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Filed under: Robots

Turn away before it’s too late, we beg you. Don’t make the mistake we did by watching WowWee’s Alive Tiger Cub get splayed for the chuckling amusement of ol’ Pig Eye Jackson. Should you choose to proceed, choose to hit that read link then be warned: you’ll never eat bot-sausage again.

[Thanks, Robert O.]

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Robots

Turn away before it’s too late, we beg you. Don’t make the mistake we did by watching WowWee’s Alive Lion Cub get splayed for the chuckling amusement of ol’ Pig Eye Jackson. Should you choose to proceed, choose to hit that read link then be warned: you’ll never eat bot-sausage again.

[Thanks, Robert O.]

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

To be sure, nothing about the Femisapien is even remotely, er arousing? Yep, it has a busom and a slim waist, but it’s unimaginable anyone mistaking this for the real deal. Still, in man’s quest to create an artificial companion for their companionship and intimate needs, the Femisapien is perhaps a step towards realistic artificiality.

A realistic artificiality that consumer-friendly budget-wise (the Femisapien costs $99), and follows your every command (robotsrule.com claims the robot can memorize dance moves and act out skits). We just can’t wait for someone to make this baby human-sized and put on some realistic skin. Imagine all the happy men once fem-bots become reality! Oh la la la.

Enough words, check out this “review”—a thinly-disguised but comprehensive video advertisment for the Femisapien.

What do you think?

Tags: fem-bot, female robot, Femisapien, WowWee

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Original post by Rico

Filed under: Robots

If you’ve been on the fence about whether or not you want to spring for a WowWee Femisapien, perhaps a thorough, multi-page review would help. If you truck on over to robotsrule, you’ll find an ultra-in-depth look at the female automaton, with explorations into the bot’s interface, modes and behaviors, and a variety of other Femisapien idiosyncrasies. The conclusion? We’d have to say the reviewer is pretty much in full gush-mode over the new toy, calling it a “blockbuster hit” that’s “destined to take over the world.” We assume by “take over the world” they mean “obliterate humanity.”

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Robots

All work and no play makes Robosapien a dull bot. All work and no play makes Robosapien a dull bot. All work and n0 play makes R0b0sapien a dull bot. All w0rk and no play makes R0101ap1en a dull b0t. A11 w0rk a1d n0 play m01es R0101ap1en a dull b0t. A11 101k 11d n0 p10y m01es R010101e0 a d011 b0t. 011 1011 11d n0 p10y m011s 0010101e0 a d011 b0t. 011 1011 110 10 p10y 1011s 0010101e0 1 d011 b0t. 011 1011 110 10 1100 10110 001010110 1 1011 001.

Continue reading ‘The Shining’ gets remade with WowWee bots, cybernetically invades your soul

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Robots

It has been a hot minute since WowWee let the Alive animals out of the zoo, but this particular White Tiger Cub has just recently been loosed from its cage. Although it’s just dying for an I Can Has Cheezburger? caption (feel free to drop your best in comments below), this cute cat looks to be the perfect play toy for small children or adults hoping to rekindle some of that youthful innocence. We’re also told that the eyebrow and mouth movements are “quite realistic,” but its the individual personality that really makes it worth coming back to. Check out the unboxing and a brief review in the read link, and peek a video of the feline in action after the cut.

Continue reading WowWee’s Alive White Tiger Cub gets unboxed, showcased on video

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Robots

Sure, you can get a robot that mows lawns and nothing else, but what about those of us that are holding out for a humanoid robot that’ll save all our 20th century tools from the scrap heap? While that possibility is still quite a ways off, we can now at least get a glimpse of our possible future on a comically-sized scale courtesy of the video after the break, which shows the Mega Dynamizer robot doing its thing with reasonable effectiveness — at least until it runs into a doghouse. Of course, those that follow such things will recall that this is hardly the first time that the Dynamizer family of robots has taken on some decidedly human-like activities, with one of Mega Dynamizer’s predecessors having already proven itself a relatively capable downhill skier.

[Via BotJunkie, thanks Tony S.]

