Recession antidote: iRobot Roomba 530 Robotic Vacuum with Virtual Wall

Having the latest technology can become very expensive, and that is not good as we are in a recession. There are however, some great deals to be had on a number of cool gadgets, which should help to keep your bank happy, such as this iRobot Roomba 530 Robotic Vacuum with Virtual Wall and Self-Charging Home Base. Read more

Robots love Barack Obama

Barack Obama seems to be loved by so many people of all walks of life and race, but he was getting support from an unlikely source, that’s right, a robot. If you were thinking of voting for John McCain, then you would have had a change of heart seeing this big robot coming down the Turlington Plaza pavement. Read more

Hands on with the WowWee Rovio Robot

The first thing that you should know about the WowWee Rovio Robot is that it is not a toy. The robot is both intuitive as well as a total pleasure. The set-up of the robot was painless, which is great if you are not that technically minded. Read more

VIA Pico-ITX at the Heart of Modern Robots

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today showcased VIA EPIA Pico-ITX-based entertainment robots at the Taipei International Robot Show (TIROS), being held on 21-24 August at the World Trade Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

With robotics development representing the cutting edge of technological progress, VIA’s commitment to extremely compact form factors, robust performance, extensive feature sets and extremely low power consumption means that VIA’s off-the-shelf EPIA boards are becoming an essential component for academic, hobbyist and commercial robot developers Read more

Robots and Humans: Intel say equal by 2050

The idea of Robots being as smart and lifelike as Humans is a scary one to some people, but also something very useful and exciting to others. Intel has said that the gap between robots and us will close by 2050. Read the press release below for full details.

INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, San Francisco, Aug. 21, 2008 – Intel Corporation’s chief technology officer took a fascinating look at how technology will bring man and machine much closer together by 2050

Read more

Technology to help feed the world in efficient ways

With technology improving faster than ever before we have to look at ways to help countries that need help in the most basic ways.

On Yanko Design we can see a concept that would help feed the world, it’s designed by Armand Leconte and you can see one image of the invention on this page.

Sci-fi screenplay writers will be cracking their knuckles if this latest concept by Armand Leconte becomes reality. He envisions vast fields of crops being harvested by autonomous, cold hearted, damn-dirty robots! Wait, sorry…just watched iRobot.

Seriously though, feeding the world is becoming more and more difficult and finding new more efficient ways to grow and harvest crops is a huge priority around the globe.

Armand’s “AllTrack” tractor of the future (add sci-fi eerie noises) was designed to optimise the number of vehicles needed, as well as the consumption of energy, and save storage space. Freeing up more space for corn or burrito bushes.

Visit Yanko Design for more images and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Metal Gear Solid 4: video review for Sony PS3

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, is the story of snake, who has become one of the most popular characters in the industry, is about to come to a close. We have all been teased with a number of trailers, but now we players can finally get to see how great this game is. MGS4 is both impressive and uncompromising, it’s sure to inspire just as much love, hate, discussion, and debate as any other game in the series. The genetically modified super snake has now been transformed into old Snake, this is due to a rapidly accelerated aging process, while battling this condition, Snake has to travel the globe in pursuit of his brother, Liquid.

The game starts of in the Middle East; it then moves to Latin America and then arrives at a key location in Metal Gear history. While wrestling with some heavy themes as well as following an old man trying to save the world before he bails out of it for good, Guns of the Patriots, lays every last card the series has left on the table. The game takes on questions from past titles as well as calling in every last character still standing to play their role in the game. It is so much to take in, even if you do enjoy the cut scenes, it is sometimes too much. The sometimes bloaty and messy effort to sort out the back story can completely eclipse the immediate plot as a result the games flow and urgency is damaged.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is a beast in terms of design, but it can still be described as a linear stealth action experience design, divided into several acts, and spanning about 5 different environments. Your objective in the game is to move from point-to-point in a pre-determined path in order to trigger your nest objective, in order to advance in the story. Maps are large, but yet still restrictive to the players movement. When you reach an objective marker, the odds are that something significant is about to happen.

You will make it through the game with the help of a few allies, most important being your friend and tech support guy Otacon. In addition to loaning out the mark two robots, which is capable of scouting out enemy positions and sometimes delivering the occasional electric shock, Otacon also hooks you up with the Solid Eye Imaging Device, and the user friendly Octo camo system, this automaticilly changes your camouflage pattern to your surrounding.

For a full video review, check out the video below.

Nintendo Wii Controller System to operate real military robots: Is this good for warfare?

Strange but true and quite scary really but the Nintendo Wii controller system will be used in real life warfare to operate military robots. All I hope is that the men and women in the military do not play the Nintendo Wii in real life or they might think it’s a game.

