Hands On With Rotimatic: the World’s First Robot Roti Maker-exclusive report by TSE

Making roti, a traditional staple food for millions of people worldwide, is equal parts art and science. To achieve the unleavened Indian bread’s signaturelook, feel and taste, you need the right mix of ingredients (flour, water and oil), the perfect kneading and flattening method, and on-point heat and cook times.

Or, you can just have a robot do it.

Rotimatic is the world’s first fully automated robot roti-maker. At 39 pounds, the 40 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm device looks like an oversized bread maker, but it’s actually a fascinating piece of engineering that combines 10 motors, 15 sensors and 300 parts to spit out baked rotis at a pace of about one per minute.
A product of Zimplistic, a Mountain View, California-based company of 20 people, Rotimatic was developed over six years by co-founders Pranoti Nagarkar and Rishi Israni. Nagarkar handled the engineering, and Israni was largely responsible for the software side (there’s no operating system; it runs “bare metal”).

Nagarkar said she was inspired to create Rotimatic after growing tired of trying to perfect her own roti-making skills. Depending on how good you are, a batch of five take 30 to 40 minutes. “I used to take probably longer and that’s when I got fed up," she told Mashable.

Until now, roti-making machines have either been tiny manual products or massive machines that require significant human interaction. Rotimatic, which I saw in action at Mashable's headquarters, really only needs a supply of ingredients to work.

There are three containers, which seal much like Tupperware: one for the dry-based ingredient (typically flour), another for water and the smallest for oil. The dry container can hold different kinds of dry baking ingredients, but nothing wet (no pancake mix!). The smallest container can hold virtually any kind of oil you choose, while the water container can accept other flavoring ingredients such as salt, sugar and cinnamon (the only requirement is that the ingredient dissolves in water). All three containers slide into holes on top of the device; they all have an opening in the bottom to release each ingredient.

The device is easy to use, and plugs into a standard wall outlet. Once the ingredient containers are in place, and Rotimatic has heated to nearly 500 degrees Fahrenheit (which takes about 5 minutes), select the thickness, crispness and oil content you want on a small LCD screen that has four unmarked buttons below it; then, hit start, and the robot does the rest.

Rotimatic mixes the ingredients in an enclosed but see-through space, making a single ball of dough that will be flattened into one roti. This is notable since, as Nagarkar pointed out, most people making rotis at home will make a large batch of dough from which they’ll pull out and roll smaller balls. Rotimatic actually uses a patented process to build one perfect ball at a time. That process is also what allows Rotimatic to be much smaller than any other automated roti maker.

While the robot is making the ball, its sensors are hard at work to ensure it’s the right consistency. The first roti of a batch will usually take a bit longer because Rotimatic is actually calibrating. When the robot is happy with the dough's consistency, it will repeat the process for the next ball, quickly achieving its one-roti-per-minute benchmark. Thicker rotis can take a little longer to cook.

Once the rolling is done, Rotimatic pushes the ball into a chamber where it is flattened to a perfect 1.5-mm thick disc. A collection of position sensors measure the disc during compression to ensure that no area is thicker or thinner than any other.

Finally, the disc slips between two heated elements which, guided by more sensors, rapidly cook the roti until it puffs up like a pastry. As soon as it’s done, the roti slides out, ready to eat. The final product is, as advertised, a perfectly shaped and cooked roti that looks and tastes like it was made by expert hands.

Cleanup is fairly simple. The kneader comes out, and can be rinsed off or put in your dishwasher, as can the plate where Rotimatic rolls the dough balls. I was able to take out each component quite easily, and only struggled a little to get the mixing component back in.

Prep, cook and wait
Rotimatic costs a pretty pricey $599 for a single-purpose robot. Even if you do want your robot roti maker now, however, get ready to wait.

When Zimplistic first unveiled its YouTube product demo, the video went viral, and amassed 2.5 million views. That flood of interest converted into $4.5 million in pre-sales as soon as Rotimatic started collecting orders on its site. Now, the company is “sold out.” Even the initial run of Rotimatics won’t arrive in consumers’ hands until early 2015.

