Category Archives: Cool Things

A look back at this week’s top robotics stories

From cleaning to cooking, it looks like The Jetsons were right.

Fresh on the heels of CES 2015 where the presence of robotic devices grew nearly 25% from last year’s show, this week has seen a number of advancements in the space. In fact, Engadget revealed that robotic-based hardware startups have already raised more than $51.9 million this year alone, with consumer-level droids on the rise thanks to recent crowdfunding campaigns and the burgeoning Maker Movement.

Meet the newest member of your family

Robotbase has set out to create a smart, all-in-one AI robot that can serve as aersonal assistant, photographer, telepresence device and a connected home automation system.

ATLAS becomes more human

DARPA revealed upgrades to its ATLAS robot with a sleeker look and improved functionality. The update represents a 75% enhancement in parts over the robot’s previous version.

New karaoke kings?

Developed by UK-based Engineered Arts, RoboThespians are life-sized humanoid robots that not only serve as museum guides and dish out jokes a comedians, they can sing their little hearts out as well.

Care-o-bot gets older and smarter

Designed as an affordable service robot for personal and professional use, the newly-announced Care-o-bot 4 is a more modular, agile and personable device than its previous iteration, which was introduced six years ago.

Robots learn to cook by watching YouTube

Researchers in UMIACS are exploring autonomy in robotics that includes action recognition. After watching how-to cooking videos, robots are able to learn the complicated series of grasping and manipulation motions required for becoming a master chef, simply by observing what humans do on the Internet.

This is so much cooler than Purell

Futuristic technology has come to the aid of an 8-month-old boy with a congenital heart defect who got a germ-free home courtesy a robot.

Uploading a worm’s mind into a LEGO robot

Called the Open Worm Project, researchers are looking to recreate the behavior of the common roundworm in a machine.

Meccano enters a new era of DIY

With the Meccano Meccanoid, the classic Erector set evolves into an arm-waving, fast-talking and programmable robot for children.

DALER is a bio-inspired robot that can both fly and walk

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Inspired by bats, researchers hope this robot may one day find victims in dangerous areas.

As we’ve discussed on Bits & Pieces, drones offer a number of advantages that would have otherwise been inconceivable in previous years, with one area in particular being search-and-rescue. Natural disasters and other emergencies call for timely distribution of medication and aid. Fortunately, unmanned aerial vehicles can make this more efficient. In an effort to prove just that, the robotics division of Switzerland-based National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) has recently developed DALER, a bio-inspired robot capable of both flying and walking.

DALER, short for Deployable Air-Land Exploration Robot, uses adaptive morphology inspired by the common “vampire bat,” meaning that the wings have been actuated using a foldable skeleton mechanism covered with a soft, flexible fabric, enabling it to be used both as wings and as legs, or whegs.

“In order to design the robot, the team had to first designate the primary mode of locomotion — in this case flight, as the DALER will cover the longest distances this way. With this in mind, a method of using the wings also for walking was devised in a way that does not give extra weight,” Ludovic Daler writes.

The robot is equipped with triangular, multi-use wingerons that rotate when it is on the ground to push the bio-inspired robot forward and maneuver through the air. This dual-mode locomotion gives DALER the ability to fly long distances to survey large spaces in a short timespan, and then to traverse the terrain in dangerous or inaccessible areas, such as a damaged building to locate victims.

According to the research team, future developments of the robot will include the possibility to hover and to take off autonomously from the ground in order to allow DALER to return to the air and come back to base after the mission. Interested in learning more? Head on over to its official page here.

Report: IoT device shipments to reach 1 billion this year

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Deloitte predicts 60% of connected devices will be bought for enterprise and industrial use, not consumer… yet.

Global shipments of Internet of Things (IoT) devices will reach 1 billion this year, 60% of which will be bought for enterprise and industry use, rather than consumers, a new Deloitte study reveals. In its 14th annual “Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions” report, the research firm explored what it believes to be the realms that will have the greatest impact in 2015. Among those included the IoT, drones, 3D printing and nanosats, each areas that are heavily enabled by Atmel embedded technology.

“We are entering an extraordinary period where consumer technologies are finding increased adoption in the enterprise space. Our data indicates an exponential increase in interest in the IoT by the enterprise, which could have a profound impact on the way business is conducted,” said Eric Openshaw, Deloitte Vice Chairman. “Strong enterprise adoption of the IoT could prove to be a huge opportunity for both vendors and retail consumers alike. The amount of data we will see generated from connected devices will pave the way to measure interactions in a way not witnessed before. And, as a result, will allow organizations to understand customer behaviors and purchase patterns in a whole new light.”

