Nao the humanoid robot--who we first told you about in September--really, really wants us nerds to like him. Or, more accurately, Paris-based Aldebaran Robotics really wants us to like him. That's why the company has him pandering to us with a scene from "Star Wars."
Still, I have to admit that the 23-inch-tall, 9.5-pound Nao delivers a powerful performance--especially when it comes to his R2-D2 impression. Of course, that's kind of like Gary Busey playing a lunatic, but still...kudos. Outside of his skills as a thespian, the fully programmable Nao is also quite capable of learning and performing useful tasks for his owners.
The robot boasts 25 degrees of freedom and can grasp objects with his prehensile hands; process image and sound data; and navigate his environment using his sonars. Multimedia features include high-fi speakers, microphones, and CMOS digital cameras. Nao has been in development for years now, but a commercial version is expected sometime next year.
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
What makes ADSL so improbable is it's transmitting a huge amount of data over some very ancient copper. That's right, copper, the stuff that isn't anywhere near as interesting or valuable as gold.
(Credit: Crave UK) Many things keep us awake at night. Simon Cowell's hair is one. The implausible success of anyone who appears in "Big Brother" is another. But the thing that really keeps us staring into the darkness is technology. How the hell does it work? Simple gadgets like TVs and mice leave us unperturbed. But there are some things that are just beyond reasoning. Science fiction writer and all-round genius Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." On this one issue, we think he might have been wrong--because it's quite obvious to us that some technology is magic. Or if not magic, at least utterly impossible and somehow a massive confidence trick.
We've ranked the most impossible technologies on the planet in order of their level of impossibility. If you've got all six things on this list, and haven't yet had breakfast, then as Douglas Adams said, you should consider dinner at Milliways, the restaurant at the end of the universe. Read more of "Technology that's totally impossible" at Crave UK.
Having become fairly disenfranchised with all things Star Wars over the years, I didn't really expect to like Star Wars: Trench Run.
And really, the new game from THQ is little more than two kinds of arcade sequences sprinkled with a few familiar cutscenes.
So why can't I stop playing it?
Because Trench Run ($4.99) is a little slice of Star Wars heaven, that's why. It reminds me of the old vector-graphics arcade game from the early 80s--a game that consumed a considerable number of my quarters.
Of course, visually Trench Run blows that coin-op classic out of the sky. And what it lacks in variety, it makes up for with engaging gameplay.
You're at the tilt-sensitive controls of an X-Wing, which you can view from inside the cockpit or from behind. Tapping the right half of the screen fires your guns; tapping and holding the left half engages Force Power, which temporarily slows down the action.
As you might expect from the title, half the game takes place in a Death Star trench. You've got to steer past obstacles, blast turrets, stay out of Darth Vader's gun-sights, and, eventually, "blow this thing so we can all go home."
When you're not racing through trenches, you're dogfighting TIE Fighters just above the Death Star's surface. The only thing that changes from one level to the next is the difficulty.
And Trench Run does get difficult, though a little Force Power goes a long way toward helping you lock in a target or avoid a rapidly approaching turret.
Throughout it all, you're treated to all the familiar Star Wars sound effects along with John Williams' timeless score.
There's not a lot of replay value in Trench Run, and the limited variety means boredom is pretty inevitable. But until then, you'll have a blast.
Just like everyone who grew up on something of a "Star Trek" diet, I want to believe.
I want to believe that Spock will rise from the dead, get married, and have pointy-eared offspring, who, regressing to the mean, will become sports-loving couch potatoes. I want to believe that Captain Kirk will shack up with Uhura on Pluto and lead a fight to have the planet recognized as one of the greats.
And I want to believe that d'Armond Speers really did only speak to his son in Klingon for the first three years of the little boy's life.
You don't remember d'Armond? Well, he first entered the Trekkie firmament in a 1999 Wired article, in which he told of how difficult it had been to communicate solely in the limited language of Klingon with his then 30-month-old son, Alec.
He even presented a recording of little Alec singing the opening bars of the Klingon Imperial Anthem.
The story has this week been updated with some extraordinary news.... Read more
(Credit:
Tyme Machines)
May the drive be with you.
Tyme Machines, maker of licensed USB drives, has released its Series 1 3D sculpted Star Wars USB thumb drives. The set, which includes replicas of Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Storm Trooper, and Yoda, comes in 4GB to 16GB capacities that range in price from $29.99 to $59.99.
At 3 inches tall and not exactly svelte, they won't be so easy to plug into a USB port, especially if you're using a laptop. But that's where a USB extension cable comes in handy.
So, are these the right characters to launch with? And what characters would you like to see Tyme Machines include in its next series?
TerreStar Genus
(Credit: TerreStar)In the midst of a barrage (literally) of fall phone announcements, AT&T and TerreStar managed to stand apart from the pack on Wednesday with their announcement of an integrated cellular satellite smartphone. The TerreStar Genus will use AT&T's network, but will also be able to access an all-IP satellite service when cellular coverage isn't available. You'll be able to use the phone in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and coastal waters.
With a QWERTY keyboard and a candy bar design, the Genus resembles many a Windows Mobile device (it runs the same OS). Feature details ares slim at this point, but we know that the handset will offer Bluetooth, a touch screen, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Pricing is to be announced, though the Genus will only be released to government customers. Phone Scoop says that AT&T is working on a consumer variant as well.
