8 yıl önce

Tech Week: Can you "Handle" it?

In our "What The Heck" issue, a really bad robot, an Amazonian mistake, and selfies with loved ones – who happen to be dead.

Staff Reporter

‘Handle' is the epitome of a scary robot

Boston Dynamics, the robotics design company, was silent for some time after Google announced last March its intentions to sell the unit. The company remains unsold; however, it just released a video of its brand-new right-out-of-sci-fi robot called Handle. Be very afraid. Marc Raibert, founder and CEO of Boston Dynamics, says Handle "could be a nightmare-inducing robot." The metallic man manoeuvres on two wheels incredibly swiftly and gracefully (for a robot), and with amazing balance – no awkward moves here. It can also jump over obstacles and keep moving forward, something most of us, except for maybe hurdlers, have a hard time doing. We could tell you more, but we think this video is worth a tonne of words.

BONUS: Want to compare Handle with a few of its predecessors? Check out these falling robots.

How many Amazon engineers does it take to bring down the internet?

TRT World and Agencies

Wonder who's going to explain this to Jeff Bezos?

We're not really sure, but Amazon says one.

We do know that we've all made that one little mistake that ends up creating a disaster – not to mention some major embarrassment. Well, one Amazon (fortunately anonymous) employee had that moment on Tuesday and it was a real doozy: they brought down a lot of serious websites and their services along with them. Since Amazon is the market leader for cloud computing, this outage, which lasted at least 4 hours - yep, four - brought the web to its knees. Websites like Slack, Quora, Business Insider, Giphy, IFTTT and Trello were among those affected. How did it happen? Here's what Amazon has to say:

Whoopsie.

Another unusual invention from the Far East: Selfies with dead people

No worries, it's not what you think. A South Korean company has made an app for people who can't leave the past behind. The app lets users create 3D avatars of dead people and take selfies with them, turning the users into the kid in "The Sixth Sense." Called "With Me," the app combines 3D technology and artificial intelligence to recreate the image and personality of those who have passed away. South Korean company Elrois Inc debuted With Me at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. Using 3D photo-realistic technology, the software allows users to create and converse with avatars and even give them kisses.