RoboMow
The bad news: robots have started taking over the world. The good news: they're mowing lawns. Or at least, that's what the RL500, from Friendly Robotics, is designed to do, and more devices will follow. The company, which was founded in Israel in 1995, says it is its dream "to one day make our robotic appliances as commonplace in the home as washing machines and dishwashers." The RL500 is a small robot powered by two 12v sealed lead-acid batteries, which are rechargeable.
RoboMow uses RoboScan patented technology to find its way around with the help of an electric perimeter wire. Sensors prevent it from running into the family dog, though not vice versa. In fact, the only aggressive thing about the RL500 is the price. Friendly Robotics is selling machines in the UK for £499 inc VAT. Apparently people usually expect it to cost more. At that price, it may appeal not just to geeks with too much money but also to people with allergies or mobility problems and too much money. Friendly Robotics UK is based in Thame, Oxfordshire: phone 01844 261 653, email friendly@fr-uk.co.uk or see www.friendlyrobotics.com. (JS)
Bluetooth begins to bite
Just as you were getting over the hype for Wap (wireless application protocol) mobile phones, another flurry of techno spin is headed our way with the arrival of Bluetooth.
Bluetooth is a new way to get electronic devices to talk to each other through the air. So it's bye, bye cables and hello seamless integration of mobiles, handheld organisers, laptops, desktop PCs and any other gadget which has the technology attached.
Or so the story goes.
It has taken three years of negotiations over the new standard to get to the stage where, this week, telecoms group Ericsson has unveiled "the world's first Bluetooth-equipped mobile phone", the T36. Ericsson promises you willbe able to do all sorts of useful things, like swap ring tones and play multi-player games, using the cutting-edge technology.
Already announced is the company's first Bluetooth gadget - the funky looking cordless handset. Also available at the same time as the phone will be a Bluetooth PC card for laptops and a Bluetooth Home Base, which will switch your mobile phone from its cellular link to a landline connection when you're at home. That should help save on mobile bills and mean you need only one phone for all your calls.
But you still shouldn't get too excited - the mobile won't be available until the end of the year. Worse, Erics son is refusing to even hint at what the price will be, so we can only assume it will be lots.
Rest assured, however, that by the time Ericsson's first effort arrives there will be plenty more crowding the Bluetooth block. More than 1,900 companies, including all the big hardware manufacturers and the likes of Microsoft, have adopted the Bluetooth standard, and are developing their own products.
It could make the flurry of Wap announcements earlier this year look like amateurs' day. (NM)
Worthy of note
Having gone from a standing start to number two in the US notebook market, Sony is hoping to repeat its success in the desktop PC arena. Due to reach American stores later this month is a $1,000 Vaio branded machine that Sony is billing as a "digital entertainment device."
"Even on the desktop, we continue to focus on entertainment rather than the pure computing applications," explained company president Fujio Nishida at a New York press conference last week. And to prove his point he described the new Vaios as being stuffed with music, video and internet software rather than business-style facilities.
Sony has also teamed up with Palm to develop a series of personal organiser style products. These are scheduled to go on sale in the US in the autumn.
There are no plans to launch either the desktop PCs or the personal organiser in the UK just yet.
The company also announced its year end results with Sony Corp's sales up 15% on the previous year. Fujio Nishida credited the growth to the popularity of FD Trinitron WEGA TVs, Digital 8 Handycam camcorders, Digital Mavica cameras, DVD video players and Vaoi notebook personal computers. (AN)
