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Video: Amazing Mini Humanoid Rides Bicycle

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 03:40 AM PDT

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We’ve shown you robots completing various tasks in the past, but this new model, a small hobby humanoid, can ride a bicycle like a human being. It’s not the first of its kind (Murata’s robot and Panasonic’s EVOLTA robot come to mind), but the model that’s pictured on the left costs just US$2,220 in its standard configuration.

Dr. Guero [JP] from Japan modified KHR3HV, a bipedal robot made by Japanese maker KONDO that has been available in many robot stores for years. The humanoid can even stop for a moment and continue riding the bike on his own, which is pretty cool.

PRIMER-V2 weighs 2.5kg, stands 495mm tall and can reach a top speed of 10km/h. This video shows the robot in action:

Via Plastic Pals via IEEE Spectrum

The Fall of Giants: Sony and RIM Continue To Lose Ground

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 03:00 AM PDT

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I wasn’t surprised to hear that both Sony and RIM are spiraling into market irrelevancy. It’s been an inevitability since about 2009 that Sony would see declining fortunes and it’s been clear for months that RIM is near death. I’m just sad to see both of them go.

Sony is losing because it lost the popular imagination. Once upon a time, Sony build solid, popular products for the world. However, with the rise of mobile technology and the ridiculous Sony Ericsson partnership that effectively hobbled Sony in the cellphone race, Sony lost much of its cachet and could make its money in what folks would term “CE” – TVs, sound systems, and the like – leaving little else in terms of high-turnaround items with an acceptable (but not amazing) margin like laptops, phones, and media players.

Sony, in short, fiddled while Samsung, Apple, and Dell/HP took its markets away one by one. Sony was known for music players. They haven’t had a best selling player in years and Apple has. Sony was known for laptops. They haven’t had a compelling laptop in years and Dell/HP have. Sony was known for selling good TVs and sound systems. Samsung is slowly creeping up in that regard. Sony, in short, can’t make a living doing the things at which it used to excel.

Then there’s RIM. They, too, lost the popular imagination. Now that the IT market and the consumer market have converged, there’s little draw for a phone that prides itself at being the pride of businessmen. You used to buy a Blackberry because your IT team made you. Now you buy a Blackberry because your IT team is lazy or scared and doesn’t want to support new standards.

Joel Johnson wrote a nice series on Sony back in 2010 outlining everything wrong with everything at Sony. In short, the biggest problem was the rise of proprietary formats, which Joel noted were a “screw job.” The same goes for RIM – RIM locked up its network and locked in its customers. Now those customers want out.

But I don’t want to excoriate these guys too much. Sony and RIM redefined computing in their own ways, adding technologies and techniques to the techno lexicon that didn’t exist before they created them. The compact disc, the keyboard phone, mobile messaging, HD video – these are all things that Sony and RIM introduced to a benighted world. But they rested far too long on the laurels of temporary success. Companies at their apex – Apple and Samsung included – would do well to learn from their mistakes.

[Image: Danomyte/Shutterstock]



Daily Crunch: Operation Drop

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 01:00 AM PDT

Negroponte On OLPC Future: Air Drops And Hands-Off Education

Posted: 02 Nov 2011 04:19 PM PDT

OLPC’s Nicholas Negroponte, speaking at the Open Mobile summit today, detailed a new plan for distributing the OLPC project’s next device, the XO-3 tablet computer: they’re going to airdrop it on remote villages and then come back a year later to see how it worked.

Now, that may sound like crazy talk to you, but the famously ambitious Negroponte thinks that it will work as they expect. Precedent exists for this kind of thing, and not just in The Gods Must Be Crazy. He cited a study showing promising results from hands-off methods of education, essentially giving tools to kids and letting them work out the rest. Never underestimate the intellect of curious kids with a lot of free time.

The tablets (the latest design concept for which is pictured above) will come pre-loaded with 100 books, presumably localized into the region’s language, and are aimed at teaching kids basic computer literacy and advancing their reading skills. The devices would be able to connect to the internet wirelessly, though on what protocol or through which providers, it isn’t clear.

While the project has had mixed success by the standards of its original goals, where it has been implemented it has shown a serious impact. Hundreds of thousands of kids in Peru are using them now, apparently to teach their parents to read. And the devices have proven durable and long-lasting, with few breaking in the field.

But getting them to the people in the first place has proven a challenge. So Negroponte is suggesting this alternative approach: “We will literally take tablets and drop them out of helicopters.” The tablets are apparently easy enough to use that they expect kids will pick it up with no instruction at all, though he elaborated on the plan, saying they would return a year later to check in. The worst case scenario is pictured thusly: “maybe an older brother will get a hold of it, use it for pornography – that’s life.”

