Filed under: Laptops
What better to control a ginormous army of robot overlords than a notebook
[Via Akihabara News]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Filed under: Handhelds, Home Entertainment
You know, there are all kinds of people in the military these days. And we just know that the geekiest of our armed forces are going to go gaga over this new UMPC, called the Catcher. This new rugged, superportable computer has 802.11a/b/g support, Bluetooth, dual-mode CDMA / GSM data, fingerprint reader, GPS, iris scan, a pair of VGA cameras (one pointing toward the user, and one away), and an “emergency alert feature” that sends an auto tracking signal back to the server. The Catcher is also designed to support a three foot drop and up to 50 Gs of shock — slightly better than our consumer-grade laptops, hey? We’ve got zero intel on price or availability, but surely Uncle Sam spares no expense for our elite fighting force. And we’re sure that our men and women in uniform running around Saddam’s former palaces are going to want something like the new application Lifeware to control audio and video systems that they surely have spread throughout the house. Lifeware promises to control everything from temperature to audio controls, but no word on if our soldiers will be able to run military applications, control their in-base audio systems, and play solitare all on the same device, which would clearly be the holy grail in convergence.
[Via jkOnTheRun and eHomeUpgrade]
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Filed under: Digital Cameras
The latest piece of technology originally intended for military / security applications to be rebranded for peaceful, consumer purposes comes from a Silicon Valley startup called MotionDSP, which has licensed technology from a military research project that can enhance low-resolution video and improve the output of phone cameras, webcams, and other low quality feeds. The technology, which will go into a consumer beta later this year, compares multiple frames in a video to replace lost pixels in any given frame without an increase in file size. Eventually the company plans to offer an online service where consumers can enhance their pixelated creations for free, although the company also wants to make deals with current online video services. Until that day comes, we’ll continue to suffer through our daily fix of YouTube in all its aliased and pixelated glory.
Without MotionDSP.
With MotionDSP.
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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Robots
Perhaps worried that their bid proposal for insect cyborgs will never pan out, the wacky minds at DARPA are now looking at the humble maple tree to provide inspiration for their future fleet of tiny surveillance drones. The agency has just awarded Lockheed Martin a 10-month contract to develop maple seed-shaped UAVs known as remote-controlled nano air vehicles (or NAVs, for short) that can be deployed from a hovercraft and whirl around urban battlefields snapping pictures and confusing enemies who have never seen a maple tree. DARPA is stipulating that the single-blade NAVs be equipped with a self-stabilizing wireless camera, yet weigh only 0.07 ounces and be capable of traveling 1,100 feet with the help of an onboard chemical rocket. Seems like a lot to ask from such a minuscule device, but the $1.7 million DARPA is shelling out will probably be enough of an incentive for Lockheed to get the job done.Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Always one to ensure that our soldiers are equipped with the latest and greatest killing tools battlefield technology, military contractor Northrop Grumman has just unveiled a mobile defense system that creates a virtual bubble of protection against flying artillery over anything located within a five kilometer radius. Based on the Tactical High Energy Laser testbed that’s been in development since 1996, the so-called Skyguard system employs target-acquisition radar and a deuterium fluoride laser to detect and shoot down a variety of airborne projectiles, including rockets, mortars, and short-range munitions. Northrop is promoting the weapon as a way for countries to defend deployed troops or critical infrastructure such as airports, and not surprisingly, Israel was one of the first foreign nations given a product pitch. Initially the system is said to cost between $150 and $200 million per installation, though mass adoption could see prices plummet to less than $30 million- and someday it may even be affordable enough to install at your very own house, providing the neighborhood kids with some not-so-subtle encouragement to keep their baseballs and frisbees out of your damn yard.
