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Army dudes sat down with scientists at University of Michigan and other schools and asked for a simple frickin’ bionic bat with frickin’ stereo cameras, miniaturized radar, ultra-sensitive self-guidance, “energy scavenging” recharging capability and a radio to send data back to troops in urban combat zones. Was that too much to ask? Here’s how it’s…
In case you’ve been living under the rock that is your desktop PC, the mobile/UMPPC processor biz is hot shit right now. So Digitimes’ report that Nvidia was in talks to pick up Via (who specializes in mobile processors, like in the OQO, or their own UMPC) makes sense, particularly with Nvidia’s recent charge back…
The pair of 45nm Intel chips that Sun oh-so-kindly leaked last month just got all official-like. Dunnington is “the first IA (Intel Architecture) processor with 6-cores, is based on the 45nm high-k process technology, and has large shared caches.” Six cores, exciting! But not as exciting as Nehalem, which is Intel’s “dynamically scalable” new processor…
Elecrolux’s Inspiro oven launches this week, using technology that could be the future of cooking. Using a heat management technique rather like auto focus on a camera, the Inspiro’s sensors first analyze what is to be cooked before calculating the temperature and time needed. The company’s CEO, Hans Stråberg, likens it to the way cameras…
Safari 3.1 is out now, and according to Apple is the first web browser to support the new video and audio tags in HTML 5, as well as CSS Web Fonts and CSS animations. Update: Testing the new features now (with video.) Impressions after the jump. First, it requires a restart (damnation) but it’s worth…
After three space walks, Dextre—the robot that will now service the International Space Station—has been completed today, and is now ready for activation. I was watching it live on NASA TV and grabbed these shots (yes, I am that sad) of this fully-assembled gigantastic space spider. To get a sense of how big it is,…
Yes, you guessed from my carefully coded headline there that today TiVo announced the capability to download video from RSS feeds on the web, by way of updated TiVo Desktop Plus software for Windows. You’ll have to pay $25 for it, but just once—it’s a free update to those who already use TiVo Desktop Plus…
Good news for those who rely on their cellphones for their photo- taking needs; Samsung has just unveiled the world’s slimmest 8MP CMOS, which measures a diminutive, 28mm × 15.3mm × 8.5mm. The semiconductor was designed specifically for cellphones, and it will push handsets beyond their current 5MP restraints. [Ed: 5MP as the limit in…
Onkyo is releasing a couple of A/V receivers next month. The 80-watt-per-channel TX-SR576 will cost $499 and the 75-watt-per-channel TX-SR506 (above) $379, and both include a Dynamic EQ loudness correction technology from Audyssey. Full press release after the jump. UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ (03/17/08) — Onkyo has introduced two affordably-priced A/V receivers that deliver a…
Tech Corner claims these are photos of the upcoming Intel Netbook (not to be confused with its stationary Nettop counterpart) that runs Windows XP Pro “like a champ.” The small, low-cost device is said to be Intel’s education-centric answer to products like the Asus Eee PC and OLPC. Judging by the photos and Tech Corner’s…
Cheers to two of our Kotaku buddies, Bash and McMike. Ashcraft just found out that he’s just spawned another, portable version of himself. Hurray! And McWhertor’s classy T-Shirt store just launched after years of me bugging him about it. Double Hurray! Congrats from everyone at Gizmodo. [Meat Bun (Mike’s Store)] http://kotaku.com/368584/like-that-i-slipped-another-one-past-the-goalie
Reading comprehension not your thing? Fear not because a Korean company named Unichal has developed a tiny scanner that can capture an image of troublesome words and then relay them back to the PC. Once there, the included software will automatically apply the term to Wikipedia, Google, or a dictionary of your choosing to aid…
Now, a beer launching fridge I can understand, but a tennis ball cannon? I find it amusing when someone spends a tremendous amount of time and effort building something that can automate basic functions—like throwing a tennis ball to a wiener dog. But the results speak for themselves. It is an inspiration for lazy people…
As a rule, stuff that retails for $499 should not be embellished with 17.75 carats of diamonds, set in 18k white gold and then priced at $176,400. Nonetheless, Peter Aloisson has done exactly that to create the Aloisson designed iPhone. The treatment makes it the most expensive iPhone in the handset’s relatively short history. That’s…
If you love DIY projects, and you take your alarm clocks seriously, this little project from DJ Delorie should be right up your alley. Using a PIC24FJ64 microcontroller, ENC28J60 Ethernet chip, MP3 decoder chip, an organic LED graphical display and a 24LC512 EEPROM for storage, Delorie managed to make an alarm clock that can automatically…
Remember those glass blocks you would see in homes way back in the day? That crap was pretty tacky, but you still see designers utilizing them from time to time even today. A new design for these bricks has emerged among the winners of the recent Red Dot Design Awards that utilizes LEDs to give…
With CD sales dwindling fast, DRM dead, and major artists starting to give their music away—it is clear that record labels need to do something drastic to lure pirates away from illegal downloading. As Wired and ArsTechnica point out, one of the ideas on the table is to generate a file sharing surcharge that would…
Citizen has taken the futristic route with the ITX21-5014 watch from their Independent line. Behind the machine-like watch hands is a green LCD, turned 90 degrees to the left, that displays the digital date, time, alarms, chronographs and timers. The watch is finished off by a checkered band and engraving along the sidewalls of the…
Part 2 of the 1992 Australia Telecom concept video Broadband demonstrates teleconferencing via videophone, as well as encrypted data transfer. Oh, and scary metal walkways of the future. Don’t forget the walkways. Stay tuned for part 3, coming soon. See also:Australia Telecom’s Broadband (Part 1, 1992)
Safretti’s latest in their line of wall-mounted fireplaces for urban living spaces without proper wood burning ventilation looks a lot like a mouth. A mouth much like the mouths Seth MacFarlane likes to draw on inanimate objects on Family Guy, which is why we picture this thing spewing obscenities, as well as 7.1kW of heat…
