The Un-carrier is giving away 100 smartphones in its T-Mobile Tuesdays anniversary

Why it matters to you

T-Mobile has been thanking customers for being customers for a year with T-Mobile Tuesdays, and now the firm is celebrating in a big way.

It has been a year since T-Mobile first started giving away free stuff (yes, really) every Tuesday, and to celebrate the milestone, the Un-carrier is doing the only logical thing — giving away more free stuff. Every hour for 12 hours today, June 6, the Seattle-based mobile service provider will be giving away prizes, including 100 LG G6 phones, an LG G Pad X 8.0, and other non-hardware treats.

For the past year, T-Mobile has been thanking its customers for simply existing by way of its T-Mobile Tuesdays program, and over the last 12 months, customers have taken advantage of more than 40 million free gifts. But now, the company really wants to turn up the volume, promising to give away “tens of millions of dollars in free stuff.”

There’s the opportunity for free gas for a year, free movie tickets for a year, $1,000 to spend at PetSmart (or Papa John’s or Vudu), free Lyft rides, and free coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts. And of course, T-Mobile is still giving out its more standard Tuesday prizes (though do you really want a T-Mobile branded trucker hat?).

“The carriers just love to see you sweat. But, this summer, the Un-carrier’s gonna help you stay chill — with ice cream, movies, and a whole lot more.” said John Legere, president & CEO of T-Mobile. “With T-Mobile Tuesdays, we prove our loyalty to you and thank you for being a customer every single week with awesome free stuff.”

So how do you actually win one of these prizes? Well, you’ll have to be pretty vigilant about monitoring Twitter. Starting at 9:00 a.m. ET tomorrow, June 7, follow @TMobile on Twitter and reply to #Thankiversary tweets. Those of you who reply, retweet, and are engaged with T-Mobile’s posts will have a higher chance of winning. You just have to keep your eye on the prize.

Google Fiber’s Webpass expands its gigabit internet to condo residents in Seattle

Why it matters to you

If you live in Seattle and want gigabit internet, a planned expansion by Webpass could spell good news.

Webpass, the San Francisco-based wireless company owned by Google Fiber, is expanding coverage to its seventh market: A Seattle apartment complex. On Tuesday, the company announced that it will begin offering service to tenants in Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, a 40-story luxury high-rise located above Pike Place Market.

Starting later this month, the residents of Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, a 146-unit condominium building, will be able to purchase Webpass’s gigabit internet for $60 per month. The internet service provider says it’s tapping existing Ethernet infrastructure to deliver gigabit speeds up to 20 times faster than the average U.S. internet speed last year.

“By joining forces [with Google], we can accelerate the deployment of superfast internet connections for customers across the U.S.,” Webpass founder Charles Barr wrote in a blog post shortly after Google acquired the company. “Webpass will remain focused on rapid deployment of high-speed internet connections for residential and commercial buildings, primarily using point-to-point wireless.”

Webpass, unlike Google Fiber, doesn’t rely on physical wire to deliver high-speed internet. Instead, it leverages millimeter wave technology to beam high-frequency waves from powerful base stations to receivers mounted on the tops of buildings. It isn’t perfect — signal strength can vary based on factors like atmospheric conditions and network congestion — but it’s often cheaper to deploy in dense urban environments where space is at a premium.

It’s also unlikely to face the sorts of legal challenges brought on by Google’s fiber efforts. AT&T, Charter, and Comcast have sued to stop city ordinances in Nashville and Louisville that would make it easier for Google to access the utility polls it needs to string fiber wire.

Google Fiber was unveiled to the public in 2010 with the promise of better, faster internet access for everyone. In 2011, the company ran a trial in a residential community in Palo Alto, California, before naming Kansas City, Kansas, as the first location where the service would be made available.

But Fiber has been in limbo recently, pending a shift in strategy. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reduced the Google Fiber team’s staff and “paused” fiber rollouts in cities throughout the country. And more recently, hundreds of employees currently stationed at Alphabet’s Access division were reassigned to other parts of the company.

