And remember, mother there's only one, so treat her right!

Fools! [Firebox via Toyology]

Pretty impressive, and saves all that fiddling around with buttons when you should be busy controlling your car. It's got background noise suppression, so apparently it can cope with driving noise. And its independent battery runs it for 10 hours, without affecting the iPod.

There's just one flaw: its price. At $159 it's more than a 4GB nano itself, and that seems a little crazy. They are planning on releasing new versions for other iPods and the iPhone "as soon as possible," but this one will be out in December. [DirectVoxx]

And, this thing can deliver a mean cocktail and turn in place while moving, no sweat. Great news for finicky guests that change their mind at the last second.
[Danbar Toys via Technabob]

Jacob Whitehill, who is leading the team from the Machine Perception Laboratory, reckons that it could put an end to confused students during lectures. "If I am a student dealing with a robot teacher and I am completely puzzled and yet the robot keeps presenting new material, that's not going to be very useful to me," he said. "If, instead, the robot stops and says, 'Oh, maybe you're confused,' and I say, 'Yes, thank you for stopping,' that's really good."

Whitehill gave a German grammar lesson in his lab—ja, ja, das is fantastich!—and recorded it using video-conferencing software in an effort to understand the facial expressions used by people as they learn and process new information. Nods from the students generally meant understanding of the subject, while a frown or puzzled look means, "Wassee on about?"

There's a video of Jacob and his fabulous zapper face in action here, and the team's findings are being presented today at the 2008 IEEE International Workshop on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition for Human Communicative Behavior Analysis. [Science Daily via Neatorama]

History & Design
By the spring of 1998, TiVo was developing what we all know now as the DVR. During the design stages, their designers knew they would not only need to create a DVR that was extremely functional, but also a corresponding remote control that would allow seamless and intuitive use.

This is where Paul Newby enters.

“I came to TiVo when we were still called Teleworld, and when we started off we grabbed off-the-shelf remotes. These remotes had multiple rows and columns of keys, and it was clear this wasn’t going to work. What we decided to do early on was make a remote that grabbed attention off the coffee table.”

When Newby pushed his designers to create a remote that would stand out, he was shocked by the initial designs. The reasonable ones resembled items like a bread-stick or a spatula, but there were few that were so crazy they looked more like a toad.

There was one designed that was nicknamed the Peanut. Once a few foam prototypes were made, the designers called the shape a success.

“It became obvious early on that to achieve the seamless trick play and control we were after for our new PVR/DVR creation, the remote must be comfortable for long periods of in-hand use. This and an iconic look, were motivations for the more distinctive, organic, peanut shape.”

This peanut shape saw slight variations from mold to mold, with some that were wafer thin to others that were more like a thick slab. With the final prototype, designers and the TiVo team felt that a medium amount of curve was the best for a remote.

Once the shape had been finalized, the designers and engineers began tackling other details to the remote. Aspects like button layout and electronics were now on the drawing board. But throughout the tedious work of refining, the designers began to poke fun at the decision they made.

“There were a lot of jokes about the shape. Not just the obvious ones,” said Newby. “I can remember some referencing to an earlobe, or the shape of the lower back/butt area."

Like any remote, the designers were adamant about keeping the remote’s button layout as simple as possible. But with the DVR’s numerous features, the designers needed to create lots of extra buttons. To keep things straight, each button needed to have a distinctive feel, giving the ability to control the remote without even looking at it, which Newby described as a “key Braille-ability" surprisingly helped by the "blank finger parking spots between keys" that were equally important.

Eight and a half months after the team started in July 1998, the first remote was done.

Throughout the whole design process, Newby continually told his design team to try anything, but to always keep two things in mind.

“Number one, get up from the desk, and number two, be ready to endure someone telling you in less than an ideal way that your baby stinks.”

Without knowing it, Newby’s last bit of advice was crucial when TiVo started to work with other manufacturers who were reluctant to use this strange Peanut remote.

Dealing With Manufacturers
At this point, TiVo's designers felt that they had developed one of the most ingenious remotes on the market. Sadly, when TiVo began working with manufacturers such as Sony and Hughes (Direct TV), they did not feel the same.

