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The RoboDynamics Luna Robot: We’re Getting There, Perverts

Posted: 11 May 2011 05:02 AM PDT

Slowly but surely we’re moving to an era immortalized by Blade Runner where robots become our boon companions and electronic friends with benefits, a helpmate and, in the cold reaches of deep space, a tender lover. Take Luna, for example. She is a robot made by Schultze Works for a company called RoboDynamics.

If she is real she seems to be able to move in multiple directions and has special hands that can be placed in any position for various activities including the all-important “tray holding” position so she can swirl through the crowd crowing about “Long Island Ice Teas” while the government’s top brass slowly get drunk. No word on availability and the website is sufficiently generic that it could have been put up in a few hours.

It seems Luna will be coming soon and she will be available in standard and editions limited to 1,000 pieces. The robot has, according to the Schultze website “(1) completely expandable via expansion ports, (2) fully programmable with open standards and, above all, (3) affordable.” RoboDynamics is run by a former investor named Fred Nikgohar.

Video: Watch A Cute Japanese Maid Mod A Furby

Posted: 11 May 2011 04:02 AM PDT


Apart from being uber-cute, Julie Watai from Japan has many talents: she is known as a model, singer, photographer, “multimedia artist” – and a genuine otaku. As such, she recently recorded and uploaded a video on YouTube that shows her modifying a Furby.

I am not sure why exactly Julie is wearing a maid costume in the video, but I do know that I am all for it.

Here’s the “Furby Clinic” video:

Via Wired Italy [IT] / hat tip to Francesco Fondi

Sharp Rolls Out AQUOS Phone With 8MP Twin 3D Cameras, Naked-Eye 3D QHD Display, Android 2.3

Posted: 11 May 2011 03:14 AM PDT

It's not the first 3D smartphone from Sharp, but the AQUOS PHONE SH-12C big S unveiled [JP] is much cooler (if you think 3D in a phone is really necessary, that is). The company simply seems to have squeezed in everything they have into the Android device. Read the rest on MobileCrunch.


Daily Crunch: Input Output Edition

Posted: 11 May 2011 12:00 AM PDT

Android And Chrome: Anywhere And Everywhere

Posted: 10 May 2011 06:46 PM PDT


Google is approaching a watershed moment in its internal platform wars. The time is nearly at hand when they will have to decide once and for all what Android is, what Chrome OS is, and where they are both going. This is not to say it has not been internally decided and even worked out to the decimal for some years ahead — but they’re going to have to break it to the world sooner or later, and today’s I/O event may have been a powerful hint.

The hint is in two announcements today: one expected and more or less standard for Google (Music), the other a surprise (Open Accessory Toolkit). Google is laying the groundwork for a two-pronged OS assault a little ways down the road: Chrome OS everywhere, and Android anywhere.

Why does it matter that Google has put out a little widget that will let people control fans and LEDs using Android? It matters because Google is positioning Android not as a phone OS, but as an all-purpose low-ceiling OS scalable at the very maximum to tablets (I doubt it will evolve much past what we see in Honeycomb, though it will certainly be made better), and at the very minimum to — what do you think? Anything. Microwaves, vehicles, media players, robots, watches, toys, tools, microscopes, x-ray machines, set-top boxes, cameras… you name it. Google wants it to be in any device that requires some kind of CPU and interface. Oh, and they’ll all talk to each other, in Googlese. Do you want to control Pandora from your fridge? Neither do I. But there are a hundred million people who do.

Android could fork one more time, creating a version that’s as much smaller than “vanilla” Android as Honeycomb is larger. Reduce dependencies, buff up legacy and basic (maybe even Basic) code libraries, and fortify it against being chopped into little pieces to fit in 4MB of RAM and a 25MHz processor. It’ll blow up in embedded and invisible computing as quickly as it has blown up in mobile. Why? Because it’s well-documented, cheap (free, technically, but you have to make up the difference to fit it to your device), versatile, and will be built to work with all the off-the-shelf parts you’re already using.

This little accessory testbed is a great way for Google to put a foot in the door and start working out the kinks. Rope in a powerful and well-loved hacking partner (Arduino) and you buy yourself not only a healthy platform but a healthy community. Rubin may have said they don’t develop via the community, but it doesn’t matter when the community only needs to provide the last mile. And besides, if you give the community the right tools, sometimes what they can create is almost beyond belief. Kinect is a good example of this.

