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Continue reading BU researchers develop tube robot for tricky operations (video)

BU researchers develop tube robot for tricky operations (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, HTPCs never did anything to deserve the worldwide shunning that they’re dealing with right about now, and Mvix apparently couldn’t care less about the overall lack of interest in buying a PC that’s chained down to the den. Rather shockingly (given the company’s past endeavors), the HDHome S2 and S4 are the latest to emerge on the living room scene, but unlike most other pre-built HTPCs, this one has an atypically weak processor and an unusually large amount of storage capacity. Both boxes get powered by a dual-core Atom 330 CPU, yet you’ll also find a Blu-ray player, HDMI output, Bluetooth 2.0, a half dozen USB 2.0 sockets, WiFi, an embedded TV tuner and your choice of NVIDIA’s Ion or ATI’s Radeon 3200 HD on the graphics front. The main differentiating factor is the amount of hot-swappable drive bays; the S2 moseys along with just a pair, while the S4 can handle four drives at a moment’s notice. Frankly, this thing looks more at home in a closet or server room than beside your HDTV, but either way, they’re both available to customize starting at $999 and $1,599, respectively.

Continue reading Mvix intros HDHome S2 and S4 media servers: HTPCs, with a capacious twist

Mvix intros HDHome S2 and S4 media servers: HTPCs, with a capacious twist originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The OLPC slate may actually get made after all. Nicholas Negroponte of the One Laptop Per Child foundation has promised to get his XO-3 tablet computer into prototype form by December this year for a showing at CES in January 2011. The super-slim all-touch tablet will have a 9-inch screen and sell for just $75.

The problem is, we’ve been here before. Just last year, Nick was promising essentially the same thing. There have been a few changes, though. Speaking at MIT’s Media Lab Tuesday he said that the price point should be no problem because the whole device, screen and all, will be made from plastic. The prototypes, however, will stick with heavy, fragile glass, presumably because the technology to extrude a whole computer (Negroponte’s plan) from a machine is not yet here.

The XO-3 doesn’t seem quite as ridiculous as it once did, though. Apple has managed to deliver the iPad for just $500, and the simple tablet form with no moving parts seems ideal for the rugged outdoors that is the intended home of the OLPC slate. In fact, there’s something the computer will have that I wish were in the iPad. The XO-3 will have the same dual-mode screen as the original XO, which will be backlit indoors but use the light of the sun when outside so it can be read in bright light. Outdoor use is one place where the iPad fails.

Whether the final result is like the machine shown in the mockup pictures or not, we’re pretty sure to see something similar, even if it does take a few more year. The original OLPC had a long and difficult gestation, but Nick Negroponte is stubborn enough to pull it off.

OLPC’s Negroponte Says XO-3 Prototype Tablet Coming in 2010 [PC World]

See Also:

• Negroponte: OLPC Machine Will Be $50 in 2011, Electronics Are …
• XO-3 Concept: A Crazy-Thin Tablet OLPC for Just $75
• OLPC Designer Turns to Spectacles
• XO-3 Concept: A Crazy-Thin Tablet OLPC for Just $75

It’s all just noise right now, but the United States Justice Department is purportedly having a “very preliminary conversation” with Apple regarding the company’s music business, wondering in particular if anything it’s doing (or has done) would violate antitrust legislation. According to unnamed sources familiar with the situation, DoJ staff seem most interested in whether or not Apple’s dominance in the market enabled it to unfairly prevent Amazon’s music service from exclusively debuting new songs. Beyond that, details of the investigation are few and far between, but it’s coincidentally coming down on Cupertino when its iTunes numbers are on the up and up. The latest NPD research figures show that over a quarter of the music purchased within the US is now procured through iTunes — 28 percent, if you’re looking for specifics, which is up 4 percentage points from Q1 2009. Meanwhile, Amazon has pulled into a tie with Walmart for second place, which may or may not coerce Wally World to ditch its morals and finally start stocking that uncensored version of My World 2.0.

DoJ making preliminary inquiries into Apple’s music endeavors while iTunes dominance continues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The peripherals maker is out with its new Fantasy Collection, a series of mice, keyboards, Webcams, and more in various colors and designs.