Archive for February 8th, 2012

War horse: Boston Dynamics’ AlphaDog is designed to haul gear for soldiers. And scare you silly.

(Credit:
DARPA)

Remember the original BigDog? That funny robot pack animal? Well, a supersized version has been let off the leash–and it ain’t so funny anymore.

We last saw the brute when Boston Dynamics unveiled the AlphaDog prototype last year. Even in a harness, it looked pretty mean and could haul 400 pounds without even panting.

This latest incarnation, though, makes its predecessor look quite poodle-like. As seen in the video below, DARPA recently took AlphaDog, aka the Legged Squad Support System, or LS3, out for a walk in the woods and probably scared off every living creature for miles around.

AlphaDog goes where wheels don’t.

(Credit:
DARPA)

The quadruped machine has been outfitted with a raft of sensors and a truss-frame head that makes Megatron look beautiful by comparison.

In the outdoor exercise, AlphaDog went up and down slopes, correcting its balance when it slipped. It also used its “eyes” to follow a human around, distinguishing between obstacles such as rocks and trees.

… [Read more]

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This is how My Nokia Blog reader Tristan imagines a Nokia Windows 8 tablet. What about you?

(Credit:
My Nokia Blog)

Nokia continues to remain coy about its plans for a Windows 8 tablet, but a little thing like that isn’t going to stop people from imagining what it might look like.

My Nokia Blog reader Tristan submitted this sleek concept called the Lumia Coffee Tab. Taking major design cues from the Nokia Lumia 800 and 900, Tristan imagines the tablet with a 9.7-inch AMOLED (1,280×800 pixel) clearback display for use with Windows 8′s Metro touch user interface.

The Windows 8 tablet would also come in three models (16GB, 32GB, and 64GB) and feature an 8-megapixel camera, a rear-facing 2-megapixel camera, 512MB RAM, a 1.4GHz processor, and Wi-Fi/3G connectivity, though we think it could certainly benefit from a faster processor and 4G connectivity.

Tristan’s design is on… [Read more]

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Miss your iMac? Dress your iPhone up as one.

(Credit:
Schreer Delights)

If you’re an Apple fan feeling nostalgic for the days of your old iMac or classic iPod, you might want to snatch up one of these retro cases for your iPhone.

(Credit:
Schreer Delights)

Schreer Delights offers a set of iPhones designed to look like old Apple products, including the iMac G3, Power Mac G4, and first-gen iPod. We particularly like the old-school Macintosh model, which includes such details as vent grooves and an SCSI port.

Compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S, the cases give you access to the smartphone’s ports and camera. Schreer Delights says the graphics are printed deep into the case’s surface, so they won’t fade, peel, or chip.

That said, we suspect the folks in Cupertino may have something to say about the unauthorized use of their intellectual property, so if you fancy one of these cases, you might want to grab one soon. Each case costs $44.95.

(Via Core 77)

[Read more]

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The 128-story, 632-meter Shangai Tower, at right, is going up by the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center.

(Credit:
Gensler)

How fast can you go up? Mitsubishi Electric recently unveiled technologies for new high-speed elevators that will climb at a vertiginous rate of roughly 40 mph when they enter service in China.

The elevators will be installed in the 632-meter (2,073-foot) Shanghai Tower, which is being erected in Shanghai’s Pudong area.

Designed by U.S. architectural firm Gensler, the 128-story skyscraper will be the tallest structure in China when complete and second only in the world to Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

The elevators could travel as fast as 1,080 meters, or 3,543 feet, per minute–roughly 40.2 mph.

Each motor in the elevators has a built-in converter that regenerates electricity. This reduces the elevator’s power consumption by more than 30 percent, according to Mitsubishi.

The safety gear, which grasps the elevator rails if there’s a cable problem, is made of ceramic material that can withstand high heat and friction. The gear itself consists of two stages to better handle the kinetic energy from high speeds.

Within the shaft, the aerodynamic elevator cars will be hauled by Mitsubishi’s new Sf… [Read more]

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Sony gave us the Xperia Ion at CES. Could the Xperia Sola be next?

With Mobile World Congress just three weeks away, rumors continue to fly about what we might see out of big players like Nokia, LG, Samsung, and HTC.

Sony has been a notable exception up until now, but a recent filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may finally offer some clues as to what the company has in store.

Filed on January 31, the application asks for a trademark on the name “Xperia Sola.” Though there’s no indication as to what type of device would carry… [Read more]

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