Meanwhile, Chrome OS is nearing a stable release, but it’s more like Android 1.0 “stable” than anything else. It won’t crash, but it’ll need a year or two before it shines. And what happens in a year or two? Google hopes that there will be some eighty to a hundred million tablets in active use, and while the mix of iOS, webOS, Android, Chrome OS, and to be announced can be argued all day long, the one thing they’ll all have in common is a powerful, HTML 5-compliant browser.

Sure, you could get a Chrome OS machine, if you’re feeling daffy and want to limit yourself to just a browser. Or you could get any tablet at all, and still have access to 95% of Google’s services. They don’t care whether Chrome OS picks up or not — it’s a stable, low-profile OS that may or may not get a little traction in low-cost devices. But Chrome OS and Chrome the browser are going to share so many parts that to the end user, they may soon be indistinguishable. No matter your platform, every question will be answered with “in the browser.” Where’s your music? In the browser. How do I rent movies? In the browser. Where are my photos? Browser. Email? Browser. It’s the simplest way to create all the arrows in this little graphic:

Such an ecosystem sounds a bit far out for consumers today, which is why Google is launching at I/O with no partners instead of at a Los Angeles Gala with musical guest Ke$ha. They’re looking down the road, past App Country and into Browserland.

At least, that’s what I saw in a vision after hearing about the Arduino board. But it makes sense, I think, mostly because it pokes Apple in both eyes. Weak in the cloud and outside of mobile and apps (where they’re more or less unassailable, for good reason), they’re vulnerable to attack — first by competing in a category Apple can’t possibly get into (hackery and embedded computing), and second, by ensuring that every unit Apple sells is a potential platform for Google to invade. This Hannibal-esque pincer move will assail Apple on their services and product diversity flanks, while healthy growth of Android will prevent any upset on the central mobile front.

How they’ll sell it to consumers is another matter. It’ll take time and Google isn’t the best at marketing — and their enemies won’t be standing still. Clearly Chrome OS isn’t ready to be the universal platform they want it to be just yet; but in a year Android will have solidified on the high end and spread out on the low end. The tablet wars will have heated up, and cloud services will be approaching the mainstream. There will be an iPhone 5, a Nexus X (or something), NFC, and a hundred other events and techs I can’t possibly foresee.

In fact, and this is really the most likely outcome, so many crazy things will happen between now and then that this article will be rendered null. At the very least, though, it seems a plausible theory for the real intentions of these two chameleonic platforms. Google’s timing plan for Chrome just turned out to be a little optimistic.

35-Year-Old Apple I Resuscitated At Italian University

Posted: 10 May 2011 05:29 PM PDT


Here’s a cheerful little item to help advance your week towards Friday. Technicians at the Politecnico de Torino (a university in Turin, Italy) have managed to bring an original Apple I back to life. These extremely early examples of home computing are nearly impossible to find, and indeed this one was purchased by a wealthy collector for over $200,000.

They cleaned the contacts, tested the capacitors, clock, and so on, and at last used a MacBook Pro to load a program onto the unit that excitedly repeated “Hello Polito” on the monitor. It’s aliiiive!

[via Electronista]

Sequel To COICA Bill, The PROTECT IP Act, May Be Even Worse

Posted: 10 May 2011 04:00 PM PDT

The COICA bill, a piece of legislation that would eliminate a good deal of due process and free speech guarantees on the internet, is being succeeded by a new bill, the PROTECT IP Act. And yes, that’s an acronym. It stands for “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property” — the most transparent attempt to whitewash a bill I’ve seen since PATRIOT.

The act itself, rather than responding to concerns that it placed too much burden on the accused and added easily abusable controls on internet content, goes even further in allowing instant lockdown of “infringing” sites. Part of that is the ability of not just the government, but private entities such as rightsholders, to directly accuse a site and get it taken down with nothing more than a court’s approval.

Even in a perfect world (such as the one obviously envisioned by this bill’s creators), there would be problems. The fact that a private rightsholder can bring an action against a site via a court, and the injunction can be issued without any notification of the site is extremely disturbing. It’s very much a shoot first, ask question later type setup, which is harmful everywhere, especially where there should be a presumption of innocence.

It also requires that search engines censor their results, something I seriously doubt is going to happen in a hurry for every Joe Rightsholder who says this or that site is infringing their rights.

TechDirt has some more commentary, as well as the full text of the bill, if you’re interested. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this poor excuse for a law in the next few months. Copyright legislation is a real need, but this isn’t the right approach. This is legislation for the status quo, by the status quo, interested only in streamlining their legal process.

