Still haven’t nailed down the perfect Christmas gift for that special someone in your life? Shame on you. Just kidding. But on the real, if you’ve got $2,397.99 and a lust for robotics, there’s hardly a better buy available right now than this. The concoction you’re peering at above isn’t apt to go on sale to the general public again anytime soon, as it’s a rare prototype motion capture exoskeleton that was used by (the now-defunct ) Ugobe in the creation of Pleo . Word has it that this suit was vital to the R&D efforts surrounding the first edition of the outfit’s robotic dinosaur, with one Caleb Chung fitting in and hulking about as computers analyzed and recorded movements. So far as we can tell, all of the circuits and wires are still here, meaning that you actually could use this for R&D of your own provided you had the right equipment to read it. Unfortunately, it’ll cost a small fortune to ship a 350 pound crate anywhere outside of the continental US, but for those of you currently living overseas… well, here’s your excuse to relocate. [Thanks, Colin] Prototype Pleo motion capture exoskeleton up for grabs: $2,400 OBO originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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And you thought your year-end PowerPoint — complete with that snazzy “Ding!” after every slide — was something to admire. The video below is a Google Demo Slam entrant, going up against a Voice Search piece featuring Maria Sharapova. We know precious little about what it took to create, but somehow or another, a trio of animators created a mind-blowing 450 page presentation in just three days, and none of ‘em were located in the same space. Thankfully for you, it’s all explained in a blistering one minute, twenty-nine second YouTube clip. Enjoy. Continue reading Google Docs presentation makes PowerPoint weep, beg for mercy (video) Google Docs presentation makes PowerPoint weep, beg for mercy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …LG commits to major smartphone, tablet, and smart TV investments for New Year’s resolution
December 20, 2010 No Comment
LG’s set aside quite a big chunk of change — 21 trillion won (about $18 billion) — for investments next year, almost 12 percent higher than its 2010 allowance. And a good chunk of that, 14.2 trillion won, is going to electronics: smartphones, tablets, advanced TVs and components for 3DTVs, according to the Wall Street Journal . (The rest, if you’re curious, is going into medical products, electric vehicle batteries, and an assortment of other businesses.) True, LG’s position in the smartphone market isn’t quite what it wanted — its now-former CEO Nam Yong claimed responsibility and retired in September — but we’d be lying if we said we haven’t been smitten with its Optimus lineup of Android handsets lately, and already we’ve seen some impressive future devices . Now, those tablet investments… figure out an OS yet? Can we make suggestions ? LG commits to major smartphone, tablet, and smart TV investments for New Year’s resolution originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The Engadget Show – 016: Mitsubishi’s Frank DeMartin, iRobot, Aldebaran’s NAO robot, Ubisoft Battle Tag, CES ’11 preview, and more!
December 20, 2010 No Comment
Get ready humans, because we have an all new Engadget Show that is you do not want to miss! First up, Josh sits down with Mitsubishi product chief Frank DeMartin for a talk about the future of television technology . Next, Paul gets a behind the scenes look at iRobot’s headquarters and test-drives military robots in an exclusive new Engadget Show segment. Then, Josh and Paul welcome Aldebaran Robotics to the stage for a never-before-seen demo of their humanoid robot NAO. Shots fly as Nilay joins the roundtable for a look at Ubisoft’s new laser tag game, Battle Tag ; and the guys recap the year in tech then preview what’s on tap for next year at CES 2011 . To round it all out, BIT SHIFTER rocks the house with some killer holiday chiptunes music with visuals by noteNdo . What are you waiting for? Watch it now! Hit up the video stream after the break or download the show in HD below! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller Special guests: Frank DeMartin, Colin Angle, Jean-Michel Perbet, J
Continue reading …Xerox shows off Smart Document Review table, a Surface that sifts through billions of docs (video)
December 20, 2010 No Comment
You have a lot of documents you’ve acquired over the years, hundreds or thousands in some semblance of order thanks to folders and whatnot. Now, imagine taking the output from hundreds or thousands of others, all with their own ideas about organization, and finding only those pages relevant to a certain topic. That’s what legal aides have to do in cases where a major corporation is being investigated, and we’re thinking that’s a major target market for Xerox ‘s Smart Document Review. It’s a prototype touchscreen table that enables users to collaboratively filter documents, starting by indexing a giant pool and then allowing for the creation of “magnets” that contain keywords or other heuristics and dynamically pull out matches, all happening courtesy of animations that look only slightly less sophisticated than those seen in Hackers . Search results can then be dumped to a thumb drive. The prototype table dates back to earlier this year, but Xerox is now making them available as part of a pilot program exclusively for trendy law offices with unisex bathrooms. [Thanks, Pradeep ] Continue reading Xerox shows off Smart Document Review table, a Surface that sifts through billions of docs (video) Xerox shows off Smart Document Review table, a Surface that sifts through billions of docs (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Two Kinects join forces to make 3D telepresence, enable virtual light saber battles (video)
