June 11, 2008

Robots

DIY Robot Does 3D Carving: Self-Replication Still Far-Off

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 11:30 PM on June 11, 2008

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?

hexapodCNC1hexapodCNC2hexapodCNC3hexapodCNC4


Read More »

Hardware

MRAM: A Blockbuster Slated for 2015 Release

Posted by Mark Wilson at 11:15 PM on June 11, 2008

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.


Read More »

Peripherals

Asus Working on Handwriting-Pad Add-on for Eee PC

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 11:00 PM on June 11, 2008

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]

eeehandwrite1eeehandwrite2eeehandwrite3


Read More »

Games

Nintendo Wii to Score "USB Devices"

Posted by Mark Wilson at 10:37 PM on June 11, 2008

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]


Read More »

Screens

Man Mods 51-Year-Old Telly Ahead of Digital Switchover (QOTD: Why?)

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 10:15 PM on June 11, 2008

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.

Read More »

Vehicles

Ford's Self-Driving Hybrid DARPA Car Now Available for US$89,000

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 10:00 PM on June 11, 2008

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.

Read More »

Gadgets

3.5-Inch Digital Photo Frame from HP Small but Chic

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 9:45 PM on June 11, 2008


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]

Read More »

Cameras

Sony's Back-Illuminated CMOS Sensor Increases Sensitivity, Reduces Noise Dramatically

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 9:20 PM on June 11, 2008

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?


Read More »

Robots

Top Tips on Socialising Pets and Bots, Courtesy of WSJ

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 9:10 PM on June 11, 2008

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]


Read More »

Peripherals

Brando 3-in-1 Data Dock Saves Case Space With Multi-Use Trays

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 8:48 PM on June 11, 2008

For those of you with desktop PCs crammed to the gills with peripherals, this slot-loading data dock from Brando might be a neat space-saver solution. It takes up just one 3.5-inch drive bay, but has three interchangeable sleds: one for 2.5-inch SATA HDDs, one with a 4-way USB hub and one a multi-type card reader. You simply chose which you need at the time, and slide it into one of the two slots. Cleverly each aluminum-frame sled also functions as an independent USB peripheral, making them pretty useful portable accessories too. Available now for US$69. [Brando]

brando3in13brando3in12brando3in11brando3in14brando3in15brando3in163in1caradapterwithusbport4_6403in1caradapterwithusbport3_6403in1caradapterwithusbport2_6403in1caradapterwithusbport1_640


Read More »

Peripherals

Portable Projector for iPhone is Concept from Honlai

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 8:40 PM on June 11, 2008

On show at Computex is Honlai's portable projector for the iPhone. It's dock-style gadget that you slot your first-gen iPhone into, beaming a smallish image onto the wall in front of you. This strikes me as such a good idea—it's currently just a concept—that I really hope Honlai, the brains behind this palm-sized LED projector, put this into production. Catch a bonus image after the jump.


Read More »

Press

XM and EMI Settle Portable Recording Radio Lawsuit

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 8:28 PM on June 11, 2008

XM Satellite Radio and EMI Music have settled the lawsuit over the recording of digital songs by XM users. Nobody knows the terms of the deal, but it probably involves virgins and kittens' blood. [Reuters]


Read More »

Gadgets

Brando's Cyber Tap Radios Suck (Onto Your Shower Cubicle)

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 8:15 PM on June 11, 2008

Brando's Cyber Tap bath-time radio is not massively high-tech, sure, but its cuteness is undeniable. Stick its 12 cm sucker onto tiles or glass, adjust FM/AM frequency and twirl the volume tap to boogie away to showertime music. Is the red one more suited to Hot Gossip while the blue one's best for Coldplay? Who knows, but after a bad joke like that you'll be pleased to know the water-resistant, battery-powered Cyber Tap costs US$16. [Brando]

cybertap3cybertap1cybertap2cybertap4


Read More »

Peripherals

Chocolate Case for iPhone Already Past Its Sell-By Date

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 8:10 PM on June 11, 2008

The ChocoCase is a sturdy case for iPhone that has an incorporated screen protector. Added to the GizFever catalog on, it says, June 10, there's one problem that I can see: it's designed for the almost-obsolete first-gen iPhone. Still, nice idea, even if it costs US$30.


Read More »

Vehicles

Home-Built Amphibian Frog-Truck Is Kermit's Favourite Vehicle

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 8:02 PM on June 11, 2008

PopSci got their hands on this 2.5-ton home-built frogtruck, a 260-horsepower treaded monster which is the first-ever amphibious vehicle that can fully retract its drive assembly. The path for the perfect amphibian truck was as hard as the ones this thing can now travel through at 50kph: the mud flats, bogs, ice fields, snow slopes, rivers and lakes of the Alaskan tundra.


Read More »

Computers

Proview All-in-One PC is iMac-esque, with Pen-Writing Screen

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 7:47 PM on June 11, 2008

Several all-in-one desktop PCs seem to have taken design inspiration from the iMac recently, but Proview's upcoming VD1-26W has the added feature of a pen-sensitive screen for freehand writing, drawing and, presumably, mousing. It's no HP Touchsmart, but is pretty slimline, with connections and ports pushed into a small box on its rear, and has a 26-inch screen with 1000:1 contrast and glass protective shield. There's little more info, other than it does both VGA signal input and output and has its own wireless pen, so you'll have to watch this space for both price and availability. [Aving]

proviewpen1proviewpen2proviewpen3


Read More »

Hardware

Toshiba Beefs Up 1.8-Inch Hard Drives to 160GB

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 6:48 PM on June 11, 2008

Just a few months ago we reported that Toshiba had turned up the spin-speed on its 1.8-inch hard drives to 5400 rpm. And now Toshiba's squeezed yet more storage onto those tiny spinning platters, beefing the storage capacity up to 160GB. Apparently it's the industry's first such drive with a serial ATA interface and it's exactly the sort of thing that could become your ultra-portable PC's new best friend when it goes into mass production in August, alongside a smaller 80GB version. Full press release below.


