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Robot Grasshopper (Video)

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Robot Grasshopper

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=ADiHexd3UcY

This tiny little robot weighs only 7 grams and can jump 1.4 meters (3.3 feet) straight up into the air. That is 27 times its own height. Here is a video clip of the robotic grasshopper in action:

These jumpers could be fitted out with tiny sensors to explore rough, inaccessible terrain or to aid in search and rescue operations.

“This biomimetic form of jumping is unique because it allows micro-robots to travel over many types of rough terrain where no other walking or wheeled robot could go,” explains EPFL Professor Dario Floreano.

“These tiny jumping robots could be fitted with solar cells to recharge between jumps and deployed in swarms for extended exploration of remote areas on Earth or on other planets.”

Read more about the robot grasshopper over at EPFL.

(Live Science via BotJunkie via Prylfeber)

Top 10 Strangest iPod accessories

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Apple iPod is, without exaggeration, the most popular portable audio player in the world. Clever marketing strategies of Apple made a symbol out of iPod, for many people, word “iPod” became a common one. As a reflection of its popularity, a strong and wide selection of various iPod accessories appeared, making this stylish Apple masterpiece even better. However, some of these accessories are a bit funny, if not strange at all. In this top, we will review the ten strangest iPod accessories ever made.

TEO MP-301 brings Jesus and the MP3 together at long last

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TEO MP-301

Good lord. No, really. Good lord. The TEO MP-301 MP3 player from IceTech USA crams 1GB of media storage into — as you can see — a very Jesus-friendly form factor. The $49 player features a built-in microphone with voice recorder, mirrored front panel, and even a little speaker. According to reviews, the player has some serious interface issues and a weak screen, but if crucifixion is your thing, you can’t go wrong with this necklace cross-cum-MP3 player. Or is that the other way around? Is this an MP3 player that’s also a cross? Anyway, there you have it: the cross-shaped MP3 player, indeed.

[Via Crave]

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Zune breaks 2 million sold, stealing market from Creative not Apple

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Microsoft is still toiling away at the Zune, but there isn’t a whole terrible much to show for it so far in regards to market impact. They just broke the 2 million mark, almost a year after they hit 1 million in May 2007. That means growth has hardly accelerated since the second-gen players hit the scene. Zune’s overall market share has grown from three to four percent, but that’s most likely a steal from Creative (which sunk from four to two percent) than a steal from Apple or second-place SanDisk (with a billionty and 11 percent, respectively). But don’t worry, we’re sure that 2.5 update is going to change everything.

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In Wi-Fi Arena, a Middle Ground Emerges on Free and Paid

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The battle between free and paid wireless Internet access is starting to look like a draw. Or more accurately, a third variation is winning: a combination of the two.

Travelers want to log on everywhere at no charge, while hotels, airports and coffee shops are looking for a way to pay for their Wi-Fi networks as visitors increasingly use greater amounts of bandwidth.

The compromise that is emerging is to offer both free and paid options, with the free services increasingly requiring something in return, like viewing an advertisement or signing up for a loyalty program.

“Our position is, give the user a choice,” said David Blumenfeld, a senior vice president with JiWire, which publishes an online directory of free hot spots but also sells ads displayed on public Wi-Fi networks. “It’s not an argument about free versus paid,” he said. “It’s free and paid.”

Starbucks is probably the biggest example of that model. In February, the company announced plans to switch to AT&T from T-Mobile as the Internet provider in its U.S. stores.

When AT&T takes over, customers who use their Starbucks card once a month will get two hours of free Wi-Fi access each day. Otherwise, that same time period will cost $3.99, or $19.99 for a monthly unlimited access plan.

Sanja Gould, a spokeswoman for Starbucks, said its Wi-Fi users typically spent an hour logged on. So, she said, the company views two hours of free access as a “meaningful benefit” for customers who buy a Starbucks card.

In other words, loyalty has its benefits, and these days, free Internet access is one of them.

