Filed under: Robots
In yet another example of robots getting the short end of stick, a Japanese weather forecasting company is set to deploy a swarm of some 200 pollen-sniffing robots throughout the country, which will warn us humans of any impeding pollen-related dangers (and no doubt scare a few unsuspecting animals in the process). As you can see, the robots are of the spherical variety, and measure a scant one foot across and weigh in at about 2.2 pounds. Sticking true to creepy robot conventions, they also boast glowing eyes, which light up in one of five different colors to indicate the level of pollen in the air. Somewhat curiously, that information takes a rather roundabout way back to the company’s headquarters, with 200 allergy suffers volunteering to keep watch on the robots and rely their status back to the company.
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Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment
We’ll be straight with you — Mitsubishi’s latest duo isn’t exactly cut out for in-home use, but that’s not to say it wouldn’t be the source of copious quantities of enjoyment if you snagged one from the supply closet one weekend. Without further ado, we present the XL1550U, which features an XGA (1,024 x 768) resolution, 3,100 ANSI lumens and a lamp life of up to 5,000 hours. Moving on, we’ve got the XL2550U, which touts the same resolution but offers up 4,000 ANSI lumens, the firm’s new BrightEra LCD panels and a lamp good for around 4,000 hours of use. Furthermore, both units promise side-loading lamps, built-in Ethernet ports for LAN asset management and an RS-232 port for third-party integration. Both of these beamers will be on the market before this month draws to a close for $3,995 and $4,495, respectively.
[Via AboutProjectors]
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Filed under: Cellphones
We’d heard that the iPhone 1.1.3 update was causing major problems with SMS message order, but a new support doc up on Apple’s site points to a relatively simple fix: turning on automatic date / time updates. Apparently the problem is caused when the internal clock doesn’t match up to the carrier clock — which seems like it’ll be a continuing annoyance for frequent travelers, so hopefully a better solution is in the works.
[Thanks, Dan]
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Filed under: Handhelds
It looks like Digital Cube’s i-station brand knows no bounds, with it emblazoning everything from
UMPCs to
PMPs to
GPS/PMP/DMB combos, and now even the ever-popular and slightly perplexing “electronic dictionary.” That latest entry comes in the form of the i-station UDIC which, like
most electronic dictionaries, does a good deal more than just defining and translating, something that should come as no surprise given the device’s 60GB hard drive, 4.3-inch touch screen (which can be flipped around), and other decidedly non-dictionary features. No word on a price, but you know where you’ll have to go if you want to get your hands on one.
[Via Tech Digest]
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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Yeah, we Americans have some pretty fancy toys to play with, but we still can’t help but feel a touch slighted each time one of these beauties emerges from South Korea. WithView’s HM-U500 sports a whole lot of screen and not much bezel, an ultrathin design and a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 resolution panel. Reportedly, the unit is available in 4GB and 8GB iterations and features an SD expansion slot, built-in camera, a kickstand, headphone jack, a T-DMB tuner, e-dictionary, and support for MP3, WMV, OGG, JPG, BMP, PNG and AVI file formats. No word on a price or anything, but for the US crowd who can’t just hop on the next flight to Seoul to pick one up, we’re probably better off not knowing.
[Via TheGadgetSite]
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