KEECKER: The World's First HomePod

A new project on Kickstarter has gotten a lot of attention, it's the KEECKER, billed as The World's First HomePod, a rolling egg-looking robot that moves from room to room in a person's house, bringing personal entertainment functionality with it.

The idea is that instead of having music players, television sets, etc. in multiple rooms, have just one that can be summoned to wherever you want.


KEECKER is white and looks like a giant egg (a little less than knee high) with just a camera, lamp, microphone and a button mounted on it.

It's very plain looking, but offers a wide variety of entertainment options. It receives commands via smartphone (iOS or Android). It also comes with some smarts.

When brought home it moves around the house creating a map (with assistance from the new owner) learning which room is which by name so that when summoned, it knows which room to come to.

Pierre Lebeau

Once it arrives, KEECKER can play music or broadcast a video (or artistic renderings such as the moving galaxy) on a wall, browse the web or serve as a gaming unit.

It can also be used for video conferencing courtesy of a built in 360° camera and microphone, and because it runs on Android, it can run any Android app.

As if that weren't' enough, it can also be used as a sentry (or pet sitter) constantly monitoring the home (movement, temperature, CO2 and noise levels) while everyone is away.

KEECKER has motion sensors, WiFi, audio/video, an adjustable projection lamp, a processor (a quadcore mobile chip),

1 terabyte of local storage and a battery that can go for several days between recharging. Its makers promise that it's also quiet and doesn't get hot.

They also plan to release both an SDK and API in the near future and promise that it won't operate like Roomba, constantly running into walls to learn of its limitations. Instead, the robot will lean more the longer it "lives" in a home, and has software that prevents it from running into things.

It's not difficult to see the usefulness of KEECKER, if you're working in the kitchen, you could call your little robot to offer up a recipe, or provide music as you cook.

Likewise, it could be summoned to other areas, such as the bathroom or other parts of the house where traditional electronic devices don't exist.

On the down side, it clearly wouldn't work if there are stairs and may have trouble navigating cluttered environments.

Initial prices for KEECKER range from $3000 to $4000, depending on configuration.

Boeing 777 and 737 cockpit display change: WiFi threat to pilots' display

The affected Boeing control panel displays are susceptible to interference from Wi-Fi devices intended for routine use by many pilots during flights, according to the FAA document. 

Credit: Getty Images

New electronic display units are to be fitted in the cockpits of Boeing 737 and 777 airliners to address fears that Wi-Fi signals might cause them to go blank in flight.

In an airworthiness directive published Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the switchover involves 1,149 late-model 737s and 177 777s in the United States alone.

The Federal Aviation Administration's safety directive, released Tuesday, aims to ensure that essential information such as airspeed, altitude and heading doesn't temporarily disappear from certain instrument displays manufactured by Honeywell International Inc.

Each installation is estimated to cost about $10,000, said the agency, which set a five-year deadline for the work to be completed.

"We are issuing this (directive) to prevent loss of flight-critical information displayed to the flight crew during a critical phase of flight, such as an approach or takeoff," it said.

Such an incident "could result in loss of airplane control at an altitude insufficient for recovery, or controlled flight into terrain," it added.

Display units are computer screens that give pilots vital in-flight information, such as altitude, airspeed, compass heading and the aircraft's attitude relative to the horizon.

The airworthiness directive—aviation's version of an automotive recall, was prompted by fears that Wi-Fi signals might interfere with a display unit, making it go blank.

Satellite Wi-Fi is being added to a growing number of commercial airliners, enabling passengers to log on to the Internet from 35,000 feet (10,000 meters).

In a statement, Honeywell International, which manufactures the display units, said that none of the devices have ever failed in flight due to Wi-Fi interference.

"The only know occurrence was during a developmental test conducted on the ground," it said, adding that, working with Boeing, it has already come up with new display hardware.

Facebook out to buy solar drone maker to provide WiFi Internet access

Facebook is in talks to buy a solar-powered drone startup in what could lead to making wireless Internet available in regions without online access.

An unidentified source disclosed that the leading social network is considering buying Titan Aerospace for about $60 million.

Facebook declined to comment Tuesday on what it referred to in a statement to reporters as "rumours and speculation."

Titan Aerospace makes high-altitude, solar-powered drones that can fly for as long as five years without touching down.

Facebook-backed Internet.org, which has a stated mission of making online access available everywhere in the world, could put such drones to work as airborne wireless hotspots.

Titan Aerospace would start by making about 11,000 drones to fly above Africa and other parts of the world with minimal to no Internet access.

Titan Aerospace was founded in 2012 and has its headquarters in the state of New Mexico where it handles research and development.

The takeover, if confirmed, would come as Google works on a Project Loon to spread Internet access using balloons.

Titan Aerospace also provide a 'Space Denial Threat Solution' that pollutes the upper atmosphere with ball bearing projectiles travelling at high speed, intending to damage and disable GPS satellites.

Clearly this 'solution' is a weapon against all satellites and is a threat to humans and space travel.

It is not known whether Facebook would be interested in this 'solution' but any entity wanting to dominate space and the Earth could use it to threaten the peaceful and scientific use of Space.

Google Loon believes it's possible to create a ring of balloons that fly around the globe on the stratospheric winds and provide Internet access to the earth below.

Boeing makes Breakthrough in Aeroplane WiFi Connectivity

Boeing has developed an advanced method to test wireless signals in airplane cabins, making it possible for passengers to enjoy more reliable connectivity when using networked personal electronic devices in the air.

Boeing engineers created a new process for measuring radio signal quality using proprietary measurement technology and analysis tools. 

This enables engineers to more efficiently measure how strong a signal is and how far it spreads, ensuring safe yet powerful signal penetration throughout an airplane cabin.

Once the new method was established, testing that previously took more than two weeks to conduct was reduced to 10 hours.

"Every day we work to ensure that Boeing passengers are travelling on the safest and most advanced airplanes in the world," said Dennis O'Donoghue, vice president of Boeing Test and Evaluation. 

"This is a perfect example of how our innovations in safety can make the entire flying experience better."

This technology was first developed to more thoroughly and efficiently ensure that signal propagation met the regulatory safety standards that protect against interference with an aircraft's critical electrical systems.

Initially using a de-commissioned airplane, the team from Boeing Test and Evaluation laboratories conducted a series of such tests.

The team determined that potatoes were ideal stand-ins for passengers, given their similar physical interactions with electronic signal properties.

Much of the testing was conducted on the grounded airplane with the seats filled with 20,000 pounds of potato sacks. The test data was then validated on the ground with human stand-ins for passengers.

A wireless signal inside an airplane can deviate randomly when people move around. Boeing's new test process takes advantage of state-of-the-art technology and ground-breaking statistical analysis to identify strong and weak signal areas and balance them by adjusting the connectivity system accordingly.

The result is increased safety and reliability.