Tuesday’s Webpass expansion would appear to signal a renewed commitment to Gigabit broadband — albeit via wireless, rather than wireline, means.

That appears to be in line with Google’s broader approach. At an Alphabet shareholder’s meeting last year, chairman Eric Schmidt unveiled plans to test wireless gigabit internet service that wouldn’t require “[digging] up your garden.” And in October 2016, Google gained approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to begin testing “experimental transmitters” in as many as 24 metropolitan areas throughout the country.

“Launching a new city is always fun,” Barr said. I’m eager to demonstrate to the residents of 1521 2nd Ave the value of a Webpass connection.”

Google Fiber’s Webpass expands its gigabit internet to condo residents in Seattle

Why it matters to you

If you live in Seattle and want gigabit internet, a planned expansion by Webpass could spell good news.

Webpass, the San Francisco-based wireless company owned by Google Fiber, is expanding coverage to its seventh market: A Seattle apartment complex. On Tuesday, the company announced that it will begin offering service to tenants in Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, a 40-story luxury high-rise located above Pike Place Market.

Starting later this month, the residents of Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, a 146-unit condominium building, will be able to purchase Webpass’s gigabit internet for $60 per month. The internet service provider says it’s tapping existing Ethernet infrastructure to deliver gigabit speeds up to 20 times faster than the average U.S. internet speed last year.

“By joining forces [with Google], we can accelerate the deployment of superfast internet connections for customers across the U.S.,” Webpass founder Charles Barr wrote in a blog post shortly after Google acquired the company. “Webpass will remain focused on rapid deployment of high-speed internet connections for residential and commercial buildings, primarily using point-to-point wireless.”

Webpass, unlike Google Fiber, doesn’t rely on physical wire to deliver high-speed internet. Instead, it leverages millimeter wave technology to beam high-frequency waves from powerful base stations to receivers mounted on the tops of buildings. It isn’t perfect — signal strength can vary based on factors like atmospheric conditions and network congestion — but it’s often cheaper to deploy in dense urban environments where space is at a premium.

It’s also unlikely to face the sorts of legal challenges brought on by Google’s fiber efforts. AT&T, Charter, and Comcast have sued to stop city ordinances in Nashville and Louisville that would make it easier for Google to access the utility polls it needs to string fiber wire.

Google Fiber was unveiled to the public in 2010 with the promise of better, faster internet access for everyone. In 2011, the company ran a trial in a residential community in Palo Alto, California, before naming Kansas City, Kansas, as the first location where the service would be made available.

But Fiber has been in limbo recently, pending a shift in strategy. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reduced the Google Fiber team’s staff and “paused” fiber rollouts in cities throughout the country. And more recently, hundreds of employees currently stationed at Alphabet’s Access division were reassigned to other parts of the company.

Tuesday’s Webpass expansion would appear to signal a renewed commitment to Gigabit broadband — albeit via wireless, rather than wireline, means.

That appears to be in line with Google’s broader approach. At an Alphabet shareholder’s meeting last year, chairman Eric Schmidt unveiled plans to test wireless gigabit internet service that wouldn’t require “[digging] up your garden.” And in October 2016, Google gained approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to begin testing “experimental transmitters” in as many as 24 metropolitan areas throughout the country.

“Launching a new city is always fun,” Barr said. I’m eager to demonstrate to the residents of 1521 2nd Ave the value of a Webpass connection.”

Safeguard your HTC U11’s shiny glass body with one of these cases

You’ll be mesmerized when you lay eyes on the color-changing glass exterior of the HTC U11, but a big repair bill awaits anyone who drops it. The shiny surface looks great, and it’s tougher than your average glass, but scratches and cracks are still a concern. We’re pleased to find that you do get a solid, minimalist case in the box with the U11, which offers a little protection without masking the the phone’s design. If you want something a bit tougher or stylish, however, then check out the HTC U11 cases below.

