Ok, so it may not be quite as ambitious as some
all-purpose cleaning robots, but this so-called KAR robot arm developed by a group of researchers from Panasonic and the University of Tokyo does appear to at least do the sole task it was designed for relatively well. While it can't exactly "wash" the dishes, per se, it can apparently pick up even delicate dishes without damaging them, dip them in the water, load them into a dishwasher, and even turn on said dishwasher. The researchers apparently aren't satisfied with things just yet, however, and they say they eventually hope that robot will be able to clean up after a family of four in just five minutes. Head on past the break for a video, and hit up the link below for another silent (and, hence, more unnerving) one.
[Via
Japan Probe]
Continue reading KAR robot arm does the dishes, sort of
Filed under: Robots
KAR robot arm does the dishes, sort of originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments We're still no closer to determining just how many
BlackBerry Storm sales have
been reversed by now, but either way, said handset is reportedly Verizon's "best-selling device." Interestingly, it's up to your best guess as to what that really signifies, as the quantity of Storm devices sold remains tightly under wraps. In other words, you could take that to mean it's the bestselling right now (highly probable) or that it has already outsold all other VZW handsets in two short months (not at all probable). In other, more substantiated news, RIM has proclaimed that it sold 6.9 million smartphones between September and November of this year, which -- coincidentally enough -- is
exactly how many iPhone 3Gs that Apple sold through in its Q4. So RIM, whenever you feel like dishing out that exact figure that only
everyone, everywhere is waiting for, we'll be listening.
[Via
Silicon Alley Insider]
Filed under: Cellphones
RIM calls the Storm "Verizon's best-selling device" -- whatever that means originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
Roboware's family-centric, open-source E3 robot has been rolling around for a good while now, but this video of him in action is probably of interest to our humanoid readers. Called E3 because of his customizable emotional, entertainment and educational functions, Roboware's bot is meant to be a valued member of the family -- albeit one with WiFi, IR rangers, an LCD in its chest, a web-cam in its head, and a microSD slot on its back. The little character has 17 joints and three multi-directional wheels, making him quite mobile, expressive, and rather reminiscent of WowWee's
Mr. Personality. Check the video for the full demo, including his recital of T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" in its entirety near the end.
Continue reading Roboware E3 family robot spotted in action-packed video
Filed under: Robots
Roboware E3 family robot spotted in action-packed video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Yes, already. Before the
8GB S9 has even had a chance
to become available, Cowon has already issued the first firmware update for its hot little PMP. If you're one of the
earliest of adopters, you may want to give this one a download / install before flinging your device upside the wall. Just to name a few, the patch fixes bugs when changing boundary settings for music playback, when viewing particular picture files, when the upper buttons are pressed simultaneously and when connecting Bluetooth Mono headsets. Hop on past the break for the full alert, and tap the read link to access the file.
Continue reading Cowon issues first firmware update for S9 PMP
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Cowon issues first firmware update for S9 PMP originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments Mention
3D, and you'll get an enthusiastic shrug from most. Mention three little words in conjunction, and everything changes. In case you haven't guessed that magic trio, it's "
no glasses required." We've
seen the technology
bandied about, but we're sensing that companies are about to get serious with it at CES 2009. Case in point: Alioscopy and TCL have tag-teamed in order to showcase the former's 3DHD autostereoscopic 3D LCD display (40-inch) and content creation technology in just under a month. There are no real details on the underlying juju, but you can bet we're stoked to see what it delivers in Vegas. Maybe those plans for a
3D Olympics in 2012 aren't all that loony after all?
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Alioscopy's 40-inch 3DHD autostereoscopic LCD headed for CES: no glasses required originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments According to the New York Times, Dell may have a little surprise on the way. Based on some wild trademark searches, a tiny bit of digging on the "internet" using a "search engine," and the lack of eye contact from the company's VP in charge of consumer sales (Michael Tatelman), there's a MacBook Air rival beneath all this subterfuge. It seems that the brand name "Adamo" is registered to the computer-maker with a site to match, and somehow the fashion blog (!?)
