legos

Oh Kno it didn't! Tablet gets tested by Lego robot

With today's proliferation of tablets it can be hard to distinguish one device from the next. But here's something that sets the Kno Textbook Tablet apart (besides its big dual displays and focus on students): it's getting stress-tested by a Lego robot.

The Kno product development team needed a way to automate tests of the ambient light sensor and the note-taking stylus' interaction with the LCD touch screen. So they built a Lego robotic arm (they give it the far less sexy name of "accelerated life test apparatus") to shoulder the repetitive work.

In the behind-the-scenes video below, you'll see the arm directing the pen back and forth and up and down across a screen, while another robot makes the device itself go back and forth. The team has been testing the stylus for touch, sweep, and flick motions that mimic those of a non-robotic user taking handwritten notes. … Read more

Apple engineer re-creates ancient computer with Legos

Until today, I was unaware that engineers at Apple enjoyed spare time.

However, somehow Andrew Carol, one of Apple's software engineers, decided that it was about time he eased back from designing the computer of the future and thought a little about re-creating a computer of the past.

The Antikythera Mechanism, is, allegedly, the oldest version of a scientific computer. The Greeks, who used to be so clever that they never endured too much of a financial crisis, built it around 100 B.C.

Somehow, it disappeared into history's cracks, until it was unearthed from a shipwreck in … Read more

New iPhone games: Lego Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Rage, and more!

It's been a huge week for iOS gaming. Yesterday witnessed the arrival of a dazzling new Star Wars title, and today I've got quick takes on five more noteworthy new games--starting with a just-in-time movie tie-in.

Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 A near-perfect replica of the outstanding console game, Lego Harry Potter (which I previewed last week) loses almost nothing in its transition to the small screen. (And for now, it's only for small screens: the game requires iOS 4.1 or later, which leaves iPads out.)

Alas, there's no option for cooperative play, and … Read more

Lego Harry Potter coming to iPhone, iPad

Traveller's Tales' Lego video games (including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Batman) are among the wittiest and most entertaining I've ever played. My kids love 'em, too. Alas, though they've made appearances on all the major consoles as well as handheld systems like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, not one of the games has been ported to iOS. Until now.

According to a PR rep for Warner Bros. and TT Games, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 will be arriving "soon" for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Just how soon, the rep wouldn't say, … Read more

Working medium-format cam made with Legos

Here at Crave, we've covered Lego-themed digicams before. These shooters basically have the colorful plastic blocks stuck to them, and weren't really fully crafted from Lego blocks. However, Fernando Ramirez Martinez has rigged a fully functional medium-format camera out of Lego pieces, some black cardboard, glue, and duct tape.

Martinez's boxy creation snaps 6x6 square-format images, and has a lens with a 150mm focal length. There is no shutter mechanism for this Lego snapper. Rather, it relies on a pinhole with an aperture of F300. If you're shooting under bright daylight with ISO 400 film, a … Read more

Lego 3D printer itching to make Lego robots

We've seen Lego robots that do Sudoku puzzles, solve Rubik's Cube, and mimic the human hand. Well, this Lego robot builds Lego models--so far. How long until it starts building other robots out of Lego? The horror!

Hobbyist Will Gorman built his Lego Mindstorms NXT MakerLegoBot for the ongoing Lego World 2010 expo in Zwolle, the Netherlands.

Inspired by the open-source 3D printer MakerBot, the machine is made of more than 2,400 bricks and runs on three NXT Intelligent Bricks and nine NXT motors.

A PC running the MLCad Lego design system sends instructions to the printer … Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 20: 5 Reasons Android is better than iPhone (podcast)

A look at Android 3.0, a dual-core phone and the top 5 reasons Android is better than the iPhone, on this week's edition of Android Atlas Weekly join Justin Eckhouse along side guest host, CNET Associate Editor, Antuan Goodwin.

News Stories

What Will Android 3.0 Look Like? http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/207699/what_will_android_30_look_like.html?tk=hp_new

Q&A: Google’s Andy Rubin Talks Android http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370464,00.asp… Read more

Lego's controller bricks your Wii in a good way

There's playing with Lego bricks, and there's playing Lego video games, but now with the Lego "play and build" remote game controller there's a mix of the two. The $40 controller, which is a Toys "R" Us exclusive made by Power A, has all your standard Wii buttons and the built-in speaker, with the addition of a rumble motor.

So what's the big deal then? Both the face and the battery cover of the controller are ready to accept your Lego pieces. You can add any of your own pieces, or use … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1327: Have a little Gap-bone (podcast)

On today's show, all the ways Google is going to take over the world (even though some of them might be good), and Amazon is bringing back the short story, the essay, and the self-published manifesto. I'm working on mine as we speak. Plus, lawyers get rich, and why on earth would people get excited about a Gap logo, and even worse, why would Gap cave? --Molly

New Lego app lets Androids control robots

File this one under "I wish we had this stuff when I was kid." Lego has just announced a new app for the Android Marketplace that lets people who create robots with the Mindstorm NXT platform control their creations using Android handsets--much like the BlackBerry robot controller app we reported on a while back).

The free MindDroid app connects to the NXT device's "brain," the NXT module, via Bluetooth. Once the connection is established, the app uses the phone's accelerometer to control the up/down and left/right directional controls. There's an action … Read more