Toshiba’s Honeycomb Tablet Running Late For Launch Date

Posted: 10 May 2011 03:30 PM PDT


Toshiba's second venture into the tablet arena is off to a rough start, as reports have come in saying that the Toshiba slate will be delayed in the UK. Originally, Toshiba had promised that the 10.1-inch Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet would arrive in the UK sometime during Q2.

That's turning out to be a bit of a fib, as Ken Chan, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Toshiba, today told Reg Hardware that the tablet won't appear until "the very end of summer." With specs similar to that of the Motorola XOOM, the Toshiba tablet touts a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor under the hood, with a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 0.2-megapixel front-facing camera. Toshiba's newest slate will also feature support for HDMI output, USB mini and USB port connectivity, and support for microSD cards.

Mr. Chan never actually got around to explaining the delay, but some have already begun to speculate, perhaps too optimistically. Reg Hardware has high hopes that the company is simply waiting for NVIDIA's next generation of Tegra processors, the highly-anticipated quad-core chip "Kal-El.” Of course, the recent disaster in Japan may have something to do with the delay, as well.

[via Reg Hardware]

Foxconn Denies “Anti-Suicide” Contracts

Posted: 10 May 2011 02:41 PM PDT

A few months ago the Internet was aflame with suicides at Foxconn and then there were rumors that the massive manufacturing company was forcing its employees to sign “anti-suicide” pledges. Now, at least according to a Canadian news organization, Foxconn has confirmed that this is not true.

“Foxconn does not ask its employees to sign any such documents, any reports to the contrary are inaccurate,” said Ellin Choy, a Foxconn spokesperson.


Seventeen employees have killed themselves by jumping off of Foxconn buildings since 2010. In a factory of 400,000 in Shenzhen alone, however, that’s a fairly small percentage but not an unimportant one. However, as I wrote here, what in our current gadget culture is causing these suicides?

Foxconn claims to offer a living wage to its over a million workers and I tend to believe them. However, I do worry that the suicide issue will be eventually swept under the rug and ultimately ignored.

via Canoe.ca


Hands-On With Android 3.1 On The Motorola Xoom

Posted: 10 May 2011 02:36 PM PDT


Google announced Android 3.1 earlier today at I/O. More surprising than the OS itself (which was expected, really) was that it was rolling out to Verizon Xooms today. Google failed to announce when it was hitting other devices beside Google TV, which will get it this summer, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which will get it in the next few weeks.

As announced, the UI is much the same. You can’t tell 3.0 from 3.1 visually. One of the only noticeable differences is that the widgets can be resized. Previously, widgets such as email and bookmarks had a preset size — now they can be stretched and morphed to better fit a user’s preferences. The home button also returns you to the previously selected homescreen rather than the main center one.


It seems many of 3.1′s changes are under the hood. The Xoom I’m using is noticeably faster. The app screen loads nearly instantly, as do many apps. I’m no longer looking at a black screen while switching between apps, either. But the Quadrant benchmarking app disagrees. My 3.0.1 Xoom scored 1824 while the 3.1 scored 1580. The easy answer is perhaps that Quadrant needs to be recompiled for 3.1.

3.1 also addressed many issues with the browser. It now supports HTML5 video, enhanced CSS 3D, as well as now being able to save pages for offline viewing. But I don’t really care about those features. All I care about is that it’s quicker, and pinch-to-zoom is as smooth as the iPad’s. Really, the browser is a star performer now.

Previously, 3.0 supported USB keyboards; USB mice are now supported as well and work in single button mode. Scroll wheels are apparently supported as well but I have no way of testing that as the Xoom does not feature a USB host.


Google Videos was also one of the big announcements at I/O 2011, and comes preinstalled with 3.1 — it’s just called Videos, of course. The interface is sparse, with a two row interface. Up top are your rentals, with thumbnails occupying the bottom. You don’t actually rent anything directly from the app — it’s actually more of a management app. The thumbnails direct you to the Android Market app. It’s from there you click to rent with most titles costing $3.99.

There are other small, honestly trivial changes in 3.1. The buttons now look a bit different and there are a few new baked-in wallpapers. It’s a bunch of small things that add up to a more pleasing experience. It actually feels more like a 3.0.x update than a whole new platform, but I’ll dig into the system and see if there is anything else new. Oh, and yeah, 3.1 still doesn’t bring microSD support to the Xoom.

