Details are a bit sparse for the time being, but Honda claims that the legs transparently reduce the strains of walking, standing and crouching, and should be "as easy to use as a bicycle." The AP reporter who got to test the robo-legs had this to say about them:

This reporter found it does take some getting used to. But I could sense how it supported my moves, pushing up on my bottom when I squatted and pushing at my soles to help lift my legs when I walked.

Uses will not be limited to assisting mobility for seniors. Honda claims that one of the most practical uses for the legs would be at factories, where workers may have to assume repetitive, uncomfortable postures. The device is still in its experimental stages, but Honda plans to start testing early models on its factory workers as soon as next month. [Honda via AP]

Jesús Díaz: Have you tried to give your astromech droid actual "droid" powers? You know, like some complex sensory input and artificial intelligence, at least at the AIBO level.
Chris James: One of the top questions we get is, are they autonomous or can they be retrofitted with the electronics from the little interactive R2 from Hasbro. The simple answer is yes they can be or could be done, but (and it's a big but) would you want a 200lb aluminum droid running around bumping into things? At a convention or show full of kids it would be incredibly dangerous.

Even something small like the holo projector eye twitching could poke an eye out as kids look into them all the time. I've been at events where we've had frequency issues and it's incredible scary when a droid starts tearing off when you're not expecting it.

Having said that, there are a number of people working on AI R2's, mostly powered by Leaf.

JD: Are you planning to add them yourself in the future, though?
CJ: My droid is powered by a bunch of small PIC micro processors, so not a huge amount of processing power but I may add some sensor/intelligence, like rotation dome/tracking, and syncing sound to people talking to him. But I'd make it optional and under my control when I want it to be autonomous. So if people were at a distance he could track movement and respond with sounds.

JD: Seeing your R2-D2—and looking at current toy robotics—actually makes me believe that there's a possibility of having a Maybe not capable of calculating hyperspace jumps, but good enough to order him things using speech, rather than a remote. Do you think we will see multifunction droids in the spirit of R2 coming from companies any time soon?
CJ: I'm really not a robotics expert by any stretch of the imagination, but from what I see we're there right now in some area, but I can't see people owning cheap AI droids like C3PO or Artoo in our lifetime. It would be nice, but I just can't see Asimo gaining enough intelligence at a price we can all afford.

I would be quite happy to have this one combined with an HD projector, all speech controlled. [Artoo Detoo—Video by Brian Lam]

The operation, called the Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration (AARD), flew 11 robotically controlled refueling missions over the past year. The droids nailed every one with near-perfect precision, and looking on during each flight was a couple of forlorn human pilots, on board just to watch over the proceedings in case something went terribly wrong (see them throwing their hands up in despair in the pic above). The droids were even able to hook up with the fueling basket while the plane was banking into a turn, a feat that most pilots won't even attempt.

Score one more for the bots, who will soon be able to completely replace humans in the cockpit and elsewhere, saving the skins of us meat puppets while risking their own innocent robot lives. Before you know it, they'll be objecting to our putting them in harm's way. [Defense Industry Daily, via The Register]