So, why the holdup?

Nagarkar said that while I saw the near-final product, Zimplistic has no intention of selling prototypes. Rotimatic has already advanced to the manufacturing stage, and is working on perfecting its assembly line. It is also awaiting U.S. certification (something all appliances in the country must get).

This kind of preparation and the level of interest Rotimatic’s developers have seen should help them achieve economies of scale, and in the future, lower the price of the product. Some of that interest, by the way, has come from potential competitors. In addition to queries from customers looking to buy the product and retailers who wanted it on their shelves, some were from appliance companies. “There is not a single appliance company that did not write to sell the product; we did not reply because we are in no mood to sell,” Israni said.
https://vine.co/v/MPhWVaQeM5w

Dubai Building World's First Indoor Neighborhood with Climate Control-exclusive report by TSE

We've seen man-made islands of various sizes and shapes, skyscrapers, high-rise buildings, large hotels and colossal shopping malls, and Dubai already has all of these, or is in the process of building some. Now, the emirate is ready to add a new “world's first” achievement to its list of accomplishments: a neighborhood with weather controlled by humans.

Located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf, Dubai is the city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the largest population. It is also the second-largest emirate (capital Abu Dhabi beats it in that).

In recent decades, it has been the place of new, borderline futuristic architectural projects, so in a way, it's not that shocking that it would pave the way for domed cities.

Dubai won't be building a dome large enough to encompass the entire emirate. However, it has approved plans for the creation of a glass-covered neighborhood spanning 450 hectares.

Technically, it will be a shopping mall, called Mall of the World, but when you have one hundred hotels and serviced apartment buildings under the same roof and overseeing authority, you can't call it anything other than a full neighborhood, or even a city unto itself.

The mall will, of course, include a shopping center (750,000 square meters), a celebration district (emulating the La Ramble in Barcelona), and a theater district (based on New York's Broadway and London's West End).

As for the roof, it will be made of glass and will be retractable. However, it will likely be kept in place most of the time, as the climate will not be controllable without it. Indeed, the project stipulates that the weather will be subject to man's decision, through whatever means.

Weather machines have been a staple of science fiction almost from the very start. Sci-Fi is, after all, focused on how technology can give man, or fictional races, control over aspects of our existence that we can do nothing about with just our minds, legs and hands.

It remains to be seen if the world's first indoor, climate-controlled neighborhood ends up being made with special vents and canals for funneling water and steam (to produce weather), or if architects and landscaping experts somehow set up enough ecosystems with ponds and streams that a natural water cycle is produced.

Then again, odds are higher that the designers will just forgo rain altogether and take care of plants through subtle irrigation and localized sprinkler systems, so that tenants and visitors are comfortable all day, everyday.

This Is Not a Giant Turtle, It's the World's First Fully 3D Printed Car

This wouldn't be the first time we come across rumors or news about 3D printing technology being used to help build a car or plane, but that doesn't matter because it's not what happened. Not exactly.

Instead, what we have here is the very first ever fully 3D printed automobile. A car that was 3D printed in a single, full-size piece.

It sounds incredible, to be sure, but the folks at the Geneva Motor Show don't lie. And it is there that the car is on display.

The 3D printed car has been fairly aptly dubbed Genesis and is made from carbon fiber, with thermoplastic materials applied to the exterior by robots.

It is composed of a shell-like chassis that is reinforced on the inside with interlocking supports, resembling bone structures.

One would think that it took some really sophisticated process to make the car in a single move, and that the creators had to jump through a lot of hoops to make it happen.

That's not what happened. At all. Instead, German engineering firm EDAG came to the conclusion that the best process was fused deposition modeling, or FDM for short.

And it just so happens that FDM is the most common type of 3D printing technology known to man at this point in time.

In fact, most printers from Cubify and MakerBot use FDM, allowing a product to be printed in layers of melted plastic or other materials that have been heated to the point of liquefaction.

In the case of EDAG's Genesis car, robotic extruders produced the melted polymer material to create the structure, and carbon fibers were added during the production process.

