CrunchGear

CrunchGear

Link to CrunchGear

Meet baby humanoids M3-synchy and M3-neony

Posted: 04 Mar 2010 04:43 AM PST

The JST, Japan’s Science and Technology Agency, announced [JP] the development of M3-neony (pictured above) and M3-synchy today, two advanced baby-like robots. While “neony” (derived from “neonate”) is intentionally designed to look like a newborn, “snychy” just stands for “synchronous communication” (but as you can see, he looks like a baby, too). The M3 stands for “Man-Made Man”.

M3-neony is developed to mimic the behavior of a human baby. The JST says the robot is able to move certain “muscles” randomly, just like a newborn who is learning how to move does. It’s supposed to serve as a research object for scientists who want to explore this process.

Needless to say, M3-neony has the body of a baby, too, as he weighs 3.5kg and is 50cm tall. The robot features 90 touch sensors, 22 motors, two CMOS 3.3MP cameras, two microphones, three acceleration sensors, and two gyro sensors.

M3-synchy (pictured above), on the other hand, is mainly designed to communicate either with other robots (seriously) or with humans. The JST says synchy is supposed to help scienctists understand the intricacies of verbal and non-verbal communication, especially how humans turn their look or look into each other’s eyes when discussing.

The robot stands 30cm tall and weighs 2.5kg. Synchy has a CCD camera with 3.3MP and a wide-angle lens in its head. Other features include 2 microphones, speakers, 15 LEDs (that make the robot’s face blush in certain situations) and a face and voice recognition function for other robots and humans.

Via Sankei Kansai [JP]

Streetfighter IV for iPhone: Capcom releases official trailer and screenshots

Posted: 04 Mar 2010 02:40 AM PST

As reported (and following Final Fantasy I and II, which are now available), the App Store will get another hit Japanese video game this month, Streetfighter IV. It will be the first mobile version of the Arcade game that so far was only ported to PS3, XBO360 and the PC. And today maker Capcom released the official trailer and a slew of new screenshots.

The game will cost $9.99 and offer a total of eight characters (Ryu, Ken, Guile, Blanka, Chun-Li, Dhalsim, M. Bison and Abel), nine less than the Arcade version.

Here’s the trailer (watch out for the controls):

Via Game Watch [JP]

Video: Excellent hand-built, self-powered marble-lifting machine

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 07:30 PM PST


You kind of have to watch to see what it’s all about. This little Rube Goldberg-esque machine, takes its steel marble passenger up to the top of the tower using only gravity and a few other natural little tricks. It’s all hand-built and seems to be the third built by its creator, who says at the end of the video that there is still some work to be done on it.

And the fun isn’t over once it reaches the top (well, it is in the video, but hey) — the machine is good to go as soon as the marble gets to the peak; it can be delivered to the bottom again and will run for 24 hours straight, limited only by the potential energy of a single large weight used to reset some of the mechanisms. Wish I had the time (and skill, and space, and wood) to build something like this.

[via Reddit]

Canon weather-sealed 70-200mm L… coffee thermos?

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 07:00 PM PST


This is definitely the greatest coffee thermos out there — or at the very least the best I’ve seen today. Apparently they were giving these out at the Olympics press center (or likely “centre” — those clowns), and Microsoftie Josh Weisberg was the only person there to think of putting it on the internet. A room full of photographers and no one took its picture? Give me a break!

Unfortunately I doubt they’ll be available for us plebes to buy. As if those big-shot photo-journos need any more thermoses!

[via PDNPulse]

This Casio G-Shock looks like they dipped it in Pixy Stix (comes with robot)

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 06:30 PM PST


My love of Pixy Stix is known throughout the seven seas, but that doesn’t mean I’d wear a watch like this. Really, now. You’d have to be the most candy-loving, grill-sunglasses-wearing, Surge-sucking rave-master in Neo-Tokyo to even consider it. Or I guess you could just be a kid who likes colors. And robots.

The obvious question then becomes where is a kid like that going to come up with the ¥19,000 (~$215) required to purchase this thing? His allowance? Man, I used to get a quarter a week! I could barely afford to keep myself in SweeTarts!

[via Doobybrain]

Who says blogging isn’t dangerous?

