Naoki and his son use their King Kizer robots to compete in Robo-One, a league where bipedal humanoid robots compete in various categories including combat. He’s already tried several ways of controlling his robots, but the movie Real Steel inspired him to come up with a similar interface. Naoki used ASUS’ Xtion Pro Live sensor, which is basically the PC version of the Kinect. The video below shows the Maru father and son showing off Real King Kizer to kids at a robot festival in Osaka.

The lag is horrible, but I’m still floored. I’m sure you can see that the applications of this technology extends beyond mere toys and entertainment, like robots that can be controlled to perform tasks that are dangerous or impossible for humans, but without the user having to learn to operate a complex interface. Or you know, super robots.  What’s next Japan? Gundanium alloy?

[via The Verge & Robots Dreams]

Hasbro filed the superfluous lawsuit last week, saying that the tablet’s name is too similar to its Transformers brand. It wants damages and a temporary injunction on the device, while sane and level-headed people just want Hasbro to shut up and churn out toys for the holidays.

Forget the fact that Transformers toys these days are pretty low quality and unimaginative too. I guess they would rather spend their time suing over something silly than offering a quality product, or insisting on a decent movie from their licensees. Merry Christmas from the folks at Hasbro.

I’m not really a big Transformers fan, but I think this is just stupid. What do you guys think? Is Asus really in the wrong here?

[via Geek.com]

The Sleeve was officially unveiled on Facebook by Asus, and as you can see in the video, it has some angular indentations on it that are fold lines. The cover can be flipped back and folded on the lines, like origami, to make it into a stand to keep the tablet upright.

It can also be folded in a different method to prop the screen at a lower angle for typing too. The Sleeve attaches to the Transformer Prime in the same spot the keyboard accessory does, but snaps into the tablet instead of using magnets like the Smart Cover, There is no word on price or availability of the Sleeve yet.

The tablets will be powered by Android 3.1 (upgradeable to 3.2) and will come in brown and white colors. There will be a $400 (USD), 16GB version and a $500, 32 GB version. Both will have a multitouch 10.1-inch WXGA screen (1280×800) with a dual-core Tegra processor. They will offer 802.11/b/g/n and Bluetooth V2.1+EDR connectivity, as well as USB and Mini HDMI connectors.  There’s also 1.2MP front-facing camera and a 5MP rear-facing one. In addition, expect a G-sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, compass and GPS to be built-in as well.

Once the reviews are in, we’ll know if this is something that’s going to work. Obviously, a lot of people are using keyboards with their tablets already. This might cut down a bit on the weight of carrying a separate keyboard. Or you could just use a netbook.

Check out the full specs over on the Asus website.

[via Tom's Guide]

The Padfone tablet has a built-in dock that fits the phone like a glove. When the phone is connected, it serves as the processor for the larger screen while all of its features and functions are still accessible through the tablet. So instead of paying for a 3G bill for your iPad and a bill for your iPhone, you’d be cutting down on one of those. The man won’t be happy with this.

The larger battery in the tablet also allows the phone to be recharged while docked. That’s interesting. The prototype Padfone includes a 4.3-inch Android smartphone and a 10.1-inch tablet.

ASUS didn’t provide too many specifics on a price or release date, but says the Padfone should be available in Q4 2011, and priced somewhere between $800-$1000 (USD), making it about the same price as buying both a tablet and a smartphone today.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via designboom]

The Blu-ray drive is called the BW-12D1S-U and it has a cool looking glossy black case with facets like a diamond. It can stand vertically or sit horizontally on the desk. The drive is the fastest 12x burner on the market and uses OTS technology for burn quality. The Blu-ray drive connects to your computer via USB 3.0.

It ships with Magic Cinema tech inside to support playback of 3D Blu-ray films and to convert 2D films to 3D on the fly. The drive not only burns to Blu-ray media, but to just about all other forms of optical media as well. It works with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 machines and has includes plentiful software for burning and playback. No word yet on pricing or a release date.

The USB Lambo hard drives come with 5400 RPM drives in the USB 2.0 flavor and 7500 RPM in USB 3.0. They are offered in 500GB and 750GB versions, which is a bit small for external drives these days, even for 2.5-inch drives. They’ll cost $140 and $190 (USD) respectively for the 5400 RPM USB 2.0 version. No pricing details for the USB 3.0 version.

They seem a bit overpriced, especially when a 2TB WD MyBook sells for $140 or a similar form factor WD My Passport SE for $113, which works with USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. I honestly wouldn’t buy an external hard drive without a fan these days anyhow. I had one fail on me (LaCie  2.5-inch), and since then, I always buy an enclosure with a fan for a 3.5-inch Western Digital hard drive. Naturally, these drives need to be plugged in.

[via CrunchGear]

First up we have the Eee Note EA800, a cross between an eReader and a tablet. It has a non-backlit TFT display with 2,450 dpi, 768×1,024 resolution. It’s powered by a 624MHz CPU, has a 4GB SSD, micro SD port, a camera, built-in mic, and Wi-Fi. As you can see, the EA800 has a stylus, and is clearly meant to be used as a digital notepad:

Tech in Style was lucky enough to spend a week with an EA800, and they say that writing on it is a pleasure. The fast refreshing TFT screen and the CPU combine to minimize the lag in the device. The inclusion of a camera and mic means that you can take not just written notes but images and audio as well.

On the software side, the EA800 has a browser, a music player, a calculator, and support for a plethora of documents: ePub, PDF,  MP3, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx and possibly more. ASUS claims that the EA800′s battery is good for about 13 hours, which is on par for tablets but not as long lasting as dedicated eReaders.