“The process was very very very, frustrating and quite frankly, I was surprised.”

Because some of the manufacturers didn’t want to use the Peanut shape at all, the TiVo decided that if a different remote was going to be supplemented, it had to have some core requirements.

A big yellow pause button and characterize thumb buttons were a necessity. But as hard as TiVo pushed, these were the exact type of buttons that the manufactures insisted against.

“Using a bright color on remotes was not something that these companies did. Anything thing with character images on it, the companies didn't want to use.”

In the end there was consensus, but it wasn't easy getting there.

Series Updates
With each Series update the Peanut saw a slight change in design.

“We’ve toyed with other shapes in the background but always come back to the peanut. The subtle shift from Series 1 to Series 2 allowed more free space between keys, space for partner branding, and improvements for manufacturability. The shift to Series 3 made refinements in key snap, backlight, fore/aft directionality, and balance.”

During the change from Series 1 to Series 2 there was an interesting internal change that many users never knew about.

“We set the IR emitter power fairly high on the early Series 1 production remotes. This had the effect of being able to control TiVo from any number of off angle positions. It also turned out that, in some cases, a user could even drape themselves and the remote completely in a blanket, yet still blast through the blanket to control TiVo.”

Among designing and updating the remote, this concern for battery life would stay as a major concern for adding features. For example, Newby's team has a Series 2 remote that was back-lit, but backed off because of power concerns.

With a back-light feature finally being added to the Series 3 remote, the team decided to use 4 AAA batteries rather than 2 AAs. (As a bonus, the heavier remote had a better center of gravity.) The batteries offset some of the power drain, but there is also a slight decrease in life, even with the light sensor selectively enabling the remote's illumination.

Even within the Series 3's lifetime the Peanut remote has seen some changes. When the first Series 3 remote shipped with the Series 3 TiVo, it had a painted gray bezel. Now that the Series 3 TiVo is being killed off for TiVo HD, TiVo’s flagship remote is the Glo remote. The major different between the original Series 3 remote and the new Glo remote is the bezel, which is now a shiny chrome which is cheaper to make.

Rare Remotes
Among the various colors of remotes that were produced, there are a few that were far less common.

For the first version of the remote, TiVo made a translucent array of colors that mimicked their logo's color. Sadly though, these remotes never actually made into the public's hands.

The rarest of them all is a rubberized blue five-year remote. This remote is only given to employees who have worked with TiVo for more than five years. More of an award than actual remote, it even has its own stand that displays it proudly. This remote was originally made in a rubberized Series 2 form, but has now been updated to the non-rubberized Glo form.

In the same vein as the five-year remote, there is now a 10-year.

“My team is working on a 10 year remote, and we're right on the cusp.”
“It will be a permutation of the Glo in a steel blue color.”

Future
With TiVo continually adding features to their DVRs, there is a growing need for a remote that will complement new features. The TiVo design team has acknowledged this, and Newby assures that they are are always working on improvements.

"There's probably about two and half of us at any given time designing the next remote."

With the next generation TiVo remote on the drawing board, I wondered what the possible additions could be.

When I asked if adding a small QWERTY keyboard was a possibility for the next generation, I was surprised by Newby’s answer.

"Let me just say we're ping-ponging the idea. You wouldn't be disappointed."

If they had given the idea of adding a keyboard though, then I figured I had to ask if there was possibility of incorporating a touchscreen for future use. Once again Newby’s response sparked my interest.

"We've either given it thought or were in the process of prototyping it. I'd say it's a healthy combination of both never been done, done before and what's been done well elsewhere."

"So you name it, were thinking about. But we are carefully at what we throw at it."

Also, thanks go to Danny.

