’s no launch date or price info. [Aving via Pocket Lint] More »
Games
Nintendo Wii to Score “USB Devices”
10:37PM Mark Wilson | While we’ve heard rumors of Nintendo manufacturing a USB hard drive to compliment the Wii, a new job advertisement adds even more credence to the speculation. Posted three days ago, the ad calls for a “Software/Hardware Tester” who can implement a “test plan for Wii’s USB devices.” So a hard drive is probably on its way, but could Nintendo be cooking up something else? Oooh, maybe corded Wiimote! At long last!! [PCWorld] More »
Screens
Man Mods 51-Year-Old Telly Ahead of Digital Switchover (QOTD: Why?)
10:15PM Gizmodo US Edition | A 59-year-old furniture restorer from Britain has modded his half-century-old television ahead of the digital switchover. Richard Howard spent US$225 on a Bush Television Receiver and watched everything on it—including the moon landings—until the late ’80s, when TV pictures changed from the 405-line format to 625 lines. With the analog-to-digital switchover looming, however, Mr Howard wondered if it would be possible to rejig his 1957 telly so that he could watch Madonna videos in glorious black-and-whitenicolour. More »
Vehicles
Ford’s Self-Driving Hybrid DARPA Car Now Available for US$89,000
10:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | If you are looking for a self-driving car, now you can buy the ByWire XGV, the modified Ford Escape that got third place at the DARPA Urban Challenge for just US$89,000. Torc Technologies—who collaborated with Virginia Tech to develop this smartypants SUV hybrid—is going to sell the car as a research platform so other researchers can tune and add new contraptions to make it work better and look more menacing than the current version. The specs are loaded with ports, sensors, and even optional accessories, like vibration isolators. Whatever that is, we want it. More »
Gadgets
3.5-Inch Digital Photo Frame from HP Small but Chic
9:45PM Gizmodo US Edition | There’s been a slew of Hewlett Packard products over the past few days and, although this digital picture frame is probably the smallest of the bunch, it’s pretty damn cute. Available in Europe at the moment, the frame has QGVA resolution, is SD-, SDHC- and MMC-compatible, can hold up to 45 pictures, and costs US$76. Like I said, cute. [CNET Asia] More »
Cameras
Sony’s Back-Illuminated CMOS Sensor Increases Sensitivity, Reduces Noise Dramatically
9:20PM Gizmodo US Edition | Sony has developed a new CMOS technology that may revolutionise consumer video camcorders and cameras: a 5-megapixel, 60 frames per second back-illuminated sensor. As you can see in this test image, the sensor nearly duplicates light sensitivity while reducing the signal-to-noise ratio. The idea is apparently simple, but it dramatically increases the quality of the picture in low-illumination conditions. How does it work? More »
Robots
Top Tips on Socialising Pets and Bots, Courtesy of WSJ
9:10PM Gizmodo US Edition | The Wall Street Journal has a great feature this morning about pets and household robots, such as Roombas and Pleos. Writer Andrew Lavallee has compiled all sorts of anecdotes—including useful tips on how to bed your pet in with the ‘bot in your life, including protecting your Sony Aibo from cat bites (cayenne pepper and Cholula hot sauce applied to the ‘bot butt, apparently). One dog owner told off the Roomba in front of his mutt, and the dog never lunged at the robot vacuum again. [WSJ] More »
Peripherals
