Koreans introduce 'talking' robots

A talking, bartending robot has made its debut in Busan, Korea, serving world delegates with drinks and conversation at the recent APEC forum.

Several humanoid helper robots have been introduced in Korea in the past, but the
bartending robot is unique in its ability to both converse with people and serve them with whatever they need.

The robot is the creation of the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology’s Intelligent Robot taskforce. Designed to assist the elderly and disabled, its ability to hold conversations and execute commands has earned it the name 'thinking robot' or 'T-Rot'.

T-Rot has two cameras that enable it to recognize people and objects. These cameras help it to identify peoples’ faces and surrounding objects. As well as human speech it also recognizes its own location

Another strength is its ability to identify items with its highly developed sense of touch. T-Rot is equipped with polyamide film and three-axis sensors that enable it to determine vertical pressure and horizontal sliding. This makes it possible for it to determine the weight of objects. Having gauged the precise weight of an object, the robot applies the appropriate strength to lift the object, be it a can or bottle of drink.

T-Rot can even sense a person's weight and determine the precise level of strength required to shake his or her hand. This is a significant advance over other robots who shake hands using pre-installed programs, few of which match with the person’s strength.

Copyright 2005 PhysOrg.com Image copyright: The Chosun Ilbo

Gigabit Powerline Networking offers speedy solutions

Although we've always been able to see and hear in "High Definition," we think of that phrase as belonging to the 21st century. High Definition or HD devices such as television sets, Blu-Ray DVD players, digital still and video cameras are all considered to be today's top-of-the-line consumer electronic devices. Even audio equipment and broadcast radio now have the same HD bragging rights. If you want the best technology has to offer in video and audio, it's got to be in HD. But there's a price to be paid for HD and while one of them is most certainly at the cash register, another is to be found within the additional bandwidth one needs to accommodate all the additional digital information that HD demands.

Moving HD content from one place to another requires a bigger "pipe" to get it there in a timely manner. For example, if you want HD content on your computer to be played on your HD TV in the living room, your wireless connection has to use the newest 802.11n standard to keep up but even that 300

The other nice feature is built-in security. All of these devices use the same signal standard so that they can work with each other regardless of the manufacturer. The downside is that anyone with one of these devices could access your information by just plugging one in at another room. The Belkin model defeats this from happening by implementing a simple push-button security procedure. When you first power them on, you press a button on each unit which creates a coded communication between them. From then on, their information is encrypted and can only be decoded between those units. Any other units added later on will not be able to decode what is being sent. If you wish to add another unit later on, you must press the button on the original device and the button on the newly installed one before they will work together.

Belkin's Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit sells for $149.99 and comes with two units to get you up and running. Life is in HD and now you can enjoy it wherever you are in your home.

More information: www.belkin.com

(Craig Crossman is a national newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology)
(c) 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Dell Delivers Next Generation Home Theatre Capabilities with the New Inspiron Zino HD

Dell Delivers Next Generation Home Theatre Capabilities with the New Inspiron Zino HD

SINGAPORE, 1 October 2010 - Dell recently announced the launch of the new Inspiron Zino HD, offering outstanding home-theater capabilities. The new Zino HD, is the next-generation version of the award-winning system that sports a powerhouse entertainment experience in a compact design. The Inspiron Zino HD is simple to set up and connects easily to big-screen high-definition TVs for an amazing family entertainment experience. With an optional remote control and wireless keyboard, viewers can surf the Internet from their living room couch, watch Blu-Ray DVDs or browse their music and photo libraries – all on the big screen. And its compact 8-inch-by-8-inch footprint fits unobtrusively anywhere.

The Inspiron Zino HD is a mini powerhouse entertainment PC, delivering awe-inspiring video and audio performance and is the perfect companion for High-Definition TV screens and home-theater setups. The Zino HD offers up to an AMD quad-core Phenom II processor that delivers an immersive high definition entertainment and gaming experience combined with optional 1GB discrete graphics[i]; built-in networking and media card reader that provides instant access to digital images and videos; VGA and HDMI connections for displays and TVs; available THX 7.1 surround sound; optional Blu-ray Disc combo drive, and up to 1TB[ii] of hard disk storage.

With the available wireless keyboard and IR remote control, families can direct their TV viewing or Web surfing experience from across the room.

The Inspiron Zino HD looks great in standard black, but can be personalized with three optional lid colors: Tomato Red, Peacock Blue and Mercury Silver. And like the Inspiron One, the Zino HD is simple and easy to set up.

The Inspiron Zino HD is now available for sale on www.dell.com.sg starting at S$649.

[i] Significant system memory may be used to support graphics, depending on system memory size and other factors.
[ii] Drive: GB means 1 billion bytes and TB equals 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less.

iPhone 4S fever hits Hong Kong

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Hong Kong was gripped by iPhone 4S fever on Thursday as more than 1,500 fans and resellers queued outside the Apple store ahead of the release of the smartphone in the southern Chinese city.

