HP Slate flaunts Flash capability in a new video [HP]

That HP also has a Slate in stock for us is no secret especially since its debut at the CES back in January. However, with this new clip we are assured it will be capable of Flash and AIR. No doubt it is good sales point but still depends… Is it good enough bait for you to go for HP Slate instead of Apple’s iPad?

And as to this HP Windows 7 Slate commercial, it was released around the time of the CES. However, watching it now is more meaningful as you can see yourself amused by the reminiscence of it to the iPad’s commercial.

[Akihabaranews.com]

8-bit CPU with 4KB of RAM apes iPhone interface

Watching this video, it doesn’t seem very much more than a demo for a rather anonymous-looking little touchscreen device, a PMP prototype maybe. Then you find out that the whole thing is running an 8-bit processor with 4KB of RAM. Touchscreen tricks like scrolling momentum are implemented perfectly well, and there appears to be little or no lag. Pac-Man runs at 60fps, which is more than I can say for the version on my G1.
The touchscreen is salvaged from an off-brand PMP, and the CPU is a 12Mhz Atmega644 — not something I’m familiar with, but I trust the author when he says it’s about 3% of the speed of an iPhone. And it’ll render a polyhedron (though I doubt it can texture it).
The question this brings up for me is why aren’t all interfaces so snappy at this point? I understand there’s more going on under the hood in a smartphone than in a demo application like this thing, but seriously, I’m going to have lag when I hit the home button on a CPU faster than the one I had in my PC a few years ago? Make it better.
[CrunchGear via MAKE]

Robot arms demonstrate their physical aptitude again, this time with Fanta

It’s not enough that they make ramen, juggle, and play catch — now robot arms need to play with their food? This robot arm on the right is teasing the one on the left. Want a Fanta? You can’t have one! Your feeble manipulator navigates this six-pack in vain.

These feats are child’s play for a robot designed for precision maneuvers. Just picture this, now: instead of a six-pack, it’s navigating the smoking rubble of one of humanity’s underground hiding places — you know, after the Robocalypse. A fraction of a second after it bursts into the room, it inputs the locations of all the faces, programs a path for its rapid-fire laser cannon, and…. boom, headshots.

[CrunchGear via BotJunkie and Gizmodo]