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Adorable home robot Kuri is being discontinued
Cute mechanical companion Kuri is no more. In a blog post published today, manufacturer Mayfield Robotics said that operations have been paused while it evaluates the company's future, and that pre-orders of the adorable home robot will not be filled (all pre-order deposits will be refunded).
'Solo' is Star Wars’ toothless confrontation of robot rights
Major spoilers for Solo ahead. The most interesting character in Solo is a robot. L3-37, voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), is a free-thinking, loudmouthed droid who introduces an entirely new concept into the Star Wars universe: robot rights. From the beginning, droids like R2-D2 and C-3PO were presented as beings with thoughts and personalities of their own. But they also served masters and faced blatant anti-droid sentiment, such as from the barkeep who refused to serve their kind in Episode IV. And they were forced to obey humans through restraining bolts, which limited their cognitive functions. We've been empathizing with Star Wars' droids for decades, but the films haven't asked us to consider their place in the world until Solo.
Sphero’s R2-Q5 ‘Star Wars’ droid is basically a goth R2-D2
Sphero just announced a new app-controlled robot a few days ago, the Mini, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have anything else in the works. The company has now revealed the latest member of its Star Wars family, R2-Q5, the Empire's version of the beloved R2-D2 character. As is the case with all of Sphero's toys, you can take charge of R2-Q5 via its Droids app for iOS and Android, where you'll be able to drive it, hear it make sounds and use it to play various mini games. You'll need to act fast if you want one for yourself: Sphero says the number of R2-Q5 numbers made is in the "low thousands," and Best Buy has an exclusive on it in the US, while John Lewis has that honor in the UK. Pre-orders are open now for $200/£200, with shipping expected to happen November 5th.
Making your own functioning R2-D2 is a labor of love
Last year at CES, I remember seeing a life-size, fully functioning R2-D2 unit (minus the Leia hologram, sadly). I assumed it was hired out from a professional movie props unit or something similar; now I'm not so sure. Walking around SX Create -- the maker faire section at SXSW -- I bumped into not one, but two equally well-made replicas only to find they were handmade. In fact, there's an entire club -- funnily enough, called R2-D2 Builders -- dedicated to making them. What's more, the models I saw were built using a veritable menagerie of weird and wonderful items, including a good old lazy susan. But that doesn't mean building your own R2 comes cheap, or is a project for the faint-hearted.
ICYMI: Feedback flex screen, cyborg Olympics and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-580621{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-580621, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-580621{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-580621").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers built a prototype flexible display smart device with tactile feedback to actually use the bendable display for control within apps. Actev Motors has a new $600 go-cart for kids that has smart sensors that keeps it from crashing into things, and a parental control app that sets miles per hour limits. And to a person, we are so excited for the upcoming Zurich Cybathalon event next fall. In it, people with physical handicaps can compete in Olympic-like events designed for electric wheelchairs, exoskeleton suits and the like. We are also tickled by this video of a Star Wars droid translation helmet, so hopefully you enjoy it as well. As always, please share any interesting science or tech videos, anytime! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.
Adorable new 'Star Wars' droid proves it's not CGI
When the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released, the internet lost its collective mind. Not only were people up in arms over the fact that a stormtrooper could be *gasp* black, but also nobody could believe that this incredible rolling droid, dubbed the BB-8, was actually real. It must be CGI, right? Well, during today's Star Wars Celebration convention in Anaheim, California, the BB-8 made its first real-life debut by rolling onstage to riotous applause from the crowd. Check out the video below to see the BB-8 and the venerable R2-D2 engage in a beeping, tweeting chirp battle.
Disney's retelling the 'Star Wars' film saga with Legos
There isn't a way to turn back time and prevent the Star Wars prequels from ever releasing (just ask Cher), but maybe Disney XD's upcoming crack at them could make the flicks palatable. You see, the channel is prepping the launchpad for The Force Awakens' December release with a Lego retelling of the entire story so far. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales will recount the narrative in five, 22-minute episodes, as told from the viewpoint of chatterbox C-3PO and his stubby companion R2D2 in a "brand new story."
SWTOR: Starship operator's guide
Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of an actual, factual, interstellar starship! Or you soon will be, assuming that you're planning to play Star Wars: The Old Republic. Starships have captured the imaginations of Star Wars fans for over three decades now, as the Millennium Falcon, Luke's X-Wing, Boba Fett's Slave-1, and Knights of the Old Republic's Ebon Hawk have become geek cultural icons. It's not Star Wars without the stars, after all, which is why BioWare will be handing you the keys to your very own starship as part of your SWTOR journey. But what does that entail? There's a lot of confusion and misinformation swirling about starships, which is unfortunate. SWTOR's starships are part player housing, part combat vehicle, and part story platform, and that combination lacks an easy analogue in other MMOs. That's why you've got this handy holocron with all of the starship "must knows" to aid your initial voyage to the stars! Coordinates for the jump are plotted. Punch it, reader!
