Unitree Robotics recently dazzled us with its R1 humanoid robot, and now it’s unveiled something even more astonishing: a super-robust dog-like robot called the A2 Stellar Explorer.
In a video released by the Chinese company this week, the A2 makes quite an entrance, smashing through a pane of glass as if to say, “If there is ever a robot takeover, I’ll be leading it.”
Suffering zero damage except perhaps for a couple of scratches on its tough metal exterior, the A2, which has autonomous capabilities, is then shown flipping forward across uneven ground before performing a balancing act involving just a single leg.
This thing can run, too, featuring s a top speed of 11.2 mph (about 18 kph). Not quick enough for you? Then you can stick on a set of wheels to make it go even faster.
Next up, we see someone jumping up and down on the A2, with the robot’s legs able to handle the heavy load with ease. Indeed, the quadruped can comfortably carry a payload of up to 55 pounds (25 kg) while walking and 221 pounds (100 kg) while standing.
You won’t be surprised to learn that climbing up giant concrete steps is a piece of cake for the robot, as well as sprinting down a flight of smaller ones.
The remarkable machine uses ultra-wide Lidar 3D perception technology to make sense of its surroundings. It also features a front-facing HD camera and advanced computing options to help developers push its autonomous capabilities even further. It also comes with two batteries that are easy to swap out, though there’s no information on run times.
The company has yet to announce cost and availability for the A2 robot, but if it’s anything like the R1, the price tag could be surprisingly reasonable.
Unitree, which launched in 2016, says the A2 is designed for industrial and civilian tasks, and on its YouTube page says: “Please everyone, be sure to use the robot in a friendly and safe manner.”
But watching it in action, it’s clear that the technology on display makes this robot and others like it plausible candidates for future military deployment. Indeed, the U.S. Army has already tested at least one such design — armed with an AI-enabled gun turret — while China’s PLA has also been trialing its own quadruped robots.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.