Robotics Revolution

In the early 1960s, The Jetsons cartoon began to depict flying cars that hit top speed at 500 mph and a helpful (albeit sometimes clumsy) robot named Rosie, leaving many of us dreaming of such a life. Although it will be quite some time before mainstream cars fly, technical advances are pretty thrilling on the robotics front.

Hot Topic: Robotics For The Mainstream

According to robotics history, Westinghouse exhibited the "first-ever" robot, Electro, at the 1939 world fair with claims that it would be reaching households in the near future. Fast-forward almost 65 years and we're well aware that prediction certainly hasn't come to fruition yet, but robots are increasingly becoming a more pervasive part of our everyday lives.

Behind-the-scenes robots have been in use by companies to replace humans in dangerous, difficult, or highly repetitive tasks for some time. Now we're beginning to see robots closer to the front lines. Here are a few examples:

• Medical technology manufacturers such as McKesson and Intuitive Surgical market robots for pharmacies and surgeries. There's a good chance that your local pharmacist is considering adding a robot to his team for more efficient and accurate pill dispensing. Robotics-assisted surgery products also allow physicians to perform minimally invasive surgry with a combination of remote controlled cameras and instruments.
• Manufacturers such as Fujitsu, Honda, Murata, Mitsubishi, and NEC are releasing human-like domestic robots that can do anything from keeping the elderly company to babysitting the kids. These high-end robots boast a variety of mind-boggling capabilities -- such as the ability to read and process handwriting, make cellular calls, judge the nutritional value of food, iron clothes, and even ride a bike without falling down. Most models are currently being tested in Japan. Reports estimate that when they become available in the US, the price tag will be more than $10,000.
• Stanford University recently won $2 million for a robotic car that won the US Military-sponsored DARPA Grand Challenge, an artificial-intelligence driven automobile competition.
• iRobot and Friendly Robotics sell more focused robots that help busy people avoid mundane household tasks such as vacuuming and mowing. iRobot has reportedly sold more than one million units of their Roomba vacuum cleaner.
• Sony, Hasbro, and Sega are all wagging tails with digital "dogs" that dance, compose, learn, and speak.

Gadget Guide: Robot That Can Sweep, Scrub, Mop And Dry

After a busy week on the road, there are few things less appealing than hitting the floor for house cleaning. That's why we think our fellow road warriors will be very excited about iRobot's upcoming release of Scooba, which can do all the prep work, scrubbing, mopping, and drying with a simple hit of the button. The new product will be available for $399, on a limited basis, just in time for the 2005 holidays. Visit iRobot.com for details.

Tech Saver: Useful Utilities In Outlook

If you use Microsoft Outlook, these free features can help you automate processes to save time.

• Spare yourself the embarrassment of misspelled words in messages with automatic spell check. Choose Tools, Options, then click the "Spelling" tab to set Outlook to spell check all messages before sending.
• Determine when and if messages are sent using Outlook's tracking options. To request delivery or read receipts, click on Tools, Options, Preferences, E-Mail Options, Tracking Options, then check the boxes for the tracking you choose.
• If your e-mail account is connected to a Microsoft Exchange Server (i.e. not POP or Web-based e-mail), you can also create Rules message delivery. To check out this feature, click Tools, Rules and Alerts.
• Use Outlook's advanced search tool to find and organize e-mails. To open the advanced search window click "control+shift+F." Be sure to click the "More Choices" and "Advanced" tabs to see all the super search capabilities. When you find the messages you're looking for, you can right click on the search result to move or delete the message.

The next issue of High Tech Traveler delves into the future of mobile computing. Check back soon!