Track the Time in an Eco-Friendly Way with Bedol Water-Powered Clock

Clocks’ and watches’ design and functionality have gone crazy for quite some time now. But, there are still few things that can take us by surprise when it comes to these gadgets. And for sure, this cool gadget will again astonish us because it’s definitely an original clock that’s not exactly common in the market.

Touted as the most accurate and environmentally practical chronometer of its kind, the Bedol Eco-Friendly Water-Powered Clock will certainly make our planet a little bit greener. This tiny timekeeper works 100% on natural power. Yes, no batteries and no electricity required. You don’t even need to wind it up! Just fill the tank with natural tap water, add a splash of natural lemon juice, and you’re set for 6 to 8 weeks of accurate timekeeping before it needs refreshing. And thanks to its built-in memory chip because you won’t lose time while changing water. Meaning, you won’t have to reset it when you’re done with the refill.

While the Bedol Eco-Friendly Water-Powered Clock doesn’t really have any other bells and whistles such as alarm or multi-colored LED display, rest assured that it will do exactly what it is supposed to do – keep accurate time. With its bold modern styling, space-age accuracy, and surprisingly low price, this gadget is perfect for home or office, or as a gift item.

Hercules Dualpix HD720p – Define Beauty in HD

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder – that is true if you are seeing that person face to face. But if you are having a meeting or a conference online, probably somebody on the other face of the Earth, the real beauty is in the eyes of Hercules Dualpix HD720p. This new gadget from Hercules is an ultra mobile High Definition mini-webcam. The Dualpix HD720p is especially designed for laptops and other portable computer users that want to experience HD all the way. This device features the best specs you can hope for a High Definition webcam like:

• 1 Megapixel CMOS sensor (1280×800 pixels)
• 5 Megapixels photo resolution (interpolated mode)
• HD720p (1280×720pixels) video resolution with up to 30 frames per Wide angle
• Auto focus lens with 3x zoom
• High-quality built-in microphone
• USB 2.0 Video Class (UVC) interface

Get Connected with the iXP3 Internet Messaging Clock

Looking for an unusual way of getting connected to your friends, loved ones, and your special someone in other parts of the world? Look no more because here is a cool gadget that will definitely do something that you’ve never seen before – flashing messages in mid air. That’s right! The iXP3 Internet Messaging Clock is not your ordinary clock because it does more than just telling the time – it actually gets you connected to other people across the globe by allowing you and your loved ones to send a whole new kind of instant messages to each other.

How does it work? Well, since the iXP3 Internet Messaging Clock is an Internet enabled device, it allows you to send and even receive messages sent through www.myixp3.com by plugging the built in RJ-45 Ethernet port into a router and registering the device on the said site. If you are going to send a message, you have two options: send it via the iXP3 website or by email. Your friends or loved ones will then see that message displayed in bright red letters above the messaging clock connected to the Internet. If they’d like to reply, they’ll do the same and you’ll be able to see their messages flashing in mid air above your own unit. Take note: there are no subscription fees to use this gadget. So, no worries about paying a single cent when messaging!

Now, how about when the clock is not displaying messages? Of course, it will do its usual function and that is to display both the time and current temperature.

LITL LAPTOP

The operating system has been a widely heated debate over computer users with the epic battle of a PC with a Windows operating system and a Mac with an Apple operating system and not to mention the Linux operating system watching on the side. While the two being widely used and the last of somewhat just a small group, there is a new operating system that promises full integration with the internet and aptly call itself Web OS and the one laptop that runs this OS is litl.Though the name litl, it can do big things. For one, its performance is seamless with what you want to do. For example, you want to watch all the pictures that you have shared throughout Flick or Shutterfly. All you have to do is switch to photos in the menu and there you have it all for you and everyone to view. Another is surfing the internet which this thing is designed to do. The operating system is optimized to render web pages in a snap and thinks ahead of things to do like if someone send you a link, instead of you clicking on the link, it automatically shows what it is! So if you want to send your grandma that new cookie recipe that you want to have, just send her a link and with her litl, all she has to do is to look at it and follow.

