Filed under: Robots

Get ready, battlefields, as yet another iRobot is gearing up to take you all by storm. Announced today, the aforementioned outfit has received an award under DARPA’s LANdroids program which will enable it to “develop a new portable communications relay robot that is small, inexpensive, intelligent and robust.” The resulting creature will reportedly be used in “dense urban environments to rapidly deploy and maintain a vital communications infrastructure,” and better still, they’ll be tough enough to be thrown into position and intelligent enough to “autonomously detect and avoid obstacles while navigating.” Unfortunately, it seems the conclusion of said project is still a few years out, but we can already envision soldiers getting antsy to never be forced to utter “can you hear me now?” again.

[Via InformationWeek]

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If you are looking for a serious solution for your home media streaming needs, D-Link’s new DIR-855 Wireless N Router is offering simultaneous full-on dual 802.11n transmissions over both 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels. So, for those with heavy bandwith needs—this router will allow two people to go to town using their own independent high-speed channel.

The DIR-855 also features three dual external antennae, an OLED network activity display, Dual Active Firewall (SPI, NAT), Green Ethernet technology, backwards compatibility with 802.11a/g, and an 11 year warranty. Not to mention a hefty £169.99 ($340) price tag. No word on when we might see it in the states [D-Link via Trusted Reviews]

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The folks at Wired recently got their hands on Everex’s new gPC mini Linux based PC, and initial impressions indicate that it is a good value based on specs, but they note that gOS Linux is still not ready for prime time as a viable Windows alternative. That having been said, outside of some problems picking up monitor resolution and the notable lack of WiFi, the gPC mini “worked fine.”

Like it’s big brother, Wired noted that the mini gPC has potential with the budget and Linux guru crowd—but until the final verdicts are in I wouldn’t go rushing out to drop $499 on one. And I definitely wouldn’t go comparing it to the Mac Mini. Other than aesthetics, these two devices have little in common. [Wired]

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According to NokNok, a meeting with Will Shen, N-Gage’s Head of Production in North America, revealed that Nokia is looking to use GPS and cellphone camera functionality as a utility in games. In fact, Shen noted that any functionality a phone may posses could be used to make a game more interactive. For example, users could be asked to take photographs that would be analyzed by the game for relevance using “clever techniques,” then “feed” those images to an in-game character.

Shen also noted that GPS functionality could be used for location based gaming, but stressed that they want to make sure that they are not spilling over the line that separates innovation from gimmicks. Obviously, we will have to wait and see if they can actually pull any of this off but, at the very least, Nokia fans should be pretty excited about the potential that the new N-Gage platform is bringing to the table. [NokNok]

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Scientists at the Britannia Royal Navy College are working hard to make the idea of an invisible ship a reality using metamaterials that refract light in such a way that it “bends” around an object, making it appear as if it were invisible. This would only account for viewing with the naked eye however—naturally radar cloaking would be an important part of the equation. However, it appears that this technology may be able to accomplish a lot more.

Chris Lavers, a senior lecturer in remote sensing and sensors technology at the college believes that nanomaterials could help render the next generation of ships invisible to the naked eye, radar, and even heat seeking missiles—all while being completely quiet and impossible to detect based on their impact on the Earth’s magnetic field. This isn’t the first time we have heard about invisibility cloaking using similar methods, so here’s hoping that something actually comes of it in the near future. [Physics World via Gizmag]

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What do you do when you have a few transistors, some capacitors, a lot of mirrors, a bunch of HandiTak and one laser? If you are McGyver, probably a intercontinental ballistic missile interceptor. If you are Kipkay, you’ll do a laser-based home alarm system similar to the one used in Entrapment, the movie. And if this wasn’t a good enough excuse to post the picture above, you can jump to see the video on how it is all done.

All this is great, but what the heck is El Zorro doing with a Maglite? And does the inventor have a side-job as voice over actor for QVC? These are the questions that bug me about this whole thing, but Catherine makes up for all of them. [Instructables]

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Ever since Mozilla began work on a mobile version of its Firefox browser, convincing mobile operators to allow it has been an uphill battle. Naturally, an open internet would be a great benefit to users, but the operators would lose precious revenue from content providers. They would also have to contend with the expensive problem of beefing up their 3G networks. Unfortunately, open internet access is going to be a battleground for mobile operators whether they like it or not. Let’s hope they can figure it out soon—Mozilla plans on dropping their mobile browser by the end of 2008.[Computer World and PC World via IntoMobile]

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Filed under: Desktops, Media PCs

We were originally supposed to see a “limited rollout” of Surface in 2007, which obviously didn’t happen — but despite the delays, Microsoft is apparently now feeling confident enough in the tech to let B- and C-list celebrities grope at it during the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Drawing Party at Harrah’s Casino. Unlike the standard demos we saw at CES which involved relentlessly upbeat hipster presenters doing things like making custom snowboard designs, the motley crew at Harrah’s was apparently only allowed to crudely write their names on photographs of themselves. You can almost see the joy in Jason Alexander’s face, can’t you? Sadly, it looks like Don Cheadle wasn’t able to erase whatever’s printed on his jacket (seriously, uh, cool jacket, Cheadle) and poor Shannon Elizabeth didn’t seem to be able make anything happen at all. Maybe Microsoft should have fired up that Hungry Hungry Hippos clone and let these fools battle out instead. All the photos at the read link for the crazed VH-1 fans in the house.

Continue reading Microsoft and Harrah’s confuse B-list celebs with Surface

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Congratulations to…wait, is this right…Samuel Jackson for winning our Toshiba laptop contest. Good job for sending in the lucky winning email, Sam, and congrats on having an awesome name.

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When it comes to television programming, there is no one service that does everything right. The number of channels, HD programming, and price are just a few of the weapons companies use to compete for your entertainment dollar. And then there are always downloading options from BitTorrent and the like. So, the question is, which one is really the best and why? Hell, I’ll even throw in “Antenna” despite the fact that it is about to be phased out.

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