Hasta La Gadget!

How far we’ve come. It was only a couple of years ago that Lenovo was closing a deal to sell its mobile phone business, but a quick re-acquisition in late 2009 and some recent heavy flirtation with the tablet form factor have led to the creation of a whole new unit in the company’s hierarchy, one dedicated to the development of smartphones, tablets, TVs, and other internet-connected devices. Headed up by Liu Jun and working out of Beijing, this squad of designers and engineers will focus on harnessing the “tremendous growth potential of the mobile internet.” Cloud computing will be a major feature of Lenovo’s plans moving forward, which places its goals for the future right in line with just about everyone else’s. Still, it’s good to see one of the big desktop computing players diversifying its portfolio with gusto.

Lenovo setting up a specialist unit for tablets and smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are run-of-the-mill KIRFs, above-average KIRFs, and this. While we’ve definitely been privy to a few comical iPhone / iPod knockoffs over the years, there’s a certain layer of hilariousness to this one that just can’t be beat. The iPod nano watch isn’t even a genuine Apple product; in fact, it’s simply a mod that’s so easy, your mum could probably pull it off with minimal effort. That clearly hasn’t stopped the factories in Shenzhen from churning out an iPod nano watch knockoff, complete with a 1.8-inch resistive touchscreen, inbuilt SIM card slot, Bluetooth, a microSD slot, FM radio tuner, a side-mounted camera sensor and a speaker for good measure. You’ll even get a fancy “Slide to Unlock” screen before being able to dig into the underlying UI, but that chintzy plastic wrist strap all but destroys any respect it was hoping to garner. Thankfully, the unit you’re peering at above is being dubbed an “engineering prototype,” with the final version expected to boast a 3.5mm headphone jack and a modicum of self-worth. We’ll see, won’t we?

iPod nano watch gets knocked off, has little to worry about it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 14:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why, it’s another robot-themed hotpot restaurant! This time we’re looking at Jinan — once famous for demolishing a whole stash of illegal arcade machines — up in north China, where a ballsy robotics manufacturer started trialling a robot-themed eatery. While there are still human chefs working back in the kitchen, some near-hundred customers will be served by six robots (about ¥40,000 or $6,000 each to build) that follow a white line to seat diners and deliver dishes. Oh, and don’t expect any slapstick comedy here — these bland-looking droids will only stop if you dare stand in front of them. You’ll have to hurry up, though, as this venue closes in about 16 days; but for those who can’t make it, we’ve got a video right after the break.

Continue reading Chinese hotpot restaurant gets robot waiters, may soon be serving droids as well (video)

Chinese hotpot restaurant gets robot waiters, may soon be serving droids as well (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Talk about timely. We’ve been waiting for months (with bated breath, might we add) for Pleco 2.2 to finally hit Apple’s App Store, and after dealing with a few launch day bugs last week, we can finally say it’s out and ready to dominate any Chinese homework you’ve been hastily procrastinating on. The Pleco Chinese Dictionary is now available in the app store at version 2.2.1, supporting both fullscreen handwriting input and live camera-based character recognition. Have a peek at the video past the break if you’re still curious as to what this app can do for you, and feel free to toss your experiences with it down in comments below. Here’s hoping this is only the first of many languages Pleco decides to tackle — not that we’re much on tossing out subtle hints.

Continue reading Pleco Chinese Dictionary iPhone app now handling real-time image translations

Pleco Chinese Dictionary iPhone app now handling real-time image translations originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the 15-story hotel built in six days? Well, this 12-story apartment building fell down in three seconds. More »