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 06:00 PM PST

This poor link jockey over at Gizmodo got the tip from a pair of in-ears stuck in the ol’ ear canal. Our hearts and minds are with this brave lad in his time of tribulation. I’m surprised they didn’t use a vacuum or something. Note: I don’t recommend that course of action.

You see, readers, these are the risks we bloggers take every day to bring you the freshest posts. And just so you know, I’m using “fresh” in that sentence the way Vanilla Ice did.

Will Valve revitalize Mac gaming with Steam for OS X?

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 05:30 PM PST


Valve is in the midst of a media blitz at the moment — not that you’d notice, since their idea of a media blitz is secretly launching a complex alternate reality game, or emailing single novelty screenshots to six different media outlets. You could be forgiven for expecting a full-site skin for 1UP, or a week-long series of “developer diaries” on IGN — that’s what every other game company out there thinks makes games sell. At any rate, GDC is coming up and the expected announcements are Steam on OS X (definite) and possibly a peek at Portal 2, Half-Life: Episode 3, or both (speculative).

Of course, the idea of Steam on the Mac causes a delicate froth to appear on the lips of several kinds of fanboys — but while an excellent game-distribution client like Steam would be welcome on the Mac, it may not be the gaming renaissance people are hoping for. It’s worth taking a bit of time to look at, since gaming is increasingly a major source of revenue and a wedge to increase market share. Let’s take a look at what Steam is up against.

Digital distribution on Mac is standard

Unlike the majority of games and programs for Windows, Mac apps are frequently distributed whole, with a nag screen and 30-day limit or the like — shareware, essentially. This has been the standard for as long as I can remember; one example I’m sure many readers recall fondly is Escape Velocity, the demo for which was practically the whole game, except that once you passed the 30-day trial period, a rogue fighter ship piloted by one “Cap’n Hector” would harass you and steal your credits (the scoundrel). A more modern equivalent would be the ability to download, say, the Aperture 3 trial and instantly convert it to the full version by entering a license key. Add in the faultless update system in OS X (compare with XP’s monstrous Windows Update), and it’s clear that Mac users have less to gain, and more to expect, from a digital distribution platform on their OS. They take Steam’s biggest selling point for granted to begin with.

That can, of course, go both ways. One could argue that Steam is a natural fit for OS X, since digital distribution and automatic updates are so very Mac-ish, but users will also tend to reject non-Apple programs that perform Apple-like duties. “Apple does it better,” they’ll say, and they’re probably right, since Apple made the OS. On that note:

Steam doesn’t really fit in well with OS X

This may sound like a superficial complaint, but no one has yet successfully overestimated the superficiality of Mac users. On Windows, I’m resigned to the constant interface changes: applications with hard-coded Vista-style buttons, flash-like interfaces, or ugly (but functional) open-source programs that look like they just stepped out of Windows 95. Steam is far from ugly, but it is a custom UI, with different spacing for buttons, and an embedded browser that until recently was IE-based, and a number of other issues. Sure, it works, and it doesn’t look bad, but can you think of how out-of-place it might look on a Mac? GUI consistency is not just pretty, it’s functional. And that consistency has always been one of OS X’s strengths (notwithstanding the occasional overlap, like Marble in Aperture and whatever-it’s-called in iTunes).

It’s an objection which could be overcome by Valve, but they’ve invested in the Steam look (it’s deliberately and irreversibly associated with Valve’s branding) and haven’t made too many concessions to Windows. So while they’re capable of making it look right, I don’t know that they have any inclination to do so. And that’s something which will rankle the design-conscious masses of Mac users.

If a gamer on the Mac (ahem) really wanted to do it right, anyway, there are tools in place. I wrote about the launch of GamersGate’s Mac store, which I’ve used and found perfectly convenient. Its web-based interface means no commitment, but also no sweet features. Still, it’s something to add into the discussion stew we’re brewing here.

Really now: there aren’t many games for the Mac

I suspect there will be some resistance to this point, but it’s kind of a throwaway since the next one is more important anyway. But let’s be honest here. There aren’t a hell of a lot of good games on OS X. At best you get big titles a year or two late, if you get them at all. 9 out of 10 games on the Mac are colorful casual games, point-and-click adventures, and the occasional inexplicably cross-platform indie game. I’m not saying there aren’t any good games coming out, but lord, they ain’t coming down like autumn leaves, that’s for damn sure. Here’s a list of Steam games with a native Mac port. Not pretty, and as commenter Scott notes, there’s no guarantee any of these games will launch with Steam OS X, though we can hope.

