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http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/05/viliv-x70-dissected-and-reviewed-ahead-of-initial-pre-order/
Viliv X70 dissected and reviewed ahead of initial pre-order
Read - Review
Read - Dissection
Read - Pre-order page
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/05/viliv-x70-dissected-and-reviewed-ahead-of-initial-pre-order/
Robots that Live Among Us
As we all learned from Terminator, artificially intelligent machines will one day conduct a systematic extermination of all human life forms and turn the Earth into one gigantic robot playground. But until that day comes, robots are our friends.
From heavy industry to the toy industry, devices that perform at least some automatic functions have been with us for quite some time. But in this roundup, we’ll look at robots that go far beyond the basics. Some benefit humanity as a whole. Some are already at work in the corporate world, handling complex or tedious tasks and situations that even a decade ago seemed impossible. Some point the way to a better future, others impress with their ability to mimic life forms, and still others make us feel a bit apprehensive as we come to grips with their tremendous power and potential.
No, there's not a Terminator or Rosie the Robot in the bunch, though there is one that costs more than the annual economic output of some countries and is designed to function for a mere two years. And that alone is almost as frightening as the former. Or perhaps as ridiculous as the latter, depending on your perspective.
Cynics may suggest, and rightfully so, that he's nothing but a walking, talking, dancing, jogging, stair-climbing, food-serving, object-grasping, human-mimicking Honda PR campaign. Yet the fact that ASIMO is able to do any of the above, never mind all of it, is reason enough for his inclusion in our robot roundup. Currently sporting a total of thirty-four degrees of freedom (and therefore no less than thirty-four servo motors) within his humanoid joints, the four-foot-tall, 119-pound ASIMO certainly looks the part in just about everything he does.
Perhaps one day in the next decade or two, if Honda engineers have their way, ASIMO will serve humanity as a fully autonomous caregiver or healthcare worker, rather than simply a sophisticated Honda advertisement. But he amazes even now, if just for his ability to allow us to glimpse into the future.
Even as we get set to swing into the second decade of the 21st century, fully autonomous (self-governing) robots – beyond the assembly line type – remain a rarity. Some robots look like they know what they're doing, but the vast majority merely behave as their human operators tell them to behave. One notable exception to the rule is the UK National Oceanography Centre's Autosub 3, a seven-foot-long torpedo-shaped submersible that's currently pulling duty in the Antarctic, mapping the seabed and charting the undersides of ice floes in a venture to potentially help determine the cause of melting ice.
“Autosub is a completely autonomous robot,” says Autosub team leader Steve McPhail. “There are no connecting wires with the ship and no pilot. Autosub has to avoid collisions with the jagged ice overhead and the unknown seabed below, and return to a predefined rendezvous point, where we crane it back onboard the ship.”
We wish the Autosub well on its lonely but oh-so-important journey. Its earlier sister ship, the Autosub 2, was lost forever when it malfunctioned under Antarctica's Fimbul Ice Shelf in 2005.
A 1992 spin-off of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, robotics research firm Boston Dynamics has since gained a number of high-end, high-tech playmates (the US Armed Forces, and Sony), and is now at the forefront of making creepy stuff that reminds us of scenes from various Star Wars movies. Though its four-legged concoction named BigDog doesn't actually live among us because it's still in the developmental womb, we felt it deserved mention here on account of its staggering potential and, well, watching it in action is way too cool.
BigDog is just one of several walking, animalistic robots Boston Dynamics has in its arsenal. Indeed, the company has just announced a new program whereby it will develop in conjunction with the US Military a shape-shifting centipede of sorts that deflates to squeeze through teeny-tiny spaces. Its name? The SquishBot. Check out BigDog and several other Boston Dynamics robots in action.
