Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Robots get smooth moves
Life, James Hein, Published on 25/03/2026
» The subject of the week is robots. The amount of news on these keeps growing and growing. South Korea is first up here with their KAIST Humanoid. In the field test, the robot was shown running across a soccer pitch, jumping, taking shots on goal, and even doing dance moves akin to the Michael Jackson moonwalk. Many robot demonstrations still look a bit stiff but these moves were quite smooth. The robot can run at about 12kph on flat ground with the next goal at 14kph. It can climb a ladder with 40cm steps and the knees can generate 320 Newton metres of peak torque so it can push heavier objects. The current model is based on the lower human half but the goal is for a full humanoid form that can work with people in industrial environments.
The new year will see incremental growth in IT sector
Life, James Hein, Published on 05/01/2022
» Here we are in a bright and shiny new year. Let's see what this one might bring.
Prediction hits and misses for 2021
Life, James Hein, Published on 22/12/2021
» It is time once again to look back at 2021 to see what happened and how my predictions panned out.
The benefits and risks of neural interfaces
Life, James Hein, Published on 17/02/2021
» This week is dedicated to the brain-computer interface, or BCI. For some time now, sci-fi movies and TV series have presented the idea of a mind-to-computer interface that controls technology, retrieves information and displays it on virtual screens. Meanwhile, in the background, a number of companies have been working on this and the technology is close to realising some of the outcomes only seen in fiction so far.
Users won't flip for Samsung's new phone
Life, James Hein, Published on 26/02/2020
» There is a lot of interest in the new Samsung Galaxy flip phone. It's cheaper than the last model, not a difficult target. As mentioned previously it opens like the old flip phones, not like a book. The hinge is better, as is the dust protection, but with this design you will always be swiping your finger across the fold. It is no larger than a regular smartphone so that wow of a bigger screen is not there anymore. At the price point I just can't see how this is an attractive unit to get.