HP TouchPad, HP Pre 3 To Hit Shelves In June

Posted: 10 May 2011 02:00 PM PDT

It's looking like the HP TouchPad and HP Pre 3 aren't too far away from release. Back at the Think Beyond event in February, the devices were promised to appear this "summer," and since then, a more specific time frame has been laid out. According to multiple statements made by HP CEO Leo Apotheker, the HP TouchPad should show up in June.

The HP Pre 3 is a bit more of a mystery, with no hard-and-fast leads about its availability dates, as of yet. However, when asked about the Pre 3's forthcoming launch date, HP VP of developer relations Richard Kerris (who owns a Pre 3, by the way), said it's TouchPad and then the Pre 3. With Touch-to-Share being one of the core features on the TouchPad, we'd have expected to see the Pre 3 show up sooner than the webOS-powered tablet.

In any case, June's only 21 days away, so if your patience has already been sufficiently tested waiting on the arrival of either of these devices, now is the time to start crossing fingers and buying rabbits' feet.

[via Pre-Central]

Disney Research Shows Pico Projector-Based Games With MotionBeam Prototype

Posted: 10 May 2011 01:33 PM PDT


We’ve seen some cool applications of pico projectors in the last few years: the Game Gun comes to mind, and… that other game gun as well. Disney (who, I guess unsurprisingly, maintains a whole research organization) is interested in the possible games and interactive experiences these cool little devices make possible. They’ve put together some prototypes, as you can see in the video above.

The device, called MotionBeam, is a sort of tech sandwich: the projector is a Microvision ShowWX, which we praised for its size but found a bit dim (Disney is actually using the old version, not the +). Then there’s an iPod touch providing the processing and application platform. Lastly there’s a little assembly of sensors, including an IR camera that can detect certain objects and patterns for your game to interact with.

Obviously there are cool ideas flying around, but it’s all very preliminary still — and the devices themselves are expensive. But each generation of pico projector has brought the price down and the quality up, so it’s just a matter of time.

[via Pico Projector Info]


This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Seventh-Gen Apple iPod Nano To Sport 1.3-Megapixel Camera?

Posted: 10 May 2011 12:17 PM PDT


It looks as though the forthcoming seventh-generation iPod nano will undergo some hardware changes, specifically the addition of a 1.3 megapixel rear camera and the removal of the built-in clip. An alleged leaked picture of the next iPod nano showed up on Monday on the website tw.apple.pro.

The report cites a source called "Ray" from California, so if you know any Rays, you might ask them if they know anything. This isn't the first time we've gotten wind of a potential camera on the iPod nano. Back in April, an unverified photo made its way around the web, showing off the newest iPod nano with space in the back for a camera.

Clearly, this has not been confirmed with Apple, but the Taiwanese tw.apple.pro blog has correctly leaked the last six versions of the iPod nano. Still, that picture doesn’t really look convincing.

[via Apple Insider]

Samsung Gives First 5000 Galaxy Tab 10.1s To Developers At Google I/O

Posted: 10 May 2011 11:53 AM PDT


The giveaways at Google I/O have become one of the most-publicized features of the conference; after all, the new features and frameworks matter to developers, but Oprah MomentsTM tend to resonate on the internet. Previously it was handsets being given away, but this year, with Android handset numbers blocking out the sun and tablets underdeveloped, it was Honeycomb that ended up in developers’ laps. Specifically, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Yep, 5000 of them are being distributed to Google’s dev base. This is pretty cool, since Samsung was previously a bit gun-shy about its new tablet, even publicly saying they had some work to do after the iPad launch. But the relaunch in March had them confident again, though the release was distant enough that we thought they might still have some work to do. I guess the developers at I/O will be able to tell us whether that’s true.

If you’re looking to get your own, check eBay in a couple hours, or else wait until June 8, the planned release date for the 10.1. Personally I’m thinking about that 8.9 — a little smaller, but with mostly the same specs. The 10.1s given out at I/O won’t ship with Android 3.1, but will be getting it soon.

Hi, I’m Jordan Crook, CrunchGear’s Latest Gadget Writer

Posted: 10 May 2011 11:00 AM PDT

Hello there, world! The name's Jordan Crook, and I thought I'd take a moment during my first day here at CrunchGear to introduce myself. Along with my passion for unicorns and long walks on the beach, most of my time is spent reading, reporting, and writing about technology, watching as much TV as possible, exploring the wonder that is New York City, and working on a "novel" that seems to be going nowhere as of late.