In some cases, a robot is only as good as the environment it’s dropped into. Fortunately, Kiva Systems has built some pretty darn good periphery around the pallet-moving robotic drive units that form the basis of its Kiva Mobile Fulfillment System. In a Kiva-powered warehouse, the goods reside in the center of the floor in shelving units, and humans are stationed on the perimeter. When an order is received, the Kiva robots spring into action and move, via a series of bar codes stuck on the floor and a wi-fi communications network, to position themselves under the racks containing that order's merchandise. They then lift the rack and transport it to the human worker, who utilizes a series of scanners and lasers to choose the correct items from the rack. Once the item is scanned and verified, the Kiva robots automatically move the racks back to their original home. How efficient is Kiva? Efficient enough that businesses such as Walgreens, Staples, and online shoe retailer Zappos.com have become Kiva converts.
Robotic arms and cranes aren't exactly new to the industrial world. But one that can lift more than a ton of dead weight is. In its M-2000iA/1200, Michigan-based FANUC Robotics has created what it claims is the "world's largest and strongest six-axis robot" with the "longest reach and strongest wrist" yet developed. Designed for such tasks as accurately positioning automotive vehicle bodies and assembling heavy machine tool components, the unit is intended to replace manually controlled cranes. And, of course, it will be the muscle in the upcoming robot uprising, where crazed machines will wreak untold havoc on the human population of earth.
Mars Science Laboratory
Technically, the Mars Science Laboratory rover shouldn't make this list because it isn't yet in use. But hey, when you cost upwards of $2.3 billion and can't really be put into use until you get to a planet millions of miles away, you deserve special treatment. At nine feet in length and weighing almost a ton, the MSL rover is by far the largest rover to date, and will carry far more scientific tools, scanners, cameras, detectors, and various instrumentation than any prior ‘bots. It'll zip along at ninety-eight feet per hour, bound over obstacles of up to thirty inches in height, and continue to function for nearly two years as it digs deep into the nature and makeup of the planet and sets the stage for possible future human exploration.
But does it play MP3s?
If you've ever been to a nursing home, and in particular one that houses people afflicted with mentally debilitative diseases, you'll know they're not particularly uplifting places. The morale is generally low, and interpersonal communications even lower. Enter Paro, a handmade, interactive "Mental Commitment Robot" developed by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. Mimicking the physical characteristics of a baby harp seal, Paro doesn't look far removed from a plush toy. But inside, Paro is a high-tech marvel featuring sensors for light, touch, temperature, and posture, as well as microphones throughout its body and enough computing power to pull off an impressive number of authentic, autonomous movements and behaviors. Paro becomes drowsy in the evening and sleepy at night, “learns” any new name that is given it, and expresses emotion by blinking its eyes or moving its head and legs. Paro's sensors recognize when it's being stroked versus being hit, and will adapt accordingly to user preferences.
Paro has already proven it can garner positive reactions from patients who are normally lost within their own minds, and for that its developers must be commended.
To the Tokyo Fire Department, robots are nothing new. For more than a decade, the TFD has made good use of remote-controlled firefighting bots to battle blazes in ways humans cannot – for example, with nozzles that are ten times more powerful than the typical variety. But it seems that blasting flames was just a prelude. Looking like a giant dustpan with arms, the latest model, dubbed Robokiyu (RoboCue), scoops victims of bomb blasts, riots, earthquakes, Godzilla rampages, and other disasters off the ground and into its mechanical “mouth,” where they lay until Robokiyu transports them to safety. Featuring infrared cameras, oxygen canisters, and ultrasonic people-finding sensors, the unit is clearly a state-of-the-art rescuer.
For decades now, people have feared the potential loss of their jobs to robots, and rightfully so. We question whether CCS Robotics' SpeciMinder is therefore rightfully feared, or if it merely handles some of the more mundane tasks of a healthcare professional's day, freeing him or her to handle more humanistic duties. Looking a bit like a fancy wastebasket, the SpeciMinder zips about a healthcare lab, delivering samples and specimens to their appropriate destinations. It's no mere drone either – the unit avoids obstacles, re-plans routes, verbally announces its intentions, and returns automatically to its charging dock when it's done. What more could you ask from a slave bot?
iRobot is perhaps best known for cutesy-but-practical consumer products, such as the Roomba vacuum drone. But the company is also involved in areas considerably more “thought-provoking,” such as the government and the military. Here, robots sporting ominous monikers such as Negotiator, Ranger, and Warrior do more than clean the carpets.
