4 inches high. Wirelessly controlled. Bugdroid. Need we say more?

Reality Robotics, the company behind the likes of the nerd-friendly, Android-controlled TankBot, is back with another gadget, this one a little more near and dear to our hearts. A Kickstarter campaign has been launched for BERO -- Be The Robot. 

There are a number of models of the 4-inch BugDroids from which to choose. They've got tracks for legs, LEDs for eyes, and the headphones pulse to music. Plus there's a built-in speaker that will play music from an included storage card. Very cool.

The different models will behave different. They're programmable, voice-activated -- and the whole thing is open-sourced. (Jerry is going nuts already, we imagine.)

There are a dozen Kickstarter pledge levels, starting at $35 for a paperweight (basically the shell of a BERO with no electronics), all the way up to a $7,800 pledge that will send you to Hong Kong to see how these little guys are made. (There are only two of those available.)

Hit the links below for more, and check out the gallery after the break for more color options.

The BERO robots are expected to ship in late November. iOS funcationality will be added later, as well as integration with MP3 players and (possibly) Twitter.

Source: Kickstarter, Be the Robot

Ubi has recently reached their Kickstarter funding goal and are just about ready to begin putting their plug-in home computer into full production. This little Android-powered device sticks into a wall socket, connects to your home network over Wi-Fi, and is bristling with sensors. Combined with an Android app, you can get notifications relating to movement in the room, temperature, or issue commands directly to the device via voice. We wanted to follow up to talk about their challenges in making the project a success, the viability of Kickstarter as a funding model, and where Android fits in the larger scheme of home automation. 

Hi Leor, thanks for your time! The Ubi looks really promising. Can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration for it?

All three of us (Amin, Mahyar, and myself) are big tech enthusiasts and subscribe to the philosophy that technology is starting to gain pace at such a tremendous rate that it’ll completely change how we live our lives.  We were always throwing around ideas for different projects to work on, but around a year ago, we started to see some truly cool projects pop up on Kickstarter that inspired us.

Nikon today announced its first Android-powered camera, the previously rumored S800c. It's a 16-megapixel shooter with a 10x optical zoom and NIKKOR lens. And, yes, it runs Android. Android 2.3 Gingerbread, to be exact, and it's Wifi-enabled (802.11 b/g/n), of course. 

Answering the big question, though, is that, yes, it's got full access to Google Play. That means Instagram. That means HDR apps. That means Facebook. That means Google+. Anything you shoot with the S800c, you'll be able to share the same as with your phone. 

The UI, which is displayed on a 3.5-inch OLED touchscreen, appears to be a mix of traditional "stock" Android -- that's an icon-laden homescreen you see above, complete with Gingerbread launcher -- with what we presume will be a bevy of tweaks. Nikon's providing its own Picturetown app, just in case you need yet another place to upload your pics. The camera also has aGPS, so everything can be geotagged.

Other specs of note include:

• 25mm to 250mm shooting
• Vibration reduction (VR)
• Built-in flash
• 8 frames per second still shooting
• 1080p video recording
• 2GB on-board storage

Will it get you to put down your phone and pick up a "real" camera of relatively similar expense? Time will tell. We'll also have to see just how useful Nikon's UI ends up being. 

And we'll have to see what the hell folks are able to hack onto it.

Source: Nikon; full specs

​A Galaxy S3 extended battery at 3500 mAh is bound to be big - but is it too big?

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is one of the slickest, slimmest phones around. Of that there should be little disagreement, no? And the battery life, at 2100 mAh, isn't anything to sneeze at, either, given just how slim and sleek it is.

So what's the year's hottest phone going to look like with a 3500 mAh monster strapped to its back? Behold, Seidio's extended battery for the Galaxy S3.

So, yeah. It's got that big hump that we're used to from Seidio's monster-sized extended batteries. And it certainly looks like it'll completely change the feel of the device, as well. Oh, and there's no NFC yet, though that's coming in a future model.

Any takers?

More: Seidio 3500 mAh extended battery for the Galaxy S3