FanDuel and DraftKings are getting shut down in New York too

The New York Times and ESPN are reporting that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has followed his counterpart in Nevada by asking the two biggest daily fantasy sites to stop taking bets in his state. DraftKings and FanDuel have been struggling to escape a controversy that exploded when reports surfaced that employees were regularly playing, and winning, on the competing websites, and now are facing a future of tighter regulation. According to the letter Schneiderman has decided the games constitute illegal gambling under the laws of New York, and should be banned as games of chance. This is particularly complicated for FanDuel, which has its headquarters in New York.

Update: DraftKings said in a statement to Engadget that “We strongly disagree with the reasoning in his opinion and will examine and vigorously pursue all legal options available to ensure our over half a million customers in New York State can continue to play the fantasy sports games they love.” Meanwhile FanDuel says, “The game has been played — legally — in New York for years and years, but after the Attorney General realized he could now get himself some press coverage, he decided a game that has been around for a long, long time is suddenly now not legal.” You can read both statements — along with a quote from AG Schniederman — in full after the break.

Source: New York Times, ESPN

Robot watches store shelves so you don’t leave empty-handed

Few things are more annoying while shopping than finding out that a store hasn’t bothered to stock what you want… assuming you know to look for it in the first place. A robot may just come to your rescue, though. Simbe Robotics is launching an autonomous robot, Tally, that scans store shelves and lets workers know when goods are running out or misplaced. Shops no longer have to make a human trudge through the aisles — they only have to send someone out when supplies are low. Tally can work during normal business hours, and it even has a Roomba-like charging dock so that it can top itself up in mid-shift.

Source: Simbe Robotics

Loyal robot dog waits for you to walk through the door

WowWee, a smart toys company, has unveiled a robotic dog with blue-green LED eyes. The dog, aptly called CHiP (short for Canine Home Intelligent Pet), sits with the tap of a button, picks up your presence in the room via bluetooth and plays fetch. The sensor-loaded pup comes with a toy-watch looking wristband that allows it pick up your whereabouts. When you’re happy with your “pet’s” response, you can press down a thumbs up on the wristband to approve — a digital equivalent of a belly rub. Slideshow-340775

Smart projector aims to bring the big screen home wirelessly

There’s nothing better than a projector in your living room for movie fans. But for many people, setting one up isn’t exactly easy (though it’s doable if you put in the effort). There’s complicated wiring to deal with, and they’re also pretty bulky. French startup AV Concept Products is hoping to solve these issues with the All in One HC (AIO), its new Android-powered smart projector. It’s fairly slim, it can spit out a decent 720p image (yes, a 1080p version is in the works) in a brightly lit event space, and it supports AirHDMI, which lets you transmit video from any device with an HDMI port. The big problem? The company is currently targeting a $1,499 price for the AIO, though you can snag one via Indiegogo for $999 and $1,299 at the moment. Those are all pretty steep prices for a projector without 1080p, but AV Concept Products tells us it’s also working on a subscription plan to ease the pain. It’s hoping to raise $50,000 in its crowdfunding campaign over the next 35 days.