Samsung does the Roomba

All good things come to him who waits. If you can just take your mind out of the gutter, we're clearly not referring to the accessory in the backdrop, but to the model in the red, hot number. Enter Samsung's Hauzen premium-branded VC-RE70V, which is about to give Roomba's robot floor vac some chick-to-chick competition, right down to the Bobby Brown lipstick rouge.

This isn't the the first robot vac out by the chaebol, though there's been some effort at styling it up this time. Closeup, this Hauzen resembles a giant dust mite magnified a million times over, but prettier. Using cameras to automatically map the room in 3D to be cleaned, it has enough built-in smarts to avoid obstacles and return to base to juice up when the power guage starts to dip. The Hauzen should be out in Korea by end month, with an expected premium price for all that sophisticated gadgetry. Though remember that if you hear something go bump in the night, it's just another vacuum bot biting the dust.



Via AVING Korea

Philips' LivingColors launching in Asia

Philips' AmbiScene flexible lighting system has never been "just luminance. It's about illuminance", summed up Matthew Cobham at the Singapore rollout today. Brightness as opposed to the act of illuminating. Ironically, while Cobham attempted to simplify the concept behind AmbiScene, which targets mainly the retail sector and is making its debut in Asia, his title is a mouthful--Philips Lighting, LiDAC manager ASEAN, APR LiDAC coordinator.

Happily for consumers, there's a home application that's more in line with their needs. Besides Ambilight which generates ambient light effects around the TV and is now available in selected models, Philips will be rolling out its gorgeous light fantastic LivingColors for the first time in Asia, starting with Singapore come Q2.

Largely available in Europe since last year, this 20cm-tall organic glass orb contains four LEDs--two reds, one blue and one green. The combination yields a whopping total of 16 million unique colors, which makes it really hard to run out of hues to personalize your mood lighting. What's cool is that this is both directed and ambient lighting, so you can splash colors on your walls a la Vincent van Gogh, and impress the hell out of your guests.

This is controlled wirelessly by a funky-looking remote that sports a Click Wheel-like color wheel. It's all very intuitive. Tapping a color on this circle instantly caused our LivingColors demo unit to produce that color instantaneously, which was great fun. And since it's LED-powered, there is no heat generated from prolonged usage. The only downside we can see to this is that once the LEDs blow, the entire thing goes straight to the trash heap. And it isn't peanuts, going by the 149 euro (US$235.50) sticker. Fortunately, the LEDs have a lifespan of four to five years, based on 3 hours' usage per day (you do the math). Think you want freshly squeezed living colors to paint your home with? We do!

Slash-resistant T-shirt keeps knives at bay

If you're going to wear knife-resistant clothes around town, you may as well look sharp doing it (sorry, no more bad puns for the whole rest of this blog). Nihon Uni, a Japanese uniform manufacturer, has created a T-shirt that promises to provide at least some stab protection.

The cloth is made of a polyethylene fiber that's allegedly equal to aramid fiber used in body armor, according to the Daily Yomiuri. But if the picture to the left is any indication, the shirt's not as sci-fi/armor-ey looking as one might expect. Plus, it's machine-washable.

Nihon Uni, based in Osaka, reportedly came out with the garment in response to a rash of violent crimes against schoolchildren and convenience store clerks. The T-shirt promises to provide superior protection from slashing attacks, but its mesh fabric can be punctured by a sharp point.

The shirt will go on sale in June, with the short-sleeve version starting at about US$190 and a long-sleeve T going for US$220 and up. Just pair it with a bulletproof backpack, and you should be about ready to hit the mean city streets.

Via Crave CNET

This robot babysits your kids while you shop

While having a robot babysitter to keep watch on the kids may not sound reassuring to most parents, a department store in Japan apparently thinks otherwise.

Japanese retailer Aeon Co. has recently introduced a robot in one of its Fukuoka outlets to help entertain the kids while the parents shop at the store. Measuring 1.4m tall and dressed in a bright yellow-and-white outfit, the babysitter bot can identify each kid through the special badge he or she wears, and even conduct simple conversations with the tykes. Designed by robot-maker Tmsuk, it comes with a projector in one eye and a camera in the other.

Aeon and Tmsuk did not announce any plans to introduce more robot babysitters in other stores, but revealed that the technology will be developed for other applications such as a shopping guide robot to help customers navigate through the store.

Via Physorg
Photo credit: Engadget

Pioneer's ICE, ICE, baby

ICE or In-Car Entertainment is what separates the kids from the men with exquisite taste in soulful music and engaging movies. To transform your hot ride into a full-fledged mobile home theater, Pioneer has lined up a series of new in-car A/V entertainment systems: The AVH-P6050DVD, P5050DVD, P4050DVD and DVH-P6050UB. Designed for young car enthusiasts, their standard features include iPod support, USB connectivity, parametric audio equalizer, multicolor backlighting and DVD-R/RW compatibility.

The higher-end AVH-series also comes with LCD touchscreen (motorized and retractable 7-inch for 6050/5050 and 6.1-inch for 4050) and value-added rearview camera display function. As for multimedia playback, the 5050 and 4050 will readily accept MP3, WMA, AAC, as well as DivX files recorded on CDs and DVDs. Singapore pricing for these new entries ranges from S$799 (US$561.57) to S$1,899 (US$1,334.69). Details for the rest of Asia aren't available as yet.

Click for larger images:



Photo credit: Pioneer

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