The crowd -- including the elderly and parents with children in tow -- began to converge on a footbridge opposite Apple's plush new harbourside store on Monday, setting up tents with mats, chairs and blankets.

The

"We had to stand and queue last night even though it was raining and it was very cold. We don't know whether there's a quota for each customer but I want to get as many iPhone 4Ss as I can," he said.

A man from mainland China who refused to give his name said he had been waiting all week.

"I'll be very proud to own this latest phone. And I'll be very embarrassed if I can't get anything," he said, adding he would buy as many as he could and sell those he didn't want for himself.

Stunned tourist Dustin Moore said: "I'll just wait for a few weeks or even a few months to get the phone. This is just crazy, I don't know what to say."

More than four million of the smartphones have been sold since its world debut in markets including Germany, Britain, France, Japan and Australia on October 14, according to the company.

The buyer frenzy comes despite software bugs that have caused some iPhone 4S owners to report lower than expected Apple store.

Other iPhone4Ss will end up on the grey market in nearby cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou in mainland China, where they have yet to be officially released.

DFI Revolutionizes the Concept of Overclocking with the Launch of CMOS Reloaded

Hayward, CA (September 16, 2003) - DFI, the worldwide leader in performanceand corporate motherboard design, today announced the release of CMOS ReloadedÒoverclocking utility suite for hardware enthusiasts. Complementing DFI'sproprietary Genie BIOS menu and Live Update for BIOS, drivers and utilities,CMOS ReloadedÒ enables users to save their overclock settings with personalizednames and switch between configurations simultaneously.

The Revolutionary Change Since Jumperless
Changing the way enthusiasts "tweak", CMOS Reloaded removes the need to manuallyrecord settings on paper and reset configurations during the trial and errorprocess. Unlike conventional motherboards that allow for only one set of CMOSconfiguration, DFI's new technology offers up to 4 sets per computer. Dependingon the application used and the processing power needed, users can choosebetween configurations to maximize resources and take full advantage of what PCshave to offer.

Advanced CMOS Functionality
Combining hardware design and software engineering, CMOS Reloaded allows usersto save their desired configuration settings using the Backup command. Variablebetween motherboard models, the user can save from 2 to 4 sets of configurationswith different operating systems associated with each. Whether it is used forintensive gaming, complicated computer development environment or simple Wordprocessing, the user can choose to Load any one of the previously savedconfigurations to meet the requirements. To further provide a seamless switchbetween configurations, users are now able to define their own "hot keys" andbypass the lengthy process. Echoing the trend and to satisfy the need forpersonalization when a perfect "tweak" is achieved, CMOS Reloaded's Renamefeature allows configurations to be saved to reflect their significance. Be itthe overclocker's name, a date, or a high score, CMOS Reloaded offers completecustomization for the true enthusiasts.

CMOS Reloaded will be officially launched at Computex on September 23, 2003. Forinformation on the press conference, please contact PR@dfiweb.com.

This overclocking utility will be available in the upcoming LANParty and INFINITYmodels: LANParty PRO875 (Rev. B), LANParty NFII Ultra (Rev. B), 875P INFINITY,865PE INFINITY, and NFII Ultra INFINITY. For more information or to be the firstto experiment with a live demo, please visit us at Computex TWTC Hall 2, BoothsF305-307, F282-284.

DFI's Q3, Q4 Desktop Products

Contrary to rumours of DFI leaving the Desktop Board Market,it seems there are quite a few products in store for the Desktop Consumers fromDFI. We take a glimpse at the upcoming products:

The RS690 Integrated Graphics Soluti8on does look quite interestingwith X700 integrated graphics core. Intel 965 chipset solution will finallybe seen in DFI boards in the Infinity P965/G coming in the fourth quarter of2006.

ECS KN1 Extreme nForce4 Boards

ECS today introduced the KN1 Extreme, NFORCE4-A939 and NFORCE4-A754motherboards, all three based on NVIDIA nForce4 family chips. Belonging to thetop performance Extreme series, the KN1 Extreme motherboard uses the new NVIDIAnForce4 Ultra single chip, delivering revolutionary technologies – including PCIExpress, SATA 3Gb/s, secure high-speed networking and high-performance RAID.

In order to optimize PC performance, the KN1 Extreme includes NVIDIA nTune,enabling KN1 Extreme to operate at speeds up to FSB 2GHz.

And KN1 Extreme has added a second 802.11g LAN connector to make thismotherboard ideal for Internet connection sharing over a home network. KN1Extreme supports four SATA2 ports through the NVIDIA nForce4 single chip as wellas two standard SATA ports through the SiS180 controller.

Embedded in NVIDIA nForce4 Family chips, NForce4-A939 and NForce4-A754motherboards also bring the benefits of PCI-Express and Gigabyte LAN. Bothmotherboards also support the advanced AMD K8 platform, are engineered withTrinity RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1) and come with up to 10 USB ports.

The KN1 Extreme and NFORCE4-A939 are now available; the NFORCE4-A754 will belaunched at the end of December.