Author Archive

Laser-toting MAV can find its way in tight spaces, might eventually hunt you down (video)

A perpetual weakness of MAVs (micro air vehicles) is their frequent need for hand-holding in anything other than a wide-open or very controlled space. If they’re not using GPS or motion sensors to find their locations, they can’t turn on a dime the way a human pilot would. Adam Bry, Abraham Bachrash and Nicholas Roy […]


Insert Coin: Troller 1D, the transforming robot that won’t ruin your garden

A crawling robot that, at the touch of a button, curls up into a wheel and rolls away sounds a bit Robots in Disguise, doesn’t it? Still, that’s what roboticist Toby Baumgartner needs your cold, hard cash to build. Troller 1D is the first prototype of the modular automaton that uses a series of servos […]


Report: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit devs working on Vita title

UK studio Criterion Games is apparently prepping a project for release on the PlayStation Vita. Superannuation spotted a job listing for a software engineer that at one point reportedly listed “optimising and tuning the game resource system for the PS Vita” as part of the position’s overview. The listing was seemingly altered since, as it […]


DirecTV to offer broadband to the boonies, teams up with ViaSat and Hughes Satellite providers

Sure, living in the boonies may give you plenty of space to test out high-tech farming equipment, but at what cost? Rural homesteads just aren’t suited for ye olde landline broadband and those fancy satellite setups cost a pretty penny. DirecTV understands, and has struck deals with ViaSat and Hughes to bundle their stellar bandwidth […]


Which devices have Ice Cream Sandwich?

It’s mid-May — do you know where your Ice Cream Sandwich update is? Six months after Android 4.0 made its debut on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, millions of owners of legacy Android devices are still anxiously awaiting the day the new firmware gets downloaded on their own electronic real estate. At least the scene today […]


Mind-operated robot arm helps paralyzed woman have her cup o’ joe (video)

Researchers at the Braingate2 consortium have made a breakthrough that allows people with spinal cord or stroke injuries to control robotic limbs with their minds. The original project allowed subjects with motor cortex-implanted chips to move cursors on a screen with their minds, but they can now command DEKA and DLR mechanical arms to grasp […]


Go-Go Dog Pals lets you exercise Rover without tapping your precious calorie reserve

Sure you love your dog, but having him watch you sit on the sofa doesn’t constitute playtime. Standing up and even running around outside together will surely get the job done, but why get up for exercise when you’re perfectly comfortable on the couch? That’s the idea behind Go-Go Dog Pals, coined “the funnest most […]


Updated Hyundai app brings remote control to your Blue Link fleet

Hyundai Sonata and Veloster owners have had some level of remote access for a year now, but the latest version of the Blue Link app does even more. Along with remote start, door lock / unlock and control of the horn and lights, you can now run vehicle diagnostics, send POIs across from your phone […]


ROCCAT Savu hybrid mouse ready to assault PC gamers’ senses for $60

If ever there were a prime candidate for Pimp my Mouse, ROCCAT’s Savu

would be it. The R.A.D. peripheral (no, really, that’s the acronym) incorporates a category-first: an achievements application that rewards players for “a wide range of gaming feats, such as mouse movement, button clicks, scroll steps, etc.” The tricked-out mouse also features an […]


Flickr launches prettified ‘liquid’ layout, brings high-resolution eye candy to the forefront

After refreshing the uploading tool (and throwing in some better editing functions), Flickr’s decided to work on its looks. Its latest design update will now show a high-resolution version directly from a picture’s main page.