December 20, 2010 No Comment
UC Davis’s Oliver Kreylos has been responsible for two of our most impressive Kinect hacks yet. He was one of the first to get proper 3D video out of the thing, following that up by pairing up two of the cameras , one to fill in the gaps of the other. You might have thought he was just playing around but no — oh no. There was a method to the madness and his ulterior motive has been revealed: 3D telepresence. This is what he’s been working on all along and he has an early version operational, using the output from two Kinects in a remote office to beam a 3D representation of another person to his display, which he can navigate around (and through) using a Wiimote . Meanwhile, the viewer can see the position of Oliver in real-time, a virtual camera floating around and enabling them to maintain eye contact despite her not actually looking at either physical camera. That demonstration is embedded after the break along with a somewhat fanciful follow-up in which Kreylos engages in a rather… protracted lightsaber battle against the forces of evil. Continue reading Two Kinects join forces to make 3D telepresence, enable virtual light saber battles (video) Two Kinects join forces to make 3D telepresence, enable virtual light saber battles (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Apple looking to hire iOS navigation engineers, first test is to find way around One Infinite Loop
December 20, 2010 No Comment
Is Apple looking to take it to Google and its uppity Maps app? That certainly looks to be the case, with AppleInsider noticing that the company has four new job listings which specify “Computational Geometry or Graph Theory” and “experience developing navigation software” as “valuable knowledge.” The obvious implications here are that Apple’s looking to craft first-party, full-fledged, turn-by-turn navigation and bring it to its GPS-equipped devices, but maybe the company’s previous new hires simply got lost a lot and this is just an attempt to nip that problem in the bud. Either way, the software job market just improved by four. Giddy up, coders. [Image credit: Nurimb ] Apple looking to hire iOS navigation engineers, first test is to find way around One Infinite Loop originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …NASA Green Flight Challenge proposes ‘pocket airports,’ invites you to fly ‘em all
December 20, 2010 No Comment
Soon we’ll be hopping on a jet plane, heading to Vegas, living the life, playing with gadgets, and not getting a lot of sleep. Flying to Nevada for CES on a plane is easy, but getting to the airport can be a challenge if you live out in the country. NASA wants that fixed as a sort of spin-off of its Green Flight Challenge, a prize awarded to an aerial vehicle that can manage 200mpg at 100mph while emitting only 78db of noise at 250 feet. It would also need a very short takeoff and landing, something that would allow it to land on what’s being called a “pocket airport.” These rinky-dink runways would fit on just two acres of land and would launch or receive an (ultimately autonomous) aircraft every 30 seconds. The idea is that such strips could be scattered about suburban areas and provide quick, convenient shuttling to real airports and, presumably, to other pocket airports. Now, we wonder, will we still need to empty our pockets before boarding? NASA Green Flight Challenge proposes ‘pocket airports,’ invites you to fly ‘em all originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Scientists attempt to predict flu spread, give ZigBee radios to 700 high school students
December 20, 2010 No Comment
This is the Crossbow TelosB wireless remote platform, and it did an important job for science in January of last year — it monitored the close proximity interactions among 788 students and staff at one US high school to track a virtual flu. After collecting over 762,000 sneeze-worthy anecdotes among the module-toting teachers and teens, Stanford researchers ran 788,000 simulations charting the path the virus might take and methods the school might try to keep it in line. Sadly, the scientists didn’t manage to come up with any easy answers, as virtual vaccination seemed to work equally well (or poorly) no matter who got the drugs, but that if only we could actually monitor individuals in real life as easily as in a study, prevention would be much easier. But who will bell the cat, when it’s so much less political to ionize ? Scientists attempt to predict flu spread, give ZigBee radios to 700 high school students originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …AT&T buys Qualcomm’s FLO TV spectrum for a cool $1.9b, promises 4G awesomeness
December 20, 2010 No Comment
Qualcomm and AT&T are no longer talking about a deal , they’ve agreed one: pending regulatory checks and other closing conditions, the wireless spectrum that was once dedicated to FLO TV will now be transferred into AT&T’s ownership in a $1.925 billion deal. Located in the lower 700MHz range, this bit of wireless space is said to cover more than 300 million people nationwide and AT&T expects it to play an important role in its future 4G network rollout and development. All that due diligence housekeeping will take the two companies a little while, with the deal expected to be finalized in the latter half of 2011, but at least we can rest assured that AT&T’s serious about not being left behind . Continue reading AT&T buys Qualcomm’s FLO TV spectrum for a cool $1.9b, promises 4G awesomeness AT&T buys Qualcomm’s FLO TV spectrum for a cool $1.9b, promises 4G awesomeness originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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