Crave

Make way for ol' Smokey san

Here's a Tokyo FD tow truck-like robot designed to identify and pick up fire victims who might have "passed out from the smoke and fumes", according to Technovelgy.

Just hope you don't get snagged on something on the way out, 'cause this thing looks like it'll just keep on pulling.

It's a car, it's a UAV, no - it's UUV

As we see here, there is absolutely no reason why your pool cleaner shouldn't match your car. Too bad British defence giant BAE Systems has other plans for the Talisman -like minesweeping.

Drawing on stealth, aerospace and race car design, BAE developed this unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) in hopes of following up on its success with the unmanned aerial variety. After years of wind tunnel and open-ocean testing the carbon fiber hulled Talisman M is ready for action in water up to 490 feet. "Vectorable" thruster pods allow it to hover and turn on a dime. It … Read more

Robot assisted prostate surgery? Uhh--you first.

Surgeons are using a four armed robot to perform prostate surgery.

The procedure is called the da Vinci Prostatectomy, "a new, less-invasive approach to prostate removal," according to the Swedish Medical Center.

Actually, it's no joke; an estimated 230,000 men in the US are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and the da Vinci Surgical System promises to help surgeons perform the surgery with greater precision while speeding patient recovery.

Interested? Call 1-800-SWEDISH and let us know how it goes.

Happy hour 2.0: Mashups get smashed

"Nerds!" --Ogre, Revenge of the Nerds

Since the dawn of time (or at least the 1980s), avid computer users have been ridiculed for lacking social skills and an ability to party.

But anyone who has seen the documentary Real Genius or seen the schools featured on this list of top college pranks knows otherwise.

Nerds do party. They just party efficiently. That's why these drink-deal locators exist: to help us find cheap drinks between here and the nearest library.

Nationwide sites

UnThirsty: This is a Google Maps mashup that lets you search for happy hours, food specials, … Read more

The Nintendo Wii ships...to ships

Since its launch last November, the Nintendo Wii has made waves among retirees and new gamers.

Now, Nintendo's generation-transcending game machine is making waves in the literal sense.

According to this post on Joystiq, Norwegian Cruise Lines will feature Nintendo Wiis on all cruises. As this photo attests, they're talkin' big-screen action.

Judging how hard it is to find a Wii in stores, cruise ships will no doubt become a huge target for pirates. Marrrrrrrio!

Related links: Get your cooking on at Nintendo World Wii bowling gets serious Arr, matey! Jump aboard me pirate loft! If Captain Jack Sparrow had a toaster

Space: The Boston Marathon's new course

Astronaut Sunita L. Williams wouldn't miss the Boston Marathon for anything. Even if she's not on planet Earth.

As luck would have it, space is where Williams will be on April 16, the date of the 2007 Boston Marathon. She'll be competing anyway.

According to the Associated Press, Williams is registered for the Boston Marathon and will compete by running on a treadmill in the International Space Station.

Although Williams will be the first person to run the Boston Marathon in space, she won't be the first off-site competitor. Since 2005, U.S. soldiers in Iraq … Read more

Joost commercial isn't quite ready for the Super Bowl

Most well-funded Web 2.0 start-ups spend their extra capital on logo T-shirts, Frisbees, or beer mugs. But if you're the ever-classy Joost, the hush-hush online video start-up, you make a commercial to explain your product. I'm not sure whether this will actually be shown on televisions in one country or another, or if it'll stay on the Web. Ironically, it's being distributed via YouTube, which is certainly going to be one of its foremost rivals.

I think the commercial is a little dull. It could use some Diet Coke and Mentos.

(Adverblog via PSFK)

CTIA announces its Emerging Technology award winners

CTIA has finally wrapped up, and while we have our own picks of what was the cream of the crop, CTIA has also announced the winners of its Emerging Technology awards. Our very own Kent German and Bonnie Cha were two of the judges selecting the winners, which were chosen based on innovation, functionality, wow factor, importance of technology, and ease of use and implementation. The Best of Show award went to Alltel's Celltop technology, which allows customers greater flexibility in managing and organizing content on their cell phones (You can read more about it our review of the … Read more

Apple iPhone to be released on June 11

Ever since Steve Jobs' keynote speech at the Macworld Expo in January, we've known that the iPhone is being released sometime in June. But we haven't known exactly when.

Now Cingular has confirmed the release date will be June 11. A customer service manager at Cingular (we called 800-947-5096 and were transferred to sales) gave us that date late Thursday, but, alas, said he didn't have any additional information beyond that.

That date is no coincidence. It's the first day of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, scheduled to be held in San Francisco from June 11 … Read more