Once again we explored the New York Toy Fair, going in search of some standout products. I walked over five miles trying to discover the toys worthy of our “Gear Diary’s Best of” moniker, and … I think I found them. There were many great items to see, but these are the seven that stood out to us.
Back in 2016, I reviewed my first robot vacuum, the Neato Botvac Connected. And then the Neato D6 arrived at my doorstep. At that point, I knew not all vacuums are created equal, even if they are from the same company.
Anki Cozmo is a friendly robot with a one-of-a-kind personality. Cozmo is playful, can perform tricks, sing songs, and explore his environment. He can even recognize your face! You can also take care of him like a pet when he needs to be “fed” and “tuned up.” My kids are obsessed with Cozmo and yours will be as well.
Our friends at Segway-Ninebot are coming out with a bunch of new products in this year and we’re excited to share them with you. Aiming to corner the market in “last mile transportation” they’re releasing the Shared Scooter Model Max, Powered by Segway. Looking to corner the market in “last mile delivery” they’re releasing the Loomo Delivery robot.
Neato is known for their awesome robot vacuums including the Botvac D7 Connected — the best way of cleaning up behind yourself regardless of where you are — courtesy of a companion app. With a new software update released today, the Botvac D7 Connected Robot Vacuum gets even smarter.
Ushering in the age of the loyal pet robot, the Anki Vector is a fun sidekick who can do more than play fetch. Vector is helpful; he can take photos, set a timer, answer questions, play blackjack, and more. Packed with high-tech circuitry, Vector can see, hear, feel, think, and communicate; he even keeps himself charged. Vector retails for $249.99.
Who didn’t dream of having a robotic sidekick when they were a kid? The future is now, people! Segway is back with the Loomo, a robotic sidekick that transforms into a self-balancing mini personal transporter. Loomo is live right now on Indiegogo, where you can pre-order your new futuristic friend as low as $1,299, 27% off of the future retail price.
With more than 4,000 companies exhibiting at CES, choosing the best of CES was a challenge. Even so, we want to recognize the products we saw that are truly innovative, take technology in new directions or, in one case, make something great accessible to every consumer.
Gardening is a fun task that requires hard work and dedication. But, for your garden to be a success, you must continuously water and plant, as well as pull those weeds, which is — admittedly — not so fun. In every garden, nasty and pesky weeds tend to rear their ugly heads. It’s only a matter of time before they become a nuisance.
CES 2017 isn’t all about the adults with a tech addiction! German Startup Tinkerbots is looking to introduce a new product for the kids (and kids at heart) to enjoy: robots for kids!
If you’ve ever been interested in learning about coding, but you didn’t know where to start, the Ozobot Evo Marvel Avengers Iron Man Master Pack might be a great place. You’ll use OzoBlockly, Ozo’s coding program, to “drag and drop blocks of code to take full control of Evo’s features,” and there are other fun ways to learn while playing.
If you didn’t make it to CE Week last week, then you missed a great series of panels, including mine on Robots, Printers, and Games that featured Davin Sufer, CTO of WowWee; Kilian Saekel, Founder of A-Champs; and Max Bouge, Co-Founder and CEO of Wobbleworks — best panel ever!
One of the cooler gadgets that have been announced recently is the NXROBO BIG-i, which is a personal robot that actually gets to know its users. Think of it as your own personal Sonny from iRobot, without the bad CGI.
It was only a matter of time before our friend Helena from Chip-Chick found someone with whom she could truly relate. Thankfully we were there with her at CES 2014 to capture the moment. You can check out Chip-Chick’s great content here; when you visit, make sure to wish Helena and her new pal the best! 😉
When Elana and I moved into our current home, we increased the number of windows more than ten-fold. Yes, our house is more windows and sliding doors than it is wall. We love it, but boy does that glass get dirty. That’s where the WINBOT I saw today on the floor at CES 2014 could come in quite handy.
There is something rather neat taking place at my synagogue tonight, and Judie and I thought it would be fun to share it with you all. Dr. Amir Shapiro, the Director of the Robotics Lab of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, is joining us. Dr. Amir develops robots that benefit humans and improve the safety and security of not only Israel, but the world. He’ll be speaking for a while, and then he will be demonstrating some of his robots. That’s right, he’s bringing robots with him!! We’ll be streaming it over Ustream, and we invite you to watch. Assuming…
Five years ago, researchers and scientists from General Motors and NASA began collaborating on a project called Robonaut 2 (R2 for short) that led to launching the first human-like robot into space in 2011 that is now a permanent resident in the International Space Station. Now the two are jointly developing a robotic glove inspired by the unprecedented level of hand dexterity on R2 and they call it the Human Grasp Assist, a.k.a. K-glove, a.k.a. Robo-Glove. The first prototype of the glove was completed in March, 2011 with a second-gen model arriving just three months after that. The current Robo-Glove…
Based on its famous “cousin” Keepon® Pro, The KeepOn® interactive robot is priced under $50 and features a dance and touch mode.
Engadget caught this bizarre and amazing video from some Cornell researchers, who pitted a Chatbot in a conversation with itself. Apparently, all Chatbot wants is to study philosophy! Don’t believe me? Watch the video below, and then check out my commentary showing how the Chatbot(s) just want to talk Plato. Let’s see…the Chatbot(s) start with social contract theory. They exchange pleasantries and indicate an attempt to set rules of engagement so no one gets stabbed in their sleep (do Chatbot(s) sleep?). Then they move on to personal identity theory; what are they? What is a robot? If one Chatbot is…
Show me a person who could watch the Pixar movie Wall-E without getting a little bit misty, and I’ll show you a person with a heart of stone. The premise was that Earth, long inhabited by wasteful humans was eventually rendered unusable, and there was a mass exodus to a fleet of spaceships provided for by the Buy N Large corporation, which the company that had sold the products which helped contribute to all of the waste on Earth in the first place. Are you with me? So Buy N Large tells the Earthlings that they will only be on the…
from USAToday There is no question that automation has had an impact on numerous industries and has been responsible for some significant job-loss or, at least, job-shifting. For example factories now need less people on the line but can output more product at an ever-increasing pace. Yes, the impact is everywhere but this is one place where I never expected to see an issue… CrunchGear has a post up about a wedding officiated by… a robot. That’s right, the couple didn’t need a priest, or a justice of the peace to tie the knot. Instead the wedding was witnessed by…