IoT-specific hardware will be worth $10 billion, with consumers’ appetites for controlling their heating, lights and appliances will jump. However, the big story will be around enterprise service and industrial area, which will be valued at approximately $70 billion. The company also anticipates that global smartphone sales will surpass 1 billion for the first time this year, with screen size, speed, storage, software and design being key drivers of growth.

“We expect the pendulum of technology adoption to swing back to the enterprise with company led adoption of wearables, 3D printing, drones and the Internet of Things meeting more needs and generating higher sales for business than consumers,” TMT Risk Services Partner Dennis Moth added. “Although the focus may well be on consumer take-up — think Bluetooth-enabled roller-doors, white goods, etc. — the real value [at this moment] will be in the savings made by industry and business, with smart factories, smart homes, eHealth and telematics.”

The report finds that in 2015, enterprises will lead purchases of 3D printing and drones, signaling a shift away from the consumerization of IT predominant in the last decade that spiked with consumers’ moderate investment in wearable technology such as smart glasses. This year, drones will have multiple industrial and civil government applications, as sales of non-military UAVs will near 300,000 units and drive the installed base to over a million.

Meanwhile, over 500 nanosatellites are expected to be in orbit by year-end. According to Deloitte, nanosats are attractive for many reasons: they are cheaper than conventional satellites, lighter, easier to build and test, and easier to launch. Although increasingly capable of more complex tasks, they are likely to be additive to the existing large satellite market, and not replace it.

Turning its attention to mobile payments, Deloitte predicted that 2015 will be a watershed for the use of contactless technologies like NFC. In fact, by the end of the year, 30 million NFC-capable phones will make at least one in-store payment per month. Deloitte Lead Telecoms Partner Ed Marsden notes, “This technology is likely to exist alongside other means of payments for some time yet.”

In addition, the research firm highlights that the number of homes with broadband Internet will rise by about 2% to 725 million over the next 12 months, with average broadband speeds in most countries increasing by 20%. The gap between those with access to the fastest broadband speeds and those on basic speeds will continue to widen in 2015, providing a varied experience from home to home, especially for high bandwidth applications like streaming video.

Interested in learning more? You can explore each of Deloitte’s TMT predictions in depth here.

Report: Chinese companies sell 40% of all smartphones

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Global smartphone shipments totaled 1.167 billion units in 2014.

Chinese companies accounted for nearly 40% of global smartphone sales and represent six of the top 10 smartphone brands worldwide in 2014, according to a new report from TrendForce.

“2014 was definitely an impressive year for Chinese brands as they gained more share of the global market,” explained Avril Wu, TrendForce Global Smartphone Analyst. Total worldwide shipments totaled 1.167 billion units last year, with combined shipments of Chinese brands surpassing 453 million units.

Atop the list of vendors was Samsung who lead the pack with 28% market share, with Apple not far behind at 16.4%. Lenovo, with Motorola under its wing, ranked third after shipping over 90 million smartphone last year. LG, Huawei and Xiaomi followed with 6.0%, 5.9% and 5.2% market share, respectively.

TrendForce notes that Xiaomi has had a particularly strong showing in recent years, having doubled in growth YoY since 2011. “As for the smartphone makers with the best cost-performance products, the title goes to Xiaomi. Its flagship models cost around $300 to $350, but they match their high-end counterparts from international vendors in hardware specs.”

Other notable names rounding out the list included Coolpad, Sony, ZTE and TCL. By 2015, TrendForce projects that three of the top five companies will be Chinese.

What were the worst passwords of 2014?

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Watch these people give Jimmy Kimmel their passwords on national TV.

Undoubtedly, cybersecurity stole the headlines of 2014. It seemed every week, there was another high-profile breach, whether the aftermath of Target and Home Depot, attacks against big-box retailers like Michaels and Neiman Marcus, or the massive incidents around JPMorgan Chase and Sony. However, even at its most rudimentary level, we’re finding that a majority of people fail to abide by common login best practices when accessing their personal data.

According to SplashData’s annual list of the worst passwords, compiled from more than 3.3 million leaked codes throughout the web during the past year, many of us aren’t too concerned about our digital security… at least when it comes to sign-in credentials. And apparently, some of us are more than happy to share them national television. Jimmy Kimmel’s producers recently went around the streets of Los Angeles to assess people’s password security.

Surely enough, the Jimmy Kimmel Live cast was able to get those passing by to reveal their “secret” credentials directly into the mic. Don’t believe us? Watch it below!

So what were some of 2014’s top passwords?