Scientist has reported that two scientists in the United States have just adapted the Nintendo Wii control system technology into robots that clear mine fields.

The Nintendo Wiimote detects movement in three dimensions using wireless technology in the games as we know it, but it is just for that “games” so do we really want this technology in modern warfare?

Sky News – Full Story

Transformers iPod Dock with Speakers

There are so many different types of iPod docks available on the market and this one just adds to them.

This Optimus Prime Transformers iPod dock with speakers is great to have if you are a fan of these fictional alien robots.

The Transformers Music Label - Convoy iPod Docking Bay with Speakers is 6 inches high and available for $149.95.

You can get this here

Vstone Black Ox robot called Gigantor should entertain: Video action

We all love robots and the more sophisticated the better, Vstone Black Ox robot is called Gigantor and the original stands 7,000 feet tall, but come on there is not way you can have a robot that size in your house.

So what they did was built a Tokyo sized one for you all, the Gigantor robot is only foot and a half tall from the floor and features 20 movable axis points, oh and he has mean fighting skills which should entertain you somewhat.

Watch the video below of Gigantor in action (Watch out for the laser eyes).

Source – Impress

The Verro 600 PowerScrub Robot: Cleans Your Pool In 60 Minutes

If you’ve got your own pool but hate having to clean it, you may want to invest in one of these Verro 600 PowerScrub Robots. While you sunbathe on your recliner, sipping your cocktail this little robot will scrub your entire pool, leaving it gleaming.

Using a set of PVA brushes to clean, the Verro 600 PowerScrub will clean the pool in 60 to 90 minutes! The robot’s vacuum and self-contained filtration system removes everything from leaves, dirt, and other larger debris to smaller items down to 2 microns in size!

The Verro 600 PowerScrub Robot will leave a $1100-shaped hole in your bank account but then again it’ll cost less than a pool boy in the long run!

Source

iRobot Receives Award for DARPA LANdroids Program

iRobot Corp have today announced that it has received an award under the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) LANdroids program.

It is said that iRobot will develop a new portable communications relay robot that is small, inexpensive, intelligent and robust. The new effort takes advantage of the company’s extensive experience in mobile robot design and production.

The goal of the DARPA LANdroids program is to develop technologies to enable the war fighter operating in dense urban environments to rapidly deploy and maintain a vital communications infrastructure.

This robot will be small enough that a single dismounted war fighter can carry multiple robots, inexpensive to the point of being disposable, robust enough to allow the war fighter to drop and throw them into position, and smart enough to autonomously detect and avoid obstacles while navigating in the urban environment.

What do you think of this idea?

source

Robots Used to Toxic Testing

This yellow robot has the potential to save a few animals from being tested on. The robot is capable of testing thousand of cell based tests at a time, which means that results Read more

Last 30 News & Products: 02-29-2008

Video of Boob Shadow demonstration, damn she is hot: Virtual or real women?

What would you prefer, virtual women or real women? We love this video which is a demonstration of boob shadows, the Emergent Game Tech video from GDC 2008 is well worth the watch. Now I am not going to leave my wife or anything but if the graphics end up any Read more

Ketai Sousakan 7 robo Softbank Toshiba 815T PB: Transformers Mecha phones

If you thought that cell phones were going a little too far it seems as if you could be right, as the new show Ketai Sousakan 7 will feature Softbank Toshiba 815T PB cell phones that Read more

Justine The Futuristic Butler Can Make Coffee On Demand

By the time I become rich enough to afford a maid or butler, it looks like they’ll be replaced by robots like this one! Bruno Sicilano, a professor at Naples university is currently working on a 6.3 million Euro project called DEXMART. The aim of the project Is to create Justine - a robot who can make instant coffee in, well, an instant! Read more

GDC 2008 Gaming News: Monster Lab Combat Walkthrough

Watching the Monster Lab Combat Walkthrough video that you can watch below has its ups and downs really, and in that I mean the graphics and customizing robots seems pretty cool indeed but then the Read more

$750 to $6,000 Junk Robots from Bennett Robot Works

I do not get it, what is so special about these robots; they’re just robots made from junk. The robots don’t do anything so who would want to waste their money on stuff that doesn’t do any think. The sculptures from Bennett Robot Works were made with objects from garage dumps, basements, construction sites and garage sales Read more

WowWee Dragonfly Robot vs. Real Hawk

With robots becoming more lifelike everyday it looks like hawks are not able to tell the difference, there have been reports that 45 people have been attacked by hawks as they try to take their WowWee Dragonfly Robot Read more

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