Overdue Reviews: 'Strange Days'

Thomas Ricker

Latest Posts from Switched

World's First 3-D HDTV Remote Surgery System Allows Fantastic Precision

by Thomas Ricker on April 9, 2009 at 04:15 AM

Oh boy, from the looks of that picture, the only perquisites for using the updated da Vinci Si surgical system are video game skills, a preference for interacting with the physical world on a high-def display, and an abnormal interest in robots. Sound like anyone you know? Intuitive Surgical's latest robotic system features two separate HD optical channels that the manufacturer claims will give "highly accurate depth perception" when merged. The surgeon console features touchpad control of the video, audio, and system settings while providing "precise, dexterous control" over an extensive array of surgical tools held by the robotic flanges. Perfect for all your minimally invasive, WebMD-inspired home surgery needs, when not performing transplants at County. Check the video after the break; 'amazing' is an understatement.

[Via MedGadget]

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iTunes Store Now Infected with Variable Pricing, Amazon Still $0.99

by Thomas Ricker on April 7, 2009 at 03:34 PM

As promised, variable pricing has now been implemented at the iTunes music store. Already, we're seeing most of top 10 singles and 33 of the top 100 hitting the top price-point of $1.29 (encoded as DRM-free 256kbps AAC). Interesting as Amazon's uncomfortably similar top 10 list has all these tracks priced at $0.99 (encoded as DRM-free 256kbps VBR MP3). A handful of tracks (nine in the top 100) do hit the higher $1.29 price further down Amazon's list. Now, if you believe Steve (someone who originally postured against this price structure), then it appears that the music labels are charging Apple more for the rights to sell its music than Amazon based on this quote attributed to Jobs in the Apple press release from January:

in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points-69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29-with many more songs priced at 69 cents than $1.29.

Regardless, we know where we'll be purchasing our Miley Cyrus from now on.

[Thanks, Jesse]

Read -- January "Changes Coming to the iTunes Store" press release
Read -- iTunes top songs [Warning: iTunes App link]
Read -- Amazon top songs

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Angry British Villagers Block Google Street View Car, Incident Caught on CCTV

by Thomas Ricker on April 3, 2009 at 10:45 AM

Look we understand demands for privacy. We just find it ironic that citizens of Broughton (pronunciation: bak-wərd), a small village in a nation where CCTV cameras look, evaluate behavior, and sometimes speak at virtually every intersection, would block a Google Street View car on grounds of invasion of privacy. Seems to us that they've given up on that right a long, long time ago. Though the police were called, the villagers eventually let Google's contractor pass peacefully -- presumably after assurances were given that cameras can not, in fact, steal your soul.

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Honda Robot ASIMO Controlled By Thought

by Thomas Ricker on April 1, 2009 at 08:30 AM

Sorry, that's not actually Dark Helmet, it's a researcher demonstrating the latest Brain Machine Interface (BMI) cooked up for robotics. While it's not looking too portable, it's a far nimbler setup than the original MRI Scanner first concocted by Honda to control robots in near real-time back in 2006. This time, Honda Research Institute in coordination with Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR) and Shimadzu Corporation have achieved robotic thought control using a sensor cap to measure electrical potential on the scalp and cerebral blood flow. While we've seen much of this BMI tech applied to video games in the past, Honda claims its technology achieves the world's highest accuracy at 90-percent without special training. Impressive, even though it's clearly R&D work for now. Check the video after the break.

[Via Akihabara News]

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Sony PlayStation 2 Just $99.99 Starting Tomorrow

by Thomas Ricker on March 31, 2009 at 11:10 AM

We're really hoping that this isn't Sony's global announcement. Nevertheless, starting tomorrow April 1st, the PlayStation 2 will be available for less than $100 (down from $129.99), exactly as rumored. Hoozah?

[Thanks, Ris]

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Skype App Coming to iPhone on Tuesday, BlackBerry in May

by Thomas Ricker on March 30, 2009 at 08:41 AM

It's legit; Skype is coming to the iPhone on Tuesday, BlackBerry devices in May. While we've seen plenty of Skype-capable apps on the iPhone, the poor, often echo-infected calls should be easily bested by the official Skype App that doesn't need the extra audio transcoding workaround required by the existing crop of unofficial apps. The Skype app works over Wi-Fi only (not over EDGE or 3G data) and supports calls to SkypeOut contacts in addition to many of the other features you've used from the desktop client. iPod touch owners will require earphones with an embedded mic to talk. CNET has a hands-on preview of the App just as long as you can muster the energy required to hit the read link below.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Most Heinous Custom Netbook, Ever

by Thomas Ricker on March 25, 2009 at 11:23 AM

If the Acer Aspire One netbook above makes you feel uncomfortable, even angry, then you're probably not a Japanese school-girl. Hell, even if you are we hope you have the good sense not to paste stuffed animals, taffeta, and frills to your Atom-based netbook. That's what UMPCs are for.

