Roundup: Intel pours cash into factories, N.J. goes solar, Obama taps cybersecurity chief, and more
Microsoft to tighten ties with Facebook chat? — Steve Ballmer implies (oh so subtly) full interoperability between Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger.
Intel to sink funds into factories — Despite the downturn, the giant earmarks $7 billion for its chip manufacturing plants over the next two years.
Obama anoints Melissa Hathaway cybersecurity czar — The former aide to president Bush’s intelligence director plans to evaluate current measures to secure government networks from spies and terrorists.
Cisco’s on the hunt for acquisitions —… Continue Reading
Roundup: iRobot co-founder moves to new robot venture, botnets surge, IPOs come and go, and more
Roomba technologist moves to new robotic venture — Rodney Brooks, chief technology officer and co-founder at iRobot, is moving on to a new company called Heartland Robots, which will work to “rehumanize and revitalize manufacturing.”
Zombie networks surge ahead — Botnet networks of infected computers have tripled in size over the past three months, according to a tracker, the Shadowserver Foundation.
Newspapers giving business to ad startups — Faced with falling revenues, some of the biggest dailies, including the… Continue Reading
iRobot’s latest Negotiator robot to help police and soldiers in tactical tight spots
When in doubt, send in a robot. That’s an increasingly common solution for the military and police these days. iRobot, the maker of cave-busting and vacuum-cleaning robots, today is announcing the introduction of its iRobot Negotiator.
This low-cost tactical robot is designed to meet the basic reconnaissance needs of public safety professionals. The robot is a follow-on to the bigger iRobot PackBot 510. It costs less and is smaller, but can still negotiate through tough terrain… Continue Reading
iRobot launches Chemical Robots for the military
iRobot is developing a new series of military robots that detect chemicals. Under a $3.3 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office, iRobot will develop Chemical Robots (or ChemBots) that can maneuver through highly cluttered environments to find chemicals and perform other tasks.
Just last week, iRobot announced that it would build Seaglider undersea robots for oceanographic research and industrial purposes. The Bedford, Mass. company is best known… Continue Reading
iRobot enters the undersea robot market
The robot beat is busy today. iRobot has sold more than two million Roomba vacuum cleaner robots. Now it’s launching an underwater robot.
The Bedford, Mass., company has licensed the rights to the Seaglider underwater vehicle from the University of Washington to commercialize the robots. The lightweight vessesl are energy efficient and able to travel for thousands of kilometers for months at a time if necessary. Researchers can attach measurement devices to the tiny submarines for… Continue Reading