While there are some robots like ASIMO still keeping it real with their classic robot looks, it seems that humanoid bots these days are increasingly falling into one of two categories:
creepy and
more creepy. Making no attempt to alter that trend are the researchers from Advanced Robotic Systems Laboratories (or ARSL), who are now showing off their new Proto-2 robot — and apparently holding it against its will. Designed partly to aid in the study of human-robot interaction, Proto-2 packs an “expressive face” complete with moving, Peter Gallagher-esque eyebrows, and it apparently has a more natural walking gait than many other humanoid bots thanks to a new
dynamic toe-joint that ARSL developed. Unfortunately, there’s no video of it in action available just yet, but you can check out plenty more pics, and even an interview with its creator by hitting up the links below.
Proto-2 humanoid robot auditions for Thunderbirds 2.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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When Apple introduced the iPod in 2001 — some 250 million units ago, as Steve Jobs noted — it began with a laser-like focus on digital music. Swap out a hard drive and FireWire port for a cassette collection, and the product was clearly the reinvention of the Walkman. The first Switched On in 2004 pondered the iPod photo as a stepping stone to video. And by 2007, the iPhone and iPod touch had become capable of playing a broad array of content and would soon be able to extend their capabilities dramatically via apps.
Nonetheless, while the iPhone and iPod touch were nearly as close cousins as the 3G and non-3G flavors of the iPad, they were each rooted firmly in the existing categories of smartphones and MP3 players and positioned against products in that space. Despite its limited app support, nobody thinks of the Zune HD as a handheld tablet; it’s a digital media player that competes against the iPod touch.
Continue reading Switched On: Tabula rasa
Switched On: Tabula rasa originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Do you hate Apple news? Are you so bothered by stories about the Cupertino-based company that you feel the need to comment on each and every story about how bothered by stories about the Cupertino-based company you are? Do you lay awake at night, cold sweat beading down your forehead, dreading the morning when you’ll potentially see your favorite tech site writing about a new Apple product? Do you believe that Apple is 100 percent evil in every way? Well we’re here to help.
Due to the overwhelming demand of 16 commenters, we present to you the Apple-free Engadget! Yes — read all the hot news happening in the tech world without the upsetting presence of Apple-related stories. Your dream is a reality… so now you’ll have to find something else to complain about!
Read – Engadget, sans Apple news
Subscribe – Engadget, minus the Apple
P.S. – You can change “apple” in the URL to whatever else you hate, too!
Do you hate Apple news? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A certain UK bank operates a delightfully dorky advertising campaign whose slogan is “we give you extra.” Well, in the case of mobile software communities, that’s exactly the case. From jailbroken iPhones to PS One-emulating HD2s to multitouch-enabled browsing on the Nexus One, the one group of people we know we can truly rely on are other geeks. So let’s salute those heroes once more, in recognition of the VisualBoyAdvance — a webOS-based emulator for Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games. The former two categories are said to play smooth as you like, whereas the Advance stuff suffers from slight slowdown at present. We’ve only seen it playing on a Pre, but there should be no reason why your Pixi wouldn’t be allowed in on this party. A quick video demo awaits after the break, and the source link has all the installation details you’ll need.
Continue reading VisualBoyAdvance turns your Palm Pre into a Game Boy emulator
VisualBoyAdvance turns your Palm Pre into a Game Boy emulator originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s not every day we get a nice, humble confession of fault from Apple, but it looks like the marketing department has seen the light on those overly optimistic web browsing mockups depicting Flash in “action” on the new Flash-free tablet device. Now the iPad promo video has been reworked to flaunt what we’re coming to know as the Blue Lego Block of Ambiguity[TM] in sections of sites that would traditionally be populated by highly stimulating Adobe Flash-based content. It’s not pretty, and it solves none of the other issues at hand with Apple’s continued avoidance of Flash on its iPhone OS, but at least it’s true.
Apple excises the false Flash in its iPad promo video originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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