There’s something about fire-breathing robots that just gets us giddy, so you can imagine our joy when finding one that gallops, too. The hand-built robot dog — cutely coined LRRY-1 (pronounced Larry, we’ll have you know) — was built almost entirely from unwanted Citroën scraps, and not a single ounce of non-recycled material was used in the final construction. No idea if it’s technically street legal, but we’d love to see a traffic warden try to get this thing back in its cage. Video is posted after the break.

[Via BoingBoing]

Continue reading Recycled Citroën parts used to create fire-breathing robo dog

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

Recycled Citroën parts used to create fire-breathing robo dog originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:Recycled Citroën parts used to create fire-breathing robo dog

By sitting there and getting ran over by motorcars, that is. In an effort to best other power-generating highway options that involve solar panels and enlarged blender arms, Britain’s Environmental Transport Association is looking to test a prototype highway that’s embedded with piezoelectric crystals. Essentially, the process would work much like the power-generating Tokyo station floors we saw earlier this week; each car that squishes a crystal would contribute a tiny bit of energy, and the collective effect could be enormous. In fact, it’s estimated that a single kilometer of roadway could generate 400-kilowatts of energy, or enough to power around eight small cars. And we’re no rocket scientists (nor physicists), but we’re assuming these whiz kids already made sure these magic crystals weren’t friction-generating, too. Right?

Filed under: Transportation

Prototype piezoelectric road could generate power by simply sitting there originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:Prototype piezoelectric road could generate power by simply sitting there

It’s darn tough to pump out a digiframe that’s not immediately forgettable these days, but if anybody can do it, iriver can. The subtly beautiful 7-inch Framee-L features a 720 x 480 resolution display, 1GB of inbuilt memory, an SD / MMC card slot, USB port and an alarm feature for waking you in the mornings (or nights, if you roll like that). Furthermore, you’ll find a capable multimedia player that can handle photo slideshows, all sorts of audio files and even MPEG-4 AVC / H.264, AVI and Motion JPEG video formats. It’ll hit Japan just before Santa takes flight for ¥17,800 ($196).

[Via SlashGear]

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays

iriver’s 7-inch Framee-L digiframe handles multimedia just fine originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:iriver's 7-inch Framee-L digiframe handles multimedia just fine

Well what do you know, a real live CherryPal has finally made it into the wilds. TGDaily has the honors of having a first look at the $249 cloud computer. While impressed by the small size and fanless design, the build quality was “flimsy” making the device feel very much like pre-production product. The Xubuntu-based PC with Xfce desktop instantly recognized and connected to the reviewers WiFi network for quick login to the CherryPal cloud. Great, but things fell apart when loading Firefox onto the 400MHz Freescale processor — the sluggish response experienced is a critical fail for a PC whose applications are stored in the cloud. Something that might be sorted out in future builds of Firefox… or not.

Filed under: Desktops

$249 CherryPal cloud PC taken for a listless spin originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:$249 CherryPal cloud PC taken for a listless spin

DisplayLink USB monitors are starting to trickle out a little more frequently now, but USB graphics cards based on the tech are still somewhat rare — we’ve seen a couple, but VillageTronic’s ViBook box is the only one that comes with software to span an image across up to six screens at once. That’s right, the bundled VT MultiDisplay software will let you create a single giant Windows desktop out of six 1600 x 1200 22-inch displays if you buy enough of the $130 dongles — Mac users can do the same with four screens. The dongle can be outfitted with a VESA cradle that allows it to hide discreetly behind your monitor, and while we don’t know what the upper limit of graphics performance is, we do know that we’d kill for a gigantic 4800 x 2400 workspace. Weekend project, anyone?

[Thanks, Becky]

Filed under: Displays

ViBook looses DisplayLink USB-to-DVI adapter with support for six-screen spanning originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:ViBook looses DisplayLink USB-to-DVI adapter with support for six-screen spanning

What’s this? A solid state drive family with prices not hidden deep within telephone menu trees? Yep, OCZ Technology is so sure you’ll be unable to resist the speed and agility packed within its Vertex series that it has proudly produced MSRPs to go along with ‘em. The 2.5-inch SATA II crew is MLC NAND-based and includes up to 64MB of onboard cache, 200MB/sec read speeds, 160MB/sec write speeds and a 1.5 million hour mean time before failure (MTBF). If your current machine could use a little bit of this, you can pick up a 30GB, 60GB, 120GB or 250GB edition right now for $129, $249, $469, and $869, respectively.