(Credit:
Brian De Vitis)
Behold! The retro gaming force is strong with this one-of-a-kind R2-D2 replica by PopSci reader Brian De Vitis. The Star Wars droid was meticulously built from a cooler and houses no less than seven discontinued game consoles, a sound system, and a projector.
Based on the controllers shown in the image, our resident gaming guru has identified most of the consoles. They include the original Microsoft Xbox; Sony PlayStation; various editions of the Nintendo Entertainment System, aka NES; Sega Genesis; and Dreamcast. Give us a heads-up via Talkback below if you can recognize the joystick-like controllers and light guns on the extreme right.
A top view of the R2-D2 console droid without the projector.
(Credit: Brian De Vitis)(Source: Crave Asia)
Flat-screen televisions are a major upgrade from existing cathode-ray tube TVs, making new high-definition sets one of the hottest-selling items in consumer electronics. But that dazzling picture and bigger screen come with a price: higher energy use.
To individual consumers, a bigger flat-screen TV might mean a noticeable bump in monthly electric bills. But at a national level, the onrush of these new energy-hungry TVs is a growing concern.
On Friday, the California Energy Commission finalized a proposal to regulate energy consumption in TVs sold in California sold after 2011.
The move is significant because California's stringent efficiency standards in appliances have impacted codes across the country in the past. California's efficiency measures in big appliances, such as refrigerators, have been credited with keeping the per capita electricity consumption in the state steady since the 1970s.
But not everyone is happy with the California measure, which is expected to pass in November. Industry association the Consumer Electronics Association opposes the proposal, arguing that any efficiency improvements should come from consumer demand rather than regulation.
To unwind some of the issues around energy efficiency and TVs, we offer this FAQ, which draws on the analysis of CNET Reviews' senior editor David Katzmaier, who has been measuring power consumption in TVs for the past three years. You can see the latest data at CNET's Energy Efficiency Guide and power ratings of 150 HDTVs.
If I buy a new flat-screen TV, will I be slapped with a huge energy bill?
Not necessarily. The primary reason flat-screen TVs consume more power is because they are bigger. The California Energy Commission estimates that per square inch, LCDs consume a bit more than CRTs, but most people are also upgrading in size, which means significantly more electricity use. That's one reason why TV product ratings from the likes of CNET and Consumer Reports now include yearly energy consumption estimates.
Back at CES in January, there was some hype surrounding some new mind-control products that were due to arrive before the holiday season. Well, two of the more prominent ones, the Star Wars The Force Trainer and Mattel's Mindflex are now shipping.
While images of youngsters decked out in full Star Wars regalia, showing off their Jedi-like powers may seem rather amusing, the question remains whether telekinesis toys and games will become the next big thing--or not.
Both products require you to strap on a lightweight headset that contains sensors to measure your brainwave activity. Focus your concentration, and a stream of air causes a ball to levitate. Relax your thoughts and the ball drops.
The $120 Force Trainer is just about making the ball rise in a tube, while the $80 Mattel Mindflex challenges you to guide a ball through a customizable obstacle course (watch CNET's Scott Stein try it out in this video). Now, if someone could just prove all these mental calisthenics help ward off Alzheimer's and dementia, it would really help move some product.
What do you guys think? Is this the future of gaming or just a gimmick? And how long before will it be before we can ditch the video game controllers and just use our thoughts to control everything?
Additional reading: Hot stuff from the 2009 Toy Fair
Seagate's DockStar can support up to four USB drives
(Credit: Seagate)Do you want to turn a USB hard drive into a cheap, easy network-attached storage device? Seagate's DockStar is designed to let you do just that. Like the preceding Dock+ model, the DockStar can host a FreeAgent Go drive in its cradle, plus up to three other USB drives. However, instead of linking to your PC via USB, the DockStar uses its Ethernet port to live on your home network.
Network access is enabled via technology Seagate has licensed from Pogoplug--in other words, it's just a Seagate-skinned version of Pogoplug's interface. That's a good thing, since Pogoplug's standalone product is exceptionally simple to set up and easy to use.
The system offers a Web interface for accessing the drive's files from any computer (on your home network, or worldwide via the Internet). The Web interface works on any Web browser, it requires no software installation, and lets you set specific folders for others to access, as well as publish RSS feeds of your files to various social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace). Alternately, you can download Pogoplug's software plug-ins for mapping the DockStar to a drive letter on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. Even better, Pogoplug offers a free iPhone app that lets you access files via iPhones and iPod Touch handhelds.
On the downside, Seagate is charging $30 per year for the capability to access the drive from outside your home network (after one year of free access). That contrasts with Pogoplug's standalone product, which requires no fees. With DockStar and Pogoplug both costing $99, we'd be inclined to go with Pogoplug's instead. That said, Seagate is planning to add SMB drive support to the DockStar via a future firmware update. That feature--not currently available on Pogoplug's standalone product--should allow the DockStar drives to be accessible via non-PC DLNA-compatible network devices, including Seagate's own FreeAgent Theater+.
The Seagate DockStar is available as of Wednesday. (The Pogoplug has been available since early 2009.)
On Sale Now: $69.99 - $111.83
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