The U.S. has now lifted entirely a controversial ban on laptops in hand luggage for passengers flying to the country from the Middle East or via certain Middle Eastern airlines, with the Department of Homeland Security professing itself satisfied with “enhanced security measures in place”. Read More
Petcube’s existing pet camera is basically an advanced video camera and voice intercom, but the new Petcube Bites is also a treat flinging machine that gives you more ways to interact with your pet while you’re not at home. The Petcube Bites has a reservoir that can hold up to two pounds of treats for either dogs or cats – and it can fling those treats at different ranges… Read More
Samsung Electronics announced today that it will recycle parts from Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, which gained notoriety last year after a battery defect caused several to burst into flame. The company said in a statement on its Korean site (via Google Translate) that it also expects to recover 157 tonnes of rare metals, including gold, from the devices. Read More
TechCrunch was in Hong Kong last week for tech conference Rise — where we watched two robots talking together on stage, among other things. The event is well-known for its after-parties and social activities, but one night we sneaked away from the crowd with a few friends to check out a virtual reality arcade. Playdium is a new entry to the city, having only opened its doors at the start… Read More
Retro consoles are the new next-gen consoles, and nothing’s more retro console than Atari. That’s why the teases from the gaming company about its upcoming ‘Ataribox’ have been so intriguing to gaming fans – it could be amazing. Now, we know what it looks like, and thanks to an email update (via The Verge), also broadly what it will be able to do.
The design is… Read More
Science can be cute as hell when it wants to be – take the JEM Internal Ball Camera (“Int-Ball” for short). The device, created by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), was delivered to the International Space Station on June 4, 2017, and now JAXA is releasing its first video and images. The purpose of Int-Ball is to give scientists on the ground the ability to… Read More
Indoor mapping is one of those problems that seems to only have solutions that involve a great deal of money and infrastructure: beacons, lasers, emitters, scanners… who wants to install those in malls across the world? Microsoft Research has produced an indoor navigation app that keeps things simple, using existing sensors and the fact that people already go most of the places you want… Read More
The science of prosthetics has been advancing by leaps and bounds over the last few years, and research into soft robotics has been especially complementary. The same techniques that go into making a robot arm that flexes and turns like a real one can go into making more complex, subtle organs — like the heart, as Swiss researchers have demonstrated. Read More
It’s been a long, downward slide for cellphone maker Vertu. The company, founded by Nokia in 1998, was supposed to be a luxury phone provider to the stars and, to a degree, it delivered. They sold the $11,000 phones like expensive watches in boutique stores in tony neighborhoods. Vertu, with its precious metals and fine, hand-cut leather was supposed to maintain its luxury lead for… Read More
