Daily Authority: ???? Amazon Astro early verdicts
â Good morning! Looking forward to flying to Barcelona tomorrow⊠not looking forward to the 4:30am alarm!
Amazon Astro is really wheeling about
Remember Amazonâs Astro home robot? The $1,450 wheelie-guy that Amazon announced back at its Fall 2021 hardware event, and caught all kinds of flak after Amazon sources called it a âdisasterâ⊠well, itâs out now, and itâs bringing people beer:
Tristan Rayner / Android Authority
The Verge found a bunch of YouTube videos from seemingly regular people showing what the robot actually does in the house. And that doesnât include âthrowing itself down a flight of stairsâ as was originally warned.
How does Astro look outside of Amazonâs glossy studio? Cute, funny, but limited.
- One report from a âfifth-grade teacher in Floridaâ via Bloomberg says that he controls the robot from his phone and when at work, it can be driven over to the family dog to chat. Kinda cool.
- The teacher said âItâs like your little own R2-D2 ⊠My friends and family think itâs hilarious. They say: âThis thing follows you?!ââ
- They also said it was a little overpriced, though the pricetag was $999 via Amazonâs early deal: itâs now $1,450. The teacher thinks $700 would be a better price point.
Video evidence:
- Based on the videos, I 100% think Astro is cuter than anticipated, but probably about as useless as foreshadowed.
- Yes, itâll bring you a beer, but only if someone puts beer in it.
- Anyway, the revelation I have from watching the videos is that Astro responds ridiculously slowly. The delay between asking it a question and responding seems to be longer than three seconds or so.
- (Maybe Iâm used to my dog responding to anything at the drop of a hat with crazy excitement.)
- Anyway, unfortunately for Amazon and for those that really do want a useful robot running about the house, the videos make it look like a novelty. I bet friends and family do think itâs funny, but at $999, thatâs like $100 per chuckle? I donât know.
- Iâd rather the money. Sorry!
Roundup
???? Details here for new Snapdragon Wear 5100 chipsets for next Wear OS watches: next-gen hardware (Android Authority).
.???? Sony finally released a first look at the upcoming PlayStation VR2: looks pretty similar to the Meta/Oculus Quest but thatâs not a bad thing. What really matters: the gaming ecosystem to come (Android Authority).
???? Fraud at Samsungâs chip division under investigation after huge order loss: seems like Samsung Foundry didnât address yield issues because execs âfabricated dataâ about it being better than it was, now its 3nm production has lost Qualcomm orders (SamMobile).
???? Spotify Car Thing is finally out: a $90 thing that plays Spotify in your car. You pair it to your phone over Bluetooth, and to the car via either 3.5mm cable or Bluetooth. If your counter argument is âjust use your phone,â I hear you. This is a little more hands-free, I guess? (Ars Technica).
â Intel has joined the Bitcoin mining ASIC game. It showed off its slightly older, first-gen Bonanza Mine System which offers 40 THash/s at 3600 Watts, which is not bleeding edge. The second-generation product, the Bonanza Mine 2, is coming later this year, and will want to do better (Bitcoin Magazine).
???? âWhat life hack became your daily routine?â (r/nostupidquestions).
Weirdness Wednesday
Sonyâs World Photography Awards are a highlight each year, as one of the biggest in the world.
- In 2022, maybe itâs just me but the shortlisted Professional category in the contest has the pros pulling out all the stops to grab interesting shots â from surreal to weird to pandemic-appropriate to climate-change arresting, to more.
- Pros submit a body of work, not just a single shot.
The shortlist includes just hands-down some of the most amazing compilations.
- âUnknown world below the groundâ by Martin Broen features the most crazy cave diving shots in the YucatĂĄn Peninsula, shot from a distance, with a shot from it featured below.
- (Full caption: Labyrinth of Speleothems. A diver navigating his underwater scooter through a chamber full of stalactites and stalagmites, showing the raw nature and amazing textures of the flooded caves in Mexico. Martin Broen, United States of America, Shortlist, Professional, Landscape, 2022 Sony World Photography Awards.)
- The Wildlife & Nature entries are astonishing, too. They all are! Architecture, Still Life, wow.
- Check them all out here.
Cheers,
Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor
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