LIDAR-equipped robot maps dangerous areas in 3D so you don’t have to

Looks like the kids at MIT might have a little competition for their LIDAR-equipped 3D mapping drone. Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have teamed up with the University of Missouri-Columbia for a prototype robot that uses light detection and ranging (similar to RADAR, but with lasers) to map areas and send the 3D data to a nearby laptop. The technology not only provides detailed info on floor plans and physical structures (such as possible structural damage) but it can also “see” people inside a space. There are many possible applications for this, from spotting terrorists hiding in caves to seeing if your new internet girlfriend really looks like her profile pic, or — and this is especially important in the modern era — seeing if your new internet girlfriend is actually a terrorist (we wondered why she wanted that first meeting to take place in a cave). “Once you have the images, you can zoom in on objects and look at things from different angles,” says Dr. Norbert Maerz, associate professor of geological engineering at Missouri S&T — an ability that we wish we had while browsing PlentyofFish.com.

LIDAR-equipped robot maps dangerous areas in 3D so you don’t have to originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Buyers Get First Look at Sony 3D TV

Sony3D.jpg

You’ve been hearing the hype about 3D TVs for months, and now you can get a look at one. The nation’s 42 Sony Style stores are offering demonstrations of the sets in mock living room environments. Put your feet up as if you were home and take a look at Sony Pictures’ Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D. Why, those meatballs are coming right at you! You’ll either be scared or hungry (if it’s lunchtime).

“Our Sony Style stores are often used as a test ground for new products and technology before they become available through our authorized retail network,” said Linda Turner, senior vice president of Sony Style retail stores.

Besides demoing the sets, Sony is also taking pre-orders. The Bravia XBR-52LX900, which is on display, offers integrated 3D with Sony’s 3D active shutter glasses and built-in 3D transmitter. The sets offer built-in Wi-Fi for access to Bravia Internet video. The complete line includes 38 models ranging in size from 22- to 60-inches. The earliest ones will be available this spring.

SanDisk ships 60GB / 120GB G3 SSD to North America and Europe

Lookin’ to get your flash on, are you? Fret not, as SanDisk has just announced that its 60GB and 120GB G3 solid state drives are headed out to retailers as we speak. Both North America and Europe are getting served simultaneously, with the drives promising sequential performance of up to 220MB/sec on the read side and up to 120MB/sec on the write side. You’ll also be thrilled to know that the G3 range supports the newest Windows 7 TRIM feature, which enables the drive to “continuously manage its resources and retain optimized performance throughout its lifespan.” Those anxious to supplant their existing 2.5-inch HDD can snag one now from the web for $229.99 (60GB) / $399.99 (120GB), while those who prefer ye old B&M sales will have to wait a few weeks still.

SanDisk ships 60GB / 120GB G3 SSD to North America and Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alienware M11x review

We’ve been itching to get our hands on the Alienware M11x ever since we first saw it at CES — it’s one of the most interesting riffs on the thin-and-light we’ve seen in a long time. Sure, it’s compact, but inside it’s got a ULV Core 2 Duo paired with a switchable NVIDIA GT335M GPU, making it one of the most powerful small laptops on the market. But power never comes cheap: the M11x starts at $799, and our tester model equipped with an upgraded 1.3GHz SU7300 Core 2 Duo and 4GB of RAM clocks in at $949. That’s pricey, but potentially worth it if you’re a serious gamer on the go. You know we had to test one and find out — let’s see if the M11x can back up those looks with performance.

Special thanks to our new favorite reader Joe Kelly, who loaned us his M11x for this review!

Continue reading Alienware M11x review

Alienware M11x review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola CLIQ updated, Android 2.1 still MIA

Sitting somewhere between that accidental update from a few weeks back and an honest-to-goodness cut of Android 2.1 lies this puppy, a new official build for Motorola’s CLIQ versioned 1.3.18. By all appearances, this is basically a smoothed-out, refined version of the first CLIQ upgrade from early December, featuring further improvements to battery life and both touchscreen and accelerometer accuracy, but they’ve also managed to squeeze in QuickOffice 2 and better support for corporate email accounts. Though we’d prefer Eclair, of course, we’ll take what we can get — and technically, we’re not even due for 2.1 yet anyhow. The upgrade’s being pushed as a phased rollout — as virtually all Android updates seem to be — so if you haven’t gotten it yet, keep checking every ten seconds or so (and if people think you’re acting strangely, just claim that you’re getting a ton of text messages — it usually works for us).

