Latest Gear Live Videos
2015 Holiday Gift Guide: Star Wars BB-8 Sphero
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Features, Toys, Kids, Techies, Teens, Under $250, Under $500,
Meet BB-8 - the app-enabled Droid that's as authentic as it is advanced, and the latest entry in our 2015 Holiday Gift Guide. BB-8 has something unlike any other robot - an adaptive personality that changes as you play. Based on your interactions, BB-8 will show a range of expressions and even perk up when you give voice commands. Set it to patrol and watch your Droid explore autonomously, make up your own adventure and guide BB-8 yourself, or create and view holographic recordings.
It’s now possible to explore the galaxy with your own trusty Astromech Droid by your side. BB-8 is more than a toy - it’s your companion.
You can pick up the Star Wars BB-8 Sphero now.
Click to continue reading 2015 Holiday Gift Guide: Star Wars BB-8 Sphero
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Orbotix Ollie & Sphero 2.0 giveaway!
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Toys,
It's time for our next holiday giveaway, and today we've got two! We're giving away an Orbotix Sphero 2.0, along with the brand new Orbotix Ollie. These two little robots are controlled over Bluetooth using your smartphone or tablet, and are fun for people of any age. While Sphero 2.0 lets you play, learn, and explore, Ollie is the robot driven by adrenaline, engineered for speed.
Here's how this is gonna go down: First place gets the new Ollie, and the runner up walks away with Sphero 2.0. Ready to enter? Go get it:
Enter our Ollie & Sphero giveaway
Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals.
92% of fast food jobs to be performed by machines by 2034
Posted by Ariel Levin-Waldman Categories: Smart Home, Science,
Would you like fries with that, puny human?
Don't laugh, it is a question you might be hearing more of in the near future as more and more industries mull over replacing their workstaff with robots. And it isn't in the far future either. It's already happening.
Every time I walk into a Walmart or a Wegmans I see automated registers. I use them too. Gear Live recently looked at how the modern consumer would prefer to use an app rather than speaking with sales representatives. And a San Francisco company (Momentum Machines) invented an automated burger maker.
According to an Oxford University study, there is a 92 percent chance that fast food jobs will be done by machines within two decades.
When I head news like this, I start preparing my bug-out-bag because robots and apocalypse seem to fit together all to often. But it isn't as grim as it could be if you ask the folks over at CNN. According to them, mechanization of services will only knock a maximum of 10 percent off the workforce.
Wait, 10 percent? Isn't that about one and a half times the current unemployment number? As in the current recession?
Maybe we should have learned something from Terminator. I'll rest easy knowing I have a few decades until a drone with a sorting algorithm can perform field reporting.
An inside look at how robots birth the Tesla Model S [Video]
Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Transportation, Videos,
Here is a detailed inside look of how the famed all-electric battery powered Tesla Model S car is made. It's an automotive robot car manufacturing plant literally straight out of the future. Check out the video!
Click to continue reading An inside look at how robots birth the Tesla Model S [Video]
Grillbot: The BBQ grill cleaning robot does the dirty work for you
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Smart Home, Videos,
A Roomba for your barbecue grill. That's what the Grillbot is, and it sounds like something that many could use. Sure, it's just about the end of winter now, but those summer months are coming, and we'd bet there are plenty of crusty grills out there. the Grillbot promises to do the work for you, using its wire brushes to get everything shining again. The grill cleaning robot features push button operation, three motors with replaceable grill brushes, LCD display, timer, and alarm. You can get the Grillbot in orange, blue, red, or black beginning this June, selling for $69.95, or $99.95 for the premium model. Check out a video of how it all works after the break, if you don't mind ridiculous music.
Click to continue reading Grillbot: The BBQ grill cleaning robot does the dirty work for you
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| Grillbots
Guy born with total color blindness can now hear colors
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Science, Software, Videos,
Neil Harbisson was born with achromatopsia, which means he can't see colors. He lives in a world of black and white. Not satisfied with having to remember that the sky is blue, or that lemons are yellow, he teamed up with Adam Montandon to develop a brain implant that they call the Eyeborg, which turns colors into sounds. In 2010, the Cyborg Foundation was born--an organization to help humans become cyborgs. Check out the fascinating details in the video after the jump, and be on the lookout for other projects from the Cyborg Foundation, including the Earborg (turns sounds into colors,) and the Speedbord (detects movement through earrings that vibrate.)
Click to continue reading Guy born with total color blindness can now hear colors
2012 Holiday Gift Guide: Furby
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Toys, Kids, Techies, Under $100, Under $250, Under $500,
Fourteen years ago, Furby was the hot holiday sensation, and now in 2012, Hasbro has brought it back with a modern update that's good enough to be featured in our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide. Changes include LED eyes, capacitive touch sensors, and an app that lets you control it remotely. Kids will love them, but so will tinkerers--the original Furby was super-hackable, which hobbyists love. You can pick up the new Furby for $60.
Read More | Furby
Roomba 790: A $700 Roomba with remote control
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smart Home, Wireless / WiFi,
The Roomba 790 is the latest autonomous vaccuum cleaner from the folks at iRobot, and it's the first that you can control remotely. Yep, the 790 includes a wireless remote control that you can use to direct the Roomba towards any problem areas. The device itself has touch controls, a method to schedule automatic cleanings, and has great battery life. It isn't cheap, though. You can get the Rooma 790 now for $699.99.
Read More | iRobot
Bleeding Edge TV 441: HexBugs robot toy review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Podcasts, Product Reviews, Toys, Videocasts, Videos,
We give you a look at three different types of HexBugs in this episode. HexBugs are robotic creatures, similar to insects, that crawl around. Batteries are included, so you just open them up and turn them on, and as you can see, they will start crawling around right away. The HexBug Inchworm is radio-controlled, while the HexBug Original and HexBug Nano are simply battery powered and kind of do their own thing once you turn them on. Aside from the insect robots themselves, you can also purchase different environments for the HexBugs to move around in, which looks especially cool when dealing with the Nano version. If you're interested, you can find HexBugs at RadioShack, and can also purchase HexBugs on Amazon.
Big thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring Bleeding Edge TV. GoToMeeting provides rich, super-simple collaborative virtual meetings - be sure to check them out!
NASA fires up humanoid robot, Robonaut 2
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Science,
Coming in at three feet four inches and 330 pounds, it’s Robonaut 2, NASA’s humanoid robot. Six months after it was first delivered to the International Space Station by Space Shuttle Discovery, the robot has been powered on for the first time.
Robonaut 2, or R2, tweeted the progress of its first test from the @AstroRobonaut feed, operated by NASA’s Joe Bibby, a multimedia specialist working out of Houston’s Johnson Space Center, where R2's ground support is located.
“My power cable is plugged in and my status LEDs on my power backpack are on,” Robonaut tweeted Monday morning.
Click to continue reading NASA fires up humanoid robot, Robonaut 2
