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While robots have certainly been around for a long enough time doing things like sweeping your floors and even conducting symphonies, up to now they haven’t been “human enough” to replace actual people. However, according to a new report from the National Intelligence Council, they should be able to by 2025. The report goes as far as saying that an influx of robo-workers could even “disrupt unskilled labor markets” and occupy jobs currently performed by migrant workers and hapless high school students. Additionally, the report asserts that new technologies could be used to augment human abilities as well as to perform other tasks such as caring for the elderly. Unfortunately, the report had no word on the progress of accompanying synthetic saliva glands for the inevitable robo-waiters, so no need to fret — yet.

[Image courtesy of benefisho]

Filed under: Robots

Robots to perform menial tasks by 2025, write for Engadget quite a bit sooner originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Add another trick to Dell’s Mini 9. The mod-happy netbook has already been seen hanging out with GPS and OSX and now the inevitable: a touchscreen. Fitted with one of those ubiquitous eBay touch panels, user Deldotb of the myDellMini forums loaded up the appropriate Ubuntu drivers and kicked the rather unresponsive USB 1.1 panel to life. Unfortunately, he had to sacrifice a USB port for the privilege. See the Tux Paint “hello world works” video after the break.

[Via Jkkmobile]

Continue reading Video: Dell’s Mini 9 hacked with touchscreen

Filed under: Laptops

Video: Dell’s Mini 9 hacked with touchscreen originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A protective glove system that is currently being used in Iraq by the military is now being made available to civilians. Expect plenty of gear heads, wannabe heroes, and disaster preparedness aficionados to add them to their must-get Christmas wish list.

Outdoor Research’s latest Modular Gloves are highly useful flame resistants and have proven integral in the battlefield because of their temperature versatility — they can handle extreme cold and super-hot flames just the same. Made out of a tough, abrasion-resistant exterior fabric called ‘Wolverine’ that is also lightweight, the gloves team up with a three-layer soft-shell fabric for improved comfort. The user is supposed to mix up the different glove layers as the need demands it.

The glove system is peculiar because the light, Nomex-based material also stretches four-ways, allowing the user a greater range or motion than usual. It also sheds light precipitation and has a soft, wicking interior. Most gear with a high level of flame protection is so inflexible that they make people look like chubby cousins of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man. And you don’t want your firefighters to stumble around in narrow spaces while their immediate surroundings come tumbling down in flames.

According to OR, the $1100 Modular Glove System is currently used by all active SOF operators, including troops serving in the Middle East. With the dangerous increase of MID attacks (and their inevitable flying shrapnel), they’ve proven more than useful and have saved plenty of limbs from potential burns.

So while we won’t recommend that anyone should, in fact put his or her hands in a fire, it’s good to know that if you absolutely had to (like an emergency), there’s some gear out there that can handle that dangerous task.

Apple is devising a method for the iPhone to display status icons even when the handset’s screen is turned off.

The
company this week published a 24-page patent detailing a dual-backlight
system, so that in addition to the primary backlight, a second
low-powered backlight would always be on displaying e-mail, text and
call notifications. Positioned behind the primary backlight, the second
always-on backlight would project through transparent layers.

If the technique materializes, it would be Apple’s solution for one of
iPhone’s weaknesses when pitted against the BlackBerry smartphone. When
a BlackBerry receives an e-mail, a small light turns on to notify the user. Similar to the BlackBerry’s light indicator, Apple’s method eliminates the need to manually check
the handset for messages, and it’d probably look cooler, too.

Of course, we probably won’t see Apple implement this feature until the
company resolves its battery issues on the iPhone 3G. Plenty of people
are still complaining that the handset’s battery life is poor,
especially when surfing the 3G network.

Apple developing always-on iPhone status indicators [AppleInsider]

Photo: Apple

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

There’s a slight possibility that you haven’t noticed, but Samsung SDI is on fire. Like, seriously burning down FPD International 2008. After treating onlookers to a flexible OLED, a 40-inch Full HD OLED display and an assortment of other eye-enticing panels, the outfit has one-upped itself once more with a 63-inch 4k x 2k plasma. Sure, actually finding 4k x 2k content will be a challenge, but who wouldn’t want to be ready for the inevitable worldwide domination of Super Hi-Vision? Most of the other specs (contrast ratio, luminance, where it’s being stored with loose security, etc.) were sadly absent, but with a native resolution like this, the rest takes a back seat anyway.

Samsung SDI shows off 63-inch 4k x 2k plasma originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Now that the books have been cooked to a delicious golden brown, Motorola has revealed its third quarter earnings today — and for consumers and shareholders alike, the news isn’t particularly awesome. First off, they’ve lost $397 million in the quarter, compared with $40 million in net earnings (black ink, not red) in the same quarter a year ago. Secondly, while they’ve announced today that they plan to develop a full range of Android-powered handsets in 2009, they’re not coming quickly; they’re expected in the second half of the year at the earliest, and when you factor in the inevitable delays, that could realistically mean 2010 for some of the models. What’s more, they’ve announced a belt-tightening plan to cut $800 million in 2009 expenditures, which will inevitably lead to some morale problems out in Schaumburg (for those who are still employed). Finally — and we’re not sure if this is ultimately good or bad news — co-CEO Sanjay Jha has decided to hold off on selling the handset division until some time after the third quarter of 2009 due to the “macro-economic environment,” which we think is code for “we couldn’t give it away right now.” Keep fightin’, Moto.

Motorola loses a cool $397M in Q3, delays handset division spinoff originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Desktops

After almost a year of 20-inchedness, Dell’s going after those in need of extra pixels with the new XPS One 24. The 24-inch all-in-one brings a 1920 x 1080, 16:9 display, perfect for some HD entertainment, and the $1,699 starting price includes a bit more than you’ll get in one of those $999 20-inchers. There’s 4GB of RAM standard, integrated Intel GMA X4500HD graphics and an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor under the hood. Dell’s still offering this in (PRODUCT) RED and regular, non-humanitarian versions, and for some extra cash you can spring for discreet NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics or a Blu-ray drive. The TV tuner is still standard, and at least a few basic configurations look to be available now.

[Thanks, Jake; via DesktopReview]

Dell’s XPS One, now in face-friendly 24-inch form originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Right on schedule, it looks like Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex is now available. Linux fans should look forward to performance gains and a new Connection Manager with 3G support, as well as the ability to install from USB drives and built-in BBC content availability. Torrents should be popping now — and if you haven’t hit up the ‘bu yet, what’re you waiting for?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Ubuntu 8.10 now available for download originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

We thought we’d heard the last of this whole AT&T / Starbucks WiFi deal yesterday, but alas, we were terrifically mistaken. AT&T has come forth today with two fluffy press releases that flesh out the details, and amazingly, there are some inclusions that we weren’t made aware of yesterday. For starters, all iPhone / iPhone 3G customers will now have free (and seemingly limitless) access to AT&T WiFi hotspots across the US — we’re talking Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, the whole lot. Additionally, the carrier has welcomed select BlackBerry users — that’s the Bold for now, the Pearl 8120 / 8820 “later this year” — into the same deal, though the official verbiage mentions that an “unlimited data plan” is required. If you didn’t make the cut this time, fret not — AT&T has plans to invite “more mobile devices” into the fold here shortly.

Read - Free AT&T WiFi on iPhone / iPhone 3G
Read - Free AT&T WiFi on BlackBerry

AT&T officially delivers free WiFi to BlackBerry / iPhone users originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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