Incipio DualPro Case ($30)

The DualPro case from Incipio is of the original dual-layer designs, and features a hard, polycarbonate shell with a soft-touch finish, which is wrapped around a flexible interior that will take the sting out of any impact. This is drop protection you can trust, because the case has been tested to withstand falls from up to 12 feet. HTC’s Edge Sense technology still works with the case on, too, so you can still squeeze your phone to launch the camera or other apps. Color offerings include black, gray, navy, and our favorite — merlot.

Buy it now from:

Incipio

Spigen Rugged Armor Case ($14)

This eye-catching TPU case has carbon fiber panels and glossy accents that help it to stand out from the crowd. It’s flexible, so it’s easy to fit around your phone, and there are air cushions inside to help dissipate shock when it takes a tumble or gets bumped. A slight lip also extends around the screen to protect your device when placed face down, and there are covers for the volume and power buttons. Moreover, accurate openings ensure you can use your phone’s camera and the USB Type-C port without any problems.

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Official HTC U11 Leather Flip Case ($45)

You can be certain that this leather flip case from HTC will fit your U11 like a glove. The soft, durable leather exterior is neatly stitched and comes in gray, white, or black, with a subtle HTC logo on the front. Inside, there’s a shell to hold your U11 in place, along with openings for your phone’s various features. This U11 case is slim and stylish, and provides good protection for your screen.

Buy it now from:

Mobile Fun

Nagebee Case with Holster ($10)

If you like a holster and belt clip with your case, then this budget offering from Nagebee will surely be tempting. The case consists of a layer of soft silicone and a polycarbonate frame, which slots on top and covers the corners. The frame also packs a handy kickstand to prop up your U11 in landscape view, and you’ll find the usual range of cut-outs for your phone’s ports, camera, and other functions. The inner layer comes in black, red, or teal, and there’s even a version with a camouflage frame. Plus, the holster and belt clip come standard.

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Style4U Case with Ring Holder ($10)

The standout feature of this case is the ring holder, which you can slide a finger through to ensure you don’t drop your U11. You can also rotate it 360 degrees, use it as a kickstand, or attach it to the dashboard on your car. The case itself is made of a transparent polycarbonate panel and a malleable TPU bumper, which currently comes in black, clear, teal, and rose gold varieties. The case won’t provide rugged protection, but there is a lip around the screen and simple button covers to protect your investment.

Buy it now from:

Amazon

Affinity Photo is the first iPad editor to retain all the desktop features

Why it matters to you

A tablet’s smaller hardware means most apps are downsized from the desktop version, but with Affinity Photo’s iPad launch, that’s no longer the case.

Mobile software tends to seriously draw back the features in order to run on a smaller device, but one photo editor is launching an iPad version that can do everything its desktop counterpart can.  On Monday, Serif announced Affinity Photo for iPad as the first full-blown photo editor to come to the mobile platform without downgrading tools for the smaller system.

The iPad version is designed with all the same features and the same back-end code, but refined to work with the touch interface and iPad hardware, compatible with the iPad Air 2, iPad 2017, and the iPad Pro (9.7-, 10.5-, and 12.9-inch models). Developer Serif says that the program is “developed without compromise,” and that all of the tools from the desktop version are now available in the tablet app.

The photo editor uses multitouch gestures to speed up the editing process, the developer says. The iPad app is also designed to work with Apple Pencil, using the pressure, tilt and angle of the stylus inside digital brushes and selection tools. The company claims the stylus editing offers accuracy for edits like dodge, burn, clone, blemish, patch, and red-eye tools, as well as more advanced tasks like frequency separation and selecting around hair. With all the tools of the desktop software migrated to the iPad app, Affinity Photo still includes nondestructive adjustments, layers, masking, and a liquefy platform.

While the interface has been updated to migrate the tools over to a touch interface, the app is also optimized to run on a tablet’s  smaller processor. This hardware acceleration allows the program to run efficiently, including rendering effects like filters in real time, Serif says.

Affinity Photo is a relative newcomer to the photo editing scene, but the cross-platform program has been well-received, earning the Best Mac App from Apple in 2015. While the desktop version lists for $40, the iPad version is slated for a $30 list price, launching with a $10 discount for the first tablet users.

