purtiest pictures of 'bots you'

The Big Picture releases the purtiest pictures of 'bots you're likely to ever see

We were already fans of The Big Picture, a series of pictorial articles hosted by The Boston Globe. Now that they've tossed in a bunch of high resolution shots of robots, however, we're absolutely in love.

Readers of DVICE will recognize many of the 'bots featured in TBP's retrospective. Take Wakamaru, for instance, which went from greeting guests at UNIQLO to acting on stage. There's also the da Vinci robotic surgical system, the HAL exoskeleton and even that crazy fire rescue robot that scoops you up. and devours you to save you.

Check out the gallery below for some of our favorites from the retrospective, and head on over to The Big Picture for much, much more.

Poland based advertising

Pawel Fabjanski is Poland based advertising and editorial photographer, it's fantastic the way he takes an urban style into most of his work and merge it into awesome fashion photos.

Bite on internet TV

Given just how few Europeans are actually biting on pay-HDTV, we suppose we're not too surprised to see the results from Parks Associates Research's latest study. In looking at a number of European nations, the firm found that some 80 percent of broadband households "prefer a more traditional option for viewing video, including going to the cinema or watching a DVD." John Barrett, director of research at the company, noted that it "will be difficult for companies to sell video streams and downloads to consumers in Europe when there is this undercurrent of reluctance." Of course, we're not sure we believe all this doom and gloom -- surely it's just a matter of time before Euro cable companies are pulling the same trick as Comcast and TWC are looking to do. Or, so we hope.

Shawn Marion thinks Blu-ray Discs are too expensive

You think it's tough pulling the trigger on a few new Blu-ray Discs each Tuesday on a "middle-class" budget? Try being a millionaire. In a recent interview with The National Post, when asked about transitioning his massive DVD collection to Blu-ray, the recently traded Shawn Marion of the NBA had this to say: "Hell, no! Blu-ray [Discs] cost too much. They cost like 35, 40 bucks apiece. I'm going to stick with the $19.99s. $14.99, $19.99, widescreen, I'm good." He then followed that up with a quip that "high-definition" was "all that he needed," further suggesting that an HD DVR and an upscaling DVD player was good enough for even the most wealthy among us. We know this guy isn't representative of the masses, but seriously, you studios should take a listen.

Sensio secures key US patent for 3D

Sensio sure is racking up the support of late, first being deemed an official (albeit optional) 3D standard by the DVD Forum, and now nabbing a crucial US patent on its way to three-dee domination. The patent reportedly covers the distribution and formatting technology of stereoscopic contents on different 2D or 3D screens, which is a method that the company has developed and marketed for years. Nicholas Routhier, the company's president and CEO, proudly noted that "with this patent in hand and the recently announced developments, we believe that we have significantly increased our chances to become the 3D distribution standard for the consumer market." Of course, Panasonic would likely love to argue that very point, so we'd go ahead and get prepared for yet another format war just in case these two really do drop the gloves.

Slumdog Millionaire goes to Blu-ray disc

Fresh off an Academy Awards Best Picture win (beating out Blu-ray sales king & BD screened The Dark Knight), Fox is dropping Slumdog Millionaire into homes quickly, with a DVD / Blu-ray release planned March 31. Beyond being an incredible award-winning film, it's reportedly one of the first winners filmed mostly in digital, which should let the 1080p transfer with English or Hindi 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtracks come through exactly as the director intended. Also included are three Blu-ray disc exclusive features (From Script To Screen: Toilet Scene, Indian Short Film - Manjha, Bombay Liquid Dance Music Video) and a digital copy.

Hulu blocks boxee browser entirely

As a wise man once said: "Damn, that's just cold, son." Merely hours after boxee announced its latest alpha build along with RSS feed support for Hulu, said video portal has now blocked off boxee's browser entirely from accessing its content. If you'll recall, boxee saw a huge increase in interest when it first added easy access to Hulu, and once Hulu demanded that it be removed, boxee sadly complied. The latest move just seems "cold blooded," as now boxee users who attempt to surf over via a Hulu RSS feed link will be greeted with an infinite amount of nothing. boxee is quick to point out that its browser doesn't access Hulu content "any differently" than IE, Firefox, Opera or any other browser, which does a good job of explaining just how deliberate this move is. Needless to say, we get the feeling this bout is just getting started.

Samsung gets fancy

Considering that we can't even pronounce the HDTV lineup we're referring too here, we'll assume these are simply made to be enjoyed by a finer class of individuals. All jesting aside (sort of...), the Bordeaux PAVV Fabrizio 650 lineup that just landed in Korea contains two newcomers: a 40- and 46-incher, both of which sport full 1080p panels and 120Hz dejudder technology. They also include DLNA support and an integrated USB port alongside four HDMI 1.3 sockets and your favorite glass of wine. There's no mention of a price or US release date, but those with friends in high places probably needn't worry.

