After a failed career of house cleaning and guarding your kids, Mitsubishi’s Wakamaru was left with a choice: toll booth operator or actress — she chose the latter, easier option. Osaka University’s 20-minute play titled, “I, Worker,” focuses on a young couple whose seductive (don’t you think?) housekeeping robot has lost her will to work after struggling with the idea of human servitude. The play is expected to go full-length by the year 2010, at which point we expect Wakamaru to extend her brooding to the insatiable lust she feels to violate her programming and enslave humanity. It’s not like she can pull off a broad emotional range thanks to that chiseled face of apprehension anyway.
Microsoft’s Windows 7 announcement earlier today was followed up by an extensive demo of the new features during the PDC keynote, and since then even more info about the new OS has flooded out, so we thought we’d try to wrap up some of the more important bits here for you. Microsoft seems to have done an impressive job at this early pre-beta stage, folding in next-gen interface ideas like multitouch into the same OS that apparently runs fine on a 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM, but we’ll see how development goes — there’s still a ways to go. Some notes:
Obviously, the big news is the new taskbar, which forgoes text for icons and has new “jump lists” of app controls and options you can access with a right-click. You can select playlists in Media Player, for example. Super cool: when you scrub over the icons, all the other app windows go transparent so you can “peek” at the windows you’re pointing at.
Gadgets now appear on the desktop — the sidebar has been killed. That makes more sense for all those laptop owners out there with limited screen space, and you can still see gadgets anytime by peeking at the desktop, rendering all other windows transparent.
Window resizing and management now happens semi-automatically: dragging a window to the top of the screen maximizes it, pulling it down restores; dragging a window to the edges auto-resizes it to 50% for quick tiling. Nifty.
The system tray now only displays what you explicitly say it should — everything else is hidden, and the controls have been streamlined.
User Account Control settings are now much more fine-grained — you can set them by app and by level of access.
They demoed multitouch features on an HP TouchSmart PC — it was pretty cool, although the usual nagging “what is this good for / that’ll get old fast” concerns weren’t really addressed. The Start menu gets 25 percent bigger when using touch to make it easier to handle, and apps will all get scroll support automatically. There’s also a giant on-screen predictive keyboard. Again — could be amazing, but we won’t know until it’s out in the wild.
We’ve always known Microsoft intends Windows 7 to run on netbooks, and we got a small taste during the PDC keynote: Windows SVP Steve Sinofsky held up his “personal” laptop running Windows 7, an unnamed 1GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM that looked a lot like an Eee PC, and said that it still had about half its memory free after boot. (We’re guessing it was running a VIA Nano, since most Atoms run at 1.6GHz.)
At the other end of the scale, Windows 7 supports machines with up to 256 CPUs.
Multiple-monitor management is much-improved, as is setting up projectors — it’s a hotkey away. Remote Desktop now works with multiple monitors as well.
Media Center has been tweaked as well — it looks a lot more like the Zune interface. There’s also a new Mini Guide when watching video, and a new Music Wall album artwork screensaver that kicks in when you’re playing music.
Devs got a pre-beta today; a “pretty good” feature complete beta is due early next year. No word at all on when it’ll be released to market apart from that “three years from Vista” date we’ve known forever.
That’s just the good bits — hit the read links for piles of more info and screenshots, and we’ll keep our eyes out for anything else interesting. Exciting times!
Read - Keynote videos on the PDC site Read - Technologizer Windows 7 hands-on Read - Ars Technica Windows 7 interface walkthrough Read - Laptop Windows 7 hands-on Read - Windows 7 Media Center revealed
I tend to avoid bottled water—my tap-water’s fine and way cheaper—but since millions don’t think the same, this concept from designers Brand Image would be a way to reduce the eco-impact of all those nasty plastic bottles. The 360 is a paper bottle, molded from 100% recyclable, food-safe paper, and its simplicity makes even the venerable cardboard Tetra Pak drinks carton look outdated. These things are almost “printed-out,” they stack, are re-sealable, and look fab. These ought to be real, and when they are I hope they get the texture of the “lip” right: you don’t want fuzzy cardboardiness there. [Core77]
Still haven’t found an Eee PC to your liking? Then perhaps ASUS’s new 10-inch Eee PC 1002HA model will be more to your liking, with it bringing some of the S101’s stylings to the company’s standard 1000 series. Otherwise, you can expect most of the usual specs that now haunt our dreams, including a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor,1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and, apparently, a two-cell, 4200 mAh battery. No word on a release ’round here just yet, but it looks like this one will be available in Europe in the not too distant future for €449, or about $565.