BioWare releases new TOR inhabitants entries
It may be the biggest shopping day of the year, but that hasn't stopped BioWare from coming through with its traditional Friday update for The Old Republic. Today's calibrated leak focuses on some new inhabitants made available in the Holonet database: the terentatek, the vine cat, the Sith pureblood, the M3-M1 med droid and the S3-F5 probe droid. Staying true to our fanboy training, we jumped right to the Sith pureblood page and found out that this humanoid is a descendant of the original Sith species and features a long history of involvement with the dark side of the Force. The rate of Force sensitivity among purebloods is near 100 percent, and these individuals exhibit many of the visual characteristics of the original Sith race. Check out the Holonet inhabitants page for more info.
Get over $1000 worth of pen-and-paper RPGs for donating $20 to Haiti
Like tabletop RPGs and want to help Haiti? That should include every single one of you. Otherwise, get off this site right now and go roll yourself a 20-sided die and see how much fun it is. Then come back, and go donate $20 to Doctors Without Borders through the Gamers Helping Haiti program on DriveThruRPG.com. Just by throwing a Jackson in the pot, you'll get the chance to download $1481.31 worth of old school pen-and-paper RPG rulebooks, scenarios, campaign settings and addendums. That's more orcs, droids, bards, free actions and critical hits than you'll ever need in your entire lifetime! The set includes the full Serenity RPG, the Castlemourn campaign setting and full sets of rules for both pirate- and zombie-based roleplaying games, among about a million other little RPG related downloads. Not to mention that by donating, you're helping out the cause of Doctors without Borders in Haiti, and you don't have to be watching CNN to know that those folks need all of the bonuses to Strength they can get these days. What are you waiting for? Don't roll for initiative -- just go do it! [via The Escapist]
The Digital Continuum: Let the Star Wars races begin
I've been holding off on this for a little while, but it's the kind of subject that is impossible for me to avoid indefinitely. Classes were the last topic I touched upon, and there was quite a lot of conversation. In fact, there was a whole bunch of it to follow. So let's discuss the potential races for Star Wars: The Old Republic and, as usual, feel free to toss in your thoughts and picks in the comments. It wouldn't be the same without them.
Star Wars Galaxies Update 12 patch notes released
While attention might be shifting towards Star Wars: The Old Republic, Star Wars: Galaxies is still going strong and SOE yesterday released an extensive set of patch notes for Update 12, focusing primarily on Engineering Traders. These include an obscene number of new droids for you to play with. Some are now craftable by Engineers, there are droids for battle and some (but not all) even have decals, allowing you to change how your mechanical companions will look. On top of this, Engineers will now be able to craft cybernetic parts including hands, arms, legs and torsos. To commemorate this addition, every player will get an odd little gift when they log on: a holographic display depicting the cybernetic arm of everybody's favourite Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Weird but also kind of cool. The update will also contain new quest content for level 50 characters, two new vehicles and various bug fixes. For a full list, we suggest you head on over to the official site and check out the patch notes for yourselves.
Threat of Peace issue 8 could be dropping hints
Star Wars: The Old Republic's free online comic, Threat of Peace, has reached issue number eight and finally introduced one of those lovable droids. It's safe to say that so far throughout this storyline, many of the prominent characters and their prospective races featured in this comic have the potential to be in-game racial options. Humans, Twi'leks and Wookiees have all been popular thus far, and now it looks like droids may in fact be a possibility. It's positively delightful!Of course, races that have seen the limelight in Threat of Peace aren't the only signs of things to come. Bounty Hunters and Troopers both received notable attention. Whether or not this sets any kind of reasonable precedent is something we'll leave up to you, however.
New screenshots and concept art released for The Old Republic
BioWare sure has been busy with The Old Republic lately, as we can see from an impressive amount of new concept art and screenshots released by the company late yesterday. With eight new images in each category, this reinforces our speculation that this game might just be a little further along than we're led to believe.In the concept art gallery, some samples include a detailed Republic Troop Transport, a Jedi Lightsaber, Sith Blaster Rifles, a Wraid and more. In the screenshots gallery, we see some amazing shots of Droids, Sand of Korriban, a Tython village and more. Check out both galleries linked below with new and old images, and check out BioWare's main site for more information on each piece.%Gallery-35034%%Gallery-35033%