Apple Project Mirrorshades: News and rumors

Apple talked about ARKit, a new augmented reality platform, at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, but the iPhone maker might have far more interesting AR tech up its sleeves. According to three alleged Foxconn employees who published details about upcoming Apple products last week, the Cupertino company’s skunkworks has been Google Glass-like AR glasses with motion detectors, transparent displays, and integrated touch panels.

Here is everything we know so far.

Specs

According to the alleged employees, Apple’s prototypical AR glasses are constructed from Kopin NED Acetate frames, “polarized or prescription [lenses],” and Zeiss optics. Tiny projectors beam images onto a 428 x 240 glass prism in front of the lenses, and DC motors produce sound by vibrating through the small bones the user’s ears, like Google Glass.

Project Mirrorshades has a touch-sensitive strip on the arm that allows users to accept calls and control the volume, but taps on motion as the primary means of navigation. A combination magnetometer and light sensor detects when a wearer shakes his or her head, and responds accordingly — a Tinder app user, for example, could shake their head for no, or nod for yes.

When it comes to Mirrorshades’ build materials, Apple’s reportedly spared no expense. The glass’s frames made out of “cellulose acetate injection mold frames [in] an aluminum mold” with a P3 frame design, and come in two sizes: Men’s and women’s. At least three color options, including crystal, black, and champagne, are in the works, in addition to seasonal updates.

The alleged Foxconn employees note that the material cost for the glasses would total roughly $150, and that Apple would likely price them around $600. But they caution that the fate of Mirrorshades was uncertain because of its “expensive” design and difficult-to-produce batteries.

Name and release date

It is not the first time rumors of Apple-made AR glasses have emerged.

Over the past three years, Apple has acquired companies with an expertise in AR, 3D mapping, and computer vision — including from PrimeSense, which pioneered the depth-tracking technology behind the Kinect, and Metaio and Flyby.

In September 2016, Apple hired two veterans from Oculus VR and Magic Leap, two companies with a pedigree in augmented reality and virtual reality technologies. And in November 2016, Bloomberg reported that Apple was working on a pair of glasses that blended an augmented reality display with a standard pair of glasses. It’d begun talks with potential suppliers for components like near-eye displays, with the goal of developing a pair of glasses that could connect wirelessly to an iPhone and overlay information on the wearer’s field of vision.

The earliest time frame was said to be 2018.

“[…] AR can be really great,” Tim Cook said when asked about Pokémon Go during an earnings call in 2016. “We have been and continue to invest a lot in this. We are high on AR for the long run, we think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity.”

Apple Project Mirrorshades: News and rumors

Apple talked about ARKit, a new augmented reality platform, at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, but the iPhone maker might have far more interesting AR tech up its sleeves. According to three alleged Foxconn employees who published details about upcoming Apple products last week, the Cupertino company’s skunkworks has been Google Glass-like AR glasses with motion detectors, transparent displays, and integrated touch panels.

Here is everything we know so far.

Specs

According to the alleged employees, Apple’s prototypical AR glasses are constructed from Kopin NED Acetate frames, “polarized or prescription [lenses],” and Zeiss optics. Tiny projectors beam images onto a 428 x 240 glass prism in front of the lenses, and DC motors produce sound by vibrating through the small bones the user’s ears, like Google Glass.

Project Mirrorshades has a touch-sensitive strip on the arm that allows users to accept calls and control the volume, but taps on motion as the primary means of navigation. A combination magnetometer and light sensor detects when a wearer shakes his or her head, and responds accordingly — a Tinder app user, for example, could shake their head for no, or nod for yes.

When it comes to Mirrorshades’ build materials, Apple’s reportedly spared no expense. The glass’s frames made out of “cellulose acetate injection mold frames [in] an aluminum mold” with a P3 frame design, and come in two sizes: Men’s and women’s. At least three color options, including crystal, black, and champagne, are in the works, in addition to seasonal updates.

