28 May, 2008
by Donald Melanson, posted May 28th 2008 at 12:07PM It looks like France’s Robosoft is keen on getting its robots into as many places as possible, with it now following up its RobuCab and RobuDog with a service robot designed to help the elderly and disabled. Like the RobuDog, this one makes heavy use of Microsoft Robotics Studio, and provides just about all the features you’d expect from a 24-hour monitoring bot, including daily reminders, remote teleconferencing abilities, scaring off of house pets, and alerts if the patient falls or is in trouble. The company apparently even hopes to add cleaning capabilities to the mix, although there’s no indication as to when the robot will actually be put into service. (Read the full post about ‘Robosoft shows off Microsoft Robotics Studio-based service robot’…)
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28 May, 2008
by Darren Murph, posted May 28th 2008 at 8:32AM A general review is fine and dandy when you’re lookin’ at Hello Kitty laptops, but this is Dell’s XPS 730 H2C we’re talking about. A rig this big demands to be benchmarked, and the mad scientists over at Hot Hardware did that and a whole lot more after it arrived in their lab. Here’s the highlights: reviewers were able to hit 4.25GHz (though not for long), the unit itself walked all over its rivals and it was deemed “an absolute monster in any productivity and multimedia task.” Sadly, gaming performance was seen as “less decisive but still extremely impressive,” but it nevertheless managed to “blaze” through every title tossed at it. (Read the full post about ‘Dell’s XPS 730 H2C gets benchmarked, overclocked and rated’…)
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28 May, 2008
Dreamhost users who have problems with your email server, you might be told to switch to Gmail. With the largest amount of support tickets being email-related, hosting-giant Dreamhost has started to recommend users use Gmail (or more specifically, Google Apps for Domains) as an alternative so they won’t have as many problems. Already having a strong track record, Google’s Google Apps for Domains is a very versatile platform where you can have your Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Talk, and of course, Gmail, all under one virtual roof powered by some of the most reliable servers in the world at Google. (Read the full post about ‘Dreamhost: Use Gmail, not our servers’…)
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28 May, 2008
If you dream of connecting to the internet from anywhere you have a lot of options. The most common one is a USB modem, and we’ve reviewed them in the past. Since that time, though, companies have been hard at work at reducing the size of dongles that go with laptops and the Sierra Wireless Compass 597 is no exception, with it now being 70 percent smaller than its predecessor, the Sierra AC595U. As you can see below, it’s a little bigger than a standard USB drive. The nice thing about it, though, is it performs double duty. Not only does it connect you to the internet at high speeds, it also features a built-in MicroSD memory card reader. (Read the full post about ‘Review: Sierra Wireless Compass 597 from Sprint’…)
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28 May, 2008
Capcom has officially announced the arcade release of Street Fighter 4, but French video game website Jeuxvideo.fr is reporting that the game will be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this winter. Jeuxvideo.fr says the information on the home release of the new chapter in the seminal fighting game franchise came from a listing on Capcom’s press website, which has since been removed. Expectations are that Capcom will officially announce the news later in the week at their CAPTIVATE 08 Media Summit event. Read more at Shacknews.com Kenneth’s Opinion I don’t think there’s anyone out there who doubts or is surprised that the game is going to hit as many platforms as Capcom can put it on. (Read the full post about ‘Street Fighter 4 may come home in winter’…)
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28 May, 2008
If you repair PC’s, one of the biggest pains can be repairing a computer after a hard drive has crashed or experienced severe OS failure. This is especially true if the person wants to retain some of the data from the old drive. This means plugging in the old HDD as a secondary drive which usually entails tracking down another SATA cable and more screws. And if you’re working on a small form-factor computer, there is usually no room to mount a second drive which means you’re left with leaving case wide open while the old drive sits precariously on top while you transfer data. Thankfully there is a new gadget to make temporary HDD hook-ups a snap. (Read the full post about ‘Brando SATA HDD Dock makes examining drives a snap’…)
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28 May, 2008
Facebook has confirmed that it is opening up its platform to any other social network that wants to become “compatible” with Facebook. This basically means that developers will be able to roll the hugely successful Facebook Applications into other social networks, as desired. It’s supposed that they’re trying to counter the upcoming Open Social program, which has the mighty Google backing it (and their little buddy, MySpace).
(Read the full post about ‘Hoping to Gain Ground on Open Social, Facebook’s Opening Up’…)
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28 May, 2008
Funcom has released the sales figures for the long-awaited and well-received Age of Conan MMO, showing 400,000 copies sold since its release on May 20. Of those 400,000 copies sold, the North American market accounts for half of those figures.
The developer is claiming this release to be the highest amount of pre-orders ever for an original PC game. This combined with 2.2 million hits on the game’s website over the last week confirms what we already knew: people are excited for some Conan-themed MMO action.
Read more at next-gen.biz
Kenneth’s Opinion
With the kind of stranglehold that Blizzard had (and continues to have) on the MMO genre with so many subscribers and becoming such an embedded cultural presence that extends beyond gaming, it is somewhat surprising to see these numbers.
(Read the full post about ‘Age of Conan sells 400,000 copies in first week’…)
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28 May, 2008
When we brought news of the Stage Rack, a dock for raw SATA hard drives, you were pleased. But where the Stage Rack only offered only a lone USB connection and compatibility with 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA drives, Brando’s take on the same concept is a lot more accommodating, and costs only a few bucks more. As well as being able to slot a bare hard drive straight in, the Multi-Function Dock is also a four slot card reader (for just about any format going) and a two-port USB hub. It even has an eSATA-out port, so you could wire this directly into the nervous system of your computer, or maybe the back of your own brain. In common with the Stage Rack, the dock requires you to pay a ridiculous $25 shipping charge, bring the price up to $80. (Read the full post about ‘USB Dock Accepts Hard Drives, Memory Cards, Everything’…)
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28 May, 2008
If LG’s LHT888 home theater system sounds familiar to you, that’s because it was first unveiled at CES 2008 in Las Vegas earlier this year, although it is not fit for consumer consumption till now. As with many of the other LG offerings these days, you can expect distinctive designs and advanced technology, including enhanced sound quality and user-friendly touch sensing controls. According to Allan Jason, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Digital Media, LG Electronics USA, Inc., “LG’s latest home theater and audio systems were designed to meet consumers’ desire for advanced technology that doesn’t compromise the stylish design of their homes.
(Read the full post about ‘LG introduces LHT888 home theater system’…)
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