Discovery Tech Edge Digital Camera – Digital Camera, Video Recorder, and Webcam in One

Yes, your little ones will sure love this cool gadget as it combines a digital camera, a video recorder, and a webcam in one! No need to buy three separate devices for them to capture wackiest photos, record silly moments, and show themselves in webcam for their grandpa or grandma to see. With the Tech Edge Digital Camera, they can all enjoy doing these without you worrying about your budget.
Want to know more about this tech gadget? Here are its main features:
• Built-in 8MB memory stores up to 93 images
• VGA digital camera with 640 x 480 resolution
• View and manage photos with the 1′ LCD color screen
• Record video clips or use as a webcam
• Small enough to fit in a pocket
• Easy-to-use photo software
• Edit photos, make stickers, and create calendars, albums and greeting cards
• Includes a USB connector cable, wearable neck strap, sticker sheet, user manual and ‘Photo Tags’ CD-ROM PC software

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SatNav’s New Multifunction GPS Device/PMP

Satnav GPS Device

SatNav Technologies has announced the launch of a new gadget GPS enabled device the SatGuide PND Moov 300. The new personal navigation device (PND) is designed to provide hassle free road navigation with cutting edge features like voice prompted directions and a 4.3-inch touch-screen (480 x 272 pixels) for better user interface to its consumers. It doesn’t just come loaded with SatGuide maps but includes features like a calculator and digital entertainment features such as an audio player and video player which makes it as much a PMP as a GPS device.

The comprehensive SatGuide Maps include detailed road maps of 200+ cities and more than 15 Lakh destinations (points of interest) for customers to choose from. The maps are constantly enhanced and on the anvil are plans to grow this to 500 cities, 30 Lakh destinations, and ultimately the 6 Lakh villages across the country. Moov 300 comes with the latest WinCE 5.0 version and sports a 64 MB Flash with 512 MB RAM and supports external memory via SD/MMC cards. With regard to the media portion there’s no word on the kind of formats the device will support for either video or audio. The device is priced at Rs. 16,990 online at www.satguide.in.

The product is available at all major Large Format Retailers (LFRs) across the country. Stores like Ezone, Croma, Reliance Digital, HCL Digilife, XCite etc. Will also be sites for purchase. The device can be easily installed in vehicles and is accompanied with a USB cable and an in-car charger.

Kensington Launches New Mobile Devices – iPhone and iPod Dock

Kensington iPod & iPhone Dock

Kensington recently launches six new mobile device accessories. Which are part of the company’s “power it” and “play it” lines. The line-up includes a smart nightstand charging dock for iPhone and iPod touch that tells the time and weather and a charging dock that comes with an extra battery pack for your iPhone or iPod. Kensington’s “optimize it” line welcomes new comfortable and easy-to-use notebook stands for 14.1″ to 15.4″ laptops.

The compact dock recharges your iPhone (including new iPhone 3GS) or iPod so you can leave home with it fully charged. The dock also charges the included Mini Battery Pack so you can take an extra boost of backup power with you on the go.

World’s Fastest 128GB Flashdrive By Corsair

Corsair Flash Drive

Corsair has launched a gadget that claims to be the world’s fastest USB flashdrive. The Flash Voyager GT as it is called is a 128GB high capacity USB flash drive. Flash Voyager GT can read at the top speed of 32Mbps and has the writing speed of upto 25.6Mbps which is almost the speed limit of the USB 2.0 bus. Even with the high data holding capacity the flash drive is 75% smaller than regular flashdrives of less than half the capacity.

The 128GB Voyager GT is nearly twice as fast as other high-capacity flash drives which means less time waiting for your music, video, or office files to copy to and from the drive. The other flashdrives of 128GB capacity available in the market are Kingston’s DataTraveler and DiscGo.The Flash Voyager GT costs Approx Rs 2000. That’s Too much?