Keep in mind that only the body of the Genesis was made this way though. The motor and all the electrical/computer parts are still a different matter.

So I suppose we could say that even EDAG's Genesis isn't a fully 3D printed car, but it will be ages before 3D printing technology can create something as complex as a computer from the ground up. It will coincide with the end of manufacturing industry as we know it (and, thus, will probably kill off capitalism as well).

We won't have to worry about that for a few lifetimes still, however. Or at least a few decades. In the meanwhile, feast your eyes on the product shot, or render, of the turtle-like Genesis car. It's not the biggest vehicle chassis in history, but it will suit racers well enough.

Self-Lacing Trainers Invented by Nike

Even those who dislike science fiction films have a reason to approve of their existence, because they, along with science fiction literature, are where most of the new ideas for high-tech inventions come from.

Today, I give you the self-lacing trainers from Nike, not unlike the ones that Marty McFly got when he went to the future in “Back to the Future 2.”

The autonomous fastening system can both loosen and tighten the upper laces without needing you to bend over and tie them yourself.

Nike’s lead designer Tinker Hatfield intends for the new trainers to make it to market by 2015, and for the system to spread to other shoes after that.

Nike believes that people with motoring disabilities or who suffer from unfortunate crippling injuries will benefit the most.

It would be fitting for 2015 to be the time of arrival too, since that's the year when Marty McFly wore them in the movie.

Gionee Elife S5.5 Officially Unveiled as World's Thinnest Smartphone

We reported yesterday on the upcoming release of Gionee Elife S5.5, which could become the world's thinnest smartphone available on the market.

Today, the Chinese company has made the smartphone official and has confirmed that the device is only 5.5mm thick. The Gionee Elife S5.5 is now available for pre-order in China for only $370 (€270) off contract, which is more than decent considering the phone's specs sheet.

According to Engadget, the LTE version of Gionee Elife S5.5 will be available for purchase beginning June. Unfortunately, there's no telling where exactly the LTE variant will be released, as Gionee has only stated that the Elife S5.5 will be launched in around 40 countries.

Aside from China, Gionee is present on the Indian smartphone market, where the Chinese company has launched several high-end Android smartphones in the last couple of weeks.

We suspect that the next country to get the sleek Elife S5.5 will be India, though we don't have any confirmation on when exactly the smartphone will go on sale.

Back to Gionee Elife S5.5, the device will ship with Android “Amigo” operating system out of the box, which is based on Google's Jelly Bean platform.

On the inside, the smartphone comes equipped with a 1.7GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. That's a bit of a downside, as Gionee Elife S5.5 was rumored to pack MediaTek's octa-core chipset.

Furthermore, the Elife S5.5 has been confirmed to boast a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution. It also sports a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, along with a secondary 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

Other highlights of the Gionee Elife S5.5 include 2300 mAh battery, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with A-GPS and microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).

Impressive Dark Matter Detector Built in China

In early 2014, China will inaugurate the world's most ambitious dark matter experiment, called Particle and Astrophysical Xenon (PandaX). The installation is buried deep underneath 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) of solid rock, in the heart of a mountain located in the Sichuan province.

The instrument will be focused on searching for, identifying and analyzing weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP), a class of particles believed to make up dark matter. Theory holds that WIMP do not interact with baryonic matter except through gravitational pulls. Dark matter is believed to make up about 24 percent of the Universe's mass-energy budget, whereas normal matter accounts for just 4 percent, Space reports.

The reason why PandaX is buried so deep beneath the surface is to provide it with an additional layer of insulation against other elementary particles that may set off false-positive readings. The rock basically acts like a filter to ensure that only WIMP detections are signaled in the machine.

As its name implies, the experiment will feature a very large container filled with ultra-cold, liquid xenon. Whenever a WIMP interacts with a xenon atom – an occurrence that is predicted to be extremely rare – the two will interact to form particles that can be detected by PandaX. The earliest results from the experiment are expected to arrive by December 2014.