Read More »

Software

First Snow Leopard Screenshots Look Exactly Like Leopard

Posted by Jason Chen at 4:30 PM on June 11, 2008

We knew Snow Leopard wasn't really going to have any brand new "features", but nothing says confirmed like actually seeing it for yourself. Orchard Spy has shots of an early build numbered 10A96, probably handed out at WWDC, that shows what you can expect when you eventually upgrade to 10.6 next year. Too bad it's hard to illustrate the concept of multi-core processor optimisation with screenies, or these would be a lot more exciting. [Orchard Spy via TUAW]


Read More »

Random Stuff

Steve Jobs Looked Thinner Than Usual at WWDC

Posted by Jason Chen at 1:00 PM on June 11, 2008

One of the first things we noticed when Steve Jobs came out on stage was that he was noticeably thinner than he was in previous events. We were vaguely concerned since he's had a recent history of what could be considered pretty severe health problems, but it looks like it's just a "common bug". At age 53, he honestly looks fitter than we are now, probably because he doesn't spend 23 hours a day with his arse attached to some sort of surface. Maybe it was that vomit+diarrhoea virus that was going around Moscone a month ago. [WSJ]

Read More »

iPhone 3G in Black or White?

Posted by Brian Lam at 12:39 PM on June 11, 2008

While not all of us at Giz (read: none) like the white iPhone 3G, I'm sure some of you might. So feel free to vote for your favourite non-colour here. Not like it matters. Hit it, MJ!

Read More »

Vehicles

Shape-Shifting BMW Concept Car Is Made of CLOTH

Posted by Adrian Covert at 12:15 PM on June 11, 2008

BMW has created a concept car called the GINA Light Visionary Model, which takes a seamless, plastic-coated lycra material, and stretches it over a metal frame with moving parts — allowing for the car to have shape-shifting properties. The shape of the body can be changed without tearing or loosening the fabric, and the steering wheel, gauges and headrest all move into place after you sit down in the car.

bmw_gina_08bmw_gina_04bmw_gina_01bmw_gina_05bmw_gina_02bmw_gina_07_2bmw_gina_06_2

Read More »

Robots

Asimo Understands Multiple People Yelling At Once, Has Future on Wall Street

Posted by Adrian Covert at 11:45 AM on June 11, 2008

Honda research engineers have given Asimo the ability to understand three voices at once, thanks to an array of eight microphones that can recognise each voice individually. The recognition software, HARK, can process the commands with 70-80 percent accuracy and the microphones are placed all over Asimo's head and body for spatial recognition purposes. The current application for this technology is using Asimo as a judge for verbal Paper-Rock-Scissors, where everyone calls out their answer at once, and Asimo decides who said what, and who wins. Though a great technical feat, this feels less glamorous than the robot's stint as orchestra conductor, no? [New Scientist]

Read More »

Entertainment

The Real Reason People are Excited for the iPhone 3G (NSFW)

Posted by Adam Frucci at 11:15 AM on June 11, 2008

While yes, the new iPhone 3G's speed boost is going to be great for, you know, looking at family photos or checking on your eBay bids. But really, we know what you're going to use it for and why you're so excited. So does your boss. Remember that the next time you take four 15 minute bathroom breaks in one day. [Funny or Die]


Read More »

Peripherals

NZXT's Aluminium Khaos Case Is Curved Like Battlestar's Number Six

Posted by Jason Chen at 10:45 AM on June 11, 2008

NZXT's been making slightly expensive gaming cases for a while, but their latest full tower Khaos case looks very nice. It's got dual power supply support, 2-3mm aluminium build, a total of 7 fan slots and a price of US$399. Did we mention that it looks nice? This case alone costs more than some fully-built computers, but if you're the type of gamer that likes to haul your rig to LAN parties in order to compare your aluminium wang to your buddies', you could do a lot worse. [NZXT]


Gadgets

Taser Found Liable in Wrongful Death Suit, Bad News for Taser

Posted by Adam Frucci at 10:15 AM on June 11, 2008

Taser International, the company behind the new delightful trend in law enforcement where using verbal communication is deemed too time-consuming and replaced with a extremely painful jolt from their patented electro-weapons, was just dealt a stinging blow in court. After winning 45 wrongful death or injury lawsuits, it just lost a $6 million wrongful death suit, paving the way for plenty more liability in the future.


Read More »

Gadgets

Wireless Bluetooth Pen Puts Your Mid-Air Penmanship to the Test

Posted by Sean Fallon at 9:45 AM on June 11, 2008

Bluetooth enabled pens are nothing new, but they generally require something like special dotted paper to function properly. SMK Corp claims that their new "Wireless Input Pen" is the first device of its kind to transmit characters written in mid air. Combined with Bluetooth, the pen utilises a a built-in triaxial acceleration sensor to detect the position of the pen when characters are formed, then transmits that information to a PC.

Read More »

Entertainment

Cubicle Farm Rampage Video Was Just a Viral Marketing Stunt

Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 9:29 AM on June 11, 2008

Last week's post about a guy absolutely losing his shit in a becubicled office turned out to be a viral ad for Wanted, that new action film with James MacAvoy and Angeline Jolie. I guess the video could be considered a success in that it was convincing and popular, but the fact that it is associated with a commercial film was and will remain lost on just about everyone. [Gawker via CinemaNow]


Phones