Relation between Cell Phone and Brain Tumor – Latest Study

Relation between CellPhone and Brain Tumor
A new bit of data has emerged about the idea of cell phones and the brain tumors.
Seems that Environmental Working Group released data just recently that detailed just how much radiation you’re sucking up when you’re on the phone actually and then Los Angeles Times followed that with a strange study. Check this out:
when the data from 23 studies was pooled together, there was no conclusive link between brain tumors and cell phone usages. This by itself would be interesting if not necessarily newsworthy, but when the Times jiggered the evidence a bit, comparing data from the “eight strongest studies”, they found out that cell phone users had between a 10 to 30 percent higher chance of getting brain tumors, with the more time spent on the phone being higher risk than those who spent less.
And then, here’s the weirdest point: seven out of eight of those “strongest studies” were all conducted by the SAME GUY IN SWEDEN

Symbian introduces its App Store, finally!

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With the major cellphone OS application stores already in place, why should the one having the largest market share be left out? We are talking about Symbian. The platform has announced that its own application store is now ‘open’.

The announcement about the Symbian application store, dubbed Horizon, came at (more…)

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 now Official

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The most anticipated Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 has been officially announced by SE today. The phone packs all the rumored and speculated features we saw till now along with some new amazing features. The Android-powered SE X10 features a 4” touchscreen, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 8.1 MP camera and the Rachael UI. The design of the phone is the same as we saw in the leaked out pics. But the way SE has presented it in the introductory video, it just looks more stylish, sleek and curvy.

Xperia X10 plays the Android version 1.6, highlighting to us the importance of the Verizon – Google partnership blessing the Motorola Droid with Android Eclair (V2.0) or the Rachael UI / customization costing Sony Ericsson the opportunity to upgrade. However the phone introduces(more…)

DOWNLOAD ALL FILES REQUIRED FOR UR COMPUTER

If you feel that texting does not express your mood while you type an SMS, then new 'light messaging' by Nokia of Finland might just do the trick for you.

The company has filed a patent on a new breed of cellphone capable of 'light messaging', which could enable users to send a text with a background colour that clearly expresses their mood.

According to New Scientist magazine, the phone's software allows one to choose a colour that represents his or her mood: red for raging angry, perhaps, blue for sad, or yellow for mellow. The colour is encoded with the message, and is used to illuminate an LED array on top of the recipient's similarly equipped light-messaging phone.

	The colour is encoded with the message, and is used to illuminate an LED array on top of the recipient's similarly equipped light-messaging phone.

Nokia's Teppo Jokinen, the inventor of the system said that light messaging would 'enrich and improve user experiences', according to US patent application.

OGRE-SHREk! MP3 PLAYER..

Who can forget that utterly disgusting yet likable green ogre – SHREK! Now there’s an interesting MP3 player on the way (still in concept) which looks like Shrek. Pretty interesting actually.

As usual, it comes in Shrek’s signature green color, sotring earplugs where the “ears” are. There is also 4GB of internal memory within. A cool gift for any season I must say.
[Via Ubergizmo]

WINDOWS 7

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp launched Windows 7 on Thursday, its most important release in more than a decade, aiming to win back customers disappointed by Vista and strengthen its grip on the PC market.

The world's largest software company, which powers more than 90 percent of personal computers, has received good reviews for the new operating system, which it hopes will grab back the impetus in new technology from rivals Apple Inc and Google Inc.

"They met expectations but that was pretty much it," said Michael Gartenberg, a long-time Microsoft analyst at market research firm Interpret after a launch event in New York. "They showed off some very cool things, but now they have to keep the momentum going."

The new system -- which is faster, less cluttered and has new touch-screen features -- comes almost three years after the launch of Vista, whose complexity frustrated many home users and turned off business customers.

The success of Windows -- which accounts for more than half of Microsoft's profit -- is crucial for Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to revive the company's image as the world's most important software company.

"Windows 7 is a chance for us to let the PC be not only more interesting but just simpler and faster for the many, many hundreds of millions of people who use them," Ballmer told Reuters Television in an interview on Thursday.