PMD CamBoard Pico XS, the Thinnest Gesture Camera Ever

Gesture cameras are those little gadgets that you put in front of your monitor, or at the top depending on how they're supposed to work, in order to enable gesture control on your PC. The type that doesn't need you to touch anything.

Back at Computex in June 2013, PMD Technologies revealed the Pico S, which was already pretty small.

Now, though, they have a new one, which Engadget got to take a look at just before the Consumer Electronics Show ended (CES 2014).

The device measures 39.5 x 15.5 x 4 mm / 1.55 x 0.61 x 0.15 inches. That's right, it’s just 4 mm / 0.15 inches thick.

All in all, the Pico XS is half as long as the original device, and 1.5 mm thinner (0.05 inches) than the Pico S, but works just as well despite the smaller lens.

Consumers can't use it, however, because it uses MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) instead of USB. OEMs will love it though.

Apple Patents Optical Image Stabilization Technology for iPhone 6 Camera

Digital cameras are not the only ones that reach the headlines and some of the major electronics manufacturers have already integrated powerful cameras into their latest smartphones, which now are capable of capturing even Raw images.

While the iPhone 5 enjoys a huge success on the market, Apple is already planning to improve the future generation camera features. A recent patent discovered by UnwiredView, confirms that the company is currently working on a new technology called “VCM OIS actuator module” that will add Optical Image Stabilization as well as an improved autofocus to future iPhones.

The new AF mechanism will be capable of moving the lens along the optical axis as well as actively tilting it at the same time. This will efficiently compensate camera movements allowing you to take clear, sharp photos in any shooting conditions.

According to the patent, Apple is working on the OIS technology since early 2012 and it should be ready just in time for the launch of iPhone 6.

CES 2014: Innovega iOptik Contact Lenses Give You Superman's Eyes

Google Glass and other augmented reality eyewear were invented with the aim of providing you with information about what you're looking at, but Innovega wants to actually enhance your sight, so it brought its contacts to CES.

That's right, if you're at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, you can visit Innovega's booth and check out a pair of contact lenses that enhance your vision.

The lenses will make you see much clearer at very near and very far distances. You can put a finger near your eye and see the details, for example, instead of it all getting blurry (the eye can't naturally focus on an object when it's so close).

Reading from farther off should be easier too, and you might even be able to distinguish an airplane's wings if it's not too high up.

"A lot of companies are trying to do that right now with hardware, and there are limitations: It creates a tiny field of view," an iOptik spokesperson told Mashable.

"Google Glass is the equivalent of having your smartphone about 24 inches in front of you. The iOptik system is six times the resolution and 20 times the area. It's like looking at a big TV projection, and you can see so much more."

Keep in mind, though, that the iOptik system is called a “system” because it's not just made of the contact lenses.

Sure, they can work alone, but your vision becomes even better (and you get the augmented reality information) when you add the accompanying glasses to the mix.

Said glasses have flat display panels or micro projectors that display media, apps and do pretty much everything else the Google Glass is supposed to do, only over your entire field of view instead of just the edge (like the glasses from Meta).

Innovega made the contacts separate from the glasses because it allows you to fill the contacts with a prescription. The company hopes the technology will eventually replace the smartphone. It might take a while for that to happen, but it actually might since iOptik are a lot better than other contacts we've seen, although without the ability to substitute for sunglasses (for now).

CES 2014: Sony A5000 Is World's Smallest and Lightest Mirrorless Wi-Fi Camera

This week, fans of any digital camera brand will rejoice as most companies have already announced their camera and/or lens lineups for this year's first important international electronics show, CES 2014.

Among them, Japanese electronics maker Sony has announced today its latest entry-level APS-C interchangeable-lens camera, the A5000, which also happens to be the world's smallest and lightest mirrorless camera on the market as of now.

The Sony A5000 comes with a 20.1MP Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor powered by a BIONZ X image processor that is capable of offering enhanced low light capabilities and increased ISO sensitivity of up to ISO16,000.

In addition to that, the company's new mirrorless model also features a 180-degree tiltable LCD screen that allows you to easily take self-portraits. Moreover, the camera body sports a small lever that allows you to quickly adjust optical zoom without having to reach controls on the lens barrel.

