Gadget Access

Remember yesterday when I was talking about convergence products? While the keyboard/Skype phone combination didn’t really appeal to me, I don’t doubt that there are people out there that would enjoy that particular device. However, cramming Skype phones into random peripherals seems to be the latest craze, and not all of them turn out quite as well as Buffalo’s keyboard/phone combo.

This mouse seems to be one of the best cases of a good idea gone bad. I’m sure that they were thinking that almost everyone uses a mouse, so it would be great to give it an extra function. We’ve seen a Skype phone/mouse combo before that didn’t seem too bad, as it did resemble both a mouse and a phone. This one does not. I’m pretty sure that I’d look about as strange as Maxwell Smart did when talking into his shoe.

If you’ve got $16 burning a hole in your pocket, I’m sure you could find something better to purchase. This thing doesn’t look like it would be comfortable to use as either a mouse or a phone.

Source: GeekAlerts

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Okay, if this picture doesn’t freak you out, then you are obviously too used to robots. Honestly, this is looks like a brand of Terminator robot that John Conner’s band of human rebels would open fire at. That, or the last thing you would see before the machines put you in the Matrix for the rest of your artificial life.

Yet the Robovie is a project under development by the Advance Telecommunications Research Instituted (ATR) in Japan, and it has the ability to spot people in a crowd who are lost. It is then programmed to go up to them, and give them directions to their location.

The Robovie uses 16 cameras, six laser-range finders, and nine RFID tag readers in order to watch 20 people at a time. All those sensors can somehow determine who is lost and who isn’t, and then does its mobile mall directory action.

It is slated to work in shopping malls in Osaka, but I don’t know what is going to happen when Robovie is available everywhere. What happens when a child gets lost in a mall? If that kid has been told by his parents not to go anywhere with a stranger, then he or she will be running the other way when Robovie tries to help him or her.

Let’s hope this technology will not be as scary-looking by the time it is fully developed.

Source

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I’m sure that some of you out there are eagerly awaiting the launch of the MacBook Air. Come on, someone has to be excited about it. No, I’m no Apple hater (quite the opposite actually), I’m just disappointed in this particular product. I really do believe that Apple could have done so much better. Anywho, for those that can’t wait to get their hands on one, your wait should soon be over.

According to sources, the tiniest of mobile Macs should be hitting Apple Stores as early as Tuesday (possibly Wednesday). If you wander into your local store today there’s a good chance that you’ll see banners and promotional material littered about.

Stores are already receiving stock on the Air, and employees should be getting their official training tomorrow. Somehow I doubt that we’ll see the crazy lines outside of the bigger stores that we saw for the iPhone.

Source: The Boy Genius

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Posted Jan 28th 2008 10:35AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Portable Audio
You know what your mother always used to say about things that seem too good to be true, but the deafening amount of hype and hyperbole being thrown about in reference to the “game changing” Qtrax with “25 million tracks” is quite distracting enough to take note of. According to the Qtrax website, the P2P client — Windows only, a Mac version is slated for March 18th — will be available at midnight EST, but while Qtrax is confident of its supposed deals with the majors, a few of those labels claim to be short of an actual deal with Qtrax. The business model is simple enough: DRM’d tracks count the number of times they’re played and then report back to the mother ship — which will divvy up revenue based on ad sales. It sounds like there’s PlaysForSure under the hood, and Qtrax claims it’ll have an iPod-friendly version ready before too long, but there’s a disturbing lack of detail on the official site. There is $30 million of VC funding behind the venture, so they clearly expect some results, but $30 million and high hopes certainly is no guarantee of label support of a crazy — and perhaps entirely overdue — scheme like this. We’ll be certainly watching for what happens at midnight.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Qtrax
Read - Times Online (It’s a go)
Read - NEWS.com.au (Labels back away)
Read - ZDNet UK (Rupert Goodwins weighs in)

Are you looking to give your pets something new and useful? Some people celebrate their pet’s birthday. And if you’re one of them, the Auto Pet Bowl is one of the best gifts you can give. This gadget is an electronic bowl designed to keep your pet’s food and water free from debris and contamination. It makes sure that your pet’s food is always clean, up until the time that your pet is ready to eat it.

The Auto Pet Bowl’s cover is equipped with proximity sensors that are powered by an infrared device. The lid stays on until your pet goes near the bowl and is ready to eat. The bowl can be used by cats, dogs, and other small pets you might have around the house. The bowl would automatically open the moment it detects the pet’s presence. And it will close when your pet leaves.