The Warrior, a squat, fortified little beast fitted like a tank with caterpillar treads, was introduced several years ago and originally designed to carry payloads exceeding 150 pounds over the roughest of terrain. But there's a permutation of the Warrior, now in the experimental stage, that might just become one of the most potent killing machines yet created. Co-developed with Australia-based Metal Storm, a defense technology company specializing in fast-firing electronic guns, this version of the Warrior can apparently blow off thousands – and theoretically millions – of bullets (or nonlethal projectiles) per minute. It's being hailed as a crowd control solution, but when the firing apparatus is named Firestorm, we'd hate to be part of that crowd.
Walkman named top music invention of last 50 years
Sony's music player has beaten Dolby sound, compact discs and the ubiquitous iPod to come top of the list of "ten most important musical innovations of the last 50 years" published by T3 magazine.
Its victory comes in the week that the Walkman celebrated its 30th birthday. 
The Walkman beat the iPod to be named best musical innovation of the last 50 years
The first Walkman was the blue-and-silver model TPS-L2, which went on sale in Japan on July 1, 1979 and started a musical revolution.
Never before had consumers been able to listen to music as they walked down the street, without balancing a tape player on their shoulder.
Within two years of its launch, it had become the must-have gadget around the world, confounding early critics who said it would never take off without a record button.
Kat Hanniford at T3 said: "It changed the way we access music, changed how often we could access music, and changed a generation."
She said the MP3 digital music format, which came second in the list, and the iPod music player, which came third, would be impossible without the pioneering work of Sony's Walkman.
The Compact Disc is ranked fourth, followed by Napster the ground-breaking illegal file-sharing site.
Dolby, the British company, which introduced multi-channel sound to cinema, is ranked sixth in the list.
The original Walkman was created for the co-founder of Sony, Akio Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent plane trips between Japan and the United States.
In Britain the gadget was marketed as the Stowaway and America as the Soundabout but the popularity of the device – one of the world's first truly global gadgets – meant the name Walkman spread, and before long Sony made sure all were called the same name. Its appeal was helped by the the relatively low price tag of $200.
In ten years Sony sold 50 million units of the device.
It is still a leading portable music player manufacturer, with its latest digital device the X Series acclaimed as one of the best digital video and music devices on the market.
T3's list of Top Most Important Musical Innovations of the last 50 years:
1. Sony Walkman
2. MP3 format
3. Apple iPod 1st Generation
4. CD
5. Napster
6. Dolby
7. DAB radio
8. Boombox
9. Sonos Multi-Room Music System
10. Panasonic Technics DJ deck
12 high technologies that failed - and why
The brainchild of budding entrepreneurs and research labs, these tech failures were intended to become commonplace in our fast-changing world.
Unfortunately, they turned into Frankensteins that no one wanted – mostly for scientific reasons, technical dependencies, or a poorly conceived business model.
Without further ado, let's get stuck in...
1. Mobile video chat
In the UK and US, video chat over a smartphone is still a distant dream. Part of the problem is bandwidth – there just isn't enough of it for two-way video. Part of the issue is ease of use: it should be as quick to place a video call as one where you only use your voice.
"Vendors didn't realise that the problems were more behavioural than technical and didn't approach the market properly," says tech analysts Enderle. Maybe Apple can turn this one around?
2. Quadraphonic sound
Another technology that never had a chance, quadraphonic sound put four channels of audio in four corners of the room, and it emerged in the 1970s as a way to emulate what you hear in a cinema or live performance.
The main issue had to do with a lack of standardised formats, and the emergence of Dolby and DTS surround sound – which were heavily supported by the audio industry.
