Filed under: Robots

Research is still in the early stages, but the concept renders are straight out of science fiction. Some friendly folks at Carnegie Mellon University are working towards electromagnetic microscopic bots that cling together and can assume virtually any shape. Down the line that means rapid prototyping, the promise of “claytronics,” and the mysterious deaths of plane crash victims, but current examples of the tech are anything but slick. The primary uniting element is that the bots being developed have no moving parts, instead using magnetic forces to pull themselves around in relation to each other. Peep the video after the break for some samples.

Continue reading Shape-shifting magnetic bots take a page out of the Dharma playbook

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

If Mitsubishi’s polite pair of projectors weren’t enough to satisfy those impeccably high standards of yours, we’ve all ideas that Planar’s duo won’t let you down. First spotted at Runco / Planar’s zanily themed booth at CEDIA, it seems that Planar is just now getting around to giving us a ship date that we can dutifully pencil in. The flagship PD8150 — which checks in with a glorious 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 1,000 ANSI lumens and a 15,000:1 contrast ratio — will finally ship in early March for $7,999. As for the $5,999 PD8130, which also hits the road in March, you can expect the same resolution with a slightly lower 10,000:1 contrast ratio. Pretty tempting, no?

[Via AboutProjectors]

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Congress extends wiretap law for 15 days

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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