While I’m wishing it was a more like a Roomba instead — my apartment is so dirty! — this robotic John Deere lawnmower is pretty darn clever. And sorta cute.
[Via HiConsumption]
From Geeks are Sexy Technology News: Gnarboards: $6000 Gnarly Electric Skateboards
[Via [H]]
From EPIC FAIL Funny Videos and Epic Fail Funny Pictures: WIN!: Many Uses of a Ball WIN
From AnandTech: ASUS Demonstrates Displays with Integrated Touch and WiDi
Years ago ASUS made the transition from being just a motherboard company to a notebook manufacturer. These days I’m getting the distinct impression ASUS would like to be much more than just a notebook company. It has been building everything from displays to routers for quite a while now, but ASUS is definitely ramping up its focus on all things peripheral to motherboards and systems.
At Computex we got a glimpse of two ASUS displays, one that brings integrated Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) technology (pictured above)Â and one that integrates touch. Although I wouldn’t rely on WiDi as a primary interface for my display due to latency, it does make it easier to temporarily “connect” another machine to your display.
The touch enabled model is obviously aimed at Windows 8 and I expect to see more touch enabled desktop monitors as Windows 8 officially launches. I don’t know that touch alone is a compelling feature for Windows 8, but it seems like it’s going to quickly become a requirement as it really is a more convenient way to interact with the Metro UI.
from AnandTech
From The UberReview: Self Stirring Pot is Ridiculously Simple
The Kuru-Kuru Nabe is a self-stirring pot that was invented by a Japanese dentist who goes by the name of Hideki Watanabe.
Watanabe created his initial prototype by using dental plaster to coat the insides of the pot so that it creates a natural whirlpool when boiled – simple and effective.
I find it interesting that a lot of people have translated “kuru-kuru†to “round and round†– my preferred translation would be “spinningâ€.
[Source]
from The UberReview
From MAKE: Oru – The Origami Kayak
Last week, I had the pleasure of testing out Oru Kayak, the world’s first origami kayak. It was wonderful!
Anton Willis, the designer, and I met at the Berkeley Marina to put his latest iteration to the test. I had been watching Anton construct the kayak for months at TechShop and had always bugged him about taking me out for a test ride. I finally got my wish.
He pulled the folded kayak, roughly the size of a large artist portfolio, out of his car and set it in the grass near the docks. A small crowd began to form as he unfolded the cut sheet of corrugated plastic, the same material as the political advertisement in your neighbor’s front lawn. The entire build time took about ten minutes, but easily could’ve been halved without the peppering of questions from the onlookers.
Before I knew it, I was paddling around the marina at a surprisingly high clip. I don’t consider myself a kayak expert, but the Oru design felt fast and comfortable. You quickly forget that it’s a neatly folded piece of plastic. The big question on my mind, and probably everyone else’s, was: how much water would it take on? It was, after all, an origami kayak. After kayaking around the marina and near the larger waves of the San Francisco Bay, I was still completely dry without a drop of water inside the vessel.  Anton told me it doesn’t take on any more water than a typical kayak - spray and paddle drip.
Anton expects the kayak to retail for about $500. You can sign up to receive the release date announcement on Oru’s website.
from MAKE
From Engadget: ICE Computer’s modular xPC returns to Computex in working-prototype form, we go hands-on
From one year to the next, we see many of the same characters make an appearance at the same trade shows — this week, it’s Taipei’s Computex, and today, we’re back to visit ICE Computer. What last year was known as “Trinity” and hadn’t progressed beyond the mock-up stage has returned for 2012 as xPC — a working prototype of the company’s modular computer concept. Internet Communication Entertainment, abbreviated as ICE, envisions xPC being the only computer you’ll need. The device itself is barely larger than a smartphone, and would contain either an Intel, AMD or Tegra chipset, 2 gigs of RAM, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, a 1.3- or 2-megapixel webcam and a 32 or 64GB SSD — all in a package that weighs in at approximately 50 grams. The sample we saw today was so light that we first mistook it for a plastic shell, yet it powered a typical desktop setup, complete with a monitor (HDTV), keyboard and mouse.
The current prototype doesn’t include a cooling infrastructure, so it was limited to a low-power 1.5GHz Intel Atom CPU for the time being. All of the company’s various enclosures will feature built-in fans, however, opening the concept up to a variety of configurations. The xPC doesn’t function on its own — instead, you dock it within a variety of accessories, such as the xDock, which would sit permanently on a desk or in a home theater cabinet and includes HDMI input and output, speakers, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, Ethernet, SATA and several other connectors. The xTop is the portable variant, offering many of the same connectivity options, but on a smaller scale. Finally, there’s the xPad, which brings 9.7- or 10.1-inch touchscreen control to the xPC in a tablet form-factor, yet still includes a bevy of connectivity, along with a webcam and battery.
There’s also an xPhone (think PadFone) concept, that packs all of the xPC’s functionality into a device that doubles as a smartphone — the California-based company didn’t have any mock-ups to speak of there, however. ICE expects to ship the xPC and xDock by the end of this year, with the computer module itself ranging in price from $100 to $250 depending on how you opt to configure it. The xPad could ship late this year or sometime in early 2013, with pricing to be announced. For now, the xPhone remains a concept, without any functional prototypes or even a mock-up to speak of. ICE representatives suggested that the company may partner with a smartphone manufacturer to develop that last component, so we have no idea if or when that may come to market. All in all, it’s a solid (and, thanks to PadFone, proven) concept — you can get a closer look in our hands-on after the break.
Gallery: ICE Computer modular xPC hands-on
from Engadget