NEW HARDWARE Continued...

MOBILE COMPUTERS

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MAGIC MOUSE "Oh WOW..!"

Apple product announcements are seldom without a thorough element to them. But I must confess that I do not remember the last time I saw a product accessory grab the headlines from the Macs themselves. Don’t get me wrong – I think the new iMacs are awesome and I just love the fact that the MacBook has been given lots more muscle. But well, my “oh wow!” moment was seeing the new Mighty Mouse (now known as the Magic Mouse), the world’s first multi-touch mouse. The improvements in the Macs had mainly to do with specs, the mouse (more…)

KORB electribe EXM-1

The Korg Electribe EMX-1

The Korg Electribe EMX-1 is designed as an all-in-one techno-production station, and contains a drum machine, and a synth/ sequencer enclosed within its solid metal casing. It has lots of knobs and buttons for the gadget fiend (20 knobs and 68 buttons), an info display, a Smartmedia card storage (ideal for saving off songs and using as a workpad) and two lovely valves (Valve Force Vacuum Tubes) set behind a little display glass...like you see in the museum. The valves make up a genuine analog circuit and are linked up to the Tube Gain knob that can be altered at your desire to make your sounds...warmer in a vintage sort of way.

Electribe EMX-1- MMT?

Multiple Modeling Technology is Korg's technology that creates sounds within the Electribe EMX-1. For the brainy buffs out there MMT offers 16 different types of synthesis, these range from powerful analog synthesis to a various number of digital synthesis to which Korgs of the past were built upon (like PCM and waveshaping). So now we have to play around with 207 PCM drum waveforms, 76 PCM waveforms and a whopping 64MB of song memory.

Outputs

The Electribe EMX-1 has a full MIDI spec, accessed via MIDI In, Out and Thru sockets, and audio is also bi-directional, with two main and two assignable individual audio outs, plus an audio input. Only mono audio (at mic or line level) can be accommodated. The machine can even be sync'ed to audio via this input

Electribe EMX-1- The Machine

The striking metallic-blue front panel is quite logically divided. You can easily pick out the synth section, effects, Part select and keyboard button area, and the row of 16 'keyboard' buttons, which also doubles up for a range of edit options, and mimics the black and white keys of a musical keyboard. The standard sequencer transport controls appear to lack fast forward and rewind options, but in fact they're located above the keyboard buttons, doubling as left/right select keys.

Each drum and synth voice is organised as a Part, an indivisible pairing of a voice generator and one track of sequencing played by the Pattern-based sequencer. Step sequencing is favoured (similar to the How to Make Your Own Beat Section), especially for drums, but don't worry, real-time recording with the Electribe EMX-1 is straightforward. Voice editing is very much a part of the writing process, since sounds and sequencing are so closely linked. Indeed, there are no separate voice memories: sounds are tailored for each Part during the composition process.

The synth/sequencer team is joined by three effects processors, a new and cool real-time arpeggiator, the ability to process external audio through the EMX's synthesis facilities and effects, and 'Motion Sequencing', the real-time recording of front-panel control tweaks, as featured on many other Korg products.

The top panel of the Electribe EMX-1 is divided into five or six principal sections. The first one to become acquainted with should be the main section, which houses the transport controls (record, playback and so forth), the mode keys (which determine whether the EMX-1 is in Pattern, Step Edit or Song mode), the ubiquitous bpm Tap key and the useful Mute and Solo buttons (to remove or single out respective parts within your pattern). By using the Auto BPM Scan key, you can easily detect the tempo of audio that is coming from the audio-in jack. The matrix menu that is sandwiched between the large rotary dial and the mode keys helps guide you through what parameters are available for the selected mode. You select the parameter by first pressing the mode key and then moving up or down the parameter list using the two small arrows to the left of the matrix menu.