[Via Gizmag and Laser Focus World]
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Storage
When even a $13,000 hard drive degausser leaves you a little worried that someone, somehow might still be able to pick out a few bits of top secret data, you might want to turn to these guys at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, who developed a fool-proof drive destroyer dubbed the “Guard Dog” that works without electricity. Like most drive wiping devices, the Guard Dog employs massively powerful magnets that not only render hard drives useless, but VHS tapes, DAT tapes, ZIP drives, and any other magnetic media to boot. Of course, they didn’t just use any old off the shelf magnet, instead designing custom neodymium iron-boron models that produce just the right magnetic field necessary to make that hard drive completely useless. The Guard Dog also speeds things up by letting you crank drives through a mechanism that’ll wipe them as they pass through, even if they’re enclosed in metal cases. The system was developed in conjunction with defense contractor L-3 Communications Corp who foresees producing hundreds or thousands of the devices for both government agencies and private companies, but probably not for individual use — if you know how much 125 pounds of neodymium magnets cost, you’ll know why.
[Via Digital World Tokyo]
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Filed under: Robots, Transportation
Don’t let those cutesy looks fool you, these new XAV robotic military vehicles from Korea pack a bit of a punch. The surveillance XAV (which we’re guessing is the one to the left) weighs in at 1.2-tons, and is designed for patrol and information gathering. It’s battery powered — for extra sneakiness — and has a top speed of about 19MPH. The combat XAV is a a bit speedier, at 28MHP, but weighs only 0.9-tons and is powered by a gasoline engine. Combat XAV also has the riskier role of frontline combat, but luckily both it and its surveillance brother are outfitted with 5.56-millimeter machine guns for a bit of self defense. Both units are still in testing, and will go back to the shop for more upgrades between 2013 and 2020 before they actual are deployed. The Korean military also has some eight-legged dog-like robots in the works to replace human soldiers in some guard duties by 2012. We can’t say we feel incredibly confident placing a machine gun in the “hands” of a dumb machine, but luckily the $36 million project has a ways to go before any robots get to fighting.
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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals
If you're looking to give your fingers a break but don't want to replace your regular keyboard with one of Ideazon's fairly large and generally graphics-laden Zboards, you might be interested in adding their compact new Zfang to your repertoire. Extremetech's review is generally positive, complimenting its ergonomic design and extensive customizability, citing only minor negatives like plastic construction and the $35 price tag. Other features, like buttons on each side to accommodate lefties, multimedia controls, and 11 weapon-specific keys, make the Zfang seem like just the thing to help us in our transition from FPS-player to real-life killing machines.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsFiled under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs
With the “Origami lifestyle” being portrayed as so fun and carefree, we were surprised to see that UMPCs will also be tasked with the decidedly less fun-filled duty of helping soldiers locate and terminate their targets. The latest high-tech addition to the military’s mobile arsenal is a pocketable 1.4GHz Pentium M-powered tablet from General Micro Systems known as the P630 Spartan, whose half-inch-thick ruggedized case houses 2GB of DDR SDRAM, a 30GB hard drive, 64MB of dedicated VRAM for OpenGL and Direct-X support, and an optional 16GB of bootable flash memory. You also get a CF slot, optional 802.11g or Bluetooth, USB and FireWire ports, and E-Purge hard drive self-destruct utility for your $3,400, although that price is for 100 of the devices, so we’re not sure if they’ll even be willing to sell just a couple to your militia group.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Filed under: Robots
In an announcement that you can probably expect to be repeated by rival Pakistan in the next few days, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has claimed that his South Asian nation will be the latest country to pursue technologies for developing a robotic army. Singh's remarks came during the inauguration of a new building for the Defence Research and Development Organization, and were part of a larger speech outlining the country's future plans for military research, where he also mentioned interest in developing next-gen propulsion, camouflage, and precision guided munitions systems. Unlike South Korea's planned army of killbots (pictured), the Indian program is pretty light on specifics so far, although we do know that the impetus for the project comes from the realization that "trans-national actors and unconventional forces" pose a growing threat when compared to the risk of a traditional inter-state conflict.Filed under: Robots
Remember when Britain ruled the waves with its mighty navy? Yeah, those days may be long gone, but that has not stopped them from designing formidable warships with iPod
Navy launches deadliest and most expensive warship [Times Online]
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