reality

FitBot robot mannequin gets bodacious

Va-va voom! The FitBot just got busty.

The shape-shifting robot mannequin, previously only available with a male physique, now comes in female form too. Score one for robot gender equality.

The robot is part of a virtual fitting room service for online retailers created by Estonian start-up Fits.me. Customers shopping for clothes at a participating site enter their measurements online (height, chest, arm length, torso, and so on), then see photos of a real-life mannequin shaped just like them (only headless) "trying on" items in various sizes and styles.

To be clear, shoppers are not watching the robot try on clothes in real time. When a retailer signs up for the service, Fits.me snaps pictures of the bot trying on the garb in the shop's inventory and stores those photos in an online database that shoppers access later. (Watch the vid below for a safe-for-work demonstration of the naked lady FitBot trying on clothing.)

The FitBot aims to tackle online fashion retail's biggest hurdles--the lack of a fitting room and resulting hassle of having to return ill-fitting clothes. Instead of just eyeballing clothes online and guessing which size would work best, shoppers can get a more accurate sense of whether a garment will look fab or get them nominated for "What Not to Wear." … Read more

E3 2011: Nintendo Wii U First Take

LOS ANGELES--Though it won't be available in stores until at least 2012, Nintendo unveiled, and gave a name to, the hardware successor to the Wii, known at this point as Wii U.

True to many rumors and predictions, Nintendo unveiled at this year's E3 a new console with an attention-getting tabletlike controller, complete with its own 6.2-inch touch screen. This multifunctional tablet will form the centerpiece of what the Wii U will be about.

The tablet controller With a glossy … Read more

iOnRoad app keeps an eye on the road for accidents

Collision detection systems usually use some sort of front-facing radar or laser array to monitor the distance between a moving vehicle and the car ahead of it. A new app call iOnRoad takes a different tack by using little more than a smartphone to provide collision detection with an augmented-reality view.

Once a smartphone running the app is mounted on a car's windshield or dashboard, iOnRoad combines the visual information collected by the smartphone's camera with GPS and accelerometer data to provide information about the road ahead on the smartphone's display. The vehicle in the lane ahead … Read more

These smart light bulbs heed iOS, Android devices

NXP Semiconductors has developed chipsets for CFL and LED light bulbs that allow the devices to be operated remotely via wireless networks and portable devices, the Dutch chipmaker announced this week.

The GreenChip iCFL chipset for CFLs and GreenChip iSSL chipset for LEDs have been adopted by lighting manufacturer TCP.

The bulbs can be turned on, turned off, or dimmed.

Both chips operate at the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, the low-rate wireless personal area network (LR-WPAN) standard for many wireless networks, including ZigBee, used to support home smart meters, smart appliances, and security systems.

But the bulb chipset has … Read more

Mobile Make Out: Pucker up on your iPhone

Mobile Make Out is an iPhone app on a mission. It wants to help your cheating heart get some release without completely destroying your real relationship. The free app works by connecting to another user over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. You then smooch away on a pair of lips on your iPhone's screen while your app partner mashes lips on his own device.

This raises an interesting question. Is kissing someone else through your iPhone considered cheating? The app makers encourage you to invite your colleagues, friends, and strangers at parties to join you in your kiss-a-thon. Try explaining to your significant other why you were caught making out with your mobile phone. Somehow, I don't think that will go over well.

The best part about Mobile Make Out's marketing is its insistence that loving up your iPhone is "almost like the real thing." I'm not quite ready to test that out, but I suspect that necking the cold hard glass of an iPhone is pretty far from the real thing. The app does give a helpful warning that too much lipstick can damage your iPhone. So, ladies, go easy on the Avon.

There is a catch. It takes two iPhones to make the app work. That means having a potentially embarrassing conversation with the object of your crush. "Um, excuse me. Sorry to interrupt you in your cubicle as you're crunching spreadsheets, but would you mind downloading an app that will allow me to virtually smooch you up during work hours? Yes, I am married, but this is purely platonic, of course." Good luck with that. … Read more

Virtual reality meets Panasonic Viera TVs

Panasonic recently released a nifty iOS app called the Viera AR Setup Simulator based on augmented reality. The software is compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch and utilizes the camera in these devices to provide users with virtual visualizations of Viera flat-panel TVs set up in their rooms. What's more, the telly's perspective will automatically adjust in real time according to the user's viewing angle (see above video for a demonstration).

(Source: Crave Asia)… Read more

The 404 812: Where can you, like, turn down your keyboard? (podcast)

Wilson joins us on the show, Max Headroom style from the CNET office in San Francisco. Tune in to the first half where we grill him about his loyalty to the East Coast and why he refuses to take showers in the office. We also have a couple stories in the rundown about teens asking Yahoo about Osama Bin Laden, a Nintendo 3DS augmented reality icon, a Japanese kissing machine, and yet another privacy breach from the already befallen Sony PlayStation Network.

The 404 Digest for Episode 812

Japanese engineer creates Facebook kissing machine. Dude tattoos Nintendo 3DS augmented-reality icon on his arm. Yahoo search trends prove teens don't know Osama bin Laden. Sony hacked again.

Episode 812 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 803: Where we're picking up some Funyuns, man (podcast)

Wilson mysteriously disappears on this beautiful Wednesday, but Natali's pulling a twofer this week and filling in to help us with today's rundown. To her delight, a new augmented reality app is bringing future tech from the Harry Potter series alive, a PhillieBot will chuck the first patch at tonight's game, and a new iPhone case protects more than just the device inside.

The 404 Digest for Episode 803

Robot to throw first pitch at today's Phillies game How did that RFID chip end up in my suitcase? On a related note, Natali brings this delightful Jamaican tale to our attention. The JustinCase prototype fights for safe sex.

Thanks to Attariq for drawing this picture of The 404!

Episode 803 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

TripAdvisor app gets trippy with AR feature

The TripAdvisor app for the iPad 2, iPhone, and iPod Touch added a new feature this week, introducing a touch of "augmented reality" via the devices' cameras.

Live View lets travelers explore the travel site's more than 45 million user reviews of restaurants, attractions, hotels, and such superimposed over what app users see through the mobile device's camera.

As its designers describe "...if a traveler is standing outside a restaurant, they can simply point their mobile device's camera at it and TripAdvisor ratings and reviews of that establishment will automatically be displayed on the screen."

I tried it out after downloading the update from the App Store and discovered a poorly reviewed nail salon and Thai massage joint near me here in Los Angeles that might be a seedy brothel. I doubt that's what the app designers had in mind for most travelers to discover, but all the bangs and whistles work. … Read more

Aurasma brings static objects and images to life (podcast)

Imagine aiming a smartphone or a tablet at a cereal box and, instead of seeing the static image printed on the box, you see an animated feature appear as if it's playing on the front of the box. The same technology could be used to turn a picture in a printed newspaper into a video or--if pointed toward a product--it could launch a game featuring animated characters interacting with that product.

That's the aim of a new technology being introduced by Autonomy, the London-based company best known for its enterprise software.

Aurasma, which is a core technology designed … Read more