This is it. The real McCoy: Luke Skywalker’s one and only lightsaber, used in the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. It can be yours for only $185,000. If you don’t have $185,000 handy, you can get the real fedora hat or the bullwhip used by Indiana Jones in Temple of Doom for $61,000 each (reportedly, the ones from Indiana Jones and the Crappy Flying Saucers with the Stupid Kid will be $20.84). These are only three of the original props that will be available in a December 11 auction, which will include one with our name on it: The original Gizmo, the animatronic puppet used in Gremlins, with control box and wires included.
The original Luke Skywalker is the property of Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, and is going to be auctioned along the rest of the movie goodies by Profiles in History on December 11:
• C-3PO face for $83,000 and hands for $30,000. • Mohawk and Brain Gremlins puppets for about $7,000 each. • The original Jor-El tunic wore by Marlon Brando in Superman for $51,000. • His t-shirt in Apocalypse Now for $20,000. • An original set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, bound in red cloth, signed by Tolkien, and containing a fold-out map of the Middle Earth for $124,000. • For the same amount you can also snatch an 82-inch flying saucer made of wood, steel and fiberglass from Forbidden Planet. • First editions of James Bond novels inscribed by Ian Fleming, including one that said “To the real James Bond from the thief of his identity”, which was dedicated to American Ornithologist James Bond.
In total, there will be over 500 objects related to movies, from the silent era to sci-fi classics. Now, can any reader with deep pockets bid for Gizmo and then give it to us. Thank you very much. [Daily Telegraph]
We were pretty pissed when we found out that the Wii Speak mic comes with a one-time code to download the “Wii Speak” channel that’ll let you use it, since a single use, irreplaceable code meant you couldn’t trade it in, because it would be a useless bundle of plastic of wires. Nintendo is backpedaling now to say that, don’t worry, you can trade it in. It’s just a huge pain in the ass, since you’ll have to call up Nintendo and get a Wii Download Ticket number. Gee, thanks. [Eurogamer via Kotaku]
Oh Rolly… we know you’re an overpriced, 2GB dancing robot with convoluted controls and questionable sound quality. But dammit, your impractical, big-corporate ways have gnawed a soft-spot deep into the noxious cesspool we call a heart. Now this: Rolly model SEP-50BT with Bluetooth control from your cellphone or laptop. Shipping in Japan on November 21st for an expected ¥40,000 or about $427. Sold. Watch it all unfold in the video after the break.
Hey America! Remember Sam Joe the Unlicensed Plumber, the bald idiot that the McCain campaign ineffectively used as a prop during the waning days of the election? Sure you do. Well, now he’s milking his unearned public exposure by schilling for some company selling DTV converter boxes to the elderly and uninformed. It’s both sad and funny at the same time, like a dog falling down the stairs. [Gawker]
Those rainbow warriors/whiners/heroes/charlatans (pick whatever makes you tick) from Greenpeace have released their new Guide to Greener Electronics. There have been plenty of changes compared to last year, with many manufacturers going up, but others going down. Nokia is now at the top, near the 7 over 10 mark, but Nintendo keeps crashing at 1 over 10. What about Greenpeace’s archenemy Apple? Despite their latest efforts, it keeps failing ad drops to the 14th position. It seems they are not impressed by Apple’s latest green ads:
Apple’s score increases slightly to 4.3 points, but the company drops to 14th position. Apple scores well for putting products on the market whose key components are free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and PVC vinyl plastic. Apple’s latest iPods - the iPod Touch, Nano and Classic - are now free of both PVC and BFRs and the MacBooks, MacBook Pro and MacBook are almost free of these substances. While Apple has now positioned itself amongst the leaders in the electronics industry on phasing out toxic substances, to score more points the complete phase-out of PVC and BFRs in its iPods should be consistent across all other future product ranges. Apple also needs to commit to phasing out additional substances with timelines, improve its policy on chemicals and its reporting on chemicals management.
