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Intel explains Project Athena laptops, promises nine hours of battery life
It's been five months since Intel teased its Project Athena program, and until now, all we really knew was that it'd be similar to the Ultrabook scheme, which paved the way for slim yet efficient premium laptops. With just three weeks to go until Computex, arguably the biggest PC event in the world, Intel shed more light on what it thinks a Project Athena laptop will offer, and how it's helping build them.
Google buys 6.3 percent stake in Google Glass display manufacturer Himax
If the name "Himax" prompted you to shrug, then you're not alone, but it's the latest company to receive a cash injection from Eric Schmidt's checking account. The Taiwanese semiconductor firm is selling Google a 6.3 percent stake in Himax Display Technologies, a subsidiary that's most famous for making the liquid-crystal on silicon chips used to drive Google Glass' head-mounted display. The cash will be used to expand capacity at the manufacturer, which already counts Intel as an investor -- and if Google likes what it sees, the search giant has an option to buy a further 8.5 percent worth of stock within the next calendar year. It's probably too early to hope that the project will help bring the price of future Glass headsets down, but we're going to, so there.
UrRobot's Robii hides a multitouch projector in his circus tent (video)
This cute, bearmonkey-like creature with animatronic head and arms perched atop a rotating, but otherwise fixed torso is called Robii. He's built by Compal Communications, the ODM more often associated with handsets, and will be sold under the new UrRobot brand in Taiwan. The 16,900 NTD (about $582) toy robot features an interactive projector tucked away inside of Robii's circus tent. When extended, it projects interactive video for gaming and infotainment -- very similar to the projected multitouch display we saw demonstrated by Light Blue Optics at CES 2010. Robii can track moving objects using its built-in cameras and comes equipped with an ambient light sensor, and voice and image recognition. It's also capable of barking commands at children with the appropriate visage (from a catalog of 100 facial expressions) to ensure dutiful compliance. Quick demo after the break. Update: We've been informed that the VGA pico projector is of Himax Technologies origin. Full details after the break.