The compact design of the Auto Pet Bowl is so convenient and durable. The real bowl where the food is placed is made out of pure stainless steel and it can be removed for cleaning purposes. The bowl’s compact design also effectively keeps the bugs and the dusts away from your pet’s food, ensuring them of good health all the time.

The Auto Pet Bowl is best used for free-feeding pets or for giving them access to a fresh supply of water during the night. The circular bowl measures six inches across and three inches high. It can hold one and a half cups of pet food or water. The gadget runs on 4 double-A batteries.

Suggested Price: $34.99
Gimmie!

Posted Jan 28th 2008 7:53AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
It wasn’t quite a year ago that we saw JVC gush all over its own LH805 series of LCD HDTVs, but now, those are simply livin’ in the past. Introduced today, the LH905 series steps things up a notch with the included Genessa Premium 36-bit video engine. Additionally, the 37-inch LT-37LH905, 42-inch LT-42LH905 and 47-inch LT-47LH905 will all feature a 1080p resolution, 500 nits of brightness, dual ten-watt speakers, 10-bit LCD IPS panel, a built-in analog / digital terrestrial tuner, DLNA support, three HDMI 1.3 ports, integrated SD slot and an Ethernet port for good measure. Unfortunately, these are all sporting the elusive open offer tag for now, but the trifecta should start floating onto shelves late next month for those interested.

[Via Impress]

Posted Jan 28th 2008 10:14AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Cellphones, HDTV, Household
Here’s hoping you own some Verizon stock, readers. According to the company’s Q4 ‘07 earnings call which took place this morning, the massive telco finished out the year on an up note, with a sizable boost in subscribers, and consequently, profit. The company saw a net income boost of 3.9-percent ($1.07 billion, or $.37 a share) year-over-year, and a rise in revenue at 5.5-percent to $23.84 billion, including a 13.3-percent gain (or about 2 million new customers) in wireless sales. Analysts expectations were right on mark with the company’s earnings, at $.62 a share, and the company saw growth in both its aforementioned wireless division, as well as big jumps in FiOS users. That’s right kids, the rich do get richer.

Back in the day, I did my stint designing lighting and sets for community theater companies, so I’ve seen more than my share of wooden acting. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen metal acting.

The RoboThespian is a life-sized robotic puppet, designed with one mission in mind — to entertain. Created by UK interactive exhibit builder Engineered Arts, the robot can do spoken parts, singing, story telling, and even some dance maneuvers. Now sit back and enjoy as RoboSapien performs some classic movie moments.

Here he is doing his DeNiro:

click to view this video clip

And no robot act would be complete without some Aaahnold:

click to view this video clip

How about a little salty old Robert Shaw from Jaws:

click to view this video clip

RoboThespian does his best C3P0:

click to view this video clip

I like to think this is a scene from A Clockwork Orange:

click to view this video clip

While RoboThespian won’t be winning an Oscar anytime soon, he’s might be good enough to pull off a People’s Choice or a Golden Globe.

If you happen to live in the UK, you should be able to check out some of these guys performing at The Eden Project in Cornwall. Otherwise, Engineered Arts rents and sells these robots for use in special events, museums and entertainment facilities, so you might run into one the next time you head out to get some some culture.

read more about:

act, animatronic, dance, programmable, robot, sing, speech

IT Reviews has a review of the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and writes, “While RIM is certainly hoping to open up new markets with the Pearl 8120, the 2-megapixel camera is likely to be a little underpowered for many consumers’ tastes, and the lack of hardware-based music playback controls will be a turn-off for those with access to more consumer-oriented media playing mobiles. The absence of 3G may also be an annoyance, though fast e-mail download and browsing is helped by the support for EDGE which we tried on O2’s network.”

Posted Jan 28th 2008 3:57AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Cellphones
In a move meant to bolster its software development prowess, Nokia just announced the acquisition Trolltech. Who’s Trolltech? Well, its software can be found in some 10 million devices. In fact, Trolltech’s Qt is used by such familiar applications as Skype, Google Earth, and Photoshop Elements while their Qtopia was spotted on a hacked Archos 5 series earlier this month. By acquiring Trolltech’s software development frameworks and application platforms, Nokia hopes to help developers create Internet applications that work on PCs and across Nokia devices. Specifically, Nokia claims that the move will “further increase the competitiveness of S60 and Series 40.” The deal also grandfathers Nokia into the LiMo Foundation and its attempt to bring open-source to your handset. Hear that Android? The $153 million offer must still be processed through regulatory channels and approved by shareholders — all expected before June in out.