The edit area is made of five separate subsections that include Effects, Part Common, Modulation, Synth Oscillator and Synth Filter. The 16 onboard effects are selected via the large knob and edited with the two rotary controls beneath it. The Edit Select button allows you to decide which effects processor is being edited at the moment. The FX Chain button is married to the two small red LED lights above it that indicate how the output of one effect is being input into another. All you have to do is repeatedly punch the button to determine the connection. There's also the Motion Seq button that records and plays back the movements of the two FX Edit controls.

GADGETS

A SOFTWARE CAN READ OUR MIND

NEW DELHI: Imagine a software which can read your emotions and help you overcome stress, depression, anxiety or a small handheld device which can do a CT-scan, keep record of your heartbeat etc just at the click of a button. In the nascent stages, these are some technologies which may change the course of medical treatment in the years to come. Presenting these and many such innovations were scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and from India at a seminar — EmTech India 2009 — held in the city recently. The seminar was organized by Technology Review, a 109-year-old blue chip magazine of MIT. Indian edition of the magazine was launched in the presence of renowned scientist and policy maker Prof M G K Menon. The two-day long seminar saw innovators from India and MIT present path-breaking research in the field of technology that will be used in the near future. "We have noted a recent trend where Indian technologists and innovators who built successful careers abroad are now returning to India to start new enterprises back at home," said Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief and publisher, Technology Review. Working on the software called, Meta Therapy, that can help people overcome depression , anxiety or stress Vinay Gidwaney, a research affiliate, MIT Media Lab, said, ‘‘ The project is in the last stages. It has been found that patients undergoing painful procedures required less amount of drugs to ease the pain if a person was talking to him or her. Based on this we have developed a software in the MIT lab which first screens the patient by asking him or her a few questions about them and then plays an appropriate audio tape which helps them disassociate themselves from the pain, anxiety, stress, etc. The tapes and its content are designed after conducting psychological analysis on different patients.’’ Similarly, researchers have made a prototype of a small device which can perform a CT-scan of the hand. ‘‘ We are in the nascent stages, but the idea is to develop a device which is smaller than a mobile phone and can keep a record of the changes happening in your body and can also store images of various scans performed on the body,’’ said Ramesh Raskar, associate professor, MIT Media Lab. The seminar saw a lot of Indian technologists present their innovative work in various fields. Among them was a group of experts who are working on a software, which can help intelligence agencies gather information from various quarters in an effective manner. ‘‘ During probe into terror attack, information comes from various sources and the investigating body doesn’t have the time to go through all the information. This advance algorithm will help investigators integrate all the data and use it as per their convenience. Through this we can trace peculiar patterns in conversations, telephone calls and all communications between the terror groups and track location of terror cells. It also helps in finding relevant text material from various information sources that can be vital in solving the case,’’ said Srikanth Sampara, CEO, Tuple Technologies. Another group of students from Jagan Institute of Management Studies (JIMS) presented a prototype for tamperproof fare-meter in autorickshaws . In this, the fare is calculated using a global positioning system (GPS). ‘‘ At present , the electronic fare-meters can be tampered, as it has mechanical parts to measure the wheel rotation. But with this technology, the distance is calculated on the basis of distance covered as per longitude and latitude. So there is no way an auto driver can fleece a passenger ,’’ said Rahul Gupta, a student of JIMS.

BOXING ROBOS

Robocraft Boxing Robots one up Rock'Em Sock'Em

Think of them as Rock'Em, Sock'Em Robots on wheels: Tamiya's constructable, DIY Robocraft boxing kit contains a contains a wired robot pugilist with only one function: to spurt hydraulic fluid, to knock servo-controlled blocks off, to see LED lights go dim under the bombardment of tin and plastic fists.
Rather expensive, unfortunately. Two will run you back $67, which is about $47 more than is reasonable.

Evolution of Technology

~ 350 B.C
The brilliant Greek mathematician, Archytas ('ahr 'ky tuhs') of Tarentum builds a mechanical bird dubbed "the Pigeon" that is propelled by steam. It serves as one of histories earliest studies of flight, not to mention probably the first model airplane.

~ 322 B.C.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle writes...