3. Intel Viiv
A high-profile flop, Intel Viiv was the big announcement at CES in 2006. It was essentially the "Centrino of home media distribution" - chipsets and components designed to make it easier to store and retrieve digital media including music, movies, and photos. But it just didn't work.
The plan was for PC makers to proudly display the Viiv logo, but the failure was not in communicating the value of digital media – we'd already got that - Viiv was just too complex to understand, and partners never really warmed to it. The name was the ultimate death punch: no one knew how to pronounce it (it rhymes with "five").
4. Line of sight (LOS) wireless
LOS, or fixed wireless, emerged about 10 years ago as a way for cities to deploy their own network using the same model as mobile phone carriers.
According to IT analyst Charles King, LOS was just too complex and inflexible, especially compared to newer technologies such as Wi-Fi and WiMAX.
5. Virtual reality
One of the problems with VR is that the human brain has a hard time perceiving two worlds at once – especially when it means donning a pair of goggles that block out one of those worlds (the real one).
Videogames such as World of Warcraft pull you into the action, but you are still well-aware of your surroundings. Mind you, Microsoft Natal is a stage on from old-school VR, the latest attempt to meld the virtual world with the physical.
6. The driverless car
This one seems to have a host of problems – the high-cost of the infrastructure, AI that is not anywhere near ready, and obvious safety concerns. There's also the fact a train or a bus makes more sense in dense urban areas.
Adding robotics to cars does make sense though, and both Enderle and King suggested that driverless cars could possibly become a reality within the next 10 years for long road trips.
7. HD DVD
Well, of course. The format wars ended abruptly at the 2008 CES in Las Vegas. Blu-ray won hands-down, although HD DVD even now, is still apparently more popular in the US.
In 2007, some had claimed HD DVD was the superior optical format. However, a closer look at the specs reveals the truth: the Blu-ray compression ratio is actually 50:1 compared to a much lower rate for HD DVD. BD discs hold more data, and the stream rate is higher as well (48Mbps).
According to Enderle, Sony "effectively bought Time Warner's loyalty and took the market." Still, Enderle says Blu-Ray is not a profitable format yet, and high-def digital downloads are catching up quickly.
8. SNIF tags/GPS collars for dogs
As early as last year, the idea of using a GPS collar for your dog made sense. SNIF tags, which report back on your pet's whereabouts, would help reduce the number of lost animals.
Enderle says the concept was hampered by high costs, short battery life and complexity, but that it could come back in 5-7 years.
IT analyst King says the main problem with GPS collars is that family pets usually find their way home eventually, unless they have been purposefully abandoned by careless owners.
9. 3D shopping/virtual storefronts
Ecommerce is a major hit - one 'virtual store' at a .com address now matches the sales of many physical stores.
However, the concept of 3D shopping never caught on, partly due to the fact that web shoppers are often looking for the best deal and aren't interested in being bombarded by slow-loading graphics.
"3D shopping assumed that online shopping needed to reflect real world interactions. Instead, consumers willingly traded human interactions for convenience and aggressive pricing," says King. Some still believe in it, though.
10. Personal transport device
The sad fact of the personal transport device - in other words, the Segway - is that we are not all riding them to work, touring the town, and playing Frisbee at the beach - probably while crashing into each other. Enderle says the alternatives are better: scooters, bicycles and even skateboards.
11. Video goggles
Video goggles usually appear in trendy car commercials as the device of the future, but rarely actually become a legitimate tech concept with end-users.
Once again, we have trouble perceiving two worlds at once and even the most expensive goggles cause mild nausea.
"Costs are dropping but I have yet to see something that most would accept and I've tried some advanced $20K products," says Enderle.
Even Nvidia's recent attempt with its 3D Vision kit has been met with a muted response.
12. Light-emitted keyboards
If video goggles fail because our human perceptions of video have a hard time understanding two discrete worlds, then light-emitted and roll-up flexible keyboards have a similar "physical world" limitation – we tend to need visceral feedback as we type.
