Gadgets

There's a new kid on the Arduino block, and it's called the Arduino Robot. Launched yesterday at Maker Faire Bay Area, it's the company's first product that extends beyond single microcontroller boards. The Roomba-like design, which we first saw in November 2011, is the result of a collaboration with Complubot. It consists of two circular boards, each equipped with Atmel's ubiquitous ATmega32u4 and connected via ribbon cable. The bottom board is home to four AA batteries (NiMH), a pair of motors and wheels, a power connector and switch plus some infrared sensors. By default it's programmed to drive the motors and manage power. The top board faetures a color LCD, a microSD card slot, an EEPROM, a speaker, a compass, a knob plus some buttons and LEDs. It's programmed to control the display and handle I/O. Everything fits inside a space that's about 10cm high and 19cm in diameter. Pre-soldered connectors and prototyping areas on each board make it easier to customize the robot platform with additional sensors and electronics. It even comes with eleven step-by-step projects and a helpful GUI right out of the box. The Arduino Robot is now on sale at the Maker Faire for $275 and will be available online in July. Take a look at our gallery below and watch our video interview with Arduino founder Massimo Banzi after the break. Gallery: Arduino Robot at Maker Faire 2013 Filed under: Misc, Robots Comments Via: Make Source: Arduino

Archos has been in the Android-powered device game for quite some time already, and they have introduced the latest version of the Elements range of tablets, calling it the Archos 80 Xenon. The Archos 80 Xenon is a specially designed 8” tablet that comes with built-in 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity for a truly portable data consuming experience regardless of where you are. The Archos 80 Xenon is a Google certified tablet which features a powerful quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor, with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as the operating system of choice, delivering an improved smooth interface in addition to a sharp and clear IPS multi-touch screen display which delivers amazing vivid colors as well as impressive wide viewing angles. Loïc Poirier, CEO of Archos said, “We designed the ARCHOS 80 xenon to meet the growing need and desire for large screen connectivity while on the go. Taking advantage of the recent arrival of affordable 3G subscriptions, the ARCHOS 80 xenon provides a full connected tablet experience anywhere, anytime.” Since the Archos 80 Xenon is a Google certified tablet, which means it will be able to enjoy complete access to Google Play – opening up the doorway to 700,000 applications and games. Despite that, it costs a mere $199.99 and yet comes across as an unlocked device, which makes it for a very interesting proposition regardless of how you look at it. The Archos 80 Xenon will be made available from June this year onwards. Some of the other features and functions of the Archos 80 Xenon include integrated GPS support that will play nice with Google Maps, in addition to Google Maps with Navigation beta. The 8” IPS display is touted to deliver amazing image quality, extra wide viewing angles, excellent screen sharpness and vivid colors. It will also come pre-loaded with Archos’ very own Media Center applications, which will include metadata scraping, auto-subtitles, wireless media sharing and the best format and codec support around including HD video decoding. Other hardware specifications include 1GB RAM, a microSD memory card slot, and a 2-megapixel shooter at the back. Any takers for this simple tablet that gets the job done? Press Release[ Archos 80 Xenon tablet announced copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

There's nothing more frustrating than watching a product or service get announced, then having to wait an age to try it out. Nintendo hears that, and has announced via Nintendo Direct, that during E3 week, Best Buy will have playable demos of as-yet released Wii U games in 100 stores across the US and Canada. Given that no one was likely expecting any new hardware from the firm, it's clear the gaming stalwart is looking for other ways to stir-up some interest. There's no mention of titles, so we're left to assume they'd be the games announced at the show. Either way, scratch out that week in June to make sure you find out first hand. Scrub right to the end of the video past the break to see the announcement for yourself. Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo Comments Via: Joystiq

Virtual football enthusiasts excited for Madden 25 (it's technically Madden 2014 marking 25 years of the franchise) may want to head over to Amazon if they're serious about watching actual NFL games. The online retailer has an exclusive Anniversary Edition of the game up for pre-order, which comes bundled with a 17-week pass for both Madden Ultimate Team cards and computer and mobile access to NFL Sunday Ticket. On top of getting all the 2013 regular season's out-of-market matches, DirecTV subscribers can also snag a $10-a-month discount on the TV version (normally $225) for one year with a pro bono MAX upgrade. Joystiq notes that only 100,000 copies are up for grabs, split evenly between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. All it takes to get in on the action starting August 27th is $100 -- $40 more than the standard edition, which can net you up to $400 in total savings on the services. Hit up the source link if you're ready to secure your copy. Filed under: Gaming, HD Comments Via: Joystiq Source: Amazon

(Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech) NASA announced this week that a key piece of gear on its Kepler space telescope has run into trouble. And though the space agency hasn't given up on a jump-start, the mission may well be at risk. It's already gone well beyond its planned duration, however, and presented us with many fascinating discoveries. In this gallery, we take a look back at that mission -- at Kepler's intriguing quest to find Earth-like, life-friendly planets among the Milky Way's many stars. Requiem for Kepler? NASA's pioneering planet-finder (pictures) 1-2 of 30 Scroll Left Scroll Right ... [Read more]Related Links:NASA's Kepler telescope crippled by technical failuresNASA's Kepler telescope and the quest for life out thereCrave Ep. 117: Escape from Earth to three newly discovered hospitable planetsMarvel at NASA's mesmerizing 3-years-of-sun-shots videoMars rover Opportunity hits new record for miles driven in space

A good acronym also hints at what it does, and Visteon's new intelligent in-car concept, HABIT, is a good example of that. The Human Bayesian Intelligence Technology system -- to give it its full name -- learns the behaviour of drivers so it can automatically change the temperature, heat the seats and drop that Biohazard album just when you need it most. Factors such as weather, time of day and real-time road conditions all play a part, plus, of course a log of all your typical in-car interactions. It promises to go above just warming your behind on a cold morning though, offering intelligence that would be able to divine local radio stations that play your kind of jam when you're out of town. It could also seamlessly mix these with your local / tablet / smartphone library and internet sources. Sound a little too creepy? Wait until you see the computer-generated demo video presenter past the break. Filed under: Peripherals, Transportation Comments Via: Autoblog

Forwarded from a reader who goes by "Delons." (Credit: Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET) Big Red looks to be feeling the heat to get its take on Samsung's new Galaxy S4 into the hands of customers. Verizon customers have begun to report receiving notifications from the carrier that their new Android superphones have shipped earlier than expected. Related storiesSamsung Galaxy S4 (review)Where and when to buy the Samsung Galaxy S4Samsung plans a hard-core Galaxy S4, says report While I've yet to see video footage, I can only assume that many happy dances have followed receipt of these emails. The Galaxy S4 on other carriers, including Sprint and AT&T, has been available for a few weeks now. Originally we were told to expect Verizon to get the Galaxy S4 into consumers' hands by the end of the month. That date was later bumped up to the 23rd, and it now looks like the phones will arrive even a ... [Read more]Related Links:AT&T confirms April 25 release for Galaxy S4 pre-ordersSamsung plans a hard-core Galaxy S4, says reportVerizon opens preorders for Galaxy S4 16GBRadioShack sells Samsung Galaxy S4 on April 27Where and when to buy the Samsung Galaxy S4

The Arduino Yún (Yún means "cloud" in Chinese.) Arduino At today’s Bay Area Maker Fair, Arduino announced its new board, the Arduino Yún. The board is an Arduino Leonardo running Linino, a Linux fork based on OpenWRT. The board is Wi-Fi capable, which Arduino hopes will encourage people to use the boards to make cloud-ready projects. In an official statement the company explained: “Historically, interfacing Arduino with complex Web services has been quite a challenge due to the limited memory available. Web services tend to use verbose text based formats like XML that require quite a lot or ram to parse. On the Arduino Yún we have created the Bridge library which delegates all network connections and processing of HTTP transactions to the Linux machine.” Earlier this week, another company called Spark Devices also launched a similar idea on Kickstarter called Spark Core, putting forward a Wi-Fi capable board for Arduino projects that permits wireless programming and the ability to interface with Web services. The company had originally asked for $10,000, and has since raised over $300,000. (The campaign ends June 1). Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Xan, who wants Cintiq functionality without paying Cintiq prices. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I'm a student and I'm considering staying on to do graphic design, and I really like the look of Wacom's Cintiq devices. Unfortunately I couldn't afford one even if I sold a kidney, so I was wondering if I could turn an Android tablet into a cheaper version? I figure a device like the Galaxy Note 10.1 with its Wacom digitizer would be a good fit, so is there a way to do it? Thanks!" We're sucking in air through our teeth, as we're sorry to say, we can't think of a way this could be done successfully. There's a few problems like no software, a lack of bandwidth and doubts over the accuracy of a tablet to replicate such a sophisticated piece of hardware. That said, perhaps the forthcoming Surface Pro software update might solve this problem altogether, but an Android tablet? We're not so sure. But if there's anyone out there who has made it happen and wants to share their revelation, why not leave a note below? Filed under: Peripherals Comments

If you didn't get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought a new handset from Sony to the US and UK, updates to Nokia Creative Suite and three new (and very inexpensive) smartphones from Blu Products. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that's happening in the mobile world for this week of May 13th, 2013. Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Sony Comments