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Lenovo U110: The Sexy Little Laptop That Could? (Video)


We were lucky to get a couple of days to play around with the sexy, new Lenovo U110 ultraportable laptop. It's only 2.3 pounds and, as you can see, small enough to fit into the teeniest of backpacks. It's also one of the slickest looking notebooks we've ever laid our eyes or hands on, with oversized keys that make typing surprisingly smooth (for such a small laptop).

Handling-wise, it's not fair for us to say, since we had access only to a pre-production unit, but with up to 3-gigabytes (GB) of RAM available, the U110 has the potential to be the little computer than could....

Flash LIDAR Helps Robots, Unmanned Aircraft and Vehicles See in 3-D


Not content keeping your floor clean, your gutters empty and your Grandma happy on Mother's Day, Roomba creator iRobot unveiled a 3-D camera for robots at this month's RoboBusiness convention. The upshot: Robots can now gauge depth with unparalleled precision, which means they'll have that much better aim when SkyNet eventually becomes conscious.

Adult Film Stars Reveal Their Gadget Faves

Earlier this year in Las Vegas, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was forced to share the stage with another major exhibition of consumer products, bigwigs and dealmakers. At the Sands Expo convention center, the annual Adult Video News (AVN) Adult Entertainment Expo -- a trade show in its tenth year showcasing adult talent and exhibitors -- was also in full swing. Since the event attracts over 30,000 international buyers and fans of adult entertainment, it seemed like the perfect place for at least some of the Switched team to interview the top female stars in adult entertainment about -- what else -- the role of gadgets, gizmos and technology in their busy off-set lives.

We had seven different stars answer our Switched Questionnaire and you'll want to know what they had to say. We also sent out a separate videographer to film gadget-related interviews with 22 other adult stars, the results of which are highlighted in the above exclusive Switched video. To find out more, watch the video. Then, for even more saucy gadget talk, take a look at the interviews we've got lined up in ing pages.

And if words or video simply aren't doing the trick, we've also got a stunning gallery waiting for you at the end.

(Video and posts are safe for work, but some content may not be appropriate for younger viewers.)




New Software Helps Robots (and Cell Phones) See Things


Chances are you can recognize a McDonald's sign from a mile away with one eye closed. Meanwhile, your Roomba can't see a wall until it hits one. That's because human eyes see patterns and robot eyes see a creepy red-hued targeting display (we're not entirely sure we got that one right). Evolution Robotics - the guys behind the navigation system in WowWee's Rovio - have developed a system that lets robots (or even cell phones) recognize objects such as book and album covers.


Hands-On With iRobot ConnectR 'Virtual Visit' Robot (Video)


Let a robot do your visiting for you. iRobot's ConnectR is a Web-cam wielding, Internet-enabled, Roomba-like robot that you can control from anywhere you have a Web connection. The 'bot sends video and audio to the remote user, who, in turn, can talk through the robot.


Best Camcorders Under $500


Contrary to popular belief, plenty of high-quality camcorders -- even HD ones -- are available for less than $500.
We test drove a bunch of them, and discovered that we liked some better than others. You can check out our top picks in the video above, and our list of favorites includes a range of recording formats including Mini-DV, flash memory, DVD and hard drive-based.

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Yes, 100 MPG Cars Are Coming -- Sometime (Video)


Move over, Prius. Next-generation lithium-ion-based plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars promise three-figure fuel economy and the comforts of a full-sized car... if they can get off the drawing board. We got a closer look at the current crop while walking the floors of this week's New York Auto Show. Take a look!

Best Phones For Texting and E-Mailing


The iPhone is certainly the worlds' greatest iPod and portable Web-surfing cell phone we've ever seen, but its keyboard still stinks -- we can't tell you how many typos the touch-sensitive thing has forced us to make while writing text-messages or e-mails over the past eight months. That's why we recommend phones with actual, physical keyboards to anyone who tends to send a lot of text-messages or e-mails. Luckily, most of the smart phones out there feature actual keyboards. To find out the three we like best, check out the above Switched-exclusive video.

Five Essential Laptop Accessories (Video)



Laptops may fit into almost any backpack or carry-on bag, but their compact size means you'll still need a few accessories to stay productive and happy while you're on the road (or down the road, at a Wi-Fi cafe). We picked five of our favorite notebook peripherals that no road warrior should be without, and decided to go on and on about them in this here video. Take a look!

Which Party Game Parties Hardest? (Video)


A couple years ago, inviting friends over to play video games was instant social suicide. Unless your friends were Halo geeks or those randomly cute girls who played Tekken, video games just didn't scream "party". All that has changed in the past couple years, however, with the popularity of social games like Wii Sports and Rock Band. To test out the respective party power of social gaming, we invited some cool kids from the block to show us, once and for all, which party game partied hardest.

Special thanks to Sony for providing prize versions of upcoming versions of SingStar 90's (launching on March 18th) to our test subjects.

Included in the test were: Wii Sports, Buzz! The Mega Quiz, Singstar Pop, and Rock Band.

[Correction: Singstar PS2, shown in the video, does not include the online elements mentioned. Singstar PS3, however, will!]
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The World's Littlest Laptops (Video)


They're tiny (enough for a handbag), fast (Linux) and resilient (all-solid-state memory and storage). And unlike the beauty from Cupertino, their price tag matches their stature. Check out our hands-on video with the Everex Cloudbook and the Asus eeePC.


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'Musical DNA' Turns Ordinary Piano Lessons Into 3D Light Shows


Hey all you 'American Idol' hopefuls -- here's your chance to prove that you really are musical geniuses deep inside, by using a program called 'Musical DNA,' which visualizes the relationship between musical notes in a fun and semi-psychedelic fashion. We could begin a lengthy dissertation running circles around how the program actually works, but we'll spare you the eyestrain and instead treat you to a video that explains just how this software lets you "see" music in real time.

Vex Mini Robot Kit Teaches Kids Engineering (Video)


In the future, robot repair men will be as common as the Maytag man of yore, and he'll have likely begun his career slinging automaton grease when your wise grandparents bought him a robot design kit such as this one, from Vex Mini. Watch and learn, old timer.

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This GPS Device Tracks Your Dog, Kids, and Interns (Video)


While the yet-to-be-invented GPS-enabled remote control will be Man's crowning technical achievement, the Zoombak Advanced GPS locator gets pretty close in the awesome department. The 2.5-oz. device is small enough to fit in your pocket, yet it's powerful enough to send location updates to the Web for five days without a recharge. Watch the video for a demo of how the Zoombak works.

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Terrorism, Piracy, and Robbing Target: This Week's Podcast

The Switched Show Podcast
Five undersea cables delivering the internet to the Middle East fail in one week. As conspiracy theories explode over the internet, are we witnessing the first case of information-age terror, or just a bad network design? Plus: Recording Industry Association of America wants to scan your computer for pirated files, how not to rob Target and how to block your cell phone number from caller ID. But wait! There's more! Unitards...

Listen Now (mp3)

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