Hasta La Gadget!

If science fiction films are to be believed, when an astronaut needs company in space, a robot can be a good companion. In keeping with that idea, Kibo the robot will soon join the crew of the International Space Station. The robot will be sent up with Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and of course it will be able to speak to him in his own language.


The idea is that Kibo will keep everyone entertained by interacting with them and taking pictures and updating his Twitter account back on Earth. Like any astronaut, Kibo has undergone training. He recently practiced in zero gravity, as you can see in the video clip below.

The little robot stands 13.4 inches tall, weighs just 2.2 pounds, and boasts natural language processing technology from Toyota. He also has facial recognition software in his head.

The robot was designed by Tomotaka Takahashi who created Panasonic’s Mr. EVOLTA mascot. Hopefully he fits in on the space station and they have lots of fun.

[via Daily Mail]

You can create all sorts of awesome stuff with Photoshop, provided you know how to use the filters and practice moderation when it comes to applying certain effects. You can come up with works of art, tweak photographs and turn them into timeless prints, or you can use it to create posters to drive a point across (and sell your product.)

The last one is what online service provider Universo Online did for their campaign to promote their parental control service.

Wondering whether she’s still a child or already an adult? Well, she’s actually a bit of both. The ad people behind the campaign Photoshopped various kids’ portraits like crazy to make them look like adults. They did that, to a certain extent. While I admit it’s bound to be a successful campaign, I can’t help but be creeped out by the end results all the same.

Pure win or epic fail? What do you think?

[via BuzzFeed]

This unique ball turns the beautiful game into the energy-generating game. Made by a small company called Uncharted Play, the Soccket is a football that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. In other words, you get electricity simply by playing with it.

As you roll and bounce Soccket around, a pendulum inside it cranks a small generator, which in turn is connected to a small battery.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a typical hand-cranked generator can convert energy more efficiently, but of course that’s not as fun to use as the Soccket.

The Soccket weighs 17 oz., just 1 oz. heavier than a normal football. Aside from its power generating capability, the Soccket is also water-resistant, is airless and will never deflate.

Pledge at least $89 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Soccket. As of now, the electricity stored within the ball can only be used by one device – the complementary LED lamp. But Uncharted Play did say that they’ll come up with more complementary gadgets as well as a USB adapter if Soccket reaches its goal on Kickstarter. Can you imagine if all kinds of sporting balls in the world had a generator inside? We would hate ball games. Just kidding.

I’ll admit that this side of something I order from Amazon or a paycheck, I’m not big on getting mail in my mailbox anymore. It seems like I get reams of sales flyers and scams trying to get me to buy extended warranties for my car that I end up throwing in the trash. If you are the sort of person who doesn’t want to bother with printed mail, but needs access to the things that come in your mailbox, check out this new service called Outbox.

The service sends someone to pick up your mail three times a week. If you have something important you need to keep such as a package they will leave it on your doorstep (or in the mailbox presumably). The rest of the mail they take to their office, digitally scan, and then shred the originals.

Those scanned pieces of mail are then available to access online from the Internet via just about anything from your computer to your iPhone or tablet. This is an interesting idea because then all of the mail is digitally archived so you don’t have to have files to save your bills are other important documentation.

If your mailbox requires a key, all you have to do is take a photograph of that key in e-mail it to Outbox and they will have a copy made. I’m not sure how legal that last bit is considering that most PO Box keys I’ve seen say do not duplicate. The service costs $4.99(USD) per month, and is currently available only in Austin and San Francisco.

[via TechCrunch]

Just like many of you, I dread dropping my phone. It happens from time to time, but I’ve never had a drop damage my phone. That being said, there’s no way that my phone could survive a 6,000-foot drop, or could it?

The people behind mentalKase have developed a case that’s supposed to be capable of surviving a drop from up to 6,000 feet – that’s more than a mile, folks.

The styling of the mentalKase isn’t that hot, but the foam rubber that it’s made of is ideal for protecting electronics. This means that you could probably throw your phone around and it would never be a problem, if you can get used to the size and bulk of the case.

With less than a day of funding left in this Kickstarter project, and more than $40,000 in funding missing, this case will probably not be funded by Kickstarter, but it might be released for retail nonetheless. You’ll have to pledge $45 for an iPhone 4/4S case or $50 for an iPhone 5 case.