Omni Hotels, which used to offer free Wi-Fi, switched to a dual pricing model about 18 months ago. Now, guests at the U.S. chain can get free in-room wireless access by signing up for Omni’s Select Guest program, an option…

Google Looking Golden Again After Challenging Stretch

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It’s hard to believe Google Inc. actually looked vulnerable just two months ago. The Internet search leader’s stock had plummeted 45 percent from its peak. And its two biggest rivals, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., appeared poised to combine forces and launch a double-barreled attack.

But as Google holds its annual shareholders meeting Thursday, the company looks stronger than ever. Its stock is hot again and Microsoft has scrapped its plans to buy Yahoo, with Google playing the spoiler’s role.

“Google is winning again. What a surprise,” said Canaccord Adams analyst Colin Gillis. “If you want to invest in the Internet space, where else do you want to be but Google?”

More investors have been coming to that conclusion since last month, when Google’s stellar first-quarter results cast aside concerns that the drooping U.S. economy would depress the online advertising spending that generates most of the company’s profit.

Google shares have surged 29 percent since the first-quarter report, regaining a little more than half of the $100 billion in shareholder wealth that evaporated as the stock plunged from an all-time high of $747 last November to a 52-week low of $412 in mid-March.

Meanwhile, Microsoft and Yahoo are again trying to figure out how to lessen Google’s dominance of Internet search and advertising.

Microsoft hoped to throw Google for a loop by buying Yahoo for $47.5 billion. Unnerved by the threat, Google worked behind the scenes with Yahoo to thwart Microsoft’s unsolicited takeover attempt.

The counterattack now has Yahoo considering a deal that would allow Google to sell some of the ads displayed alongside the search results on Yahoo’s Web site. The alliance, which has already been tested in a two-week trial, will likely hinge on whether the two companies can persuade antitrust regulators the partnership wouldn’t undermine competition in the ad market.

Even if a Google-Yahoo pact…

Apple Inks Latin American Partnership Deal for iPhone

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In another step in the worldwide march of Apple Inc.’s iPhone, the top mobile phone operator in Latin America said Wednesday that it has inked a deal to bring the multimedia gadget to more than a dozen countries starting later this year.

America Movil SAB, controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, said it plans to bring the iPhone to all of its Latin American operations but didn’t offer more details about the arrangement, including whether it would be the exclusive iPhone provider in the targeted countries.

Apple has so far struck exclusive deals for the iPhone with AT&T Inc. in the United States, O2 in Britain, T-Mobile in Germany and France Telecom’s Orange wireless arm in France.

The company plans further expansion later this year through the partnership with Mexico City-based America Movil, which boasts 159.2 million subscribers in 16 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

A spokeswoman for America Movil said the company had no further comment beyond the short press release announcing the partnership.

In the past couple of weeks, Apple has also signed deals with Rogers Communications Inc. to sell the device in Canada; Milan-based Telecom Italia SpA to sell the iPhone in Italy; and Vodafone Group PLC, the world’s biggest mobile company by sales, to sell it in a total of 10 countries, including Australia, India, Italy and Turkey.

The announcements are all important steps for Cupertino-based Apple as it looks to expand sales of the iPhone, the combination iPod-cell phone-Internet device that went on sale last June in the U.S.

But many consumers in countries where Apple has not struck iPhone deals with mobile operators are using them already. They’re using “unlocked” iPhones that have been modified to work over any cellular network, a sign of the growing worldwide demand for the phones that has also irked Apple, which has…

Web Site Flap Prompts Alaska Democrat To Give Up House Race

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A Democratic congressional candidate abruptly dropped out of the race Wednesday and said a former campaign worker was linked to an Internet smear aimed at a rival.

Jake Metcalfe said he had known nothing about a scheme to redirect Internet users searching for fellow Democrat Ethan Berkowitz to bogus sites intended to harm Berkowitz’s candidacy. But he added, “It appears that a former campaign worker was involved in these acts, and I condemn them.”

Metcalfe, former chairman of the Democratic Party in Alaska, said he takes responsibility and apologized to Berkowitz on Wednesday.