And we’re okay with that. Apple hasn’t recovered as a gaming platform since the Great Halo Betrayal of 2000, and as some great rhetorician said, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me – you can’t get fooled again.” How true. But maybe Steam would bring a new enthusiasm to the Mac gaming community, right? Don’t be so sure. Valve has reported that it has approached Apple many times but seen no real accommodation on their side. It takes two, you know. And when your partner is busy eying that sexy tablet form factor across the room… you might find:

OS X is no longer the platform Apple cares about for gaming

If Apple has dropped the ball on PC-like gaming (FPSes and all that), it’s led the game in the casual/mobile sector. Although I wrote some time ago that Nintendo has little to fear from Apple in that area, I by no means meant to suggest that Apple was anything but a success in the mobile games world. My argument was, in fact, that games were far more successful than Apple could have guessed, and that was why they were only now starting to push them. But Apple is smart enough to pick its battles, and it needs to get into the desktop gaming business right now like it needs to get into the llama farming business.

It doesn’t take a lot of faith to see that the iPad and next iPhone are going to have gaming as one of their primary foci (focuses?). What better use for the perfectly capable 3D graphics chip they’ve got in there? Recent investigation shows more similarity between the iPad and iPhone 3GS than previously supposed, so it’s likely that there will be a significant overlap in releases. Hardware and code base homogeneity is a huge advantage for games developers, and I’m guessing you’ll see a nice blossoming of seriously cool games once the iPad hits and a value proposition is settled on.

Where does that leave OS X? Out in the cold, obviously. Sure, Apple wants people to buy games for it, that’s money in their pocket. But there’s a lot more money to be made in iPhone and iPad gaming because they can leverage the App Store, against which Steam is powerless. Now, if Steam were to run on the iPhone too, that’d be insane, but I guarantee Apple would rather eat glass than have a powerful alternative to the App Store catering to a market they’re just starting to exploit.

Even with all that I’ve said here, I’m still excited. The announcement, expected to be next Thursday (Valve’s Gabe Newell is scheduled to speak), could be a lot more or a lot less than what we expect. The Orange Box for Mac? Don’t get your hopes up. But when Valve does something like this (especially with such a crazy run-up as they’re doing), you can bet they don’t do things by halves. There’s more care taken in this teaser image (via RPS; the rest are at MacRumors) We’ll report the goings-on as soon as they occur, so point your browsers this way next week for that and all the rest of our GDC coverage.

Update: Added Caruso comic (not my joke)

Acer announces their new K11 Pico-projector

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 05:04 PM PST

Lots of news coming out of CeBIT this year, including the latest projector from Acer, the K11. The K11 is a pico projector, so it’s the latest in the current crop of smaller display options. Measuring a mere 122 x 116mm, it’s ideal to stuff in your laptop case to take to that next meeting.

The K11 is a little different then some of the other projectors coming out though, in that it uses DLP with LEDs as well as the standard lamp configuration. Acer has said that this will give the K11 a display life of 20,000 hours before failure, which is quite reasonable. The K11 also has a built in USB port, and an SD card reader. The 2000:1 ratio will allow you to project widescreen as well as the standard 4:3 format, with a 200 lumen brightness ratio. We’re working on getting one of these to review, and we will be comparing it to a couple of other projectors in this market segment, the 3M and the Optoma.


Zero Punctuation: BioShock 2

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 04:00 PM PST


NSFW just like every other Zero Punctuation.

Sony opens 3D Experience in Vegas

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 03:45 PM PST

Well, TV manufacturers are definitely embracing 3D for the home. Obviously it’s going to require the networks to jump in too, as evidenced by Sony and CBS building the “Sony 3D Experience” in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

The showcase is designed to give consumers a chance to really understand how the 3D technology will work, and is going to feature the latest television and Blu-ray technology that Sony has to offer. People will walk through several demonstrations of exactly how 3D broadcasting is done, and get a taste of what they should expect from channels like ESPN 3D (that’s launching this summer), and the newest content from Sony, IMAX, and Discovery. They also plan on having different examples of the latest 3D glasses as well, showing off the latest from RealD. The “Experience” will be in the CBS Television City research facility inside the MGM Grand Hotel, and should be similar to the displays that the manufacturers had set up during CES2010.