Continue reading Humanoid Mega Dynamizer robot mows down lawns, our hearts

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Robots

Alright, so maybe the recently announced Ultimate WALL-E robot doesn’t actually get down and dirty on video, but he does maintain a pretty positive attitude after being poked, prodded and generally invaded for a full five minutes. The latest collaborative effort from Disney and Thinkway Toys was spotted recently at Maker Faire, and if you’re interested to see what exactly $190 will net you later this summer, head on past the break and click play.

Continue reading Disney / Thinkway Toys’ Ultimate WALL-E robot cleans up on camera

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

During the first episode of the new season of Criminal Minds, FBI agent and resident neat-freak David Rossi just couldn’t shake the unsolved double homicide that he never could close a score ago. Oddly enough, that wasn’t the only mystery involved, as we’re still scratching our heads trying to figure out what’s so important on the lid of Mr. Rossi’s RAZR2. Maybe a super-secret 4G icon? Tommy Tutone’s most favorite dame’s number? The infamous Sad Moto face? Whatever it was, we’re fairly certain a highly concealed RAZR2 is superior to the lowly RAZR Derek Morgan is still getting issued. What’s a man got to do to get a leg-up, anyway?

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s really about time someone released a portable power strip with USB charging. Really, honestly, we don’t know what took ‘em so long — it’s frigging 2008, everything’s been USB-powered for a couple years now. Hat tip to you, Belkin, for the Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger, which goes for $25 or so.

[Thanks, Alex]

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Anthony Park just released his MyNetflix Media Center plugin. The application lets you add/remove movies from your Netflix queue, browse for movies, and view history and recommendations. The part that will tempt you into installing the beta software however is the ability to stream “Watch Now” movies from the warm comforts of your Media Center. You do have a Netflix account don’t you?

[Via Chris Lanier’s Blog, thanks Matt]

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Linus Torvalds may have dabbled in Apple territory in the past, but he’s definitely not mincing any words about competing operating systems now. In a recent interview, Linus says that OS X is a “much better system” than Windows Vista overall, but that “in some ways is actually worse than Windows to program for.” Apparently these problems are rooted firmly in OS X’s file system (HFS and HFS+), which he describes as “complete and utter crap,” and even “scary.” Of course, Torvalds also took the opportunity to tout the many virtues of Linux, which he says is an “obvious choice for anything from full-blown PCs to phones or video players.” Damn straight it is.

[Photo courtesy of AP, thanks Ash]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Laptops

Last we heard, Apple had some 76 fixes in store for the now-imminent 10.5.2 update of Mac OS X, otherwise known as Leopard. Of course, that was more than a month ago, and Apple seems to have found plenty more room for improvement since then. According to AppleInsider, “people familiar with the software” are now saying that the update will pack “nearly 100 code corrections and enhancements,” including twenty fixes that were turned up in the short time since Mac OS X 10.5.2 build 9C16 was released to developers during Macworld. All told, that should bring the latest update in just over the 450MB mark which, as AppleInsider points out, should make it the biggest “dot release” of Mac OS X yet.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

In case you haven’t heard, PC Magazine is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The double issue on newsstands right now (cover date January 2008) is packed with stories that look forward to what will be happening within the next 25 years in the world of technology. And we persuaded some real luminaries to pitch in with essays on the topic: Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and Vint Cerf of Google, quite a few of our own analysts and editors, and many others.

Better yet, PCMag.com features some online-only essays from presidential hopeful John McCain (”Technology and the Transparent Political System”); Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling (”The next decades will be geared toward immersion, and the winner will be the company and products that offer the most realistic experience you can imagine”); and Dealbreaker.com and Gawker.com founder Elizabeth Spiers (on the media company of the future).

What do you see happening in technology in the next 25 years? A techie utopia? Terminators taking over? Let us know in Comments!

Original post by Carol Mangis

Filed under: Portable Audio

Portable speakers always bring with them a few compromises — namely, they either aren’t very portable or they don’t sound very good. Korea’s Xenics now looks to have come up with a solution to that first problem, however, with its new Music Cube speakers able to be disassembled in order to take up as little space as possible in your gadget bag. Unfortunately, it seems that you may want to keep ‘em in there as often as possible, as the company’s choice of designs leaves quite a bit to be desired. There’s also the small matter of that other aforementioned problem, as these speakers pack a mere 1W apiece. On the upside, that means they don’t need an external power adapter, and we assume they won’t set you back too much, although there’s still no official word on pricing or availability.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Donald Melanson