Technofile: If you bought a Robosapien robot for Christmas last year and it is now spending much of its time in the loft or garage, think again before being badgered by the kids into getting the next version.
Robosapien RS Media is out in time for Christmas (oh joy) and now features 67 different programmable movements, plays music and videos/photos on its chest, and is touch-sensitive - which will come in handy when I boot the annoying thing across the living room floor. A camera mounted on its head allows it to "see" (read: it can't see, it's just a camera). Upload data to it via a USB connector or plug in an SD card. For this privilege, you'll be charged about €445.
But if you want a robot that is actually useful, go get the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, the most successful domestic robot ever made (no, really). Sometimes tricky to find in Europe, perhaps you could get one on your next US trip.
The Roomba will start up, vacuum the floor, is low enough to go under a bed or other furniture, and will return to its charger automatically. If it gets stuck it stops and sings a mournful tone - not unlike myself in traffic. However, the best thing about the Roomba is that it has an electronic and software interface that allows you to control or modify its behaviour and remotely monitor its sensors. The upshot of this is being able to control it with your Bluetooth mobile phone. It's much more fun than a Robosapien.
Duck Fader is a rubber duck version of Darth Vader which shines spooky random colours when it hits the water. The Technofile desk makes no apologies for featuring this item, given that every jedi knight needs a little light-hearted fun now and again. See The Little Yellow Duck Company store on ebay.ie. Oh, and if you can't find it there, use the Force.
With 80 per cent broadband and 40 channels of TV available on the mobile phone, South Korea is perhaps the most digital nation on the planet. So keep your eye on mobiles coming out by Samsung, which is enjoying giving the likes of Nokia and Sony Ericsson a run for their money. The FX is a slider phone just 1.9cm thick with PDA functionality, Wi-Fi and digital TV reception. It also has a 2.4-inch colour screen, front-mounted VGA camera and a two megapixel camera on the rear. The only problem is it's only being released in South Korea for now - but it does give you a taste of things to come.
Just in case you hadn't heard, Microsoft's iPod-killer, Zune, launches in the US on November 14th. So far, we know that it will come pre-loaded with some music and video, and accessories are already starting to appear, enabling you to plug it into the car or TV. There's no sign yet of when it'll make it to this side of the pond.
Nokia might be "doing an Apple" by coming up with a product that will let you stream video from your phone onto a TV, as Apple plans with its iTV device in March. Quite what people will do with it is anyone's guess, but I can hazard that, as camera phones improve, it's going to be simpler to shoot video or take snaps and then show them on the TV than have to print them out. A concept that Kodak's share price recently displayed quite neatly with a nasty jolt downwards.
