Filed under: Robots

No matter how much we do it, video conferencing is still one of the most awkward internet-related tasks we undertake on a regular basis. Nokia hopes to bring a more casual air to the event with its Jeppe video conferencing robot pet concept. Similar to most telepresence bots, Jeppe can be controlled remotely — through a Nokia interface, conveniently — and zips through the home with its digital compass and sound sensors seeking humans to bother. Unfortunately, the video is at a fixed angle and there’s no option wipe that creepy grin of its face, but obviously Nokia has some refining to do before it brings Jeppe to market, if ever. There’s video after the break of a couple Finnish engineers proving once and for all that there’s no solving the awkward video conferencing problem.

[Via Core77]

Continue reading Nokia’s Jeppe video “pet” concept

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The corporate videoconferencing market has taken some baby steps towards HD resolutions, but a company called LifeSize is trying to jump the rest of the pack with an array of 720p devices that sell for much lower prices than anything else we’ve seen. The company’s basic solution, the $5,999 LifeSize Express, comes with a microphone, remote, and 720p camera, and features HDMI input and output to pipe additional content over a 1.5mbps connection. Stepping up, the LifeSize Team MP and LifeSize Room add support for more than two participants, with the $8,999 Team MP supporting 4-point single camera communications over a 2.5mbps connection and the Room bumping the specs to 6 points with two cameras and two screens each over 5mbps. Linking two MPs and a Room together in what LifeSize bundles as a turnkey telepresence solution will set you back around $40K, which sounds steep until you compare it to competing $200K SD-res systems on the market. All these are shipping now, according to the company.

[Via ZDNet, thanks James]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Robots

iRobot’s mission to create the “robot home” got a whole lot more fleshed out this afternoon at the company’s DigitalLife keynote. The general idea is to get usable tech into any and every home — not just for the nerds, not like the Jetsons. “A little boring, but fantastically useful robots.” Obviously iRobot has been attempting this a while with its Roomba and related lines, but the new ConnectR and Looj bots really flesh out that vision. On the boring end of things, the Looj is a remote-controlled bot that can clean up to 60 feet of gutter in 10 minutes. It rolls through your gutter tank-style and spits out the debris, and then rolls back to you. It’s waterproof for easy cleaning, and is available today for $99. The ConnectR takes a whole new angle for iRobot, offering telepresence instead of the usual drudgery removal. You can “virtually visit” friends an family by controlling the WiFi-connected bot remotely, with live video, audio, controls and sensor data. The camera tilts and zooms, and has a zoom mode high resolution enough for reading text. You can transmit your voice through the bot, and control an LED light to convey mood. ConnectR launches next year for $499, and will be available in a pilot program for $199 to select beta-testing users.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!