Perhaps our Future Robot Overlords[TM] aren't planning on decimating the human population after they take over -- they might have a good reason to retain a handful of bipedal hominidae. Who knows, really? But we're betting that if they do, the lucky slave population is going to want to hear some bed-time stories from time to time. To that end, Japanese researchers have developed Ninomiya-kun, a 3.2-foot tall aluminum-framed robot capable of reading aloud from printed material. Developed at Waseda University and recently unveiled at a trade fair in Kitakyushu, the bad boy uses cameras to "read"...Read More »

Our very own Josh Topolsky will once again be invading America's airwaves tonight from the set of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and you know he'll be showing off another hot new toy. (What could it be?) Tune in on your local NBC station at the times listed below, let us know how he's doing in comments, and make sure to include #joshtops in your tweets!Oh, and if you missed JT and Jimmy get silly with the Pre back in March (or you just want to relive it), the video's after the break.Showtimes:12:37AM...Read More »

Nokia showed off its N97 device last night and iPhone lover Stephen Fry was in attendance. Full published article at: Read More »

Save now, pay later Microsoft will next month encourage partners to promote all-you-can-eat volume licensing so that large customers can save money while consuming more SQL Server and Windows apps.… Full published article at: Read More »

We already knew the cats at Laptop were into the Toshiba NB205 / Dynabook UX netbook's aesthetic, and now they're back with a full review saying it "breaks the mold." Yep, even though it's packing the same 1.6GHz Atom internals as every other XP netbook out there, it's apparently a step above, with a tight design, kickin' keyboard, and 8.5 hours of battery life for $399. Of course, that's in contrast to some other reviews of the Dynabook UX we've seen, which called the keyboard "cramped," but it certainly seems like the NB205...Read More »

Tom Young, Computing, Wednesday 17 June 2009 at 18:09:00 Insourcing projects and scrapping costly PCs has paid off handsomely Transport for London (TfL) will complete an IT overhaul by September that has seen 15 outsourced contracts brought back in-house and desktop costs cut by more than 80 per cent. Outgoing chief information officer (CIO) Phil Pavitt told delegates at the GC Live conference in London last week that the programme means more “sexy” systems can now be insourced. Congestion charge and Oyster travel card systems could be operated internally now that TfL’s infrastructure has been improved,...Read More »

If it ain't broke, don't fix it -- right? We know countless reviews of the iPhone 3G S may begin with that cliché, but there's little chance you'd find a better way to describe the strategy that Apple has just put into play with its latest smartphone. In many ways, the 3G S is a mirror image of the iPhone 3G; externally there's no difference. It's inside where all the changes have happened, with Apple issuing a beefed-up CPU, new internal compass, larger capacities for storage, and improved optics for its camera. More to the point,...Read More »

Right on schedule, iPhone OS 3.0 is now available. Mash the update button in iTunes -- you need 8.2 -- and then check out our extensive iPhone 3G S review and iPhone OS 3.0 hub for all the nitty-gritty while you wait.Filed under: CellphonesiPhone OS 3.0 now available originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email...Read More »

The original plan was to offer mildly subsidized prices of $399 and $499 for the 16GB and 32GB versions of the iPhone 3G S to AT&T customers who weren't currently "upgrade eligible," but the carrier's having a change of heart, ostensibly in response to... you know, people wanting to pay less. The new plan is to let anyone with an upgrade date in the months of June, July, August, or September get in on the fully discounted $199 / $299 price points, which should cover a good number of existing 3G owners. Unfortunately, the way the...Read More »

If HP won't do it, we will Canonical, the commercial organization behind the Ubuntu variant of the Debian distribution of Linux, said today that it has certified its Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition to run on all 17 configurations of Hewlett-Packard's sixth-generation of ProLiant servers.… Full published article at: Read More »