segways

Can't stop eating? Pump will suck your stomach contents

Meet the "apparatus for treating obesity by extracting food." That's what Dean Kamen's stomach pump is called in a recently granted U.S. patent, and it looks a lot less fun than Kamen's most famous invention, the Segway.

The good part is you can eat anything you like. The bad part is you have to get a tube put into your stomach and then suck the food out with a gadget called the AspireAssist.

Kamen and a team of physicians developed the pump as an obesity treatment that's reversible and, as they describe it, "minimally invasive." … Read more

Double Robotics builds 'body' for iPad videoconferencing

Communicating with someone's head via FaceTime on an iPad is great, but Double Robotics also wants to give some real-world mobility to that disembodied 2D cranium at a relatively affordable price.

The company has a kit simply called "Double" that consists of a robotic, stripped-down Segway-like contraption with wheels, battery, iPad stand, and holder. Once the iPad is connected to the Double, the robot can be controlled remotely by someone using an app on another iPad, allowing that person to move around their virtual location.

Inevitably, this sort of ambulatory telepresence poses a threat to people's … Read more

Is RYNO's single-wheel electric scooter cooler than a Segway?

RYNO Motors' single-wheeled electric scooter is self-balancing, has a turning radius of zero when stopped, and only takes up about as much space as a folding bicycle -- so it's conceivable that commuters could bring one onto a train. Plus, it looks like it fell out of a Japanese anime.

However, it only has a maximum range of 20 miles between charges, a top speed that is limited to 12.5 mph (the actual top speed of 25 mph is limited to keep the RYNO scooter within the more relaxed legal boundaries of "personal mobility scooters"), and it looks like it fell out of a Japanese anime -- yes, for some people, that last point is as much a con as it is a pro.… Read more

Personal Rover is Segway's awkward cousin

Segways are expensive. If you don't want to drop $6,500 and you also don't want to have to walk anywhere, the Personal Rover Electric Transportation Vehicle will do the job for just $999.

The Personal Rover looks like the result of a mad scientist mating together a Radio Flyer Wagon, a skateboard, and a set of skis.

It sports an 800W motor that can carry a rider up to 12 miles at up to 15 mph. Steering is conducted with what looks like a couple of ski poles.

The Rover is made more for open areas than … Read more

Segways banned from U.K. sidewalks

Segway fans are trundling mad today, following a magistrate's ruling that the two-wheeled wobblers can't be ridden on the sidewalk in the U.K.

The ruling (PDF) concluded a test case that saw an unemployed factory worker, Phillip Coates (pictured right), fined 75 pounds ($120) for riding a Segway on a sidewalk in Barnsley. Coates was also slapped with a bill for 265 pounds ($424) in costs.

The case hinged on whether a Segway could be described as "a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads." The judge in the case decided they … Read more

GM to show EN-V mobility device at CES 2011

The next stop for GM's Electric Networked Vehicle(EN-V) concept is the upcoming 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in January. In addition to its next-generation infotainment system, the carmaker will be showing off the three electric two-seater concepts it debuted at the 2010 Expo in Shanghai last March.

The personal mobility vehicles are one-third the size of typical cars, offer a 25-mile electric range, and are built on Segway's self-balancing two-wheeled PUMA platform. But the EN-V is more than just an upgraded Segway: it's equipped with drive-by-wire technology, and its carbon-fiber body is outfitted with GPS, distancing-sensing, vehicle-to-vehicle … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1316: Robo-hairdresser meets Bionic soldier (podcast)

The movie studios seem to be encouraging piracy by launching $30 movie-streaming rentals. RIM preparing marathon Blackberry announcement. Stuxnet virus successfully infects nuclear plant computers in Iran. Who to call on Earth if you're a space alien. And a bonus: Two robot stories!

The 404 674: Where we're giving out Pink Kisses (podcast)

Would you pay $30 to screen a new-release movie on your television at home? Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Walt Disney are all in talks with cable TV networks to offer wide-release movies streamed to your TV, so you won't have to wait the three months for titles to show up on demand or on Netflix.

Cable providers like Comcast are already testing this service, but Disney also has plans to stream films on Web-connected gaming devices like the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, with movies ranging from $20 to $30, depending on consumer interest. The services look to solve Hollywood's recent decline in DVD movie purchases in the face of online piracy.

Last year, physical disc sales dropped 13 percent over the previous year's sales. Although there's no word yet on when companies will officially release the solution, won't this just open up self-pirating to anyone with a living room TV and a HD Flip video camera?

In case today's show title spawned dirty thoughts in your head, Pink Kisses is really just a paid service that helps newly single women get through a rough breakup. The Texas-based company offers clients a variety of chocolates, personalized text messages, e-mails, flowers, and even virtual gifts to help women set new goals for their lives and forget about the man (or woman) that broke their heart.

Prices range from affordable all the way up to an unbelievable $272 services that offers three days of encouraging text messages, two "life coaching session," flowers, and "better than sex" truffles. It sounds kind of depressing until you consider how simple the NSFW male equivalent of Pink Kisses would be.

We're running out of call backs and voice mails, so there's no Calls From the Public Segment today. Give us a ring at 1-866-404-CNET and say "This is ____ from ____, and you're listening to The 404, the show where ___insert random comment here___." If it meets Jeff's standards, he'll play it on the show, so make it good!

Episode 674 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Segway head dies on scooter in cliff plunge

Jimi Heselden, the owner of Segway, has died after riding one of the scooters off a cliff and into a river, according to reports.

According to the BBC, Heselden, 61, died yesterday after crashing into the River Wharfe. The incident took place on his West Yorkshire estate and has thus far been deemed an accident. Segways are not legal to use on British roads and are restricted to use on private property.

Heselden, who had already been an investor in the U.K. Segway dealership, bought the company at the end of 2009. The devices were launched in 2001 by … Read more

Will Japanese 'Segway' ever get off the ground?

Last November, we got a peek at a pair of robotic roller skates that Japanese engineers have been working on, and recently those same researchers showed off a homegrown version of the Segway that features an obstacle sensor.

The AIST Micromobility vehicle from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology's (AIST's) Field Robotics Research Group is a platform-type ride instead of the skates we saw at the 2009 International Robot Exhibition (iRex) in Tokyo.

Like the skates, it has control poles and is designed to be a lightweight, compact alternative to walking or riding a bike. … Read more