Do you watch internet-based TV

With all the crazy Hulu / boxee happenings this week, it got us thinking -- how many of you out there are really into web-based content? By and large, most of what's on the tubes isn't available in "real" HD (read: broadcast quality), but we get the feeling that the convenience factor may still be drawing some of you in. Is this the case? Are you sold on internet TV? The pay-TV providers sure believe that you are, regardless.

Fast & Furious

When you're on, you're on. After notching its best ever quarter in terms of sales, D-BOX has just landed yet another huge win. Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious -- which is slated to ignite a new generation of street racers who compete for gas money rather than pink slips -- will be the first major theatrical feature release with the company's Motion Code technology written in. 'Til now, Motion Code had been mostly restricted to at-home films and video games, but now moviegoers who can find a D-BOX-equipped cinema can enjoy this film while feeling all the vibrations and rumbles as the engines rev and the egos flair. Something tells us this kind of occurrence will only get more and more common.

iPhone to Match Your Kicks

Would you buy an iPhone case to match your shoes? I wouldn't, but I'd certainly buy shoes to match my iPhone. This $35 copper/green number from Incase will be available "soon."

BMW designs PC case for Thermaltake

This new case for the fashion-forward PC gamer was dreamt up by the design wizards at BMW's Designworks USA. Instead of throwing all the components in what essentially amounts to one big box (like practically every other case), Thermaltake's Level 10 sees all the machine's components -- mobo, hard drives, optical drives, and so forth -- seated in their own compartments. Constructed mainly from aluminum, this guy will make its official debut at Computex in early June. In the meantime, hit the read link for some more spy photos taken on the floor at CeBIT.

GE's G3WP waterproof point

Of all the 12.2 megapixel cameras we've seen from General Imaging this week, this is certainly one of them. But that ain't all -- it's waterproof up to 10 feet! Pretty awesome, right? The G3 WP fits in nicely with the rest of the new GE-branded lineup, including 4x optical zoom, auto scene detection, and pan-capture panorama. This guy sports a 2.7-inch LCD and ambient light sensor, with no word yet on price or availability. And to its credit, it does look more like a camera than our other waterproof offering this week. Additional pic and PR after the break.

Solestrom's new nano-bikini

Last year the brain trust in Zurich announced their high-tech leisure suit that never gets wet, and now Solestrom International (the UV-detecting bikini company) has announced its own water-repellent nano-material. Called Sun Dry, each fiber of the new fabric is surrounded by an invisible barrier that allows water to pass through it rather than being absorbed into it. Essentially, the swimwear can't soak up liquid, is resistant to chlorine, and is rated SPF 50. Running the gamut from black to maroon to red, the clothing is in the $29 - $99 price range. Perfect for your next trip to Rockaway Beach.

Prius of phones

It's not the first Swiss watchmaker to decide to get into the phone game, but Ulysse Nardin's upcoming Chairman could very well take both the "most like a watch" and "most insanely badass" crowns when it's officially unveiled at Baselworld later this month. Billed as a "hybrid smart phone," the handset -- which, we assure you, you can't afford -- will incorporate a visible, fully-functional kinetic rotor that will apparently assist in providing power, just like you might find in a mechanical wristwatch. Beyond that, we know that it'll be unlocked, will be limited to just 1,846 pieces, and that Vertu should be feeling the heat right about now. Look for full details around March 26 when Baselworld kicks off, so in the meantime, get to work selling your car, your home, your children, and your soul, but not necessarily in that order. Depends on how deeply you love your car.

Mimi switch relies on facial expression

technology were a bit much -- even for the hardened tech blogger. Sure, the Mimi Switch is quite clever: instead of relying on your fingers, this remote control uses an earbud containing infrared sensors that measure the inner ear movements resulting from various facial expressions. "An iPod can start or stop music when the wearer sticks his tongue out," says the inventor, Kazuhiro Taniguchi of For some reason, whenever gadgetry and smiling cross paths, things tend to get a little creepy. Where the smile trainer was mostly a curiosity, the Orwellian implications of the Okao CatchOsaka University. Sounds innocent? Not so fast. The device can also be used to monitor your facial expressions for the appropriate levels of cheerfulness. "If it judges that you aren't smiling enough," the inventor goes on to say, "it may play a cheerful song." Or if you're smiling too much, the thing can be programmed to play some latter-day Depeche Mode. That always bums us out.

Topps launches 3D Live baseball

Put aside those Pokeman or Bakugan cards kids, Topps is back with a vengeance in an attempt to woo Internet bred sophisti-tots back into collecting baseball cards. Right, Topps, the company that pre-dates Human Growth Hormone abuse and packs a nostalgic smack of dusty pink sticks of chewing gum is back in the game, this time with some help from former Disney exec Michael Eisner. Just hold the special 3D Live card in front of a webcam and watch a three-dimensional avatar spring to life -- rotate the card and the figure rotates in full perspective. The technology provided by Total Immersion also allows collectors to drop the player into simple pitching, batting and catching games using the computer keyboard. Series 1 cards will cost $2 for a 12-pack while a buck snags a fistful of five. The 3D Live series will eventually feature video. Click through for a video demonstration -- trust us, you'll be amazed at what they've done.