Filed under: Storage

OCZ intros Vertex line of 2.5-inch SATA II SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:OCZ intros Vertex line of 2.5-inch SATA II SSDs

Ever been to a spa and ruminated about the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg? Or maybe you think that aromatherapy, not a gun, is the real rain that will wash the scum off the streets? Good, Laxman’s Innertainment System is for you. The MP3 player features a set of open-eye goggles that display ever-changing colors of the light spectrum. It ships with 4 hours of ambient music laced with nature sounds that you can overwrite with any songs of your choosing. The purpose? Well, according to the vendor, “you will be awash in kaleidoscopic geometric structures while you shift into a more relaxed state of mind.” How noble, any more so and they could have named it the Inert-ainment System. Seriously though, for $649 we’d rather be drumming our lips while staring into a spinning pinwheel for free. Click through for the hypnotic video.

Continue reading Laxman Innertainment System is Yanni approved

Filed under: Portable Audio

Laxman Innertainment System is Yanni approved originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:Laxman Innertainment System is Yanni approved

A diffferent kind of blog, creative and free thats what I can say about our 3rd featured pinoy blogger.

Learn more in the following interview:

1. Please tell us something about your blog. How important is this for you? What makes your blog different from others?

1. My blog is first and foremost a personal blog. I share my thoughts
and my experiences, and I try to make it as interesting as possible. I
also post entries about my passions like sequential art, movies, and all
kinds of news. I guess my blog is different because I don’t take it too
seriously. I often make fun of myself which hopefully gives my readers a
hint that my blog shouldn’t be taken too seriously. My blog is just me
trying to entertain myself and others as well.

2. Does your blog offer something novel or unexpected?

I think some of my entries can be considered fiction that’s meant to be
humorous and sarcastic, and some have entertainment and educational
value. I believe this keeps my readers on their toes. Most of them
probably don’t know when I’m being serious and when I’m not. That
pleases me.

3. Can you share some observations about the common mistakes bloggers
make with their blog?

They either focus on their traffic or they focus on themselves too much,
alienating their readers. Also, too many ads and sponsored posts.

4. What do you think are the elements of a good blog?

A good blog should offer a unique voice. It can talk about everything
and anything, but it has to have a unique point of view.

5. How often do you blog?

Once or twice per week.

6. How helpful is your blog content?

The only way it’s helpful is when it makes people smile or laugh or
think. I do sneak in a few entries with information about historical
events and science once in a while.

7. Why should readers trust you?

I have no idea how to answer this question.

8. How have you changed since you bagan blogging?

I think I became more observant of people.

9. What is your Favorite Foreign / Local blog?

Locally, I’d go with the individual blogs of the www.man-blog.com
editors. My favorite foreign blog is www.the-isb.com

10. Who influenced you to blog?

Nobody really influenced me. I just decided to start blogging as a form
of therapy, cliche as it is.

Man, these guys and gals are quick. Just weeks after we were finally able to hold an iriver SPINN in our own palms, along comes this marvel from China-based QQ. The K819 unashamedly apes the most telling design characteristics of iriver’s latest, though the phony does come in multiple hues while boasting “high-grade texture” and oodles of “elegance and style.” To be honest, we’re not so sure any of these images are more than mere renders, though QQ does promise a 3.0-inch WQVGA display, MP4 support and guaranteed humiliation from your pals.

[Via PMPToday]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Keepin’ it real fake, part CLXXII: QQ spins iriver SPINN into lookalike K819 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:Keepin' it real fake, part CLXXII: QQ spins iriver SPINN into lookalike K819

Sure, this isn’t the first homebrew security system we’ve seen, but as long as there are nosey little sisters in the world, there will be a need for this sort of project. Based on the Arduino, the NoKES (NintendO Keyless Entry System) allows the user to set an entry code, which will then have to be entered via the retro-hip NES controller in order to unlock the door. The deadbolt itself is moved by a CD tray, and if you enter the wrong code, attempt to disable the device, or just stop by and knock on the door you’ll get your picture taken. Sounds like just the thing to keep those valuable comic books and He-Man action figures out of harm’s way while you’re off earning your Copyright Activity Badge. Hit the read link for step-by-step instructions, and be sure to check out the demo video after the break.

Continue reading NES controller, CD-ROM reconstituted as security system

Filed under: Household

NES controller, CD-ROM reconstituted as security system originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source:NES controller, CD-ROM reconstituted as security system