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Japanese Institute Unveils 'Fashion Model Robot'

by Thomas Ricker on March 16, 2009 at 11:06 AM

While that perv in the back is busy shooting HRP-4C's firm buttocks shaped from a glossy Stormtrooper alloy, the rest of us can marvel at the fact that Japan has produced a walking, talking fashion robot. Standing at just over 5-feet tall and 95-pounds, HRP-4C, developed by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, will make its catwalk debut next week at the Tokyo fashion show.

The she-bot features 30 motors spread throughout its body with an additional eight motors in its face for expressing general boredom and disgust with the help. Its main purpose is entertainment and to attract crowds much like its fleshy counterparts -- so don't expect home cooked meals and laundry service should you take the $200,000 robot home. Unfortunately, HRP-4C didn't function as planned today. Reports say that the robot, "kept looking surprised, opening its mouth and eyes in a stunned expression, when the demonstrator had asked it to smile or look angry." Hmm, sounds like a fully functional model-slash-actress to us. [Via Straits Times]

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Apple's New iPod Shuffle Talks to You

by Thomas Ricker on March 11, 2009 at 09:51 AM

Bam, another Ap ple rumor vindicated. Apple just doubled the capacity of its iPod shuffle to 4GB while ditching the control wheel entirely. The new design keeps the clip and adds VoiceOver -- a new feature that gets around the lack of display by telling you which song is playing and who performs it at the touch of a button on the earbud cable. It'll also call out your playlists and let you navigate to others. No word on which languages are supported. Available in black or silver for $80 and your claim to what Apple calls the "world's smallest music player."

Head to Engadget for a gallery and more specs.

Update: VoiceOver in English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

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Apple Co-Founder Dances: "Like Watching a Teletubby Going Mad"

by Thomas Ricker on March 10, 2009 at 10:45 AM

He did it. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple and nerd superhero, just made his debut on Dancing with the Stars. As you'd expect, the surprisingly nimble Woz enjoyed himself without concern of mockery. But as one judge put it, "overall it was a disaster." Hey Woz, you're still a nerd hero to all of us.

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Topps Launches Webcam-Enhanced 3-D Baseball Cards

by Thomas Ricker on March 9, 2009 at 02:16 PM

var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/baseball/Topps_baseball_cards_now_interactive_3D'; Put aside those Pokeman or Bakugan cards kids, Topps is back with a vengeance in an attempt to woo Internet bred sophisti-tots back into collecting baseball cards. Right, Topps, the company that pre-dates Human Growth Hormone abuse and packs a nostalgic smack of dusty pink sticks of chewing gum is back in the ... Read more »

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DIY Paintball Turret Unleashes 34 Rounds per Second

by Thomas Ricker on February 27, 2009 at 05:14 AM

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/DIY_34_Round_per_second_Paintball_Turret'; The appeal of the Paintball Turret can pretty much be summed up in its inventor's own words: "It shoots things." What grabbed our attention, though, is just how sophisticated the contraption appears to be. Two years in development, Jared Bouck's turret fires 34 balls per second (per second!) and is designed to be ... Read more »

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US and Russian Satellites Collide In 'Unprecedented' Accident

by Thomas Ricker on February 12, 2009 at 03:14 PM

A US Iridium satellite has hit a defunct Russian satellite in an unprecedented space collision. The crash occurred some 790km (491 miles) over Siberia on Tuesday, according to NASA, and produced a "massive" cloud of debris. About 600 pieces are being tracked from the debris field in hopes of understanding the risk they present to other satellites and the international space station. The ... Read more »

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New Dell Laptop Has 11 Hours of Battery Life

by Thomas Ricker on February 11, 2009 at 08:27 AM

var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/hardware/Dell_XT2_multitouch_tablet_official_11_hours_battery_life'; The machine translation is pretty weak, but Dell's 12.1-inch (1,280 x 800 pixel) Latitude XT2 looks to have just made its first tentative steps in a global launch. The video posted after the break comes courtesy of Korean site, AVING, where the convertible tablet was apparently just released. ... Read more »

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Immaculate Prosthetic Arm Makes Prosthetics... Sexy?

by Thomas Ricker on February 10, 2009 at 05:33 PM

We never thought it would it come to this, but damn if that image above doesn't make the idea of having a prosthetic limb attractive. A pang first felt at the sight of Oscar Pistorius' Cheetah prosthetics is now fully engorged with visions of reckless play around farm equipment. The concept "immaculate" from Hans Alexander Huseklepp explores the idea of turning a handicap into a ... Read more »

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