1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345
4. 12345678
5. qwerty
6. 123456789
7. 1234
8. baseball
9. dragon
10. football
11. 1234567
12. monkey
13. letmein
14. abc123
15. 111111
16. mustang
17. access
18. shadow
19. master
20. michael
21. superman
22. 696969
23. 123123
24. batman
25. trustno1

Xiaomi launches sensors to help create a smarter home

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The low-cost Chinese smartphone maker plans to start testing four new smart home products.

As Xiaomi looks to broaden its range of devices for the Internet of Things, the Chinese smartphone maker has unveiled a new plan for a suite of four new smart home modules that will offer enhanced security features. In a recent GeekPark Innovation Festival presentation, Xiaomi President Bin Lin revealed that the company will begin consumer testing on January 26. Bloomberg notes that the components comprising the Smart Home Suite will be a motion sensor, an open/close sensor, a connected module for home appliances and a hub to connect these devices.

(Source: Tech in Asia)

Each of these modules will be capable of measuring things such as light, sound, temperature, and movement, while relaying information to other smart gadgets throughout the house. For instance, the tiny motion sensor can be placed anywhere and can detect a moving object with a 170-degree angle. Meanwhile, door and window sensors will provide homeowners will real-time, remote monitoring.

(Source: Tech in Asia)

“In the past, motion sensors were very complicated and large in size, so that if you wanted a system you needed professional installation,” Lin told attendees. “For this suite, there is not a single nail or wire. These components are all very simple.”

(Source: Tech in Asia)

The new products will also be equipped with a wireless switching device for appliances, as well as a multi-functional gateway that wirelessly connects the components with other devices, enabling control with the press of a smartphone. The soon-to-be launched lineup will join previously announced home products from the company including an air purifier that sends pollution readings to mobile phones and alerts users when its filter is dirty and a light bulb that can change colors by remote control. Tech in Asia reveals that the devices will communicate using the ZigBee protocol.

(Source: Tech in Asia)

This announcement comes with little surprise, in the wake of a rather “smart” CES 2015 and a number of optimistic IoT reports. One in particular, IDC estimates that the market for Internet-enabled devices will grow to $7.1 trillion by 2020, up from merely $1.9 trillion in 2014.

“Xiaomi is well-positioned to take on this market, as it already has the cloud infrastructure, a hardware background, a huge fan following, and several devices at its disposal,” Tech in Asia concludes.

In the end, the electronics company is hoping that consumers will be able to use their smartphones to link all the smart devices together and control each of their appliances with a Xiaomi developed app on their smartphone — like the highly-popular, mXT641T powered Mi4.

These 40 throwback ads show how far computers have come

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As we enter an era of ubiquitous computing and the Internet of Things, it’s crazy to think about how far we’ve come.

It wasn’t too long ago that consumers were fascinated by the endless possibilities of computers, and these ads surely do prove it. If you really want to get a good sense of just how far technology has come over the last couple of decades, browse through the list below.

The hard disk you’ve been waiting for… only $3,398!

Hey, it adds 15 million characters of storage!

If a Commodore is good enough for Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, then it’s good enough for you.

“Radio Shack’s TRS-80 Computer Is the Smartest Way to Write,” says Isaac Asimov.

16K RAM turns your computer to a working giant.

For the record, that 1977 “giant” is actually 256,000 times smaller than today’s 4GB.

Ultimate mobility? The 1976 equivalent of a modern-day laptop.

300 Mbytes for the price of a Honda Civic? Luckily, our hard disks don’t cost as much today.

Computers are a beautiful thing.

Unlimited vocabulary? Geewizbang!

There’s nothing like your first video game.

Speaking of joysticks…

If the price doesn’t scare you, try looking at that original Apple logo.

Long before the days of Amazon.

Did you know apples make great carrots?

Well, because two bytes are better than one…

What the heck is electronic mail?

Look, it’s a small (9-pounded) miracle!

Based on that rate, it looks like today’s 4GB would cost you $85,899,345.92.

Now that’s ‘surfing’ the web.

Complete with write protection and all!

We said a flip flop, the flippie to the flippie, the flip flip a flop, you don’t stop.

So that’s how you write music?

Remember the Logitech HiREZ Mouse?

Or this one? This gem would become the blueprint of future mice.

What do you get when you combine a calculator and intercom?

A far cry from Apple’s uber-thin Macbook Air today.

So that’s the original use for an Apple?

We imagine our lives were never the same.

Apple has always had a way with celebs, even those from more two centuries ago.

Kevin Costner, Jeff Goldblum, Tony Hawk, Will Ferrell… Thomas Jefferson?

If you were to carry that Osborne model today, you’d probably the same reaction.

Extraordinary… in size and price.