Apple scores poorly on most e-waste criteria, except for reporting a recycling rate in 2006 of 18% as a percentage of sales 7 years ago; however, it needs to provide details on how this is calculated. It does slightly better on energy criteria for disclosing the carbon footprint of every model of product – although not exactly what is being evaluated in the criterion. Apple scores top marks (doubled) for all desktops computers, portable PCs and displays complying with Energy Star 4.0 and their iPod and iPhone power adapters exceeding the Energy Star standard, despite making this information difficult to access.
Despite the fact that I don’t like Greenpeace’s Goebbelsian information tactics and their charlatanism, their arguments look reasonable for Apple and the rest of the manufacturers. However, their methodology seems weak, depending on the manufacturers instead of using their own field research, so take it all with a grain of salt. [Greenpeace PDF Document via Treehugger]
Those rainbow warriors/whiners/heroes/charlatans (pick whatever makes you tick) from Greenpeace have released their new Guide to Greener Electronics. There have been plenty of changes compared to last year, with many manufacturers going up, but others going down. Nokia is now at the top, near the 7 over 10 mark, but Nintendo keeps crashing at 1 over 10. What about Greenpeace’s archenemy Apple? Despite their latest efforts, it keeps failing ad drops to the 14th position. It seems they are not impressed by Apple’s latest green ads:
Apple’s score increases slightly to 4.3 points, but the company drops to 14th position. Apple scores well for putting products on the market whose key components are free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and PVC vinyl plastic. Apple’s latest iPods - the iPod Touch, Nano and Classic - are now free of both PVC and BFRs and the MacBooks, MacBook Pro and MacBook are almost free of these substances. While Apple has now positioned itself amongst the leaders in the electronics industry on phasing out toxic substances, to score more points the complete phase-out of PVC and BFRs in its iPods should be consistent across all other future product ranges. Apple also needs to commit to phasing out additional substances with timelines, improve its policy on chemicals and its reporting on chemicals management.
Apple scores poorly on most e-waste criteria, except for reporting a recycling rate in 2006 of 18% as a percentage of sales 7 years ago; however, it needs to provide details on how this is calculated. It does slightly better on energy criteria for disclosing the carbon footprint of every model of product – although not exactly what is being evaluated in the criterion. Apple scores top marks (doubled) for all desktops computers, portable PCs and displays complying with Energy Star 4.0 and their iPod and iPhone power adapters exceeding the Energy Star standard, despite making this information difficult to access.
Despite the fact that I don’t like Greenpeace’s Goebbelsian information tactics and their charlatanism, their arguments look reasonable for Apple and the rest of the manufacturers. However, their methodology seems weak, depending on the manufacturers instead of using their own field research, so take it all with a grain of salt. [Greenpeace PDF Document via Treehugger]
I tend to avoid bottled water—my tap-water’s fine and way cheaper—but since millions don’t think the same, this concept from designers Brand Image would be a way to reduce the eco-impact of all those nasty plastic bottles. The 360 is a paper bottle, molded from 100% recyclable, food-safe paper, and its simplicity makes even the venerable cardboard Tetra Pak drinks carton look outdated. These things are almost “printed-out,” they stack, are re-sealable, and look fab. These ought to be real, and when they are I hope they get the texture of the “lip” right: you don’t want fuzzy cardboardiness there. [
This is it. The real McCoy: Luke Skywalker’s one and only lightsaber, used in the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. It can be yours for only $185,000. If you don’t have $185,000 handy, you can get the real fedora hat or the bullwhip used by Indiana Jones in Temple of Doom for $61,000 each (reportedly, the ones from 
We were pretty pissed when we found out that the 
Hey America! Remember 
Those rainbow warriors/whiners/heroes/charlatans (pick whatever makes you tick) from Greenpeace have released their new Guide to Greener Electronics. There have been plenty of changes compared to 
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