The tablet is planned for late 2012; it will be based on a reference Marvell design, will include a solar panel for charging, and the screen will be a new Pixel Qi type. It will be roughly 10″ in diagonal and around a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Here’s The First GTA:V Trailer And It’s Spectacular

Posted: 02 Nov 2011 09:19 AM PDT

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Rockstar Games just released the first trailer for the upcoming GTA V game and it’s good to be home. Grand Theft Auto V is living large back in the beautiful state of San Andreas. The big city of Los Santos, the lovely ladies, and the fast cars — it’s all there. The game still doesn’t have a release date but don’t expect it this year. However, there will likely be a steady stream of trailers, teasers and random marketing until it’s hyped to unreasonable levels.


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Company: Rockstar Games
Website:

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Video: Toyota Shows Four Healthcare And Nursing Robots

Posted: 02 Nov 2011 06:45 AM PDT

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Honda isn’t the only Japanese car maker active in robotics (with Asimo etc.), Toyota has been active in this area for quite some time, too. Big T showcased a total of four robots yesterday, all with the healthcare and nursing markets in mind. It’s not a surprise Japan’s biggest car company is focusing on these areas, as its home country has the oldest society in the world (23% of the population are 65 or older).

Here are the robots Toyota showed during their press conference in Tokyo:

Independent Walk Assist (help paralyzed people walk)

Walk Training Assist (supports return to natural walking for people with impaired walking)

Balance Training Assist (trains people who have trouble maintaining their balance while standing)

Patient Transfer Assist (the most advanced and unique robot of the four, helps caretakers lifting and moving patients)

Toyota considers commercializing these robots sometime “after 2013″.

This video, shot by Diginfo TV on location, provides more insight (in English):

Monster Partners With SDJ For “Monster Digital” Flash Memory Products

Posted: 02 Nov 2011 06:40 AM PDT

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If you’ve found yourself yearning for a new memory card but all your options are just too pedestrian, then Monster and SDJ Technologies may have just brightened your day. The two companies have just announced that they have inked a long-term licensing deal that means Monster Digital flash memory products will soon hit store shelves.

That’s right — although neither company has gone into specific product types, we can hazard a few guesses as to what they’re working on. SDJ CEO Jay Tandon mentioned that people are focusing more on “mobile computing, smart phones, digital camera and video recording devices,” so expect some funky Monster-branded memory cards and flash drives to debut soon. Of course, these will bear Monster branding, so be prepared for a premium price tag too.

The thing to remember here is that it’s just a licensing agreement, so SDJ will actually make the products while the folks at Monster will do what they do best: market the hell out of these things.

Readers are probably already aware of Monster’s M.O., but those who have never had the pleasure, Monster takes commodity products like cables and uses their marketing prowess to give them something of a premium aura. There always seems to be a debate raging as to whether or not Monster products actually perform better than a run-of-the-mill replacement (I don’t think they do, personally), but enough people are Monster fans that the company keeps churning things out.

The first spate of Monster Digital products will be unveiled next month at the CES Unveiled event in New York City. Monster fans will also be glad to know that a wider rollout of Monster Digital goods will begin soon afterward.

Ooma Invades Canada, US Premier Subscribers Can Now Talk To Their Northern Cousins For Free

Posted: 02 Nov 2011 05:34 AM PDT

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Ooma’s disruptive VoIP service is hitting Canada per an announcement Wednesday morning. Starting today, Canadian consumers can order the VoIP-in-a-box and place and receive phone calls to anyone within the wide expanse that is the great white north. That is, of course, if that person has plenty of room under their Internet cap.

The pricing scheme is just like that found in the States. The $229 CAD Ooma Telo device offers free basic telephony all by itself and for $9.99 a month, buyers can opt for the Premier service that offers features like call screening, three-way conferencing, call forwarding, and different ring tone options. Plus, Ooma is now allowing US Prime subscribers to place calls to Canada for free but it hasn’t been announced if it works the other way.

Ooma isn’t the first mass VoIP service to hit Canada; Vonage launched there in 2004. For better or worse, Ooma does VoIP differently by rolling in the cost of the service into the cost of the device rather than a traditional monthly bill like Vonage.

The current trend of Internet caps by Canadian ISPs might make some consumers think twice about moving their phone service to the Internet. However, VoIP services generally do not use that much bandwidth but it’s probably worth spending 10 minutes investigating how much data you’re currently consuming. You don’t want your Internet suddenly throttled while you’re talking to your Mom — or maybe you do.


Crunchbase

Company: ooma
Website: ooma.com
Launch Date: January 1, 2004
Funding: $64M

Founded in 2004, Ooma offers a consumer electronics product that provides free, U.S. telephone calling and advanced telephony services utilizing a high-speed Internet connection and existing home phone. Ooma delivers outstanding HD call quality and the reliability of a traditional phone service at a fraction of the cost. The Ooma Mobile HD app allows customers to make U.S. and international calls from their Android, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch device. Ooma is available at more than 4,000 leading retailers...

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Daily Crunch: Athlete

Posted: 02 Nov 2011 01:00 AM PDT