Kibo Robot Tested For Existence In Space

Kibo Robot Tested For Existence In SpaceKibo, the Japanese communication robot that will eventually join up with the rest of the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) later this summer, will also need to suit up and undergo some sort of “training”, if you will, just like any other astronaut worth their salt. Having said that, Kibo underwent some zero gravity testing of its own recently, which is part of the Kibo Robot Project that was organized by Dentsu Inc. after responding in kind to a proposal put forward by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Kibo’s final design was also unveiled, where it received most of its design inspiration from a commercially-available kit known as Robi, standing approximately 13.4 inches in height, while tipping the scales over at 2.2 pounds. Toyota, a company that most of us would have associated with cars, has contributed natural language processing technology so that Kibo can understand Japanese speech. It will respond accordingly via a synthesized voice, and will boast of a camera which gives it facial recognition capability.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Jimmy The Robot Aids Stroke Patients, Japanese Robot Suit Gains Worldwide Rollout Approval,

Dropbox Receives 1 Billion Uploads A Day Across 500 Million Devices

Dropbox Receives 1 Billion Uploads A Day Across 500 Million Devices

[MWC 2013] We know many of you, like us, use Dropbox on a regular basis in order to share files either with yourselves or with others and today, the company is announcing its users upload 1 billion files on a daily basis.

Today’s news came from Dropbox Chief Executive Drew Houston himself during Mobile World Congress where not only did he drop that bombshell of a statistic, but he also announced 100 million users access Dropbox with 500 million devices. Considering the service debuted only six years ago, those are very impressive numbers and shows just how dominant Dropbox is in their space. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Thermochromic Jeans Change Colors Depending On Temperature, Pinky And The Brain Now A Reality, World Domination Not On The Agenda Yet,

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag confirmed

This technically isn’t the first time that the fourth installment in the Assassin’s Creed series has been announced — Ubisoft confirmed earlier this month that the game would be coming to gamers at some point. However, Ubisoft today announced the title of the new game, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, as well as revealed the box art that will be plastered on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U versions of the game.

assassinscreedblackflagmain

There’s no clear details past the the name of the game and the box art, but we can clearly tell that the game will be pirate-themed. However, we already know that the game will feature a new protagonist and will be set in a new time period from past installments. According to the embargo lift date, more information about the game will be revealed on Monday.

However, on the Assassin’s Creed III Facebook page, where the box art was posted, we’re at least given the name of the new protagonist, along with “possible scenarios” and locations. Our new hero for the game is Edward Kenway of Britain, and as for locations of the game, “Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico, and maybe any England city with seaport” are possible.

However, take all that with a grain of salt since that Facebook page isn’t the official fan page from Ubisoft. As for a release date of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, that’s still not known either, but Ubisoft has said that we should expect sometime during Ubisoft’s fiscal year 2014, which could be anytime between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014.


Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag confirmed is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple Asked To Pay $330k/Day Because Of Facetime Patents

Apple Asked To Pay $330k/Day Because Of Facetime PatentsWe all know that Apple, as a company, has far more money than they could possibly spend in this lifetime (within reasonable limits, of course, as we are not asking them to build a Death Star), but is paying fines due to a patent ruling in the court of law the best way to spend that kind of money? It was in November 2012 when a Texas jury decided that Apple was to fork out around $368 million in royalties to VirnetX, a company that owns patents relative to Apple services FaceTime and iMessage.

Fast forward to February 2013, and that ruling was upheld, with all four patents in question being reaffirmed as infringed. These patents have to do with creating a virtual private network between two devices (or VPN), and it seems that until both companies arrive at a kind of patent licensing agreement, Apple will have to fork out $330,000 each day to VirnetX. I guess that is one of the best ways to arrive at a solution, the longer Apple waits, the more money they bleed – something which shareholders would not be too happy with.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Conan O’Brien Tells Us What Everyone Uses Their iPads For, Apple Censors ‘Barely Legal Teen’ From iCloud Emails, Attachments,

Natalie Vishny: 12 Ways To Personalize Your Wedding So Family And Friends Will Love It

How will you and your fiancé’s personality shine through on your wedding day?
Read More…
More on Planning 101

Richard Gartland: Newlywed Tax Tips

Roses are red, violets are blue — but what does being married mean when taxes are due?
Read More…
More on Marriage

Mike Lux: The Mission of Government

Right wing forces in this country are obsessed with the size of government, but the fundamental debate we should be having is not the size of government but what the goal of government should be: What should government’s central mission be?
Read More…
More on Video

Jamie Haase: Why Country Music Stars Should Join the Marijuana Majority

Surely Willie Nelson comes to mind for many people when the words “country music” and “marijuana” are mentioned together. Yet Willie has many younger allies these days as a new generation of “outlaw” artists are brazenly singing about pot.
Read More…
More on Marijuana

Mario Livio: Science in the 21st Century: A Few Random Thoughts

Predictions about the future of science and technology are notorious for turning out to be wrong. Nevertheless, we know of at least a few topics that will undoubtedly be active areas of research for the next half-century.
Read More…

PS4 User Interface Highlighted In New Screenshots

PS4 User Interface Highlighted In New Screenshots

Sony’s PlayStation 4 reveal last week was an over two-hour show, which means there was a lot for gamers to take in. New games, services and features were announced within that time, but one part of the show we think was probably looked over was the PlayStation 4′s new interface. Thankfully, Sony just published some new images that properly highlight the new interface.

Gone will be the PlayStation 3′s XMB, instead, the PlayStation 4 will feature an interface that offers a similar feel to Microsoft’s dashboard, although there’s much more emphasis on the PS4′s social aspects. The new UI is also shown on the iPhone and iPad, which we think translates to those platforms very well as they look nearly identical to what you get on your PlayStation 4. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: YouTube For iOS Gets Send To TV Feature With Xbox 360, PS3, Smart TV Support, Ouya Shipping To Kickstarter Supporters On March 28,