Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

You can think of the new Xcaster ST5000 from Pixavi as a really rugged webcam that’s not tethered to a laptop, allowing it to be used in a variety of in-the-field locations. It’s able to capture and stream high-def video and CD-quality sound over a number of different networking options including WiFi, WIMAX or even a satellite hook-up, and it will automatically encode the live feeds to a number of different codecs like H.264 and AAC.

It’s also built to survive a bit of abuse, with an aluminum body making it impact-proof and drop-proof even up to heights of 2 meters onto a concrete floor. And if that’s not enough, the company will be soon introducing a military-friendly version that’s also explosion proof. But at the moment you’ll have to settle with the ST5000 model which is expected to be available in May of this year for a reasonable $7,950. Oh did I say reasonable? I meant ludicrous.

[ PRWeb - Pixavi Releases Recession Proof Technology ] VIA [ Gizmo Watch ]

By David Ponce

Traveling can suck. It’s much more gratifying to sit in your leather throne in your corporate office and order your minions from a distance. Enter QA, from AnyBots, a $30,000 telepresence self-balancing robot that can take you (virtually) to your Singapore child labor camp precocious workforce facility and see how things are going without ever having to leave the comfort of wherever you call home. Once powered up, you log into QA and move it around at will. You face shows up in its chest, your voice is heard through its speakers and more importantly the look of abject subordination is seen (and transmitted back to you, live) on the face of your cowering middle-managers through its soulless camera-eyes. You can make it bend and look around, and even has a laser that you can use to point to things that need to be done.

QA has a battery life of 4 to 6 hours, depending on usage and can move around at speeds of up to 6mph. Currently the company is small and is looking for investors, or any sort of financial help that would allow it to streamline their manufacturing process and drop that kick-in-the-gut $30k price tag.

[ AnyBots ]