Uptownlife.net came up with this gem: "Rumor has it that Dell is coming out with a computer called Adamo that will rival the MacBook Air." How they came up with that is anyone's guess, but apparently the look on Tatelman's face when asked about it was enough to convince at least one journalist that this is a done deal. Us? Well we're going to wait and see, but we're happy to work with Commander Adamo as soon as we see him.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Filed under: Laptops
Dell Adamo ultrathin laptop rumors surface originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
Okay, so right here: this is where Android starts to get awesome. The platform is being hacked and developed at a blistering pace that closed operating systems can only dream of, and to top it all off, Google's now gifted the world with a bunch of changes it had been developing in secrecy in a private branch called "cupcake." Why "cupcake," you ask? We're not sure, but given the list of fixes and additions we're seeing here, we can only assume it has something to do with how tasty it's going to be once it gets rolled into a shipping firmware. For starters, it rolls in circa-November WebKit code and significantly boosts browsing performance, fixes a novel's worth of issues with the email app, and -- wait for it -- adds support for stereo Bluetooth. Of course, we're at the mercy of T-Mobile and HTC for getting this onto retail G1s, so it really makes a strong case for picking up a Dev Phone 1, doesn't it?
[Via Android Community, thanks Ben F.]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Google secretly crafts Android codename "cupcake," fixes and features aplenty originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Not that we haven't seen laptops with multiple screens before, but this is a ThinkPad, people. You know, an all-business, totally not flashy ThinkPad. Hidden deep within a Lenovo Asia-Pacific hardware announcement is something we'd swear was a prank if it were hosted anywhere other than IBM.com, but it looks like the dual-screen W700 is for real. Reportedly, the machine will feature a 17-inch WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) primary display along with a 10.6-inch WXGA (1,280 x 768) secondary panel. Think SideShow, just jacked up on whatever Clemens and McGwire were using. The rest of the specifications are swell but expected, but the tidbits we're really reaching for (price and availability, naturally) are nowhere to be found. Can you say "want."?
[Via NotebookReview]
Filed under: Displays, Laptops
ThinkPad W700 surfaces with secondary 10.6-inch LCD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments For the podcaster-on-the-go, there's always a need for a portable microphone to get through less-than-ideal situations. Clearly,
Samson Technologies is lookin' out, as the simply titled Go Mic provides all that and a bag of chips. The "pocket-sized" USB microphone comes with a built-in mount for siting atop one's laptop display and can be used to record audio in a variety of scenarios (Skype, lectures, etc.). It's supposedly plug-and-play with both Macs and PCs, and it features a 20Hz to 18 kHz frequency response, selectable cardioid / omni directional polar recording pattern and a condenser transducer with pressure gradient. Speak up in one (available in black or white) right now for $49; full release is after the break.
Continue reading Samson introduces highly portable $49 USB Go Mic
Filed under: Peripherals, Portable Audio
Samson introduces highly portable $49 USB Go Mic originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We had already heard it through the grapevine, but now Huawei has stepped in to confirm. Straight from the horse's (or spokesperson, in this instance) mouth: "Huawei can confirm that their first Android smartphone is scheduled to launch in the third quarter of 2009. Huawei's smartphones can be ordered and developed for Australian operators based on any such requests." It stands to reason that other markets outside of AU would be able to get their paws around 'em as well, though we sadly have no idea how long proliferation would take. Looks like Australia's gearing up to be a serious Android battleground -- who woulda thunk it, mate?
[Via UnwiredView]
Filed under: Cellphones
Android-powered Huawei handsets on track for Q3 2009 release (in Australia) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
It's not clear exactly how widespread the problem is, but it looks like at least some Dell Mini 9s are shipping with smaller batteries than they should be -- a situation that, you may remember, also plagued some Eee PCs a
little ways back. According to jkkmobile, while the all the batteries are labeled
a 32Wh, 4 cell batteries, a quick software test of their own Mini 9 revealed that the battery was in fact only 24Wh, which certainly cuts into the promised four-hour runtime a bit. Apparently, the folks on the MyDellMini forums were able to surmise that batteries with labels beginning in "CN" are the proper 32Wh models, while those that begin with "KR" are the smaller ones. Of course, there's no way to check that until you actually get one in your hands, so we're hoping Dell steps in to clear things up a bit.
[Via jkkmobile]
Filed under: Laptops
Some Dell Mini 9s said to be shipping with smaller batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comments 
Europe still isn't the place to be for limitless HD content, but London in particular could be a 3D extravaganza come 2012. The host city for the next Summer Olympics may be coming to your living room like never before, as Brian Lenz, head of product design and innovation at Sky, proclaimed that "there is a very good chance you'll see the London Olympics in 3D." The satcaster has already confessed to filming events in 3D, and given that the wide distribution of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in HD was all the rage, we suppose the third-dimension is the next logical step forward. Mirroring our own hopes and dreams, Lenz stated that what it really wanted was "glasses free technology." Here's hoping we inch closer to that at CES 2009.
[Thanks, Ben]
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Sky says 2012 London Olympics could be in 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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