To cope with today's smart devices demands, the new Sony A5000 comes equipped with enhanced Wi-Fi capabilities as well as NFC (Near Field Communication), which allows you to instantly connect and share photos to your smartphone and/or tablet.

In addition to that, the camera offers support for a wide range of free and paid applications via the PlayMemories Camera Apps feature. If you like capturing long time-lapse videos, with Time-lapse v2.0 you can now get even better results thanks to the new ambient brightness tracking capabilities of the camera.

Sony A5000 is ultra-compact, weighs only 210g / 7oz and, thanks to its powerful image processor, it's a worthy replacement of your entry-level DSLR. The camera will be available starting March 23 at a price of about $600 / €440 for the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS retractable zoom lens kit.

In addition to that, a new, black-finish 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 telephoto lens will also be available in March at a price of about $350 / €257.

Lenovo Launches Its First LTE Smartphone, the Vibe Z

Chinese handset maker Lenovo has just announced its first LTE smartphone that will be available for purchase beginning next month, the Vibe Z.

Although LTE smartphones have become quite common in the last couple of months, Lenovo will debut its first 4G handset only in February.

Nevertheless, Lenovo's fans will be pleased to know the Vibe Z has been especially designed to be launched outside China.

According to the company, Lenovo Vibe Z will be available for purchase starting in February in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the Philippines.

Customers interested in this LTE-enabled handset will be able to pick it up for about $550 (€400) off contract, which is not that high considering the smartphone's specs sheet.

Connectivity-wise, Lenovo’s first smartphone featuring LTE capabilities, the Vibe Z offers the usual 4G technology that allows for data upload at up to 50 Mbit/s and downloading at up to 150 Mbit/s.

In addition, Lenovo Vibe Z comes with support for GSM / UMTS networks up to 2100 MHz and also features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity.

“We created the new Vibe Z with its elegant design, high performance and custom software so that people can truly have the best smartphone experience now at the speed of LTE,” said Liu Jun, senior vice president, Lenovo Business Group, Lenovo.

The smartphone is powered by Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box, it's only 7.9mm thin and weighs 147 grams (battery included).

Another strong points of the Vibe Z would be its 5.5-in full high definition (1920 x 1080) IPS wide angle viewing capacitive touchscreen display.

On the inside, the smartphone comes equipped with a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at 2.2GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory.

There's also an impressive 13-megapixel main camera on the back, which features a large f1.8 aperture lens, as well as a secondary 5-megapixel camera in the front.

Lenovo’s Super Camera and Super Gallery apps let users add fun effects to their photos easily. Additionally Vibe Z offers Lenovo-specific software supporting motion and gestures for better one-handed usage on large screen devices.

“We are proud to collaborate with Lenovo to enable the company’s first LTE smartphone. The new Vibe Z utilizes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with integrated LTE technology to deliver superfast web browsing and unmatched multimedia features for an outstanding user experience,” concluded Raj Talluri, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Earth-like Planet Discovered Nearby

When the latest batch of exoplanetary detections were announced in late 2013, the dataset also included a world called Kepler-62f, which is very much like Earth in many ways. The conclusions of recent studies appear to indicate that this world, alongside its neighbor Kepler-62e, may be covered in water.

Astronomers were also able to determine that the planet lies in its parent star's habitable zone, which is an area where temperatures are just right to support the presence of liquid water. Similarly, Earth lies right in the middle of the Sun's habitable zone.

This combination of a right distance from the star and the presence of liquid water on its surface makes Kepler-62f an ideal candidate for the development of life. However, experts say, if life does exist on this world, then it most likely looks a lot different than what we are used to seeing.

The exoplanet orbits the star Kepler-62, which is significantly smaller and dimmer than the Sun. The cosmic object lies around 1,200 light-years away from our planet, and is roughly 1.4 times larger than Earth. Its neighbor, Kepler-62e, is about 1.6 times the size of our planet, Space reports.