The alleged Foxconn employees note that the material cost for the glasses would total roughly $150, and that Apple would likely price them around $600. But they caution that the fate of Mirrorshades was uncertain because of its “expensive” design and difficult-to-produce batteries.

Name and release date

It is not the first time rumors of Apple-made AR glasses have emerged.

Over the past three years, Apple has acquired companies with an expertise in AR, 3D mapping, and computer vision — including from PrimeSense, which pioneered the depth-tracking technology behind the Kinect, and Metaio and Flyby.

In September 2016, Apple hired two veterans from Oculus VR and Magic Leap, two companies with a pedigree in augmented reality and virtual reality technologies. And in November 2016, Bloomberg reported that Apple was working on a pair of glasses that blended an augmented reality display with a standard pair of glasses. It’d begun talks with potential suppliers for components like near-eye displays, with the goal of developing a pair of glasses that could connect wirelessly to an iPhone and overlay information on the wearer’s field of vision.

The earliest time frame was said to be 2018.

“[…] AR can be really great,” Tim Cook said when asked about Pokémon Go during an earnings call in 2016. “We have been and continue to invest a lot in this. We are high on AR for the long run, we think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity.”

Apple Project Mirrorshades: News and rumors

Apple talked about ARKit, a new augmented reality platform, at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, but the iPhone maker might have far more interesting AR tech up its sleeves. According to three alleged Foxconn employees who published details about upcoming Apple products last week, the Cupertino company’s skunkworks has been Google Glass-like AR glasses with motion detectors, transparent displays, and integrated touch panels.

Here is everything we know so far.

Specs

According to the alleged employees, Apple’s prototypical AR glasses are constructed from Kopin NED Acetate frames, “polarized or prescription [lenses],” and Zeiss optics. Tiny projectors beam images onto a 428 x 240 glass prism in front of the lenses, and DC motors produce sound by vibrating through the small bones the user’s ears, like Google Glass.

Project Mirrorshades has a touch-sensitive strip on the arm that allows users to accept calls and control the volume, but taps on motion as the primary means of navigation. A combination magnetometer and light sensor detects when a wearer shakes his or her head, and responds accordingly — a Tinder app user, for example, could shake their head for no, or nod for yes.

When it comes to Mirrorshades’ build materials, Apple’s reportedly spared no expense. The glass’s frames made out of “cellulose acetate injection mold frames [in] an aluminum mold” with a P3 frame design, and come in two sizes: Men’s and women’s. At least three color options, including crystal, black, and champagne, are in the works, in addition to seasonal updates.

The alleged Foxconn employees note that the material cost for the glasses would total roughly $150, and that Apple would likely price them around $600. But they caution that the fate of Mirrorshades was uncertain because of its “expensive” design and difficult-to-produce batteries.

Name and release date

It is not the first time rumors of Apple-made AR glasses have emerged.

Over the past three years, Apple has acquired companies with an expertise in AR, 3D mapping, and computer vision — including from PrimeSense, which pioneered the depth-tracking technology behind the Kinect, and Metaio and Flyby.

In September 2016, Apple hired two veterans from Oculus VR and Magic Leap, two companies with a pedigree in augmented reality and virtual reality technologies. And in November 2016, Bloomberg reported that Apple was working on a pair of glasses that blended an augmented reality display with a standard pair of glasses. It’d begun talks with potential suppliers for components like near-eye displays, with the goal of developing a pair of glasses that could connect wirelessly to an iPhone and overlay information on the wearer’s field of vision.

The earliest time frame was said to be 2018.

“[…] AR can be really great,” Tim Cook said when asked about Pokémon Go during an earnings call in 2016. “We have been and continue to invest a lot in this. We are high on AR for the long run, we think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity.”

Hands on with Cozmo, the little AI robot that could

We’ve updated the post with information about Cozmo’s international launch. 