[via CEPro]

NBC pulls anti-Jay Leno forum thread after everyone already had their fun

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 03:20 PM PST

Well, it was fun for a whole lot of people while it latest, but the “Here’s what I wanna show Jay Leno” thread is gone forever. NBC no doubt pulled it after the pro-Conan shenanigans got out of hand and attracted the attention of Internet media. You’re just no fun at all, NBC.

Thwart laptop thieves by shutting off your wi-fi

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 02:30 PM PST


Most of us don’t think twice about lugging a $2000 object to a public place and then leaving it for five minutes to grab a coffee refill — with no other assurance that it won’t be stolen than that there are other people around. I’ve started being a bit more careful since laptop theft has gone up around here, but it’s just as easy to forget that laptop rustlers don’t just hang out in cafes. And if they’re savvy, they may even employ wireless signal trackers to pinpoint the location of laptops hidden under car seats, in trunks, or in garages.

It seems (although I’m not sure how true this is for different types and makes) that some laptops keep their wireless on for a set time after being shut or told to sleep — probably because people often remember something they needed to look up, and pop the laptop back open. Laptop thieves make use of cheap wi-fi strength indicators available at any Fry’s to find a likely car and then, I suppose, bust it open the usual way.

People are advised to shut down their wi-fi before putting their computers to sleep, or else fully shut down the machine. Seems reasonable enough, but why do I suspect most people won’t take this advice?

Penguin is betting on the iPad for the future of books

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 02:13 PM PST

I’ve been thinking a lot about the world that my kids will soon live in. Books will be like vinyl records – clever and beloved artifacts of an analog age, hoarded more for reasons of nostalgia and scarcity than value. I honestly think that the book I’m working on now will be the last physical book I produce and that future books – if anyone lets me write them – will be more like multimedia information sources rather than formal, 80,000-word masterpieces.

Clearly Penguin thinks the same thing. PaidContent had some interesting news and footage from a recent iPad presentation and their ideas for books are stunning. For example:

Many of Penguin's iPad books seem hardly to resemble "books" at all, but rather very interactive learning experiences, from its Dorling Kindersley and kids imprints – the Vampire Academy "book" is "an online community for vampire lovers" with live chat between readers, and the Paris travel guide switches to street map view when placed on a table.

My concern? The publishing industry may not be able to keep up. When publishing becomes more like animation, new technologies will have to accrete over historical norms. The editor/writer relationship is already strained, but what happens when the writer also has to collect vampire pictures, star charts, and video footage? Are you really publishing a book, at that point, or are you doing something different entirely.

Where do you think books are going? I for one have been collected classics in print for my son to read (every nerdy teen needs a fat copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach to pretend to read) and I will miss the day when we’re no longer rustling the leaves of old books at the flea market.

Call of Duty cash cow will be milked completely dry

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PST

Let’s go back to the year 2005. That autumn, RedOctane released a game called Guitar Hero. It was pretty successful, so it spawned a sequel, Guitar Hero II. That came out on the fall of 2006. One year later, Rock Band first popped up. Then, in the span of around two years, video game publishers lost their minds, and published approximaely 800 music rhythm games. Now you have a situation where not even The Beatles can make Rock Band big again. The lesson: don’t saturate the market with same-y games too suddenly. With that in mind, laugh: Activision has created a "dedicated [Call of Duty] business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources around the world." "Brand initiatives," folks. Get ready for, like, 900 new Call of Duty games in the next few years!

Is Activision crazy like a fox or merely crazy? I’d suggest the latter, but let’s look at the facts:

• Activision likes to make money, and lots of it

• The last Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare 2, sold a zillion copies

So you understand Activision’s thinking here: hey, this series is popular, so let’s keep giving people what they want.