I'd never stick one of these clunky beeping remote finder devices on any remote I gave a damn about. But they are triggered by the tone of the included whistle, which gives you and your clicker a relationship not unlike Lassie and Timmy. Very cool, until you lose the whistle. $18. Bonus: They've got a keychain version with a flashlight and voice recorder, too. [1ofakind via Crunchgear]

Installation is pretty simple and allows for TiVoRemote to be installed via Installer.app, once a new source is added. After launching the program and entering the settings menu, all that's required is the TiVo's IP address. Once entered, your iPhone / iPod is ready to control your Series 3 or HD TiVo. As you can see from the video above and picture below, the key layout is pretty basic. But I am sure it's only a matter of time till it gets spruced up, allowing the TiVo guy to be on the iPhone / iPod. From complete instructions hit the TiVoRemote link for the Google Code page. [TiVoRemote via TiVo Community Forum]

References to gaming in the filing also serve to rehash old rumors about gaming and Apple TV as well as how a controller like this might fit into such plans. Naturally, I have my doubts about such theories given Apple's stance on gaming over the years, but as with all rumors and patent filings, we will just have to wait and see what comes of it. [Appleinsider via MacRumors]

The 10-minute video documents the perfect flight of Skyray 48, the Boeing-NASA prototype of what could be the future of commercial aviation. Thanks to its design, designs derived from the X-48B will have less power consumption and less emissions, while increasing carrying capacity and speed compared with current cargo and passenger aircraft.

The plane took off last year from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, in California, controlled from the ground by Boeing pilot Norm Howell. [NASA]

• Panasonic 150" Plasma TV: It's called March Madness for a reason. With as many as 16 games to watch each day, don't you think you should be watching them in style? Also, we figure you could probably rig this baby to show all the games at once, but you should probably stay far away so you didn't get any drool on the screen.

• Philips Prestigo Remote Control: Buzzer-beaters are the name of the game when it comes to college basketball, and you never know when that history-making play could happen. Do yourself a favor, and get one of the biggest remotes money can buy. Program the buttons to switch between games, and that way you'll never miss a shot. Too bad there isn't a SAP button to have Gus Johnson calling every play.

• Hoverit Maglev Couch: Since you will likely spend an incredible amount of time in front of the television over the next four weeks, you should definitely have a comfortable place to sit. This couch is the ultimate technology statement next best thing, hovering above its base using magnets. Though it may not have the requisite beer holder, it gets bonus points for looking like the seat we'll use when Combat Basketball becomes a real sport.

Beer Robot: Speaking of beer, that staple beverage is a crucial part of any sporting event (assuming you aren't playing), but who knows what you may miss if you step away from the couch? This beer robot comes in handy, delivering a cold one straight to you so you never have to take your eyes off of the screen.

• NCAA March Madness On Demand: For those of you who forgot to call in sick to work, we feel your pain. But fear not, because you can watch the games right from the comfort of your desk. The NCAA is streaming the action over the web, but you better get log in early; the last time we checked, we were #141,782 in line to watch.

• Basketball PC: If you are one of the unfortunate ones stuck watching the games from a PC, you might as well use this basketball PC-mod and show your coworkers where your heart is really focused. However, as enticing as it may look, please do not try to dribble the computer.

• D3O Body Armor: Who hasn't had a gambling mishap or two? What with arbitrary spreads, unexpected injuries and Cinderella stories, you can't expect to win them all. Our bookie Frankie didn't seem to get that message though, and he didn't appreciate our repeated cries to pay him next Tuesday. Well, we won't be making that mistake any more, next time we see Frankie we'll be loaded up with this D3O body armor. Suddenly those baseball bat attacks will feel just like hugs.

• Offshore Bookie: Just because we aren't dealing with Frankie doesn't mean we have lost our insatiable appetite for risky betting. Luckily there are plenty of offshore betting websites to choose from. We have never tried these ourselves of course, but we hear that there's one good one involving some guy named Bo. Thankfully, their concept of credit is a bit different than old Frankie's.

Bonus:
• Palm-sized Cellphone Jammer: I wish I could time-travel back with this particular device to Bloomington, Indiana, a year or so ago, and stick it in Kelvin Sampson's desk. See, I graduated from IU, and I'm pretty disappointed with the way our great season went sour. All it took was a few (thousand) text messages from Coach Sampson. If your favorite coach has an addiction to text messages, I recommend you buy one of these and put it to use.