Cozmo, the product of San Francisco-based startup Anki, received plenty of press when it made its July debut. Since then, the firm has presented a demo of the artificially intelligent little robot’s software development kit (SDK), formally launched pre-orders, and prepared thousands of the AI-powered companions for shipment later this year. A few “escaped” early, though, including one that found its way to the New York offices of Digital Trends. For the better part of two weeks, we’ve been playing with it to find out just what makes it tick.

The answer is simpler than it might appear at first glance.

Release date and availability

Cozmo now comes in new colors — and is available in new territories.

On June 6, the adorable AI robot launched in Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, and Nordic Countries. Canadian customers, who can reserve a Cozmo at Best Buy Canada for $250, will begin to receive orders in July, followed by other territories in September.

Cozmo’s getting a fresh coat of paint, too. The Cozmo Collector’s Edition, which features a Cozmo robot with a liquid metal finish, will be sold exclusively at Toys “R” Us, and Anki.com, Best Buy Canada before rolling out to other countries in September.

You can get a Cozmo on Anki’s website for $180.

Buy one now at:

Amazon Apple

Creating an approachable robot toy

It’s been a long and winding road for Anki. The company spent years developing the AI-powered Overdrive series of remote-controlled slot cars. That garnered the firm praise from such titans as Apple CEO Tim Cook and former Disney President Michael Ovitz, plus sizeable investments from Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Two Sigma and JP Morgan. That capital — and more than four year’s worth of research — fueled Cozmo’s development.

Anki is hardly the first to imbue a toy with machine smarts, of course. Hello Barbie, ToyTalk’s internet-connected, voice-activated variant of Mattel’s iconic doll, remembers bits and pieces of past conversations in order to tailor future ones. Elemental Path’s cute, plushy Dino, meanwhile, taps IBM Watson to learn in real time to adapt its responses to the age and development of its user.

Cozmo is different in a few respects. It’s decidedly less cuddly than the AI-powered toys that have preceded it — its tiny, makeshift forklift of a body doesn’t exactly invite snuggling. It communicates not with words but in a cadre of robotic chirps, whoops, and tinny coos.

Cozmo feels no less “alive” than any voice-activated doll or internet-connected plushy.

Despite impersonal appearances, though, Cozmo feels no less “alive” than any voice-activated doll or internet-connected plushy. It bobs gleefully when it sees a face it remembers, and shivers in fear when held high above the ground. When Cozmo finds itself on the precipice of a table or desk, it takes a long, careful glance or two over the edge before backing away cautiously. Cozmo even has its bad days: when it’s frustrated or upset, it throws a toddler’s worth of squawks and screeches.

More than 325 individual sensors, moving parts, and electrical components work together to deliver Cozmo’s range of emotions. Four motors, one per tread and two on either side of the robot’s lifting lever, supply Cozmo thrust. Motion-sensing gyroscopes and accelerometers help the bot detect when it’s being hoisted from the ground. A built-in camera allows Cozmo to detect objects, faces, and what Anki calls Power Cubes, or three battery-powered light-up peripherals that serve as Cozmo’s primary means of orientation.

But most crucial to Cozmo’s ability to convey its emotional state is the OLED panel embedded in its front. It’s typically populated with two, pupil-less, pixelated eyes capable of a range of expressions: they widen to reflect surprise, for instance, and narrow to indicate concern.

Kyle Wiggers/Digital Trends

Kyle Wiggers/Digital Trends

Kyle Wiggers/Digital Trends

Kyle Wiggers/Digital Trends

They’re the product of Pixar animator Carlos Baena, and it’s seamless work. At times, the eyes are enough to give the impression of true sentience, even. When Cozmo’s fully charged, it sleepily opens its electronic eyes before beginning to move about its surroundings. When it sees a person it doesn’t recognize, it responds tepidly, roving nervously backward and forward on its treads. If you leave it alone long enough — it explores its surroundings, periodically between Power Cubes and around cords, wallets, coins, and other obstacles.

Most interactions with Cozmo are initiated with the app, which you also use to set up the little bot for the very first time. After placing the unit its charging cradle and plugging the attached USB cord into the wall, you connect to the Cozmo via Wi-Fi. And that’s when the fun begins.

