iRobot not just phoning it in
(Credit:
iRobot)
It's not quite Rosie yet, Mr. Brooks, but we'll concede that the company you founded is a step closer to The Jetsons world of communications.
iRobot is expected to unveil this ConnectR communications robot, aka a physical avatar, at DigitalLife 2007 on Thursday.
(Credit:
iRobot)
The ConnectR for $499 is a robot you control on your behalf from anywhere in the world using a Web-based application. With a VoIP speakerphone and one-way video, it allows you to carry on a conversation as if you are right in the room. You can also control where it goes.
The video camera mounted on the ConnectR allows the user to have wide-angle views and zoom in close enough to read text.
Think of it as a really advanced VoIP speaker/videophone that can move around the room.
ConnectR works over a local wireless network that the robot finds and prompts the owner to choose upon setup. Visitors are required to enter a unique access code in order to inhabit the ConnectR, but homeowners can also control access to the robot with a privacy button.
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
