Michigan State University (MSU) has unveiled a newly updated Robofish they have designed and built, which has the ability to glide through water practically indefinitely.

The Robofish has been created by Xiaobo Tan, MSU associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and uses little to no energy, while its gathers information about the pollution in the water its swimming through.

Robofish is equipped with an array of sensors measure water temperature, quality and other pertinent facts, in the latest update its creators have also renamed it calling the creation Grace, stands for "Gliding Robot ACE.”. Xiaobo Tan explains a little more about his creation:

"Swimming requires constant flapping of ... Read more »

Today Rockstar Games has announced that the final Max Payne 3 DLC will be arriving on January 22nd 2013, which will be available to Rockstar Pass owners at no extra charge.

The new Max Payne 3 DLC called Deathmatch Made in Heaven Pack will include a new co-op and competitive modes, and will be the first time co-op has ever been included with any Max Payne game.

Max Payne 3 DLC called Deathmatch Made in Heaven

The Max Payne 3 DLC Deathmatch Made in Heaven Pack will be available in the European PlayStation ... Read more »

Genius have this week taken the wraps off their new Genius Gila Professional gaming mouse, which they have equipped with a massive 12 buttons, allowing you to make sure all your most important commands are within easy reach.

The Genius Gila gaming mouse is also equipped with LED lighting and features a metallic finish, together with the ability to create 72 macro combinations using its 12 buttons.

The Genius Gila gaming mouse is also equipped with five levels of precision from 200dpi right up to 8200dpi, and is fitted with a small compartment on its base to accept 4.5g weights allowing you to add or remove up to 6 weights to get the perfect balance.

The new Genius Gila Professional gaming mouse is now a ... Read more »

We first heard about the new flagship Android smartphone from HTC, the HTC M7 back in December, earlier in the week we saw a photo of the device along with a photo of HTC’s new custom UI HTC Sense 5.0.

Now we have another photo of the HTC M7, this one gives us a better look at the device, which is rumored to come with a 4.7 inch full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

The HTC M7 will apparently come with Android Jelly Bean and will be powered by a quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, clocked at 1.7GHz, and the handset will also feature 2GB of RAM and 32GB of built in storage.

Other specifications on the HTC M7 include dual cameras, with a front facing 2 megapixel camera which is capable of full HD video in 1080p, and a rear facing 13 megapixel camera with an f/2. ... Read more »

Microsoft has launched a new Disaster Relief application this week called HelpBridge, which has been created to simplify the process of notifying loved ones by simultaneously sending an e-mail and SMS to the communities you select & posting a message to your Facebook wall.  Watch the video by Microsoft after the jump to learn more about the HelpBridge project and see it in action.

"When a disaster strikes, those not immediately impacted often want to help. HelpBridge makes that easy by connecting you with some of the world’s leading disaster relief organizations and by providing multiple ways to help – text-to-give donations, larger contributions via PayPal, and goods donations.”

If you’d prefer to give you ... Read more »

Last week we heard about the new Kogan Agora, which is a budget Android smartphone, and now it would appear that the handset will be launching in the US and will retail for $149.

The Kogan Ago comes with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and features a 5 inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, processing is in the form of a dual core Cortex A9 processor clocked at 1GHz.

Other specifications on the Kogan Agora include 512MB of RAM and features 4GB of built in memory, there is also a microSD card slot that can take up to 32GB cards, plus a microUSB port and a 2,000 mAh battery.

The Kogan Agora also comes with dual cameras, up front we have a 0.3 megapixel camera for video chat, on the back we have a 5 megapixel camera with an LED flash, the handset will be avail ... Read more »

Samsung and Apple are in the middle of a number of lawsuits around the world, and now a Dutch court has ruled in Samsung’s favor, a court in The Hague has decided that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet does not infringe on the design of Apple’s iPad.

The Dutch court ruled that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 do not infringe on Apple’s design for the iPad, the court also looked at recent rulings from the British court which also ruled in Samsung’s favor.

Samsung may have won this one, but the two companies are still engaged in a number of different lawsuits, and we are still waiting to find out what is happening with the $1 billion in damaged that Apple was awarded by Samsung in a US court.

Source ... Read more »

Ainol has this week added a new addition to their range of Android tablets, in the form of the newly launched Ainol Novo 7 Venus, which is available to purchase for around $140.

The Ainol Novo 7 Venus tablet id equipped with a 7 inch capacitive multitouch IPS display sporting a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, powered by a quad-core ATM7029 processor , supported by 1GB of RAM.

Graphics are looked after with a Vivante GC1000 processor and 16GB of onboard storage is provided together with 2 megapixel back-facing camera and 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera, all run by Google’s latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system.

The Ainol Novo 7 Venus Android 4.1 Tablet is ... Read more »

Asus are well know for producing Android devices, like the hugely popular Nexus 7 tablet for Google, but now it would appear that Asus are considering another mobile OS as well as Android, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 platform.

According to a recent report by the WSJ, Asus are thinking about releasing devices that will run Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8, and they are even thinking about releasing a Windows Phone powered Padfone.

"With our Padfone concept, the phone plus tablet, I think it makes sense for Windows 8″

As yet we do not have any details about any specific hardware, and also no details on when we will see the first Windows Phone devices from Asus, as soon as we get some more information we will let you guys know.

