by Darren Murph, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 2:50PM
We heard that Pal Technology’s REEM-B would be “fully revealed in Q1 2008,” and while things seem to be running ever-so-slightly behind, we can’t gripe too much. The creature was recently shown off in Abu Dhabi, where onlookers swooned and secretly crushed on the totally macho being. Its creators have also announced that the 1.47-meter tall robot was the last prototype to be formed, as it has plans for a commercial venture “in the near future.” The overriding goal for REEM-B is to have it act as a service bot for the elderly and disabled, and considering that it has no qualms reacting to voice commands and “engaging in simple conversations,” we’d say it’s pretty well suited to do just that. (Read the full post about ‘Pal Technology’s REEM-B humanoid shown off in Abu Dhabi’…)
You’ve got a beautiful backyard, with a gorgeous pool and a deck large enough to size a decent sized party, but something is missing from this luxurious scene. Where is the multimedia? A bunch of people standing around chatting on a pool deck can only steal the crowd’s attention for so long. And a music system blasting cheesy classical music can only accomplish so much.
If you’ve got the money, why not add an awesome theater system to go along with your poolside facade? The Backyard Theater System is an all-in-one unit for displaying video on a large screen on your very own property.
(Read the full post about ‘Backyard Outdoor Theater System’…)
by Darren Murph, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 11:22AM
Okay, so that was eerily fast. Merely two days after ASUS’ Eee PC 1000H went on sale in Taiwan, the cats over at TweakTown managed to secure a unit and curb their excitement long enough to unbox the thing, snap some photographs along the way and even capture the experience on video. Here’s a hint: it’s an Eee PC, it has a 10-inch display, and it’s leaving its original packaging. (Read the full post about ‘ASUS Eee PC 1000H already unboxed on video’…)
Display Taiwan 2008 was the occassion where AUO paraded its in-cell touch panel, featuring multi-touch capability integrated into the LCD cell manufacturing process which ultimately does away with the need to include yet another external glass touch interface. This bodes well for the future of the industry since it reduces the overall weight of a device, and as we all know, folks love slim stuff.
Tags: toys, buyers guides, consumer technology, CD
Here’s more information about the Acer Aspire One - apparently the good folks at LaptopMag have managed to snag a pre-production version, and here’s what they have to say about it.
Nevertheless, this mini-notebook is one of the thinnest and lightest we’ve tested, which also offers it a competitive advantage. The customized Linux interface is also one of the best we’ve seen, a worthy competitor to ASUS’s customized version of Xandros Linux. We look forward to putting the two custom Linuxes head-to-head.
Unfortunately, being unable to open it up and upgrade both the flash drive and RAM is quite the bummer.
(Read the full post about ‘A Closer Look at the Acer Aspire One’…)
by Darren Murph, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 7:40AMWhittling down the amount of remotes in one’s living room has long since been a challenge for the amateur home theater builder, and while there are some decent universal solutions on the market, the RF4CE Consortium is hoping to make things painfully simple. The group has been formed in order to “drive the adoption of an open radio frequency (RF) entertainment control specification based on IEEE 802.15.4.” If you’ll recall, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard that standard called, as it’s also used in MaxStream’s XBee Xtender. (Read the full post about ‘RF4CE Consortium aims to develop RF standard for entertainment control’…)
by Darren Murph, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 8:21AM
You kvetch enough about that ultrathin candybar taking up too much room in those über-tight Emo-style jeans — we know you’d throw a fit if you had to tote around a mobile akin to a rolling pin. Nevertheless, that’s not stopping Nokia’s wildly imaginative R&D team from throwing out a patent app for a cylindrical cellphone. (Read the full post about ‘Nokia has a laugh with cylindrical cellphone patent application’…)
Navigon’s GPS offerings have been a favorite of ours and we’ve recently covered them in our GPS feature. While the entry level Navigon 2100 continues to be sold at bargain prices, there’s a new version, which we briefly highlighted in our Father’s Day Gift Guide: the Navigon 2100 max.
We recently had a chance to further road test the Navigon 2100 max and came away very impressed.
Display
First off, Navigon made a number of noticeable improvements on the original 2100. Most notably, the display, which is now a 4.3″ widescreen, compared to the 2100’s 3.5″.
by Joshua Topolsky, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 8:51AM
Someday in the near future, the act of banging on your neighbor’s door at 3 am because he won’t stop playing I Can’t Go For That at obnoxious volumes will be unheard of. Literally. Scientists have demonstrated a “cloak of silence” in the New Journal of Physics which might be used to build homes, concert halls, or aircraft which are impervious to sound waves. The process works by utilizing “sonic crystals,” a meta-material made up of arrays of small cylinders which would channel sound around an object like water flowing around a rock. Says creator Dr. Sanchez-Dehesa, “It’s not an unrealistic blueprint - it doesn’t demand that we do extraordinary things… (Read the full post about ‘Scientists create “cloak of silence” — serial killing will never be the same’…)
by Darren Murph, posted Jun 13th 2008 at 1:18PM
Alright, so we’re not really any closer to determining whether or not ChauhanStudio’s HAL LCD TV is headed for commercial production, but we do know this: at least one of these bad boys are real. Yep, the mockup we saw a few months back has somehow made it into reality, though we can’t say for sure that there is anything more than rarefied air packed within the glossy white enclosure. (Read the full post about ‘ChauhanStudio’s Jetsons-esque HAL LCD TV gets real’…)
