David Lidsky's Blog, page 4652

Vgo Telepresence Bot Revealed: A Whole Remote-Working Day of Battery

We mentioned Vgo, the telepresence bot yesterday, as being possibly the first truly viable remote-working avatar robot we've seen, though we didn't know much about how he worked. Then the folks at Vgo revealed some data to us, and drove the point home.

Vgo's actually carefully scaled to be ergonomic. He's four foot high from the ground, placing your avatar video feed at a useful height for interacting with people who are either walking around the physical office, or sitting at a desk in a...

Jeff Koons and BMW Unveil Art Car at Paris Le Mans

The 17th BMW Art Car was unveiled in France yesterday, two months after artist Jeff Koons had previewed it before the world's media. Originally a 3D computer-aided design, it's lost a dimension, been printed onto vinyl and wrapped around an M3 GT2 Beemer, ready for next weekend's 24-Hour Race at Le Mans, where it will be driven by Andy Priaulx, and two Dirks, Muller and Werner.

Sonic booms, light explosions and Christmas lights were, apparently, Koons' inspiration, and it looks even better...

Steve Jobs on Google TV, PC's Demise, Theft, Extortion, Sex, and More at D8

Steve Jobs lived up to the hype at D8 on Tuesday, forecasting a dim future for PCs and Google TV, offering candid comments on the Gizmodo iPhone incident, and more.

Thrown by All Things D and hosted by the Wall Street Journal's head tech writer, Walt Mossberg, this year's D conference (the eighth, hence "D8") is the first since 2007 in which Jobs has participated. Given the media attention, you'd think Jobs was the only one speaking.

Jobs began by noting that while Apple surpassing Microsoft...

Disney's Toy Story 3 Promotion Uses Facebook to Bug Your Friends Into Hanging Out With You

Disney's Tickets Together, as reported by the New York Times, is a new and oddly quiet promotion from the media giant to attempt to prop up movie ticket sales, starting with the impossibly-highly-anticipated Toy Story 3. If you go to the Toy Story 3 page on Facebook, you'll be able to buy tickets early. Great, right?

Except it's actually sort of weird. If you do buy tickets through Facebook, the action will trigger certain promotional tactics through your Facebook account. It'll try to prod...

AT&T Opens the Floodgates With Tiered Smartphone and iPad Data Plans

Unlimited smartphone data plans were never sustainable. As data use outstrips voice, as smartphones get ever more capable, and as the Internet introduces more data-intensive applications, it became clear that wireless carriers could simply not afford unlimited plans. High-def video streaming from Netflix and Hulu are on the way, and two-way video chat is already here (on the HTC Evo 4G), for example.

So tiered data plans were a given. Verizon explained the "buckets" tactic the company plans...

Steve Jobs at D8: On Google, Microsoft, the Stolen iPhone, and What He Does All Day

Thrown by All Things D and hosted by the Wall Street Journal's head tech writer, Walt Mossberg, this year's D conference (the eighth, hence "D8") is the first since 2007 in which Steve Jobs has participated. Given the media attention, you'd think Jobs was the only one speaking, but he lived up to his billing with a forthright and interesting interview.

Jobs began by noting that while Apple surpassing Microsoft in market valuation is "surreal," "it doesn't really mean anything." He batted...

Mercedes-Benz's Latest: "Protection Class" Armored Vehicles

The German automaker unveils four new vehicles intended for the military.

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Mercedes-Benz is muscling into the defense business: Today the German automaker has announced four new, heavily armored models. The concepts will be first shown on June 11th at Eurosatory, a European trade show for the defense industry.

All of the machines are geared toward modern wars, and the need for nimble all-terrain vehicles rather than tanks: The Actros 4151 AK, pictured above, is an eight-wheeled, all-wheel...

Deconfusinator: How HP Laying Off 9,000 Staff Is Actually a Good Thing

HP's just sent shivers through the tech media by announcing 9,000 layoffs in its IT servicing business. Aren't we just clear of the recession, and didn't HP just fork over lots of cash for smartphone maker Palm? Let's try to de-confuse this news.

HP's layoffs are actually scheduled to take place over a couple of years, so it's not quite as harsh a move as it would appear right from the start. The job losses are also part of a bigger $1 billion "restructuring" package, so they're not...

This Is the Telepresence Droid You've Been Looking For

Telepresence droids may be in the news at the mo, but previous efforts have looked comedic and been obscenely expensive. Enter Vgo, with a sci-fi-ish name, sleek ready-for-TV looks and a price that's less than an arm and a leg's worth.

Vgo's made, suitably enough, by Vgo Communications Inc., and he's a telepresence droid in the mold of several that have gone before. The idea of the robot is that he can take your physical place in meetings, or even just roaming the corridors of your office...

Justice Department Begins Criminal Investigation Into BP Oil Disaster

[image error]Image by Ryan Marshall

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating BP for any criminal and
civil wrongdoing related to the thousands of gallons of crude oil still
gushing into the Gulf of Mexico following a April 20 rupture at the
Deepwater Horizon well, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced at
a news conference in New Orleans today.

BP will be investigated for violations of the Clean Water Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Endangered
Species Act,
and the Oil
Pollution Act of...