“If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it... then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.”

...hinting how nice it would be to have a few robots around.

~ 200 B.C.
The Greek inventor and physicist Ctesibus ('ti sib ee uhs') of Alexandria designs water clocks that have movable figures on them. Water clocks are a big breakthrough for timepieces. Up until then the Greeks used hour glasses that had to be turned over after all the sand ran through. Ctesibus' invention changed this because it measured time as a result of the force of water falling through it at a constant rate. In general, the Greeks were fascinated with automata of all kinds often using them in theater productions and religious ceremonies.

1495
Leonardo DaVinci designs a mechanical device that looks like an armored knight. The mechanisms inside "Leonardo's robot" are designed to make the knight move as if there was a real person inside. Inventors in medieval times often built machines like "Leonardo's robot" to amuse royalty.

1738
Jacques de Vaucanson begins building automata in Grenoble, France. He builds three in all. His first was the flute player that could play twelve songs. This was closely followed by his second automaton that played a flute and a drum or tambourine, but by far his third was the most famous of them all. The duck was an example of Vaucanson's attempt at what he called "moving anatomy", or modeling human or animal anatomy with mechanics." The duck moved, quacked, flapped it's wings and even ate and digested food.

1770
Swiss clock makers and inventors of the modern wristwatch Pierre Jaquet-Droz and later joined by his son Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz start making automata for European royalty. They create three dolls, each with a unique function. One can write, another plays music, and the third draws pictures.

1801
Joseph Jacquard builds an automated loom that is controlled with punched cards. Punch cards are later used as an input method for some of the 20th centuries earliest computers.

1822
Charles Babbage demonstrates a prototype of his "Difference Engine" to the Royal Astronomical Society. He continues his work by designing an even more ambitious project "the Analytical Engine" that reportedly was to use punch cards inspired by Joseph Jacquard's invention. During his lifetime he never produces a functional version of either machine. Despite this shortcoming he is often heralded as the "Father of the Computer" and his work lives on as the foundation for the binary numbering system that is the basis of modern computers.

1847
George Boole represents logic in mathematical form with his Boolean Algebra.

1898
Nikola Tesla builds and demonstrates a remote controlled robot boat at Madison Square Garden.

1921
Czech writer Karel Capek introduced the word "Robot" in his play "R.U.R" (Rossuum's Universal Robots). "Robot" in Czech comes from the word "robota", meaning "compulsory labor"

1926
Fritz Lang's movie "Metropolis" is released. "Maria" the female robot in the film is the first robot to be projected on the silver screen.

1936
Alan Turing introduces the concept of a theoretical computer called the Turing Machine. Despite being a fundamental advance in computer logic it also spawns new schools in Mathematics.

1940
Issac Asimov produces a series of short stories about robots starting with "A Strange Playfellow" (later renamed "Robbie") for Super Science Stories magazine. The story is about a robot and its affection for a child that it is bound to protect. Over the next 10 years he produces more stories about robots that are eventually recompiled into the volume "I, Robot" in 1950.

Asimov is generally credited with the popularization of the term "Robotics" which was first mentioned in his story "Runaround" in 1942. But probably Issac Asimov's most important contribution to the history of the robot is the creation of his Three Laws of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Asimov later adds a "zeroth law" to the list:

Zeroth law: A robot may not injure humanity, or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.

1946
George Devol patents a playback device for controlling machines.

1950
Alan Turing publishes Computing Machinery and Intelligence in which he proposes a test to determine whether or not a machine has gained the power to think for itself. It becomes known as the "Turing Test".

1951
The Day the Earth Stood Still premieres in theaters. The movie features an alien named Klaatu and his robot Gort.

1956
Alan Newell and Herbert Simon create the Logic Theorist, the first "expert system". It is used to help solve difficult math problems.

1956
Aided by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation John McCarthy, Marvin Minsky, Nat Rochester and Claude Shannon organize The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence at Dartmouth College. The term "artificial intelligence" is coined as a result of this conference.

