bears

It's time for Prada to leave teddy at home

Here's how to ruin a thing of beauty. Find a Prada phone, one of the most gorgeous handsets we've seen, and attach a scruffy miniature teddy bear to it. Worse yet, dress the little sap in some tiny Prada label too, then charge nearly $100 for it.

That pretty much sums up this line of phone straps marketed by the design house, as seen on Chip Chick. And believe it or not, the teddy pictured here actually isn't nearly as hideous as some of the others in the "Mobile Trick Quirinos" line, such as those … Read more

Roboticists to ride wave of power, chip and sensor improvements

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The Boston area has become a leading robotics hub, with a larger cluster of related companies than any other area in the U.S., according to a group of panelists assembled for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum on Robotics Wednesday night.

The group, which consisted of executives from ABB Robotics, Brooks Automation, iRobot, Kiva Systems, North End Technologies and Vecna Technologies, said robotics companies are drawn to the university-rich New England area because of their unique need for highly educated employees from a multitude of disciplines.

While there are some great robots, the panelists said, they … Read more

The exoskeleton in MIT's closet

The 21st-century beast of burden could be you--if the exoskeleton fits.

It would work something like this, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Rather than simply strap on a backpack, you'd step into a pair of boots that are connected to the backpack by metal tubes and joints and springs and "a damping device," strap the tubes to your legs and flip on a small external power source.

It sounds like a lot of work, at least to get started, but the MIT exoskeleton can handle 80 percent of an 80-pound load. I'm … Read more

Celebrity bear builds media presence with Web site, book deal

The world's youngest celebrity is building quite a media career. Five-month-old polar bear, Knut, is already a star at the Berlin Zoo. He also stars in more than two dozen YouTube videos, which have accumulated millions of plays. When you visit Knut's new personal Web site you'll see pictures and e-mails from adoring fans.

But today we learn that Knut and a human co-author have a book deal. One purpose of the book will be to draw attention to global warming, says the human writer. The book'll be published by Scholastic, which has a track record … Read more

Never be left in the dark again

The weather must be changing, because we're seeing more items that actually involve the outdoors (and not snowplowing). Just yesterday, for example, we noted an anti-insect LED lightbulb to be used outside, but Gizoo's "Wind-up Magic LED Lantern" does it one better: It doesn't need any batteries or power outlets to work.

How is this possible? It's called a hand crank, Sparky. Just one minute of winding will get 30 minutes of light from the lantern's five LEDs, according to SCI FI Tech, and it can stay lit for up to four hours … Read more

Robot in teddy bear's clothing

A couple of months ago for Halloween, we bestowed the completely made-up Demented Genius Award upon the Evil Mad Scientists Laboratory, in recognition of the modification of a Lego man by sticking an LED in it. This created a disturbing modern version of Ichabod Crane's nemesis, the Headless Horseman.

Today we present the second Demented Genius Award to Evosapien member Nocturnal and his alter ego, who prefers to go unnamed. We were able to confirm that it's Mr. Nocturnal, and not Ms. Nocturnal, who took WowWee's popular Robosapien toy, gutted a teddy bear, and merged the two in an unholy union. … Read more

Destination scary: Navirobo GPS teddy bear

So if I'm to believe the Japanese, I'm supposed to let this scary, strung-out Snuggles look-alike guide me to my next destination? Umm, yeah...no, thank you. For one thing, look at it! I don't want this frightening critter sitting on my dash, looking back at me. And what exactly is that thing in the middle of its forehead? (A colleague seems to think it's his mystical third eye.) Secondly, I don't think this GPS-enabled teddy bear from Navirobo would be much help. Instead of giving you voice-guided, turn-by-turn instructions, it raises its furry, little … Read more