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There’s something reassuring about the way Asimov speaks on this topic (surely one of his favorites) — even though this clip has got to be 35 or 40 years old, it rings true now and we would do well to take his advice. And how about that transcription? Like human beens indeed. It’s an interesting topic for post-brunch rumination: what would a world built around robots be like? Probably like that nightmare Korean theme park if we’re not careful. [via Metafilter ]

You know what’s better than a stock 3.33GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition CPU? Not much, but we’re guessing that a 4.3GHz overclocked version of the same chip just might be. If you’re thinking the same, and you’ve got $1,044 to spare in order to find out, upstart gaming rig maker Origin PC has the means to get it to you. The outfit’s Genesis desktop can now be ordered with Intel’s freshest slab of silicon for $895, or you can snag an extra gigahertz for another $149. We know you’ll make the right call. Origin PC offers overclocked 4.3GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition on Genesis desktop originally appeared on Engadget on…

There are 2,073,600 pixels in a 1080p TV, yet Carnegie Mellon student Chloe Fan has blown our minds by showing that you only need 64 of them to have a little fun with Super Mario Bros. She wired an Arduino to an 8 x 8 LED matrix through a breadboard, then scaled the first level of the game down to a resolution that makes the 160 x 144 resolution Game Boy look positively high def. The controls are similarly simplified: one button to move Mario (the slightly more orange dot) right, and a second to jump. She also wired up a separate board to play the game’s theme song, as you can see in the embed below, but be aware: the video …

At last, we’ve felt Sony’s long awaited motion controller, now at last officially known as ” PlayStation Move ,” in our unworthy, sweaty hands. We have a bunch of videos on the way, along with some impressions to share, but for now you can revel in our first close-ups of the controllers in the gallery below. Here are some of our initial thoughts: The controllers are light. Much more akin to the DualShock3 than the Wiimote in heft, and we’re guessing that’s due to Sony’s continued love of rechargeable battery. The main controller does have some subtle vibration (not DualShock …

Lego biped robots are a dime a dozen, even while some look pretty sweet . This one is special: It’s the first walking Lego robot. And, unlike your usual feet-dragging toy robots, it actually walks raising its feet This definitely not easy to do with Lego or any other material. Maybe this guy should start thinking about building a Big Dog . [ Flickr via Brothers Brick ]

Those lowly Core 2 Duo chips already feel like a long forgotten memory, and frankly, that’s a-okay with us. MSI is helping its seductive X-Slim line get a taste of Intel’s Core 2010 lineup with a Core i5-520UM processor, which sits alongside up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB / 320GB / 500GB hard drive, integrated graphics, a 13-inch (1,366 x 768 resolution) panel, HDMI / VGA outputs, a pair of USB 2.0 sockets, 4- or 8-cell battery and an SD / MMC card reader. There’s also built-in WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, twin speakers and a chassis that measures under 1-inch thick. Per usual, MSI is in no hurry to out pricing and release details, but we’ll be sure …

Mama always said that some folks just never learn , and we reckon there’s plenty of wisdom to be had from that very statement. Year after year , German police are called in to raid select booths at CeBIT ( and IFA , to be fair), and yet again we’ve seen a booth cleared out at the request of powerful lawyers from a few companies you may have heard of. Word on the street has it that Apple, Siemens and Sisvel were all kvetching over patent infringements made by an unnamed company exhibiting at last week’s show, and within an hour or so of the fuzz showing up, the whole thing was…

One of the biggest mysteries in the blogosphere right now is probably Crave’s Nexus One , which somehow developed a cracked screen while simply charging on the desk (sounds familiar, right ?). Not even HTC could unearth the cause from its forensic inspection, but it didn’t rule out the possibility of a small crack growing over time due to, for example, “getting knocked around by keys” and repetitive squeezes in tight pockets. That’s fine, but saying “people sometimes forget that they don’t go in pockets” is surely stretching a bit , no? What happened to the awesomeness in the compression test and bend test that we once witnessed? More importantly, has anyone here had the same baffling screen problem and …

It’s been a crazy week in tech, and we’re coming at you live to break it all down. We’ll be on at 5:30PM EST, but the chat below is open, so settle on in and get comfy. Continue reading The Engadget Podcast, live… now! The Engadget Podcast, live… now! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Advances in solar power aren’t always the most immediately exciting sort of developments (a more efficient solar panel still looks like a solar panel), but this new solar power system developed at the University of Michigan certainly won’t have any trouble turning a few heads. Not only is it 1,000 times smaller than any comparable commercial counterpart (just 9 cubic millimeters), but its processor, solar cells, and battery are all self-contained, and the researchers say it would be be able to operate “nearly perpetually” if not for the battery eventually giving out after “many years.” What’s more, they say the system could also be adapted to be powered by movement or heat instead of light, …