1959
John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky start the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

1961
Heinrich Ernst develops the MH-1, a computer operated mechanical hand at MIT.

1962
The first industrial arm robot - the Unimate - is introduced. It is designed to complete repetitive or dangerous tasks on a General Motors assembly line.

1963
John McCarthy leaves MIT to start the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Stanford University.

1966
The Stanford Research Institute (later to be known as SRI Technology) creates Shakey the first mobile robot to know and react to its own actions. Amongst other achievements SRI was also the research institute that helped bring us modern day laundry detergent in the development of Tide.

1966
An artificial intelligence program named ELIZA is created at MIT by Joseph Weizenbaum. ELIZA functions as a computer psychologist that manipulates its users statements to form questions. Weizenbaum is disturbed at how quickly people put faith in his little program.

1967
Richard Greenblatt writes, MacHack, a program that plays chess, in response to a recent article written by Hurbert Dreyfus where he suggests, as a critique to efforts in artificial intelligence, that a computer program could never beat him in a game of chess. When the program is finished and Dreyfus is invited to play the computer he leads for most of the game but ultimately loses in the end in a close match. Greenblatt's program would be the foundation for many future chess programs, ultimately culminating in Big Blue the chess program that beats chess Grand Master Gary Kasparov.

1968
Stanley Kubrick makes Arthur C. Clark's, 2001: A Space Odyssey into a movie. It features HAL, an onboard computer that decides it doesn't need its human counterparts any longer. Hear HAL by clicking here.

1969
Victor Scheinman, a Mechanical Engineering student working in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL) creates the Stanford Arm. The arm's design becomes a standard and is still influencing the design of robot arms today.

1970
Stanford University produces the Stanford Cart. It is designed to be a line follower but can also be controlled from a computer via radio link.

1971
The film Silent Running is released starring Bruce Dern. Bruce's co-stars are three robot drones Huey, Dewey and Louie.

1974
Victor Scheinman forms his own company and starts marketing the Silver Arm. It is capable of assembling small parts together using touch sensors.

1976
Shigeo Hirose designs the Soft Gripper at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. It is designed to wrap around an object in snake like fashion.

1977
Star Wars is released. George Lucas' movie about a universe governed by the force introduces watchers to R2-D2 and C-3PO. The movie creates the strongest image of a human future with robots since the 1960's and inspires a generation of researchers.

1977
Deep space explorers Voyagers 1 and 2 launch from the Kennedy Space Flight Center.

1979
The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University is established.

1979
The Stanford Cart is rebuilt by Hans Moravec. He adds a more robust vision system allowing greater autonomy. These are some of the first experiments with 3D environment mapping.

1980
Seymour Papert publishes Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas where he advocates constructionism, or learning through doing.

1981
Takeo Kanade builds the direct drive arm. It is the first to have motors installed directly into the joints of the arm. This change makes it faster and much more accurate than previous robotic arms.

1982
"A new life awaits you on the Off-World colonies." Blade Runner is released. This Ridley Scott film is based on the Philip K. Dick story "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and starred Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard a retired Blade Runner that hunted Replicants (or illegal mutinous androids).

1986
LEGO and the MIT Media Lab colaborate to bring the first LEGO based educational products to market. LEGO tc Logo is used by in the classrooms of thousands of elementary school teachers.

1986
Honda begins a robot research program thats starts with the premise that the robot "should coexist and cooperate with human beings, by doing what a person cannot do and by cultivating a new dimension in mobility to ultimately benefit society."

1989
A walking robot named Genghis is unveiled by the Mobile Robots Group at MIT. It becomes known for the way it walks, popularly referred to as the "Genghis gait".

1989
At MIT Rodney Brooks and A. M. Flynn publish the paper "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control: A Robot Invasion of the Solar System" in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. The paper changes rover research from building the one, big, expensive robot to building lots of little cheap ones. The paper also makes the idea of building a robot somewhat more accessible to the average person.

