Author: Brett Venter

Unitree’s G1 and H2 humanoid robots have put on impressive shows of late, but you’re far more likely to buy the company’s R1. At least initially. It’s not like they’re hard to find, but interested buyers might have it even easier in future. The Chinese company is supposedly set to list its R1 humanoid on AliExpress, initially for sale in China. It’ll later appear in other markets, including the US and Europe. There’s a decent chance it’ll tempt local buyers as well. But… the exact timing of the listing isn’t clear. Unitree’s roots spread Earlier this month, the South China…

Will the world ever benefit from solar energy beamed to the ground from space? Several companies (and some academics) believe this is possible. The latest company to try, and one that just signed a contract with Meta for space-based solar power, is an entity called Overview Energy. Unlike Reflect Orbital, which has ambition but seemingly little sense, Overview Energy is explicit in its goals. The company plans to stick a constellation of 1,000 satellites into geostationary orbit to “convert energy from the sun into safe, near-infrared light, and deliver it when and where it’s needed on Earth.” Solar energy, Overview?…

Once upon a time, Samsung was going to release Ballie, a little robot that followed you around your home. That critter isn’t happening soon, but the EBO Max hopes to fill that little round hole in your heart. You know, the one that’s also got a camera on top of it? The EBO Max is the creation of a company called Enabot, which is pitching this little guy as a “familybot”. It’s got more in common with a robot vacuum cleaner, but it could have some utility when it comes to monitoring your pets or checking on people who have…

You want the UGV Beast. It’s useless to even pretend that you’re not interested in your own little camera-toting tracked drone. The fact that Waveshare’s expensive little project involves a lot of self-assembly just makes it more attractive. We ran across WaveShare a little while back, with the company advertising a slightly different Raspberry Pi-based device. The PocketTerm35 is cool, sure, but does it have tank treads? The UGV Beast is undeniably cooler, but there’s also the older UGV Rover from the same company if you have specific… needs. UGV Beast of a project The setup from WaveShare comes with…

The Boox range of ereaders has a lot of wild and wonderful designs, from straight-up readers to… smartphones? The company’s new Boox Leaf5+ is more of a pure reading device, with a design that isn’t far off from the Kindle Oasis. The Oasis is (or was) perhaps the best reader Amazon ever launched. It was also one of the most expensive, but there was a reason for that. The Leaf5+ sports a very similar form factor, which lends itself well to ambidextrous reading. Oasis of Boox Onyx, the company that makes these devices, posted about the Leaf5+ on Weibo. The…

Honor is launching a new pair of headphones in its native China. That’s the reason you haven’t heard of the Choice Codeler Headphones, let alone the newly announced Choice Codeler Headphones 2. Still, given what the company is building into these, we hope to see them here sooner rather than later. The biggest drawcard, which gets even more impressive once you see the features of the Choice 2 over-ears, is the projected price. They would sell, locally, somewhere around the R1,000 to R1,500 mark. How good could these cans really be? Codeler of Honor The Choice Codeler Headphones 2 overs…

Artificial intelligence needs training data. Lots and lots of training data. And, as it turns out, there isn’t enough of it to go around. Well, there wasn’t. Companies working in the AI space are increasingly looking for creative ways to dump more information into their models. The most recent (and glaring) example of this is a new Reuters report that claims Meta is planning to harvest everything its workers do as training data. The planned software is essentially an advanced keylogger. Everything an employee does for the company — typing, emails, mouse movements, goofing off — will be captured and…

Customisable tech is an interesting concept. The newest version of something like this (that doesn’t end in ‘Pi’) is the T-Watch Ultra from a Chinese company called Lilygo. Odds are good you’ll find these on various import platforms, but the main sales portal is AliExpress. The price? Around R1,850, including shipping to South Africa. What you’re getting is a rugged-looking smartwatch with a series of custom functions. It’s up to buyers to make this wristwear do what they want it to — within limits, of course. What T-Watch today Unlike the CircuitMess DIY wearable, there’s little construction needed for the…

Chinese company Xpeng is extremely ambitious. Its recent humanoid robot outing displayed highly detailed, human-like movement (and a slight technical glitch). Its flying car project, which has been in the works longer, could take to the skies just after its droids head to market. Xpeng-sive venture The company’s president, Brian Gu, speaking to Reuters, believes that Xpeng’s flying vehicles will enter production in 2027. Its humanoid robots, on the other hand, are supposed to become available towards the end of this year. Production of the first of its units, for which Xpeng has more than 7,000 orders, likely won’t wind…

Robots have handed human runners a spanking, and now it’s the ping-pong folks in the firing line. Almost literally, in the case of Sony’s Project Ace robot. Unlike Honor’s Lightning, Sony’s robot isn’t a humanoid. It’s unlikely to run down a road whacking people with a table-tennis paddle any time soon. From a showcase video Sony released on YouTube, its Ace robot has more in common with your everyday printer (3D or paper) when it comes to its operation. A high-speed arm zips back and forth on its side of the table, returning balls to a human opponent with extreme…