“There may be life there, but could it be technology-based like ours? Life on these worlds would be under water with no easy access to metals, to electricity, or fire for metallurgy,” said in a statement Lisa Kaltenegger, who led the efforts to model the surfaces of the two worlds based on telescope data.

The expert holds joint appointments with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, in Germany, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), in the United States. “Nonetheless, these worlds will still be beautiful blue planets circling an orange star – and maybe life’s inventiveness to get to a technology stage will surprise us,” she said.

According to data from the NASA planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope, the exoplanet Kepler-62f orbits its parent star once every 267 days, as opposed to Earth's 365-day orbit. This puts in about as far away from the dim star as Venus is from the Sun. Though closer, the exoplanet is not necessarily warmer, due to the reduced size of its star.

“Look at our own ocean – it is just absolutely full of life. We think, in fact, life might have begun there,” commented NASA Ames Research Center expert Bill Borucki, who led the team that discovered the two alien worlds last year.

CES 2014: Intel Edison, a PC the Size of an SD Card

We suppose it was only a matter of time before personal computers became personal all-in-one computer chips. We just didn't think the leap from laptop to SD-card-sized system would skip all the steps in between.

Then again, those “in-between steps” are tablets, smartphones and hand-sized gadgets, and since ARM has a firm hold on most of those, Intel must have figured it had a better chance if it jumped all the way in one go.

Besides, this will let it score points on the wearable computing gadgets, like fitness tracking wrist bands, electronic clothing, toys with medical and surveillance applications, etc.

The new computer-on-a-chip is called Edison. Intel says it is based on the same tech as normal PCs, only compacted.

The 22 nm transistor technology was used for the processor itself, which is a dual-core Quark CPU (central processing unit).

The Santa Clara, California-based chip giant also made sure that both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were present and accounted for.

As we have implied above, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich intends for the Edison miniature computer to be used to build the next generation of connected devices and wearable gadgets.

We have to say that CES 2014, the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a very opportune moment.

Not just because it is a well-attended launching pad for all sorts of consumer devices, but because consumer awareness and interest is ideal: the public is optimistic about the idea of wearable devices, but doesn't have any available to buy.

What's more, it has already been proven that high-tech clothes can be made. We've already seen the Call Me Gloves (so you can talk to the hand literally) and we know almost for sure that Bluetooth watches, bracelets, gloves and hats are in the works and will debut this year.

On that note, the Edison is made for developers and while it hasn't shipped much, Intel did have some proof-of-concept stuff on hand, the “Nursery 2.0” as he the company called it: a toy frog that reports an infant's vitals to a parent's LED coffee cup, a milk warmer that heats when the frog (or other item) hears the baby cry, etc.

The only catch here is that if you are a developer, you'll have to wait until the middle of 2014 to get the Edison. By then, the app store dedicated just to it will be up and running as well.

“Biometric” iPhone 6 to Sport Iris Scanner and Huge 5.7-Inch Screen – Report

A new report from China claims that Apple is preparing to unleash a new iPhone duo this year sporting larger displays and iris scanners, in what would undoubtedly mark the most exciting iPhone revision yet.

A Foxconn executive is telling C Technology (via Google Translate) that “Apple will release a one-time exception iPhone in two sizes this year,” one boasting a 4.7-inch display, the other a 5.7-inch screen.

If the huge numbers aren’t enough to baffle you, then hear this. Then same Foxconn staffer reportedly said that “the whole system comes standard with biometric.” In addition to Touch ID, the phones could be equipped with iris scanners, according to the report.

I for one will take a science-fiction rumor any day of the week over one that sounds plausible but boring, but that doesn’t mean we have to believe everything that flies. In other words, don’t hold your breath for that James Bond functionality just yet. Wait for a hardware leak, or something.

PlayStation Now Streaming Service Announced, Brings Games to PS4, PS3, PS Vita

After many reports and quite a few rumors, Sony has confirmed that it's going to debut a special game streaming service called PlayStation Now that will grant owners of PS4, PS3, or PS Vita consoles access to older games on their platforms.