The aircraft charges from a power brick (not the controller, like Picoo Zs,) and a full battery will apparently give you around five to six minutes of flight. Its got proper three-axis control too, so you have forward and backward flight and yaw and roll. The IR remote has a range of 30 feet, and the model is designed to be robust enough to survive the impacts it'll incur as you learn to fly it (or at least, that I would cause as I learned to fly it!) This extra sophistication means it will cost around $160, and it's due for release imminently in the UK and apparently later in the spring over in the US. And I want one! [SnelFlight]

This solution does not have all of the bells and whistles as BTMM (like encryption options and a near zero configuration set up) but the bottom line is that you will be able to have complete control over your desktop remotely when all is said and done. Hit the link for instructions. [Lifehacker]

It looks easier to control than the choppers, but is apparently made to be "ultra tough" in case you still manage some high-speed collisions when playing with it. Available in three color schemes, it's out now for around $50. [Geekalerts]

Be careful with the Turbo Boost button, you wouldn't want to crash that Enzo at high speed, now, would you? Available now for about $25 each. [Strapya World via Technabob]

Rat Prankster: Remote Control RatA wireless remote control and a giant rat that responds to it will surely get you dumped, but hell, it's worth the laughs. Plus, she was way out of your league in the first place; she's bound to leave you at some point, it may as well be down to a $14.99 giant pest-joke. Verdict: At least the rat has a sense of humor. [Gagworks]

Rat Enemy: Rentokil Wireless Rat Trap SensorsWe heard about these Rentokil Pestconnect rat traps way back in 2005, but they are still the enemy! The rodent destroyers set traps all across your infested pad, once a successful catch is made an alert text message is sent to a designated mobile phone (email option also available). That can mean only one thing for our furry lil' buddy... Verdict: The rat perishes—oh noes! [Rentokil Pestconnect]

Rat Hybrid: Rat Heart Powered RobotsIt was only a few weeks ago when scientists in Korea managed to complete work on a crab-style microbot, which was smaller than the thickness of a fingernail. What was so special about this bot? It was powered by cardiac tissue from a rat. The researchers from Chonnam National University were able to articulate the robot's motion using contractions from the affixed cardiac muscle. The itsy-bitsy robot moved through a solution at a steady 100 micrometers per second, and it is hoped the project will give rise to faster, site-directed, clot-targeting microbots for the arteries of red-meat eaters. Verdict: The rat's got heart. [Discover]

Rat Royalty:iRiver MplayerThe Year of the Rat is also slightly less well known as the Year of the Mouse. As in Mickey. Since it's got a Disney partnership (at least in Asia), iRiver is commemorating this particular Chinese New Year with a gold-plated Mplayer. You'll only be able to grab one of these in China, so if a shiny Mickey MP3 player is all you have ever wanted, get importing or get a plane ticket. Verdict: The rat blings. [iRiver Mplayer]

Rat Rocks: Rat SpeakersThe USB Rat Speakers have a built-in amplifier, 6W total power output, volume control with blue LED indicator and retail for a rat-tastic $26.99. Sure, these speakers may sound mousy (ha!) but can you afford not to have their blue hue adding spirit to your cluttered desktop? Probably, but let's stay in the spirit of things, m'kay? Verdict: The rat's got soul. [Kleargear]

Traditionally, the rat is seen as a lucky character in Chinese culture, so we very much hope we have not come across as jackasses (any more than usual). We just wanted to find a Gizmodo way to say Gong Hei Fat Choy to y'all! And that's a rat, folks. (Sorry.)

As far as functionality is concerned, the TeleMax III keeps the simple theme going by automatically muting the TV mode when a call is received —and since it is hands-free, the bulky look of the unit should pose no problem. At this point, the Telemax III is still in a prototype phase, but Tiller+Tiller hopes to have a commercial version ready (along with stripped-down I and II versions) for release sometime in the next 18 months. [Gizmag]

The watch will also provide playback control functionality for your iPod nano, but if that is not enough to swing you in the direction of the Tokyoflash styled wannabe, perhaps the 50m water resistance, or the ability to function as a standard LCD watch may have you convinced? Either way, the Nike+ Amp is available in black, deep green or gray, retails at a reasonable $79 and is available now. [Product Page]
[Thanks, Elvis. P]