1989
Dr. Seymour Papert becomes the LEGO Professor of Learning Research.

1992
In an attempt to build a radio controlled vaccuum cleaner Marc Thorpe has the idea to start a robot combat event.

1992
Dr. John Adler came up with the concept of the CyberKnife a robot that images the patient with x-rays to look for a tumor and delivering a pre-planned dose of radiationto the tumor when found.

1993
Dante an 8-legged walking robot developed at Carnegie Mellon University descends into Mt. Erebrus, Antarctica. Its mission is to collect data from a harsh environment similar to what we might find on another planet. The mission fails when, after a short 20 foot decent, Dante's tether snaps dropping it into the crater.

1994
Dante II, a more robust version of its predicessor, descends into the crater of Alaskan volcano Mt. Spurr. The mission is considered a success.

1994
Marc Thorpe starts Robot Wars at Fort Mason center in San Francsico, CA.

1995
The second annual Robot Wars event is held at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA.

1996
A RoboTuna is designed and built by David Barrett for his doctoral thesis at MIT. It is used to study the way fish swim.

1996
Chris Campbell and Stuart Wilkinson turn a brewing accident into inspiration at the University of South Florida. The result is the Gastrobot, a robot that digests organic mass to produce carbon dioxide that is then used for power. They call their creation the "flatulence engine."

1996
Honda debuts the P3, the fruit of its decade long effort to build a humanoid robot.

1996
The third annual Robot Wars event is held at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA.

1997
The first node of the International Space Station is placed in orbit. Over the next several years more components will join it, including a robotic arm designed by Canadian company MD Robotics.

1997
The Pathfinder Mission lands on Mars. Its robotic rover Sojourner, rolls down a ramp and onto Martian soil in early July. It continues to broadcast data from the Martian surface until September.

1998
Tiger Electronics introduces the Furby into the Christmas toy market. It quickly becomes "the toy" to get for the season. Using a variety of sensors this "animatronic pet" can react to its environment and communicate using over 800 phrases in English and their own language "Furbish".

1998
LEGO releases their first Robotics Invention System^TM 1.0. LEGO names the product line MINDSTORMS after Seymour Papert's seminal work of 1980.

1999
LEGO releases The Robotics Discovery Set, Droid Developer Kit and the Robotics Invention System 1.5.

1999
SONY releases the AIBO robotic pet.

2000
Honda debuts new humanoid robot ASIMO.

2000
The Battlebots event is held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2000
LEGO releases the MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System^TM 2.0

2001
LEGO releases the MINDSTORMS Ultimate Builder's Set

2001
In August, the FDA clears the CyberKnife to treat tumors anywhere in the body.

2002
Honda's ASIMO robot rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

2003
June 10th - NASA launches the MER-A "Spirit" rover destined for Mars.
July 7th - NASA launches the MER-B "Opportunity".

2003
SONY releases the AIBO ERS-7 it's 3rd generation robotic pet.

2004
Jan. 4th - After six minutes of holding our breath (during EDL) as it burned and bounced its way to the red planet the robot rover Spirit lands on Mars.

Jan. 23rd - The second Mars Exploration Rover - "Opportunity" safely lands on the Meridium Planum.

This is obviously not an exhaustive history. If you have a great moment in robotics history that you would like to see added to this list please send it to: robothistory@megagiant.com

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Check out these other timelines of robotic history:

• The Age of Intelligent Machines: Chronology
• A short history of robots at NASA's ROVer Ranch
  
• A history of robotics and robots
  
• The History of Robotics by Adam Currie
  
• An excerpt from ROBOT EVOLUTION, The Development of Anthrobotics. by Mark E. Rosheim
  
• History Timeline of Robotics
• History of Automatons
• A History of Computers
• The Robotics FAQ
• BBC News - Timeline: Real Robots
• Brief History of Artificial Intelligence
• Timeline of Computer History at the Computer Museum History Center
• Important Dates and Events in Robotics History
• Robots: Re-Evolving Mind by Hans Moravec
• MSNBC - A Brief History of Robotics
• The History of Robotic Combat