The thing is, do you want a Call of Duty MMO? Because that looks like it’s going to happen. What about Call of Duty 24: Filling Out Enlistment Papers? You really can only play these games so many times before it’s like, you know what, I’m tired of holding down R1 to shoot people.

We need to take bets: how long until people are burned out on Call of Duty? I’ll give them one more game of really good sales, then it drops off from there. And then Activision will have to find another cash cow to milk dry. Not that I have any special affinity for Call of Duty, but it’s just hilarious to see Activision blow through yet another franchise so quickly.

Toyota’s gas pedal fix not working according to some owners

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 01:30 PM PST


Ruh roh, some Toyota owners are claiming that the little metal shim installed in their pedals haven’t stopped the cars from fits of sudden acceleration. At least seven complaints have been filed in the last two weeks to the NHTSA stating they are still having the problem. This isn’t going to end well if it’s true.

Those seven complaints are just a tiny, tiny fraction of the 1,000,000 vehicles Toyota dealerships serviced over the last few weeks. The claims are so far unverified. The agency will need to investigate before any action takes place as there are no doubt at least seven whack jobs out there capable of filing false claims. But if you’re an owner of the 10,000,000 recalled Toyota’s, please, please let your dealership know if you’re having acceleration issues after they installed the supposed fix. It starts and ends at the dealership, not with a government agency. [LATime via Autoblog]

TiVo’s CEO goes on Fox Business to talk about the new Premiere

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 01:23 PM PST


In case you missed it, TiVo launched new products last night, the TiVo Premiere. The big news isn’t the hardware, it’s the software that’s dramatically different than the previous versions and the CEO went on to Fox Business to explain it to the talking heads. Oh and he said this, "Hulu would be great. As soon as they authorize it we are hoping to find a way to do it." Interesting, eh?

Review: Xetum Tyndall automatic watch

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 01:00 PM PST

If you've been following the HourTime podcasts you'll know that I have a hatred fro three-handed watches. For some reason I've grown weary of divers and dress watches without complications. Luckily, the Tyndall is here to bring me back from the brink of insanity. Designed by Jeff Kuo of San Francisco, the Xetum Tyndall is the epitome of American high-style design watches. It's not fancy, it's not overly beefy, and it's made to last. If you're tired of divers that look like pie plates and monster watches that look like manhole covers yet contain a cheap Chinese movement, this is the watch for you.


Maingear shows off their new mX-L notebook

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 12:47 PM PST

Maingear just announced their new mX-L 15 notebook, a gaming machine with a price that’s not on the crazy scale. It’s available in multiple configurations of course, which we’ll talk about after the jump.

On the processor front, you can choose between the i5 or i7 mobile chipsets, with the typical Turbo boost, hyper threading, buzzword laden capabilities. The mX-L rolls with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570, driving a 15.6″ screen with a resolution up to 1600×900. Wifi is built in of course. Storage comes from your choice of SSD drives in varying sizes that you can choose from when you place your order. MSRP starts at $999 and goes up based on your configuration choice, and you can order them now online.

Super Talent SuperCrypt flash drive is both super with USB 3.0 and cryptic with 256-bit encryption

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 12:10 PM PST


This is more like it. After seeing Corsair out a USB 2.0 flash drive yesterday, it kind of cast some doubt on the viability of USB 3.0. But Super Talent is here to restore our faith in the standard with the SuperCrypt flash drive. Yay!

The SuperCrypt bad boy will be available in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB flavors. All which will pack USB 3.0 performance of up to 240MB/s speeds along with 128-bit ECB encryption and 256-bit XTS encryption. Of course they will likely cost a crapton when they ship later this month but aren’t these flash drives getting a bit more interesting? I mean, come on, 256GB on a stick. Yes ma’ma.

The Altair is back

Posted: 03 Mar 2010 12:00 PM PST

Vince Briel, computer creator, has rebuilt the original Altair 8800, the world’s first home computer, and added a VGA and PS/2 keyboard. The computer emulates Intel’s 8080 processor with an Atmel AVR microcontroller and it has a full complement of exciting lights on the front for you to impress your friends with.

Briel will be selling the PC as well as the case itself if you want to put your own PC inside an Altair lookalike. He also makes an Apple 1 replica for you to “solder together,” which sounds like a hoot.

via Retrothing
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)