Technology

How much do you love robots? Enough to max out three credit cards building one? Well, Le Trung has done just that in creating Aiko, a 'femme-bot' boasting a vocabulary comprised of 13,000 English and Japanese phrases and capable of distinguishing ... 300 faces per second. Trung, a native of Brampton, Ontario, has been building robots his whole life. He built his first for a science fair in grade four; it couldn't do much, just shoot fake bullets and move about a little bit. Teachers weren't pleased when one of those fake bullets hit another child, either. "You get disqualified if you make a ... (view more)

Have you ever forgot to make the necessary arrangements needed to record your favorite TV show? Sometimes we know to record the show well in advance, yet we keep putting it off -- and eventually forget altogether. While this might not be one of the ... most crucial topics in the world, having to miss one week of a preferred television program can really become a nuisance. What do you do if you miss a show? Ask a friend what happened? They always leave out best parts of the story. Do you search the Internet for a quick recap? It's never the same as the real thing. If only you had been home to set ... (view more)

Need $10,000? Who doesn't? A University of Calgary student might be in luck after making a once-in-a-lifetime find on the Canadian prairies. On November 20th, a meteor careened through the sky and crashed into a frozen pond not far from ... Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. At the time, property owner Ian Mitchell was helping his son get ready for a hockey game, and didn't hear about the event until other players began to show up, excitedly discussing the otherworldly event. Neither they nor Mitchell knew the rare lightshow had come to and end on the hockey Dad's ranch. (Source: edmontonsun.com ) ... (view more)

Have you ever wondered how we will purchase things in the future? TiVo and Domino's Pizza have joined together to provide yet another alternative to traditional retail shopping. In the very near future, users can order a new release with their ... digital remote and use their TiVo to order a pizza to compliment the movie. Sounds far-fetched? It's actually pretty neat. Analysts predict that within 3 years, a number of major companies will experiment with digital television retail. The move shows that Domino's hopes to establish themselves as a pioneer in this emerging field. Many believe that ... (view more)

One of the most desirable features of the iPhone is its quickness via a mobile Internet connection. But how fast is the Apple iPhone? Users still have to take out the device, open up a search engine page and type out a desired question or keyword. ... This process may take several minutes, even with a hi-speed connection, because the pertinent information always seems to be buried under a sea of useless commentary. Wouldn't it be great if you could just ask the Internet a simple question and get a straight answer? Researchers at Google have added new technology in the latest iPhone software ... (view more)

Remember the 1991 film, "The Rocketeer", where a young pilot uses a jetpack prototype to become a masked vigilante and win the heart of Jennifer Connelly? That scenario isn't as far-fetched as it once was, given that an American stuntman recently ... used a jetpack to soar over Colorado's Royal Gorge. The stuntman in question is one Eric Scott, who recently appeared on CBS' Early Show and a variety of local cable channels after making his daring leap. Scott has been testing jetpack devices for some 16 years, and was confident that he wouldn't plummet to his untimely death when he straddled the ... (view more)

The popularity of the Apple iPod has produced some of the most innovative complimentary gadgets the world has ever seen. At a recent consumer electronics show in Berlin, onlookers were enthralled with the latest iPod sidekick that is sure to take ... personal entertainment to a whole new level. Meet the Optoma Pico Projector. The Optoma Pico Projector is not big and bulky like common projectors, but it does all of the same features and more. Think of it as a pocket projector. With its dimensions (2 by 4.1 by 0.7 inches) and a weight of about 4.2 ounces, the device looks more like a cell phone ... (view more)

For those of you who feel that USB 2.0 isn't quite fast enough for your needs, take note: USB 3.0 is on its way, and the new technology offers data transfer speeds that are ten times faster than the last generation. Dubbed "SuperSpeed USB" at the ... recent USB Implementers Forum in sunny San Jose, USB 3.0 is the next step in a must-have technology. USB data transfer devices can be found just about anywhere, including wireless Internet peripherals and "sticks", tiny thumb-sized disc-like storage units that allow one to carry several gigs worth of data in their pocket. USB 2.0 isn't exactly ... (view more)

Are you disappointed with those graphics in your favorite PC games? Not pleased that you have to turn down the resolution on games like Crysis or Far Cry 2? Well, if you've got $3,500 to shell out, Nvidia has a product for you: the Quadro FX 5800, ... the most powerful graphics card ever made. Nvidia truly has revealed the Lamborghini of graphics cards. The Quadra FX 5800 boasts an astounding 4 GB of graphics memory and up to 240 Cuda programmable parallel cores. Interactive 4D modeling is also one of its best new features, in addition to a memory bandwidth of 102 GB per second. Fill rates for ... (view more)

Regulators have backed plans to allow unlicensed wireless devices to use that section of airwaves freed up when analogue TV transmissions cease next year. It could mean considerably faster mobile broadband, though it could be bad news for rock ... stars. The Federal Communications Commission has voted in favour of rules it calls "a careful first step" towards unlicensed use of 'white spaces'. Those are some of the frequencies currently used for over-the-air television broadcasts; those frequencies will no longer be used after February when TV networks switch to an all-digital format. While there' ... (view more)