The disputed Web sites contained variations of Berkowitz’s name but were not associated with the candidate’s campaign. When users clicked on the Web sites, they were directed to pages that attempted to portray Berkowitz as a privileged California liberal or to gay cultural sites in San Francisco.

“I made a mistake by not taking these allegations more seriously from the beginning,” Metcalfe said.

Berkowitz said Wednesday it is time to move past the Web site flap. Married with two children, he has roots in San Francisco but has lived since 1990 in Alaska, where he has served as a prosecutor and legislator.

“I think it’s time to close a chapter and go back to what we should have been doing all along, which is talking about the direction the state is taking,” Berkowitz said.

Metcalfe’s former campaign manager, Dana Krawchuk, claimed that his political adviser Bill Scannell talked about such a scheme last year in front of her and Metcalfe.

Scannell has denied establishing the fake Web sites but he resigned last week, saying the allegations were hurting Metcalfe.

Metcalfe said Wednesday he had not determined that Scannell was behind the ruse.

“I’ve talked to Bill. Bill denies it’s him, but the evidence shows he may have had something to do with it,” Metcalfe said.

Metcalfe said he…

Hackers’ Posts on Epilepsy Forum Cause Migraines, Seizures

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Computer attacks typically don’t inflict physical pain on their victims.

But in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than money, hackers recently bombarded the Epilepsy Foundation’s Web site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images.

The breach triggered severe migraines and near-seizure reactions in some site visitors who viewed the images. People with photosensitive epilepsy can get seizures when they’re exposed to flickering images, a response also caused by some video games and cartoons.

The attack happened when hackers exploited a security hole in the foundation’s publishing software that allowed them to quickly make numerous posts and overwhelm the site’s support forums.

Within the hackers’ posts were small flashing pictures and links — masquerading as helpful — to pages that exploded with kaleidoscopic images pulsating with different colors.

“They were out to create seizures,” said Ken Lowenberg, senior director of Web and print publishing for the foundation.

He said legitimate users are no longer able to post animated images to the support forum or create direct links to other sites, and it is now moderated around the clock. He said the FBI is investigating the breach.

Security experts said the attack highlights the dangers of Web sites giving visitors great freedom to post content to different parts of the site.

In another recent attack, hackers exploited a simple coding vulnerability in Sen. Barack Obama’s Web site to redirect users visiting the community blogs section to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s official campaign site.

The hackers who infiltrated the Epilepsy Foundation’s site didn’t appear to care about profit. The harmful pages didn’t appear to try to push down code that would allow the hacker to gain control of the victims’ computers, for instance.

“I count this in the same category of teenagers who think it’s funny to put a cat in…

Joint Sprint, Clearwire Network Could Boost Consumer Power

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Sprint Nextel Corp. has finally rounded up the financial backing it needs to build a faster wireless network. But for consumers and the electronics industry, speed may be the least important thing about the new network.

Though specifics are scant, everything points to the new network breaking with the current model of the U.S. wireless industry, where carriers both operate the service and sell the devices that use it.

Right now, when you buy a Sprint phone, you use it on the Sprint network, and Sprint picks the applications, like TV services, that come with the phone.

Sprint has indicated the new network will be run on an “open access” basis, where anyone with a compatible device can connect it.

If everything works well, this could lead to a proliferation of cell phones, Web tablets, computers, TV set-top boxes, GPS devices and gadgets we haven’t even dreamt of. Manufacturers will be free to make gadgets that can ride on the network, without striking a deal with the carrier first.

Rather than buying a cell phone with a monthly minute plan, you could be buying a device that gives you unlimited use of voice-over-Internet services like eBay Inc.’s Skype.

“That’s the real power of having this open access — it unleashes innovation,” said Bob Williams, who tracks telecommunications for the Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports.

For example, Nokia Corp., not Sprint, will be selling the first portable gadget that’s likely to be available for the network. It’s a Web tablet that looks like an oversize iPhone and costs about $500.

You’ll buy it without a contract, and when the WiMAX network is available, the device will tell you, much like a laptop will alert you when Wi-Fi is available. You’ll then have the option to sign up for an Internet plan through the Web browser.

There could be…