Skating Robot 'Swims' on Land September 04, 2007

Read more Robots

This is the Roller-Walker, a four-legged robot which can either walk conventionally or skate on retractable wheels. At the end of each leg there is a wheel which can turn 90 degrees to act as a foot. On rough surfaces the robot walks, but if it comes across a smoother surface then it rotates its wheels, and can skate in a weirdly graceful swimming motion. See a video of it in action after the jump.

IFA 2007: Philips Shows Off 3D Display Without The Silly Glasses September 04, 2007

Read more Gizmodo UK , HDTV , LCD , PC , TV , Technology

Philips is firing on all cylinders these days when it comes to TV innovation. Forget the cool AmbiLight technology though, since at this week’s IFA event in Berlin, Philips broke out what it claimed is the first giant 3-D display that requires people not to look like dorks. That alone should get a prize.

The 3D WOWzone is a massive 132in multi-screen 3D wall comprised of nine 42in Philips 3-D displays which combine into one big screen where stuff actually looks like it's coming right out at you. No glasses required. The video above is a bit jittery but you get the picture.

Considering its size, the £50,000 price tag and the fact that there’s very little 3-D content for home users, this not one for the general consumer. Instead, Philips is pointing this display, along with a raft of 3-D software and content creation tools, at marketing companies and cheesy ad-men with deep pockets and cunning plans to make 3-D dreams that will empty your wallets faster than flat, old 2-D dreams. -Martin Lynch

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IFA 2007: Sharp's First European Blu-ray Player September 04, 2007

Read more Blu-ray , Gizmodo UK , HD , HD DVD , Hi-fi , Home Cinema , Movies

Sharp has announced its first European Blu-ray player at the IFA 2007 Show in Berlin. The Sharp Aquos BD-HP20S Blu-ray Player – which has been knocking around the news circuit for some time now – is expected to launch over here in the coming months.

The device is noticeably slim at 2.7ins high, especially compared to existing Blu-ray models and even the new Sony players. It's also one of the first to support Blu-ray Java, which will allow for full access to all those shiny extras and interactive features on the discs. It also promises to be ready for action in just a few seconds, compared to the long start-up cycles of certain players [around 1-minute on some].

It will support 1080p content, upscale standard-def DVDs and playback movies at 24fps. It also supports the latest version of HDMI – 1.3 – which means it can handle the latest surround sound formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD and has a lot more bandwidth so images should be smoother and colours deeper.

There’s no price but speculation is that this is an “entry-level” player so don’t be surprised if it still costs twice as much as a HD DVD player. -Martin Lynch

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Mountain Dew/Halo 3 Ad Shows Gamers In Their Natural Environment September 04, 2007

Read more Consoles , Games , Gizmodo UK , Xbox

We all know Halo 3 is coming - Sep 26th over here. Older gamers will probably have to lock up their families while they play it for days on end since there’s every chance they will leave you as you frag for the flag.

I’m not sure if Mountain Dew [do we even get it here?] will keep you awake as well as coffee and Red Bull espressos and, I’m not even sure if it tastes any good, but if an ad can have any element of truth, then it’s the bits with lots of Halo 3 gamers from around the globe screaming at the TV, death-gripping their controllers and hopping off their seats.

In fact, the calm gamer with Mountain Dew is obviously not a Halo gamer, or any gamer, since he’s, well, acting normally. He might be an actor.-Martin Lynch

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