Interestingly, your typing speed is faster on the iPhone when the device provides a click-click audio accompaniment.
"Touchscreen keyboards have generally been more successful when they have added the sound of keys clicking," says King.
World’s Smallest LCD Screen Created: 0.27 Inches in Diameter
Any insecure Hummer owner with a bad track record on the dating scene will tell you “it’s not the size that matters, it’s how you use it” and, for once, that might actually be true. The Kopin Corporation, a self-described nanosemiconductor company, has created the minuscule range of LCD displays dubbed Cyberdisplay. The newest member of the display range measures in at 0.27 inches along its diagonal with a resolution of 600 x 480. Reported to be the smallest full-color VGA screen in the world, this powerful combination of diminutive screen size and monster resolution is an innovation that could have a serious impact on the miniature display market.
Currently, these tiny displays are used mostly in viewfinders for camcorders and digital cameras. Kopin also makes known its interest in creating personalized eye-wear with small screens, allowing users to watch movies or play games in total immersion. Regardless of the application, Kopin’s quest is to make as many pixels fit into as small a screen as possible. The holy grail of their research is to create a 2048 x 2048 resolution display about the size of a postage stamp and, with this innovation, researchers believe that they are close to making that possible.
The new 0.27 inch display has color dots with dimensions of 2.9 x 8.7 microns, which is an improvement over the 3.75 x 11.25 micron dimensions of previous generation screens. And while all these numbers might seem a bit like a scientist’s pissing contest, these new dimensions finally make it possible to achieve the fabled 2048 x 2048 resolution. Kopin has now proven that it is capable of making pixels small enough, so all that needs to be done is to get enough of them together to make the display.
The road to such a screen will have a few stopovers. Engineers plan on building a few more displays, getting increasingly larger with better resolution, before moving on to the 2048 square design. Kopin will produce an SVGA (800 x 600) at 0.34 inches diagonal, XGA (1024 x 768) at 0.44 inches diagonal and SXGA (1280 x 1024) at 0.56 inches diagonal, all the while building up hype before it attempts to create the postage stamp sized high resolution display.
Personal video whenever and whereever
LCD screens of that resolution would make for a better user interface in small electronics, allowing for sharper images to give the user immediate feedback. How many times has a picture looked good in a digital camera viewfinder before getting home and realizing that you’ve been photobombed? It is no question that, while not particularly necessary, this type of technology would greatly enhance the digital camera.
The same could be said for the emerging market of personalized eye-wear that Kopin is so desperate to bring into the mainstream. For so long, smaller screens have been associated with worse picture quality. While there is a certain majesty to watching an entire movie on a device such as the iPod, many complaints have been lodged that one cannot appreciate a film on such a little screen. With this innovation, the portable, personalized device can overcome such a barrier. Viewed close to the eyes, the user can be immersed in a full resolution, digital symphony of color and depth that only immobile wide-screen televisions and movie theaters could guarantee.
Don’t think that this idea is just a pipe dream, either. Kopin is serious about creating small screens to fit the evolving needs of a technological society. They already have a wide range of products available and varying prices make them able to cater to any needs. The tried and true small but low resolution displays list for as low as $45 per screen but, at the SXGA resolution, be prepared to shell out $3600 for the backlit model. And that’s only for a 0.97 inch diagonal. Pricing has not been announced for the recently created 0.27 inch diagonal display.
The technological barriers are coming down. Science is fraught with ceilings saying that things can only get so small and so fast. Some of those limits have been outright broken. Others have been circumvented. Yet more are absolute and unmoving. Even so, as our knowledge of the world and its workings increases, more and more of these boundaries will be approached, if not broken. For all those who claim that a display can only be made so small, Kopin Corporation has proved them wrong. And don’t believe that the current holy grail of image resolution is the best that can be accomplished. This is the continuation of a trend towards screens that are richer in resolution but slighter in stature.
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