humanoid robot

Tmsuk is back with even more crazy humanoid antics, this time demonstrating a shopping robot that can be controlled from far, far away. The modified TMSUK-4 humanoid showcased in Kitakyushu, Japan was actually being controlled by an elderly lady in her home via an NTT DoCoMo video-capable cellphone. Essentially, the technology enabled her to see through the eyes of the robot and presumably control its movements via the keypad. We are told that she was able to successfully browse the hat section and finally make a purchase, but who knows how many innocent bystanders were unknowingly mauled in the process

HTC Launches CDMA Variant of Touch Diamond

Today HTC announced that it is bringing a CDMA version of the Touch Diamond to Canada's Telus. The GSM version of the Touch Diamond was first announced in May. It has HTC's new TouchFlo 3D user interface, along with a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 4GB of on-board memory, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and GPS. While this particular announcement is specific to Telus' Canadian subscribers, it is not unreasonable to assume that HTC will also offer this same, or similar, phone through either Sprint or Verizon, both of which carry the original HTC Touch.

Verizon Officially Announces the LG Chocolate 3

Today Verizon Wireless announced the new LG Chocolate 3 music-centric phone. The Chocolate 3 is unlike previous Chocolates, which were sliders. The new one is a clamshell, and has a scroll wheel on the outside for accessing and interacting with the media player. It will support the new V CAST with Rhapsody music service recently announced by Verizon. It also has a FM transmitter, can support microSD cards up to 8GB, and has a micro USB port for charging. It has Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and has stereo Bluetooth. It will cost $130 after rebate with new two-year agreement. l

Is T-Mobile's 3G service rolling out nationwide in October?

According to the overactive internet rumor party line, T-Mobile is planning to take its currently limited 3G service nationwide come October. TmoNews claims -- thanks to an anonymous tipster, of course -- that on October 1st, the telco will bring speedy service to 27 of its top markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, and Miami, amongst others. Of course, right now this is pure speculation and hearsay, until we get confirmation from T-Mobile (or at least some hard evidence), we'll just have to keep our fingers and toes crossed.

Blackberry Thunder O.S. or Maybe not?

If the old saying that you can't believe everything you read holds true, then it must be doubly so for images you see on the internet. Such is possibly the case in the latest batch of leaked pictures doing the rounds on the old information superhighway. Lately (i.e. today) shots of RIM's new touchscreen phone -- the Thunder -- have surfaced showing off what's supposed to be a new version of the BlackBerry OS (4.7) running its media player. Now we're not saying these pics aren't really real, but what we are saying is that these shots look an awful lot like renders to us, and since no one can verify them beyond an "anonymous source," we're just going to recommend a healthy dose of you-know-what, okay?

Google Enables IM Program on the iPhone

Google has created a version of the Google Talk program that allows users of the iPhone to hold regular instant messaging conversations from the browser of their iPhone. One caveat is that Google Talk needs to be open in your iPhone's browser. If you navigate to another page, your status will be listed as unavailable. You'll become available again once you return to the Google Talk page. Google Talk works with Gmail contacts and AOL buddies. The service is free.