I was just watching Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith again earlier in the week, and loved the way the Jedi Council held their meetings with holographic representations of themselves. The real world does not have such advanced technology yet, but we are getting close with Zachary, a 12-year old boy who has been diagnosed with the rare X-linked myotubular myopathy disease which affected males only, preventing him from going to school. This has not stopped Zachary though, as he is now testing a specially designed robot that can be controlled using a computer in order to be at school.
Read full post →Boy attends school with his virtual representative

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google could be brewing a new strategy for its Android mobile operating system. A source familiar with the matter allegedly told the WSJ that Google is planning to grant mobile device manufacturers an early access to new releases of Android in a bid to prevent wireless carriers from controlling the devices. That was pretty the plan with the Nexus S, and although it was a great device, the plan was basically a commercial “flop”.

Based on what it has done in the past, Google will usually give one manufacturer an early look at the latest version of the OS to help build a Google-branded Nexus device. You can see that with the Nexus One in 2010 with HTC as its partner, and then the Nexus S announced the same year with Samsung as its partner, and finally the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
Read full post →Google to reveal Android 5.0 on several Nexus devices? [Rumor]

Getting around tight spots in a crowd can prove to be rather tricky if you are not that able bodied, as being pushed around is definitely not my idea of fun. Perhaps it is time to beef things up a bit with the Honda UNI-CUB personal mobility device, where it offers a similar amount of freedom of movement across different directions, something that walking on your own two feet provide. It does seem to resemble the U3-X personal mobility device somewhat which Honda first unveiled to the world back in 2009, the UNI-CUB will come with Honda’s proprietary balance control technology as well as prides itself in being the first omni-directional driving wheel system (Honda Omni Traction Drive System) in the world. This can be said to be a highly versatile Segway, and it boasts a range of 6km as well as top speed of 6km/h – nowhere near heart stopping, but at least you can get from point A to point B a whole lot faster than a brisk walk.

It seems that someone made a boo-boo somewhere today, where a Mass Effect 3 DLC was spotted earlier before Sony removed it – and it was surely an accident (on purpose or not, that remains another question to be answered on a different day), otherwise Sony would not have pulled the plug on the Mass Effect 3 DLC. Despite removing it, it was too late not to know more about the Mass Effect 3 DLC, where it came with a couple of new maps as well as half a dozen more classes. The Hong Kong PlayStation website, according to Kotaku, listed the new multiplayer pack as Rebellion, where its new content would include the following, “The Rebellion Multiplayer Expansion opens two new fronts against the Reapers: Firebase Jade’s jungle reservoir and Firebase Goddess on Thessia. In-game reinforcement packs now include three new weapons as well as equipment, consumables, and six new classes: Quarian Engineer and Infiltrator, Vorcha Soldier and Sentinel, Phoenix Adept and Vanguard. The battle continues – hold the line!” Hopefully BioWare will issue an official statement in due time if this were to be true.

Forget the Prime Evil that is Diablo, even he is no match for Error 3003. With a sea of gamers trying to log on into Diablo 3 after it was released, there were plenty of gamers experiencing time outs as well as different error messages. Two of the more popular ones we saw were Error 3006, Error 12 and Error 37 – I guess with the turn of the tide, the most popular error now would be Error 3003 as you can see above. Not only that, there are other gamers who have also reported on an Error 75, but so far that error has remained rather reclusive, so it might be some time before she ends up as the flavor of the day. According to Blizzard, they are truly sorry, and have been trying real hard to get things up and running before midnight yesterday, saying, “We’re continuing to work on the issues currently affecting the Americas region, which are resulting in failed login attempts and service issues. While we’ve identified the causes and are working to resolve them, we expect our efforts to require an approximate two hours to complete. We expect game services to fully return by approximately 11:45 p.m. PDT. We apologize for the downtime, and appreciate your continued patience.” Are you still experiencing those errors?

LG Electronics has just announced a spanking new user interface for their Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich powered devices, calling it the Optimus UI 3.0. I suppose this is the equivalent of Samsung’s TouchWiz as well as HTC’s Sense, but today, we will focus to see what makes LG’s Optimus UI 3.0 tick. With this being the most recent iteration, it will offer a bunch of what LG calls “enhanced key features”, including Quick Memo as well as special unlock functions. Just what does Quick Memo do? It basically lets you jot down notes on the screen with your finger, and sharing updates via social networks, text messages and e-mails are made easier than ever before.
Read full post →LG Optimus UI 3.0 – what’s so great about it?

Robocop – I still remember the hit movie from the 1980s, with his staggered movement, and the only thing he had going was his super sharp targeting as well as database of felons he can fall back upon when it came to identifying the baddies in a crowd. While technology has not exactly returned cadavers from the dead, here we are with a 2 meter tall robot that is located in Kunming, China, and what makes this robot installation so special is the inclusion of a surveillance camera in the visor. This camera will send all visual feedback to the nearest police station thanks to closed circuit TV cables that run underground.
Read full post →Robocops in the streets of China

The folks over at Roku have not been sipping Pina Coladas while enjoying themselves on a yacht somewhere – no sir, in fact, they have been working hard to deliver yet another software update which will bump up the version number to version 4.7, where this new software update will play nice with the following devices from Roku – the Roku 2, Roku LT and the new Roku HD. Obviously, which self-respecting software upgrade will come without introducing any new improvements and fixes? So too, does version 4.7 deliver a slew of “under the hood” improvements and fixes which you can read about after the jump.
Read full post →Roku software version 4.7 rolls out for Roku 2, Roku LT and new Roku HD

Just a week after Bing underwent a major update which included the availability of a social sidebar feature, Microsoft is now releasing the new Bing in the U.S. Beginning today, people in the U.S. can give the new Bing a try at www.bing.com/new. The newly revamped Bing search engine now integrates search and people in social networks through a dedicated social sidebar. The sidebar, according to the team behind the search engine, will bring together the best of the web – what experts and your friends know – hence, giving you the confidence to act. Road warriors might also find Bing appealing, thanks to its layout that has been optimized for smaller screen sizes and touch input.

The social sidebar will also suggest friends in Facebook who might be knowledgeable about what you are searching. Bing uses public Facebook information and content, including what your friends “like” and the photos that they have shared as the basis for the social sidebar feature. But Bing assures that it won’t match friends based on other Facebook contents such as status updates or check-ins. “Bing also respects you and your friends’ privacy settings so you won’t see friends who have opted out of Facebook instant personalization or blocked the Bing app,” Derrick Connell, Vice President of Bing, said.

According to The Verge, imports of the HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE have been delayed at the U.S. Customs for an investigation involving a previous patent infringement with Apple. “The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval,” HTC said via an official statement. If you can still remember, Apple has won an exclusion order banning the imports of HTC Android devices at the International Trade Commission last December, particularly the patent involving “personal data and mobile communication devices” (Apple patent #5,946,647).

It’s important to note that the U.S. Customs is investigating the One X and Evo 4G LTE with due respect to its previous ruling. So, it is then comprehensible for the U.S. Customs to block the imports temporarily. HTC, on the other hand, is assuring eager One X and Evo 4G owners that they will have the devices soon. “The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible,” HTC said. In case you missed our review of the HTC One X, check it out here.