Next up we have this mysterious device pictured above, which has at least one USB 3.0 port, a built-in keyboard, and what seem to be Android buttons. Below is another tablet; Engadget bets that this one has a keyboard that slides out, but we won’t be able to confirm that until next week.

Finally we have a teaser clip from ASUS itself, this time outlining the capabilities of the Windows 7-based ASUS EP121 tablet, which seems to be ASUS’ main bet against the iPad and other current mainstream tablets. Unfortunately it’s all in (digital) chalk; there are no shots of the device itself.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Since we don’t have all the information yet, it might be possible that the EP121 is one of the two mysterious devices pictured above, but the thing is, the teaser doesn’t mention any keyboard, slider, swivel, detachable or otherwise. Check out the links below for more pics and info. Which tablet would you like to own in 2011?

[via Engadget & via Tech in Style (1) (2) (3) via Akihabara News]

Of course this concept could be so much more awesome if it offered more than just an easy way to use one SIM card and one account. For example if you were surfing the web on the phone, when you insert it into the netbook your browser will start up and you can resume browsing. Or if you could use the phone’s screen as the netbook’s touchpad. Or if you could easily drag-and-drop data between the two devices. What do you guys think?

[via The Inquirer via Slashdot]

The ASUS Eee Pad might look something like the decapitated head of one of their Eee netbooks (shown above), but no actual pics have been revealed yet. On a related note, Asus expects that the Eee Pad to cannibalize sales of their netbook like by as much as 20%. Little is known about the technology in the Eee Pad at this point, but word on the street is that it will run on Google’s Android OS, and will include features missing from the iPad such as USB, a webcam and support for Adobe Flash.

ASUS says the Eee Pad should retail for somewhere around $479 to $510 (USD), and plans to release the tablets in Q3 2010. Expect more details and the actual device to surface at the upcoming Computex 2010 show, which runs from June 1st through 5th. Stay tuned.

[via BGR]

On top of vacuum cleaning your home, this little colorful robot comes with a bacteria killing UV light, perfect to disinfect your house. It also has a fragrance sprayer to cover up any strange smells, as well as a remote control. The light lasts about 6,000 hours, which should be plenty for even the dirtiest homes.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Just like the Roomba and the Neato, the ECleaner has got a photo sensor so that it doesn’t fall down stairs. It also will go back to its recharge cradle when the juice runs out, but that’s not really what makes it interesting. What really makes it interesting is that it will cost significantly less than any of its competitors, making robot vacuum cleaners available to a larger customer base. It’s will be available in China and Taiwan for a paltry $150 (USD).

[via Wired]

This amazing work of geek art is displayed proudly in the lobby of the headquarters of ASUS in Peitou, Taiwan.

[via CLiPset | images via flickr]

If you’ve seen the real ASUS Eee keyboard – which incidentally will be available this month – you know that it doesn’t look anything like this mod. But even though the mod is chubby and faceless, it’s every bit as useful as the real thing: just attach it to a monitor via VGA and you’re good to go. The keyboard also has USB ports, a headphone jack and a built-in mic.

FYI, an Eee PC 900 netbook is equipped with a 900 MHz Intel Celeron M and 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. Here’s a naked look at the mod:

Funny how there’s still quite a bit of space left on the keyboard. You know, space for something like a screen. But maybe that wasn’t in the modders’ plan, which you can view in detail – and in Russian – here. Don’t even attempt to run the page through Google Translate, as the resulting “translation” only adds random English words, not sense.

[via Engadget]

I wonder what USB 3.0 products will Brando be selling. A USB-hub-terabyte drive-lamp-wrist rest shaped like an angler fish?

[via Everything USB]

They will be available in 22″, 24″ and 27″ variants. All 3 models are capable of displaying at 1080p, and they also have built-in TV tuners that can receive both digital and analog signals. Nice. The T1 TV monitors also have built-in a pair of 7-watt speakers. The inputs available are IEC (TV), D-sub (PC), HDMI 1.3 x2, Component (Y/Pb/Pr), Composite, S-Video, SCART1 (RGB & CVBS), and SCART2 (Y/C & S-Video), while there are audio outputs for the now obsolete RCA, as well as Optical S/PDIF and the ever-present 3.5 mm jack. A remote control is also included.

Although as SlashGear’s Chris Davies said, a picture-in-picture feature would have been nice, so you could watch TV and use your computer at the same time. No word on pricing and availability yet. Product press releases shouldn’t be released without those two details, dammit.

Mentalfloss has the details on that as well as on 7 other hi-tech names, like Toyota’s Prius (whose plural is still Prius according to the Japanese automaker), and Wikipedia (“wiki” means “fast” in Hawaiian). It’s something you can use to strike up a conversation with that cute geek you’ve been eyeing. You just walk up to her and go, “Did you know that Hulu means “butt”?” Nevermind. It’s all useless information.

Also, as you can see I have once again leveled-up my Photoshop skillz. They’re now at a world class level -7.

[via Gizmodo]

The Aura does one up the iPhone in a few significant ways by offering UMTS and HSDPA (3G) high-speed connectivity, expandable storage via an SD slot and a slide-out keyboard. The bad news? The Aura is just a concept design, and isn’t expected to be produced any time soon.

Don’t be surprised if more and more manufacturers start to clone the iPhone’s full-size touchscreen display and other design touches. But like Mac OS X vs. Vista and TiVo vs. other DVRs, the difference still lies in the quality of the user interface and underlying operating system.

[via CrunchGear]