After graduating with an English Literature degree from NYU, I dabbled in various walks of mobile, including but not limited to mobile marketing, mobile apps, and device reviews at publications like MobileMarketer and MobileBurn. My experience in other sectors of the technological world is limited, but I have long been fascinated with alternative forms of energy production, and other green-related technology. I'm still pretty green myself, but I'm learning as I go, and the more I learn, the more excited I am to be here writing for CrunchGear.

Contact me at jordan at crunchgear dot com and follow me on Twitter @JordanRCrook !

Video: Pomplamoose Covers The Angry Birds Theme (And Records It With A Samsung Infuse 4G!)

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:52 AM PDT

As if Angry Birds hasn't purveyed our society enough, bands are now covering the Angry Birds theme on YouTube, just in case that tune isn't already on a never-ending loop in your head. The band Pomplamoose, which has already shot a number of cover videos, including Beyonce's Single Ladies and Michael Jackson's Beat It, puts a rather dramatic spin on the Angry Birds theme song, slamming heads into pianos and throwing punches left and right.

Read More

Google TV Finds New Friends And An Updated OS

Posted: 10 May 2011 10:07 AM PDT


Google’s mantra of launching products early and often didn’t exactly work with Google TV. It hit the ground with a gimped feature set and limited hardware options. The analogy of Android simply hasn’t held true as hardware makers and retail vendors alike simply haven’t picked up the devices. Today, at Google I/O, new hardware partners were announced as well as an updated OS. Google TV might finally be off the starting line.

Samsung and Vizio are joining Logitech and Sony as hardware venders of Google TV. This announcement isn’t much of surprise, really. The two were rumored to have Google TV product announcements set for CES 2011 back in January, but nothing ever came of it. In fact another rumor told a tale of Google themselves delaying the product announcements.

Google also announced that devs can start building apps for the platform using the normal Honeycomb SDK and that Google Market should hit the platform “soon.” Android 3.1 will hit Google TV this summer, but any changes were not announced.

Still, we’re left wondering about Google TV’s future. It clearly looks more bright now than even at its much-hyped launch, but can Market access and 3.1 save one of Google’s more novel products? We’ll talk more once they hit.

Google Releases The Android Open Accessory Toolkit For Adding Devices To Tablets And Phones

Posted: 10 May 2011 09:46 AM PDT

In this post-PC world, tablets and phones are starting to be our main devices. But what if we want to do something special with like like adding keyboards, mice, and game controllers. Google is working on a new project called the Android Open Accessory toolkit that will allow designers to use open source hardware interfaces like Arduino to connect multiple input devices to almost any Android system.

In an effort to “broaden” what defines an Android accessory, the toolkit allows you to create a network of devices from one master controller including appliances, sensors, and home entertainment system. You will be able to, for example, control your lights and thermostat via WiFi, USB, Bluetooth, and, in the future, another protocol that will work with anything electrical like appliances, lights, and thermostats.

The Arduino boards will act as reference designs for manufacturers to base their future systems on and will not appear in most finished products. However, because Google is using Arduino, hobbyists and tinkerers can connect to Android devices with a bit of coding.

The first cool implementation comes with Android@Home, a system for controlling LED lights from an Android device. This unique – and fairly exciting system – will appear at the end of the year.

The program is completely open with no NDAs, fees, or approval process.

Google Android: 100M Activations So Far, Now At 400K Activations A Day

Posted: 10 May 2011 09:27 AM PDT

At Google i/o today a Google representative dropped some numbers about the success of Android today, introduced by a video of a 3D Android robot scaling a mountain of Android activations. There have been over 100 million Android activations worldwide, through over 36 OEMs, 215 carriers. There are 450,000 Android developers, developing for more than 310 Android devices in 112 countries .

Android was activated on 100k Android devices a day a year ago and is now at 400k daily activations the Google representative said.There are currently over 200K available apps on Android Market including CNN, Pulse, etc.

Read more…


Android Honeycomb 3.1 Lands Today For Xoom Users

Posted: 10 May 2011 09:14 AM PDT


Android Honeycomb 3.1, Google’s tablet OS, is getting a major update today, and it will be available first for the Motorola Xoom from Verizon. The new OS version includes a more powerful task handler that allows for immediate shutdown of idle tasks without user intervention, an issue that has long plagued many Android versions.

Also included is widget resizing, as well as direct phone-to-tablet USB support and USB input from controllers and keyboards. 3.1 will appear on Google TV devices like the Revue this summer.

Google TV will also be getting the Android Market at the same time, thereby improving the GTV experience considerably.
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