Source ... Read more »

Microsoft have commissioned the Aria Group who specialise in created replica cars for Hollywood movies to create a new Halo Warthog vehicle as used in the newly released Halo game created by 343 Industries.

Its not the first time Microsoft has commissioned a Warthog to be made and a few years ago asked special effects company WETA to create and build a fully working replica Warthog vehicle from the Halo universe.

The new Halo Warthog created by the Aria Group is packed with details and measures an impressive 8 feet tall, 8 feet wide and more than 17 feet long, and is equipped with 49 inch tyres.

The new Halo Warthog is based on the chassis of a Hummer H1, and was commissioned by 343 Industries, a subsidiary of Micr ... Read more »

If you are looking for a new game to play on your Android devices, a new game which has launched today in the Google Play Store called Gene Effect might be worth more investigation if you like futuristic space themed games.

Gene Effect for Android is a side scrolling action-adventure, at allows you to explore ancient alien mines on the planet Kratos, collecting resources on your way through deep mines and fighting against natural phenomena, biological threats and mechanical devices. Watch the video after the jump to see it in action.

"Gene Effect takes place in the not so distant future. Mankind explores space using an ancient technology found in an abandoned alien ore mine on Mars. We are now ca ... Read more »

Leap Motion the creators of the small Leap motion gesture controller that is 200 times more accurate than Microsoft’s Kinect gesture controller. Has this week announced that they are partnering with Best Buy to offer customers an exclusive package.

The new Best Buy Exclusive Leap Motion package is expected to be available to pre-order from next month and will finally be available from both the Best Buy website and high street stores, throughout the US.

Once officially launched the Leap gesture control device will also ship with its own app store, and the leap gesture controller is also expected to be available in Europe and other world wide markets shortly. Through other partners that have yet to be announced by Leap ... Read more »

LG launched their Optimus G smartphone last year, and now according to a recent report they have the device’s successor in the works and it is rumored to launch in the fall of 2013.

According to a recent report by Cnet, the LG Optimus G2 is expected to feature a full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and will come with Android 5.0, the display is rumored to be around 5 inches in size.

What is also interesting is that LG may have a new Optimus G smartphone to announce at Mobile World Congress next month, although this will not be the Optimus G2, instead it will apparently be a slightly updated version of the Optimus G, possibly called the LG GK.

Source ... Read more »

It would appear that LG is the latest manufacturer that is considering launching a range of Windows Phone 8 smartphones, according to a recent report by the Korea Times.

According to an LG executive, who spoke to the Korea Time, LG has some new smartphones in the works that will be released this year that will run Windows Phone 8.

"We will release quite a number of new Optimus devices this year and LG also has some new smartphones in the works, that will run Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.’’

It will be interesting to see what these new Windows Phone 8 smartphones from LG are like, as soon as we get some more information, and confirmation that LG that they are releasing Windows Phone 8 devices.

Source ... Read more »

Interaction artist Viktor Jan has created a unique way to create music, transforming a cooking pot into a Midi DJ interface, using a little Arduino magic.

When electrified objects go into the cooking pot, they send current through the pot to an onboard Arduino, which then creates tones and beats for that object, that can be further manipulated using the extra dials and knobs on the side. Watch the video after the jump to learn more about the Beatoven project and see it in action.

"When I was in U.K., I missed my Korean food, so I decided to cook a Korean soup in my kitchen,” Jan tells Co.Design. "While boiling the water, I realized that the water boiling sound is playable by the lid of pot. It is just like filtering a sound effect by using a DJ mixer. So I translated ... Read more »

If you’re a fan of adventure video games, a title that was announced at E3 2012 is finally available to purchase later this month. The game is called The Cave and the game is from the creator of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion, Ron Gilbert. The game is being offered by Sega and Double Fine Productions.

The game allows players to choose three adventurers from seven available, each with their own personalities and capabilities. Once the player chooses the team, they had off to explore The Cave. Players will find their way through an underground amusement park, a medieval castle, a nuclear missile, and more.

The game will be available for PS3 gamers and the Nintendo Wii U on January 22 as a digital download for $14.99. On January 23, the game will be available for Xbox 360 gam ... Read more »

LG had a better year with their mobile phones and smartphones in 2012, with an estimated 55 million mobile phones sold, and according to a recent report LG plans to sell a total of 75 million mobile phones in 2013.

LG is aiming to sell a total of 30 million budget and feature phones and the other 45 million will be smartphones, including devices which will run Microsoft’s Windows phone 8 platform.

"We will release quite a number of new Optimus devices this year and LG also has some new smartphones in the works, that will run Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8,’’ a senior executive from one of LG’s local partners said by telephone.

LG’s Google Nexus 4 smartphone has become a very popular device, it is currently sold out on Google Play, and demand for the handset is high, if ... Read more »

Back at the beginning of this month Microsoft announced that its would be replacing its Messenger service with Skype on March 15th 2013. Now it looks like Microsoft has similar plans for replacing Xbox Live with Skype.

Sources close to the Microsoft have informed the CVG gaming website of the news explaining that Microsoft is looking to "consolidating all their communications technology”.

Micrsooft purchased Skype back in 2011 for a massive $8.5 billion, making it the largest acquisition by the company in its forty year history. Its also been noted that a job application was published by Microsoft recently seeking a user interface designer for the "next gen Xbox”, taht was to be based at Micro ... Read more »