The lunch box-sized tablet remote — will include chrome and "hot-stamped" detailing. The device is expected to be out in a couple of months and should retail somewhere between $100-$150 dollars. It can also, in times of trouble, be used as a raft. [UberGizmo via RemoteShoppe]

The ARRU449 can handle everything from your DVD player to your DVR to a satellite receiver. Yes, its nice to not have to change the channel or squash the picture to see what's playing elsewhere, or change what the girlfriend is watching to get the latest sports scores, but for $399.99, the girlfriend can go to hell — I'm sticking with my sticky 3-year old remote control.

ACOUSTIC RESEARCH "WI-FI" REMOTE DELIVERS ON-REMOTE GUIDES, NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS INFORMATION

DENVER, September 6, 2007 - Offering a unique combination of sophistication and simplicity, the new Acoustic Research Wi-Fi Universal Remote controls a myriad of entertainment products and uses the home Wi-Fi network to deliver an Electronic Program Guide and personalized news, weather and sports headlines to the color LCD
display. The ARRU449 from Audiovox Accessories, which functions seamlessly without wires and without a computer, will be available in October with a suggested retail price of $399.99

"This innovative Acoustic Research Wi-Fi Remote is perfect for the consumer in a broadband-connected household that is seeking a simple, direct solution for controlling multiple products," said Lou Lenzi, senior vice president, product management, Audiovox Accessories. "Additionally, there is tremendous demand for instant access to the
latest news, sports and weather, and the WiFi remote expediently and efficiently delivers personalized guide information," he added.

The Wi-Fi Universal remote operates as "command central" for controlling a virtually unlimited number of entertainment components including DVRs, DVD players, cable and satellite receivers, DVD recorders, CD players, sound systems and more. When not in use, the remote rests in a custom-designed charging cradle that keeps it ready for operation at all times.

The ARRU449 utilizes the click365™ technology, wireless content and services network developed by tvCompass Inc. The Chicago-based company provides diverse wireless interactive TV and real-time entertainment services for the consumer, Wi-Fi, mobile phone and PDA markets.

The Electronic Program Guide is automatically updated through the remote's wireless Wi-Fi connection, enabling the family to continue watching TV while searching the on-remote screen for optional cable, satellite or analog or digital broadcast programming choices. With individual customization capabilities, the viewer can select from "All
Channels," "My Channels," "My Shows" or sort the guide to display HDTV movies, family or sports programming. Another convenience option is the ability to view program details and set "reminders" for select program times. The viewer is provided with updates through the Wi-Fi connection of national headline news, sports, weather information and program guide listings based on your postal ZIP codes.

As an added convenience, the ARRU449 offers simple device setup right in front of your components with no wired PC connection needed. All you need to know is the brand of component. The Wi-Fi remote offers activities that are simple to set-up for most common usage of a product. For example, commands can be programmed to "Watch DVD", "Watch DVR", "Watch Satellite" with the selection of a soft-key icon navigation on the LCD screen. On-screen assistance for set-up of these functions is also provided.

While delivering highly advanced services, the ARRU449 is extremely consumer friendly. On-screen menus provide "start-up welcome" support that includes essential feature descriptions that serve as a basic tutorial for easy product usage.

Among other advantages, the ARRU449 gives you the best options by providing an extensive library of "smart codes" in the Wi-Fi remote to link together multiple branded products. Since it is a "learning remote," the ARRU449 can easily replicate the functions of all component remote control brands for instant fingertip control.

They're water resistant. Why is that, because these might be used around a swimming pool? Or maybe some users in Japan have spilt coffee or tea on the remote-control one too many times.

Sony says the remotes have a special wide-angle infrared LED that makes it so you don't have to point the remote directly at the TV set for it to work, a big plus. But we don't see any backlighting on those buttons, which would be a major disadvantage.

These remotes will first be seen on the Japanese market, selling for ¥2468, which would be a bargain-priced $22 if they ever make it Stateside. [AVing, via OhGizmo]