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ioSafe takes to Indiegogo to raise funds for the N2, its new disaster-proof NAS
ioSafe makes hard-drives so sturdy that it can reduce fire, electricity and Terrence O'Brien to tears at the mere thought of them. Now, it's producing a new disaster-proof NAS, but as a small business, needs a cash injection from consumers to make it happen. As such, it's taking to Indiegogo to raise funds for the ioSafe N2, a private cloud Synology-powered NAS that'll keep up to 8TB of data protected from the elements. On the outside, a steel body that'll take a building collapsing onto it protects a chemically bound fireproof insulation and water / heat barrier will stop your discs flooding or melting, depending on the catastrophe. The company's planning to have the units shipping by January next year, when the 23lb box will set you back $600 without discs -- and if you're hard enough, you can find PR after the break.
DARwin-OP, CHARLI-2 humanoids make history at RoboCup 2011, 'U-S-A!' chants ensue (video)
While most American sports fans were busy celebrating a World Cup victory over Brazil this weekend, an indubitably more compelling soccer tournament was drawing to a close in Istanbul -- site of RoboCup 2011. Virginia Tech's Team DARwin made history at this year's event, becoming the first US squad to bring home top honors in both the Kid Size and Adult Size competitions. The petite DARwin-OP humanoid danced circles around the lightweight class, while the five-foot CHARLI-2 demoralized Robo Erectus in the big boys' final with a last-minute penalty kick. In its international debut, the CHARLI-2 (pictured, in a moment of Zen, on the right) also earned the vaunted Louis Vuitton Humanoid Cup, ending a nine-year period dominated by teams from Germany and Japan. These programmed Peles may not the most graceful of strikers, but RoboCup organizers remain convinced that autonomous bots will be able to compete with human athletes by 2050 -- which might just give us enough time to develop a taste for soccer. Dribble past the break to see Team DARwin in action, along with an extra clip from the BBC.
Robonaut 2 gets unboxed in space, plans for galactic domination
Remember that nondescript space shuttle that launched about a month ago -- you know, the one responsible for carrying this here nondescript humanoid robot into the outer reaches of our galaxy? Well, things went according to plan and the robot has been successfully deployed in the International Space Station, making way for the first ever robot-human space crew. R2, weighing in at 300 pounds with just a torso, head and two arms, cost NASA and GM a cool $2.5 million to build, and there's no telling what kind of handling fees were applied when shoving him into his SLEEPR crate. Because of his dexterity, the bot is up above the clouds to help out with chores and assist crew members with science experiments and handling human tools -- easy for us to say, but even easier for you to grok if you slam the play button just after the break.
Video: ABB FlexPicker replaces human pancake pickers with amazing effect
Mmm, pancakes. While moms might be responsible for giving us our first taste, it's the humble robot that makes these golden-brown discs of battered splendor available for mass market binging. A promotional video from ABB Robotics shows how its FlexPicker robots installed at a HoneyTop foods facility can accelerate production while simultaneously improving hygienic conditions. Four gigabit Ethernet cameras are mounted in front of each robot to locate the pancakes running down the conveyor belt. Software allows the bots to recognize and grab overlapping pancakes and then stack the 'cakes for easy packing. A software reconfig allows for quick production changes from pancakes to pretty much anything the robot can grasp including Soylent Green ration wafers. The video starts slow, but delivers with an impressive 400 pancakes per minute sorting routine -- see it after the break.[Via Make:]
A chibi trailer for Chibi Robo
This commercial for Chibi Robo: Park Patrol is really, really short. Fifteen seconds. It also shows no real game footage at all. But it's about Chibi Robo, which we really don't see or hear enough about. Also it's got some creepy flower things in it!It's mostly just great to see Nintendo putting some advertising yen into Chibi Robo. What are the odds that even fifteen scant seconds will be devoted to it on American television?
Custom Robo Arena goes gold
Nintendo sent us a press release today, informing that Custom Robo Arena has gone gold and is on track to meet its expected release date of March 19th in the United States. Nintendo is quick to point out that in this future of theirs, all disputes are settled via robots fighting on holographic battlefields, reminding us that we have a long ways to go before achieving this Utopian society of theirs. Not only that, but the Wi-Fi Connect possibilities make us anxious to get our hands on this game for some Game Night action.See also: Custom Robo Arena website launches[Via press release]
Custom Robo Arena website launches
The official website for Custom Robo Arena has gone live, featuring screenshots, video and some downloadable wallpapers. Other than that, there isn't really much else to the site. The video, however, is fairly long and depicts a lot of the combat and customization promised by the Wi-Fi Connect compatible title. Personally, we can't wait for the game as it's almost sure to be added to our Game Night games roster.You can check out the website here.
MASSIVE clearance at Best Buy starts today
If you're near a Best Buy store, gather up your $2 bills and get going, because they're in the midst of an epic videogame clearance, and you'll want to get there before the unscrupulous speculator types grab all the stuff to sacrifice to the ravenous eBay. You've got to be wily to get to the goods before the FatWalleters and the CAGs!There aren't any Wii games on clearance, but there are plenty of Wii-compatible Gamecube games. We've got a list of all the Gamecube software on sale after the break. Don't expect to find all of it-- most of it has been out of stock for months or years at most stores, and the price changed to clear out remaining copies. But we hope you do find what you're looking for in abundance. And we hope we can make it to Best Buy soon enough to luck into our own copy of Chibi Robo.[Thanks, ali emamdjomeh!]
Custom Robo custom commercial action
Over at Nintendo's Touch DS media gallery are 3 commercials for the upcoming DS installment in the Custom Robo series. The commercials show some of the augmentation available to the player as well as a brief glimpse at some of the action the title promises. As for the augmentation, both firearms and jump-jets are shown, as well as some different leg combinations. Also, the third commercial shows quite a bit of action by simulating wireless head-to-head gameplay. The gameplay looks fast and furious, causing this to be one of the staff's most-anticipated titles coming to the DS.
Fall gaming: the avalanche to come
IGN whipped up a little feature where they check out the cream of the crop of DS titles emerging this Fall. In being the busiest time of year for eager gamers, taking on such a task is equal parts daunting and deadly. Well, maybe not so much deadly. Chalk that comment up to our paranoia that everything outside will kill you.Raging insanity aside, IGN has managed to provide a nice starting point to build your own list of must-have titles for the DS. They list games such as Mario Hoops: 3-on-3 and Elite Beat Agents, which gives them some very good titles, but what about Konductra and other smaller, lesser-known titles? Where's the Chibi Robo: Park Patrol?Clearly, the list has games that need to be included. What would your list look like?