Romain Jerome's watch

It's all here: alien remains, the Yucca Flat tracks of a US Air Force collection vehicle, and the exploded gears of an unearthly aircraft. No, this hellish landscape is not some declassified aerial view taken aboard a Janet Airlines flight. Rather, it's the latest watch face from Romain Jerome's Moon Dust-DNA collection. Unfortunately, the price of The Truth About Roswell watch is all very hush-hush as you'd expect from a Swiss-crafted watch limited to a 9 piece run. Now hurry up and check the un-cropped image after the break -- we're expecting the authorities any second.

Samsung HDTV

Despite a sudden lack of support, the plasma ain't dead yet. Just days after announcing its ritzy new Bordeaux PAVV Fabrizio 650 LCD HDTVs over in South Korea, the same company has introduced a new line catering to the unshakable PDP fans across the globe. The Fabrizio PAVV 450 Series includes a 42- and 50-inch version with Sammy's own Crystal Engine, 0.001 millisecond response time, "Mega Contrast," and a trio of HDMI sockets. Outside of that, details are still being kept under wraps, but hopefully we'll know more after these get a US ship date. Wait, these are coming to America, right Samsung?

Philips Master LED light

Philips has been hitting us with some out-there lighting concepts lately, but the company's Master LED light bulb is actually already on sale in Europe and is set to brighten up Stateside lives around July. The 40W-equivalent bulbs should run between $50 and $70, and expected lifetime is set at 45,000 hours -- just slightly more than a CFL's 10,000 or a standard bulb's 750 hours. The Master is certainly a damn sight nicer looking than the other mutant LED bulbs we've seen, but we'll see if consumers are ready to jump on another more-expensive-upfront lighting tech so soon after CFLs have hit the mainstream.

G-Map iPhone

While the world waits for a tried-and-true navigation app from Apple, XRoad is taking advantage of the situation by offering up its G-Map app in the interim. Kicking Tires decided to take the new software for a spin, and while the map quality took a pretty harsh beating, the overall offering was highly praised. More specifically, not every street name was present during testing, meaning that you had to rely implicitly on the turn-by-turn instructions if you weren't familiar with your surroundings. Outside of that, however, it seemed to nail all the important points. Accuracy, routing, ease of use and design were all smiled upon, and it seems critics gave the street name snafu a bit of a break with the hope of future updates solving the issues. If you're still a touch hesitant to drop your hard-earned cash, give that read link a gentle tap.

Dell Latitude E6400 XFR

We've always been drawn to the rugged Latitude E6400 ATG, and now we're even more in love -- Dell just announced the second-gen Latitude E6400 XFR. Carrying on in the tradition of the Latitude XFR D630, this newest model is a little more visually amped up than its all-business Latitude roots would suggest, and we'd say some showing off is in order -- not only can the XFR handle the DoD's MIL-STD 810F heat, dust and vibration requirements, the PR481 "ballistic" armor provides twice the impact protection of magnesium alloy and the whole thing is well-sealed enough to handle direct blasts of pressurized water. Inside, you're looking at a Core 2 Duo paired up with both a 256MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M and an integrated Intel 4500MHD driving a sunlight-readable 14.1-inch WXGA display, all in a 2.2-inch thick and 8.5-pound package that's 15 percent thinner and 5 percent lighter than the previous XFR. Yeah, we want one. No detailed pricing yet, but you'll have to save quite a few pennies to get rough with this one -- the starting number is $4,299. Hit up a bunch of pics in the gallery and head after the break for a promo video of the XFR taking quite a beating.

Apple's touch-screen notebook

Yesterday's Apple netbook rumor courtesy of the Commercial Times / DigiTimes combo just received a boost of credibility by sources (presumably independent) speaking to the Dow Jones Newswire. Citing "two people close to the situation," the DJ pretty much regurgitates the same info: Wintek will provide the touch-screen display which Quanta will manufacture into an Apple netbook as early as the second half of the year. The only new bit of information is the screen size said to be between 9.7 and 10-inches.

Sony's panorama-shooting DSC-HX1 camera

If you're looking to craft an epic, 1,500 megapixel panorama image, something like the Gigapan Imager is your best bet. But, for those of us who want to capture a little wide-angle action and then move on before the tour bus abandons us, Sony's upcoming DSC-HX1 could be the solution. The nine megapixel shooter, releasing in April, comes with a unique (for the moment) panorama mode that allows it to capture 224-degree horizontal or 154-degree vertical shots automatically. Just push the shutter release and then slowly sweep the 20x lens across that wondrous vista before you. The camera internally fuses everything together to create a single 7152 x 1080 image; no post-processing required. It's demonstrated in a video below (on a quaint little diorama), and while $500 is on the pricey side for a non-SLR digi cam, if you've ever tried to stitch photos manually you might think it money well spent -- assuming it still works that well without a tripod.