It was the ’70s, what can we say?

Doesn’t seem too mobile. Por-table, maybe.

Also, is that a kitchen table?

Did anyone else know they had computers way back when?

Ironically, some may say this question still holds true today.

Cut and paste!

Safe to say, we couldn’t have done this article without that function!

To think, this was at one time the smallest analog computer ever.

Hey girl, you want me to hold that computer for you?

Sir, you forgot your laptop bag.

Before the days of Atmel’s maXStylus…

Whoosh!

And, we couldn’t help ourselves. After having recently celebrated our 30th birthday, here’s a blast from the past with a few old-school Atmel ads…

10 years later and they’re still ’sticking’ with us.

Some things never change.

Affordable then, affordable now.

CNN gets FAA clearance for drone journalism

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Looks like Back to the Future II was right again, drones may soon be used for news-gathering.

CNN has announced that in a first program of its kind, the news giant is working with the FAA to advance its efforts in launching camera-equipped drones for journalism and reporting purposes.

Since last year, the cable news network has been studying the use of drones for news-gathering by teaming up with researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who has played an integral role in collecting data. The FAA said it will analyze that information to develop rules and acceptable regulations around these unmanned aerial vehicles.

“Our aim is to get beyond hobby-grade equipment and to establish what options are available and workable to produce high quality video journalism,” urged David Vigilante, CNN’s Senior Vice President of Legal.

While earlier efforts have been in the works, CNN’s new announcement signifies that the media company has made substantial progress and that the FAA will seek to accelerate the work required to commercialize the technology.

Most recently, FAA had allocated a couple of largely uninhabited regions across the U.S. to test the commercial use of drones. At the moment, the federal agency only allows certain lightweight drones for flights of up to 400 feet. However, as CNN reports, the FAA is expected to downgrade a few of the laws this year, as drone tech is becoming more ubiquitous — which was clearly evident at CES 2015.

Aside from journalism, drones offer a number of advantageous real-world applications, ranging from disaster relief and farming to filmmaking and real estate. Several other companies are also making significant investments in UAVs as well, including Facebook, Amazon and Google, which will surely help spur the movement.

“Unmanned aircraft offer news organizations significant opportunities. We hope this agreement with CNN and the work we are doing with other news organizations and associations will help safely integrate unmanned news gathering technology and operating procedures into the National Airspace System,” explained FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

The Internet of Things is getting a congressional caucus

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The IoT is headed to D.C.

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) are launching the Congressional Caucus on the Internet of Things (IoT) to help educate people on the development of web-connected products.

The IoT refers to a world where products, or “things” other than mobile devices and computers, are web-enabled and typically controlled through an accompanying app. This ranges from smart thermostats and cooking equipment to fitness trackers and vehicles. Ultimately, these gadgets will come together to collect and analyze data with regards to use, habits and often times, provide feedback for improvement.

With billions of connections expected in the next five years, a number of questions linger around security, policies and laws related to the IoT era, and the newly-formed caucus aspires to address them.

“As someone with a long career in the technology industry and as an entrepreneur, I know firsthand how quickly technologies have developed to become critical to our daily lives. Policymakers will need to be engaged and educated on how we can best protect consumers while also enabling these new technologies to thrive. It’s important that our laws keep up with technology and I look forward to co-chairing the IoT caucus,” explained DelBene.

The IoT Caucus will focus on educating members on the development of innovative technology and public policy in this space, while also informing them about upcoming opportunities and challenges in health, transportation, home and the enterprise, as these embedded devices take advantage of network connectivity to create new value.

This announcement comes just days after President Obama himself emphasized the significance of cybersecurity, in the wake of recent attacks against Sony and the Pentagon’s Central Command. The proposal would allow increased sharing of information on cyber threats from the private sector with protection from liability, and subsequently, would criminalize the sale of stolen financial data, and require companies to notify consumers about data breaches.

“If we’re going to be connected, then we need to be protected,” the President stated.

At Atmel, the IoT is already at the heart of what we do. We started preparing for this smarter world nearly a decade ago, and now offer the industry’s most comprehensive, highly-integrated IoT solutions, which include hardware-based security.

The 30 “smartest” things we saw at CES 2015

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Thousands of jam-packed booths, several tech-filled halls, five days, one incredible event. Over the years, CES has become a breeding ground for the wackiest, the wildest and most importantly, the smartest electronic devices to hit the market. And, with the emergence of the Internet of Things, 2015 proved to be no different with the debut of countless new connected products.

While we recently highlighted a few pre-show gizmos, here are some other exciting and eye-catching gadgets we came across over the last week in Vegas.