When Sony revealed the PS4 back in February of 2013, it promised that backwards compatibility with the PS3 and other home consoles would be ensured through a cloud streaming service based on its recently-acquired Gaikai division.

Now, the company has revealed at CES 2014 the PlayStation Now service that broadcasts from the cloud, at first, PS3 games for the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita platforms.

"We are thrilled to deliver entertainment experiences only possible from PlayStation through our new streaming game service," said Andrew House, president and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, in an official statement. "PS Now will allow users to engage in the world of PlayStation, whether they're existing fans or have never owned a PlayStation platform."

At first, PS3 games will be available for streaming on the PS4 and PS3 systems, and the PS Vita will join them at some point in time, alongside actual Sony Bravia TV sets, not to mention other Internet-connected devices.

"SCE's vision for PS Now is to enable users to instantly enjoy a wide range of full games on the Internet-connected consumer electronics devices they use every day. The accessibility of PS Now means, for example, that PS4 users in the living room can continue playing a game on a PS3 system in their bedroom," the company said.

"Or PS Vita users can enjoy instant access to a game wherever there's Wi-Fi connectivity, such as outdoors, then can switch to a supporting Bravia TV's big screen and play the same game after arriving home."

PlayStation Now will allow users to rent certain games or acquire a subscription that allows them extra benefits and a wide access to the game portfolio. All games will have full features, including multiplayer, Trophies, and more.

PlayStation Now will launch as a beta on PS3 systems in certain regions of the United States at the end of January. A full rollout is expected by summer in the U.S., but there's no word about the service's launch in other regions.

Surprise, Surprise: The New Mac Pro Can Have Its CPU Removed and Upgraded

Other World Computing is performing a thorough tear down of Apple’s all-new Mac Pro (Late 2013) model, showing the system’s insides and revealing some important pieces of information for those who are planning to buy their own.

For one reason or another, OWC beat iFixit to the Mac Pro tear down. However, disappointingly OWC does not provide thorough documentation of each step taken during the dismantling process. Instead, the hardware seller only provides a photo gallery.

Be it at it may, the tear down does reveal one important aspect about the $2,999 / €2,999 machine. Namely, its processor is easily removable and upgradable.

Not that you can swap that Xeon CPU for anything better at the moment, but it’s good to know that you won’t be forced to buy another Mac Pro outright when Intel brings out something new. Don’t forget to click through the gallery below. You can also visit OWC for the full monty.

Razer Intros Christine, World's Most Modular PC Design

Normally, a desktop has a pretty standard hardware set installed within a rectangular case of varying sizes, but the newest concept from Razer does away with that concept completely.

Codenamed Project Christine, the system doesn't actually have a case at all. Instead, it has a central hub, like a tower, to which various modules can be connected.

The more you add, the better your PC gets and the greater the range of connectivity becomes.

It's meant to allow even less tech-savvy users to upgrade their system, or at least start out small and keep adding more components as time and funds allow.

Razer's Christine has specific modules containing the microprocessor (along with the indispensable chipset and interfaces), a graphics processing units, memory, storage, etc.

Each module looks like a rectangular cartridge with rounded edges, most no larger than a 5.25-inch optical disk drive.

The PSU, central and video components are the only ones larger than that, from what the concept images show.

You should be able to connect everything through the PCI Express backbone, regardless of combination.

Graphics capabilities can go all the way to quad-SLI multi-GPU configurations, storage can be made up of individual SSD/HDDs and RAID storage setups, there can be more than one PSU, even I/O capabilities can be customized.

Finally, everything is done without cables, which means that only your monitor, keyboard and mouse will add a wire to the equation, unless the latter two are wireless, in which case only the display will need such things.

Sure, even this modular PC will have limits, but it's definitely a project worth exploring if you're not all that good with choosing your own PC hardware and assembling a normal PC from individually bought parts.

“Project Christine is a new concept design that will revolutionize the way users view the traditional PC. This is the first gaming system that is able to keep pace with technology and could allow consumers to never buy another PC, or gaming system, again,” said Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director.