[Thanks, Juan R.]

Motorola CLIQ updated, Android 2.1 still MIA originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple, RIM spark quarterly mobile-phone sales

Sales of cell phones dipped slightly in 2009 overall, but not so smartphones, which surged for the year and exploded at year’s end, according to research firm Gartner.

Samsung’s Navibot robot vacuum charting European living rooms in April

Samsung's Navibot robot vacuum charting European livingrooms in AprilRoomba has ruled the roost when it comes to domestic chores for a long time — too long. It’s getting some serious competition from Samsung, which is finally going to unleash one of its robovacs onto the rest of the world. Well, to Europe anyway. The Navibot is set to spread its wings across the EU in March, having been apparently warmly received in limited Italian tests last year. The bot captures 30fps video of your abode, documenting your feng shui and charting the most efficient course around your coffee table and the display case that houses your TMNT collection. It’s even sophisticated enough to pick up where it left off should it run out of juice mid-stride, after returning home for a recharge, but that kind of smarts will cost you: €399 for the basic model with a single virtual wall, and €499 for a slightly posher version with touch-sensitive buttons and a second virtual wall. There’s no word on an American release just yet, meaning Roomba’s home turf is safe — for now.

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Samsung’s Navibot robot vacuum charting European living rooms in April originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW commits to Megacity EV by 2013, will start by testing ActiveE all-electric 1 series next year

BMW‘s first all-electric regular series production vehicle, the Megacity EV, has now been set in stone and inserted into the company’s roadmap for a commercial launch in 2012 or 2013. The Bavarian automaker has gone official with word that it plans to use its Leipzig assembly plant to produce the car and further notes that it’ll feature a similar setup to the ActiveE concept (pictured above), which is set for field testing in 2011. Essentially a 1 series that feeds off the electric grid rather than the nearest diesel pump, the ActiveE runs off an array of lithium-ion batteries á la the well liked but recently troubled Tesla Roadster, and will serve as a test mule for refining the underlying technology. Generating up to 170bhp might not sound all that impressive, but it should be more than sufficient for the urban commuters these vehicles will be aimed at. Now we just need Mercedes and Audi to match that release schedule and the electric car should finally have its day in the mainstream sun.

BMW commits to Megacity EV by 2013, will start by testing ActiveE all-electric 1 series next year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Escort Entourage CIS silently tracks your wheels

With the Escort Entourage CIS installed in our CNET test vehicle, we staged a few mock thefts to see how the device would help us to retrieve our “stolen” car. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10458018-48.html” class=”origPostedBlog”The Car Tech blog/a/p

BCC launches Alex, the laptop free of hassles but not monthly surcharges (video)

What’s better than paying £400 ($615) for a laptop from a place that won’t tell you isn’t very forthcoming about what’s inside it? Paying that much for a laptop that then comes with a £9.99 ($15) monthly fee just to use the thing. It’s the Alex from BCC, the Broadband Computer Company (not to be confused by the Alex from Spring Design, or Alex Bushill from the BBC), a somewhat chunky looking laptop loaded with some custom layer over Linux promising an always updated, always ready, and incredibly easy to use experience. It also has a round mousepad that says “Alex” on it. The machine should be secure, shipping with a USB thumb drive that must be plugged in for it to work — something we’re guessing most people will never bother to unplug. There’s online file storage and a UI full of pretty colors, but we’re having a bit of a hard time with that cost. That said, if you’re the perpetually on-call tech support person in your family it might be a small price to pay for some peace and quiet.

Update: TheLostSwede dug through the Alex site and found a spec sheet. We’re talking 1.6GHz worth of Intel T1600 Celeron power, 1GB of memory, a 15.4-inch display driven by integrated graphics, 120GB of storage, and a DVD/RW drive. Hot stuff, readers. Hot stuff.

Continue reading BCC launches Alex, the laptop free of hassles but not monthly surcharges (video)

BCC launches Alex, the laptop free of hassles but not monthly surcharges (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocket-lint  |  sourceWelcomeToAlex.com  | Email this | Comments