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Pepper the robot is going to staff an entire phone store
Kicking off an event that showcases Softbank's Pepper robot working in a business environment, the Japanese phone carrier says it's going to test it out for itself, announcing a Pepper phone shop staffed entirely by its robots. According to the company, you'll be able to sign up to a phone contract with the robot. (In fact, that's apparently the robot on the left's role; in the middle is the store manager and on the right is "time killer" Pepper.) That sounds both incredible and hugely suspicious, but I'll have to wait until the end of March to check it out for myself.
Roboto font and the new design philosophy of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich
When it came time to talk Ice Cream Sandwich, Matias Duarte started the conversation (or is it lecture?) with a bit about Roboto. At its most basic, Roboto is a font -- the new face of Android in a post Honeycomb world where tablets and phones share the same software space. Sure, it may seem like just another rounded, clean sans serif typeface, but it's really an entire aesthetic that Duarte says has guided the design philosophy of Android 4.0. It's "modern, yet approachable" and "emotional," in PR speak at least. But the clean, geometric design extends to the rest of the OS, which now sports more clean lines, subtle animations and ditches UI elements that have been deemed "unnecessary." Sure, Roboto may seem like "just a font" to you, but for the folks behind ICS, it's a mindset.
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now official, includes revamped design, enhancements galore
Google has taken the stage in Hong Kong to make the next version of Android OS, nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich, a thing of reality. Better known as Android 4.0, the update offers a massive redesign to the user interface and adds a plethora of new features. Some of the highlights include an NFC-enabled feature called Android Beam, offline search in Gmail, new lock screen features and a fancy unlocking method called "Face Unlock," which uses facial recognition to ensure strangers can't use your phone without permission. Ice Cream Sandwich also includes enhancements in almost every native app within Android itself. The SDK is already available for Android 4.0, and the update itself will make its first public appearance on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, also unveiled tonight. After the break, we'll cover all of the nitty gritty details, along with some excellent screenshots below. So come along, why won't you? %Gallery-136926% %Gallery-136932%
Daily iPhone App: Roboto
Roboto is a solid platformer for iOS that features you controlling a little robot around a series of levels, 30 in all. Gameplay is pretty strictly action/exploration based, very much in the vein of Super Mario Bros., though the robot has a few extra movies that Mario didn't have. Specifically, he can glide for a short amount of time, as well as switch gravity as certain points, which adds a little more complexity to your search for golden gears throughout the game. Other than that, this one plays as you'd expect, and the general polish and quality makes it stand out among the many various platformers available on iOS. The one issue I had was with the on-screen thumbstick -- it's almost too close to the left edge of the iPhone's screen, so whenever I headed left, it would drop off and stop my movement, sometimes right over a gap. Other than that, though, controls are precise and intuitive, which is what you want in a platformer like this. Roboto is available in an HD version that's universal across iPhone and iPad, complete with OpenFeint and Game Center integration, and a whole bunch of minigames and unlockable powerups and weapons. It's a solid buy, even at the current price of $3.99.
DDR-playing robot can't be a good sign
If zombies don't devour our lumpy noggins, then surely the robot uprising will take care of "the human threat." . Based on this video from an undergrad at Purdue University, we know that robots are in the lead. First they learn how to play DDR, then they learn how to peel the skin from our bones.
