Gadgets Connect

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 2:03PMHere’s your afternoon dose of cuteness, ready or not. David McGoran’s Heart Robot has made its way into London’s Science Museum, and for good reason. This intelligent robot not only possesses a face with moving eyes and an external heart that blinks depending on what’s happening, but it actually encourages people to hug and cuddle it like a real human. Seen as being “among the first robots to signify a new era of emotional machines used for medical treatment and enjoyment,” this creature could one day become a mainstay in nursing homes where the elderly could interact with it and hopefully benefit in some metaphysical manner. (Read the full post about ‘Heart Robot loves to be hugged, express emotions’…)

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In a statement released with Garmins earnings report, the Nuvifone has been pushed back from its original estimate of Q4 of this year to the “first half of 2009”.  Surely, it is not the navigation part of the convergence device that is slowing the team down, or is it? Perhaps Garmin is holding off to see what kind of impact, if any, the iphone makes on their sales and how they respond to it.  Presumably, any sales of the Nuvifone would cannibalize sales of their stand alone navigation units.  Could it be they are just trying to prolong that cannibalization until they have to jump in the phone game?  If so, Garmin isn’t admitting it: “The nuvifone will not be available in fourth quarter as previously announced. (Read the full post about ‘Garmin waiting to see what iPhone does on Navigation?’…)

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If you cannot afford a large screen TV in your living room, there is a cheaper (albeit lower quality) alternative in the form of the Vuzix iWear 920s. This pair of virtual reality glasses claims to simulate watching a 62″ display form 8.5 feet away, although that comes at the expense of not being able to see whether your wife is getting it on with the mailman or not. What’s new with the VR920s is the ability to offer 3D images in gameplay. The Vuzix iWear VR920s will retail for approximately £250. I’ve tried these at CES and it’s definitely not the same thing as having a real 62″ HDTV. First of all, the resolution is much lower. (Read the full post about ‘Vuzix iWear VR920s’…)

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A $100-bill will buy you a lot of stuff in India — and soon it could buy you 10 computers. Shortly after developing its cheapest car, New Delhi has set its target for rolling out the cheapest laptop for only $10, according to an Economic Times article. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangladore and the Indian Institute of Technology have already begun researching the $10 notebook, which would be primarily designed for educational use. Producing a $10 notebook will not only rectify computer illiteracy and e-learning issues in India, but also for the rest of the world, said D Purandeswari, Minister of State for Human Resource Development. (Read the full post about ‘New Delhi Plans $10 Laptop for Students’…)

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Lenovo is well-known for its slim ThinkPad X300, but now the Chinese company is preparing itself t launch a low-cost laptop similar to the Asus Eee that started it all. Usual contract manufacturers are probably in-line to get this contract. This is not a rumor, Lenovo has confirmed this itself: “the company is considering launching a netbook product designed with consideration for both consumer and enterprise markets” (Ken Wong, general manager of Lenovo Taiwan). That’s great, with even more players coming in, I think that we might reach a $100 NetTop even faster. (Read the full post about ‘Lenovo jumps on the NetTop wagon’…)

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I’m not a big fan of cryptic watch faces. I mean who doesn’t have enough to think about during the day, let alone try to decipher what time it is. This Galaxy Watch, however, looks like something that a hero would wear in a sci-fi movie and the colorful display isn’t that hard to figure out.

Housed in a polished silver case, the Galaxy watch face features several multicolor bars that display the time. The twelve yellow bars on the display represent hours segments, the eleven red bars represent groups of five minute increments and four green bars represent single minutes.

(Read the full post about ‘Galaxy Watch displays time as if from a different galaxy’…)

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The iPhone 3G might be shiny and new, but that doesn’t make it exempt from cracks in the plastic finish, much to the disgust of once proud owners. It seems as though these cracks are most common in the white 16GB models of the phone, but that could be due to the fact that cracks are easier to detect visually in a white model compared to the black version. Either that, or it could be a quality control issue, as with the case of the DS Lite and the infamous cracked hinge issue. How’s your iphone 3G so far - all good? (Read the full post about ‘iPhone 3G Experiences Cracks’…)

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Word has it that the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore is currently working on a netbook that will retail for a stunning $100 - now is that cheap or what? Hopefully the final product won’t be as tacky looking as the OLPC XO laptop, but the price is certainly a tempting proposition. Other than the price tag as a target, very little else is known about the work-in-progress, leaving us to guess the size and specifications thrown in. What do you think $100 will be able to net you? Tags: gprs, plasma, tech, cable (Read the full post about ‘India Targets $100 Netbook’…)

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Ok, I think game peripheral manufacturers are taking things a wee bit too far with the Peak Starpex guitar controller being the most realistic Guitar Hero controller just yet. This hardware won’t see the use of cheap plastics, but will be built according to the same scale while using similar material as found in a real guitar, providing you with the most realistic Guitar Hero experience possible. After all’s said and done, it still doesn’t measure up to playing an actual guitar, as you won’t be able to serenade any ladies with your knowledge of Guitar Hero. The Peak Starpex will retail for $179.95 when it is available sometime later next month, and is compatible with Rock Band as well. (Read the full post about ‘Peak Starpex Guitar Controller’…)

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Those looking forward to Garmin’s Nuviphone will be disappointed to know that it won’t be out in Q4 this year as earlier anticipated, pushing the release date all the way to the first half of next year. Well, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud - it gives you more time to save up for one if you haven’t yet done so already. Tags: tech, lcd, consumer technology, speaker (Read the full post about ‘Garmin Nuviphone Delayed’…)

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