Hasta La Gadget!

The best way to get the attention of a bunch of sleep-deprived, possibly hungover SXSW Interactive attendees? Coffee-slinging robotic arms, naturally. GE’s fully embracing Austin’s caffeinated food trick culture with a pair of Barista Bots, arms that operate similarly to your standard 3D printer, moving along the X, Y and Z axes to extrude coffee through a syringe, atop a latte’s foam. The process starts when one of the robot’s human barista counterparts takes a shot of an image with a webcam, digitizing it on a nearby computer. Then the arm goes to work.

It’s an imperfect science, of course. For one thing, foam is a really difficult canvas to work on, what with all the unevenness of constantly popping bubbles. There’s also an awful lot of wind in Austin today, and with all those people inside, the van did a little bit of rocking. We saw some more complex images that didn’t come out particularly well (facial scans, for one thing), so we decided to throw something a simpler at the ‘bot, drawing our “e” logo on a sheet of paper.

Filed under: Household

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It’s been a busy day for Comcast, so we’ll catch you up on the key points. First, it announced today that it’s buying the 49 percent of NBCUniversal that it didn’t already own from General Electric in a deal worth about $16.7 billion, plus 30 Rockefeller Plaza and CNBC’s New Jersey headquarters for an additional $1.4 billion. That’s an acceleration of the original schedule, which gave Comcast the option to expand its ownership starting in 2014. In other news, Comcast reported its Q4 earnings, noting that while it still lost around 7,000 cable TV customers in Q4, the total number of video, internet and phone subscribers rose by 503,000 to a total of 51.3 million, up 3 percent from last year.

In other news, Comcast announced expansions in its rollout of the new X1 DVR platform. Already live in areas of Georgia, New Jersey, Boston, Tennessee, San Francisco and Philadelphia, it’s recently launched in Colorado Springs, CO with more promised in the coming months. It also locked down a deal with Fox that covers local broadcasts, cable TV networks and brings a number of the network’s shows to Xfinity streaming apps and services on other platforms. That deal also reveals that Fox will soon add TV Everywhere authenticated streaming to its Fox Now apps, which Comcast customers will be able to access. There’s an earnings call tomorrow where we may find out more details, for now you can look after the break and at the links below for the full press releases.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Comcast Voices, Comcast, Q4 Results

To ensure the safety of America’s 730 million annual air travelers, all new jet engines must undergo arduous FAA safety testing—including a grueling series of static ground tests subjecting them to everything from gale force winds to simulated bird strikes. But how does one reproduce the identical test conditions needed for accurate performance measurements? You use a 32-foot wide wind baffle, of course. More »

For generations, Santa has been cruising around Christmas Eve in his red sleigh pulled by his flying reindeer. Scientists at GE think it’s time for Santa Claus to update his ride with some new high-tech materials. So scientists have come up with a greener and smarter sleigh to help Santa get around the world tonight delivering gifts.

The concept sleigh would use 3-D printed parts, including a more aerodynamic blade design that improves energy efficiency. It’s also sprayed with nanotech Icephobic coatings to repel ice and water. The sleigh is constructed using Ceramic Matrix Composites in the frame, enabling it to travel into space and return to Earth without burning up on re-entry. Considering this thing is an open top sleigh, Santa will need a spacesuit.

The sleigh is also equipped with an electric traction motor that has MEMS switching technology to take over the powertrain when the reindeer to rest. In addition, it’s connected to the Internet, allowing Santa to navigate efficiently around air traffic and keep an eye on the last minute naughty or nice list updates. Check out more details about Santa’s shiny new ride in the Flash widget below:

GE and Ford has announced that GE will be purchasing a huge number of Ford’s new plug-in hybrid vehicle called the C-Max Energi. GE plans to purchase 2000 of the Ford hybrid vehicles for its fleet. The massive purchase marks the largest electrified Fleet sale in Ford history.

GE is purchasing the plug-in hybrid vehicles as part of its initiative to convert half of its global fleet of vehicles to alternative fuel systems. Currently GE has about 5000 alternative fuel vehicles in its fleet and its goal is 25,000 vehicles. Ford and GE will also be working together with researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The two companies will be working with the University to study GE employee driving and charging habits with an eye towards improving all-electric driving and charging performance. The researchers will use the MyFord Mobile app that offers real-time battery charge status and allows users to automatically charge the vehicle during off-peak electric rates.

Ford’s C-Max Energi is the most fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid with an EPA estimated 108 MPGe city rating and 100 MPGe combined rating. The vehicle is also one of the most affordable plug-in hybrids in the United States starting at $29,995 after a federal tax credit.

GE will purchase 2000 Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrids is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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