It’s play time

Open the app, and you’ll see an ever-rotating list of daily challenges. A task one day might involve winning a certain number games in a row, for example, or instructing Cozmo to perform a trick. Completing those goals earns you in-game currency called Energy, which progressively fills a meter. Filling it generates Bits, which can be used to unlock new abilities, and Sparks, which trigger those abilities.

It’s a dream of affordable, fun artificial intelligence not yet fully realized.

Most of Cozmo’s coolest tricks and games are initially locked behind those somewhat arbitrary systems, but it doesn’t take long to unlock the bot’s full potential. One stunt in Cozmo’s bag of tricks is consistently impressive: the ability to align its forklift-like arm with a Power Cube, lift said cube in the air, and stack it precisely on top of another. Another trick, aptly named Pounce on Fingers, has Cozmo bring its upraised arm quickly down on any object in range of its camera.

Far more involved are what Anki calls “Cozmo Apps,” or a collection of social games and activities. The first, Meet Cozmo, is introductory in nature: after entering the name of your choice, Cozmo points its head in your direction and scans for distinguishing facial features. Once it’s captured your complexion, it vocalizes the name you’ve entered in mechanical speech that sounds like Wall-E.

Cozmo’s other apps take the form of games. There’s Keepaway, which tasks you with moving a Power Cube quickly from Cozmo’s dexterous arm. And there’s Quick Tap, which is slightly more involved: Cozmo’s given a Power Cube and you’re given another; both illuminate in color combinations of unpredictable sorts; and, if they match in hue, you’re given milliseconds to tap your Cube before Cozmo manages to tap its own.

Cozmo’s AI promise is perhaps best encapsulated by its ambient mode. Leave the ‘bot for a bit and it’ll begin to traverse a table or room with a surprising degree of independence, moving blocks around the corners of walls and exclaiming in surprise when it encounters an unfamiliar object. Every once in a while, it’ll cutely nudge a nearby party to play a game, a request which appears as a pop-up notification in the smartphone companion app.

The limits of AI

It’s that sentimentality that’s the source of both Cozmo’s strength and weakness. The bot’s realistic — or recognizable, at the very least — reactions endear you to it. It takes restraint not to comfort Cozmo when it’s visibly saddened, or revel in its unbridled joy when it completes a tower of Power Cubes. But it doesn’t take long before its responses begin to become predictable. Soon, Cozmo’s reaction to a losing game of Keepaway is no longer the mystery it once was, and neither is its reaction to new faces, or preferences like its favorite game, or its solitary activity of choice in ambient mode. As the veneer of sentience crumbles, Cozmo becomes far less compelling.

It’s that sentimentality that’s the source of both Cozmo’s strength and weakness.

Perhaps equally as disappointing as Cozmo’s emotional limitations are its limited library of apps, games, and abilities. Keepaway and Quick Tap, the sole two games in the robot’s library, are entertaining in short bursts, but before long become repetitive. While it’s undeniably fun to see Cozmo stack cubes with incredible precision, the novelty wears thin after a while — as it does with Cozmo’s handful of other mechanical feats.

All that’s to say that Cozmo could use a bit of refinement, and for a toy that retails for $180, that’s reason for pause. However, the bot’s value depends largely on expectations. You won’t find paradigm-shifting intelligence in Cozmo. It’s a little more responsive than your average toy robot, but it won’t pass for a living, breathing thing anytime soon. What you will find is a really cool toy that performs tricks, plays games, and convincingly approximates a handful of emotions. For some folks, that may be worth the price of admission.

A promising future

There’s the upcoming software development kit (SDK) to consider, of course. Cozmo launches with open programming hooks that’ll allow those with the technical know-how to extend the ‘bot’s capabilities far beyond those with which it ships. The goal, Anki president and co-founder Hanns Tappeiner told Digital Trends earlier this year, is to put “incredibly powerful resources” at the fingertips of tinkerers.

One coding function, NumFaces, fires up “thousands of lines of code” to trigger Cozmo’s face detection. The plan is to release the platform in phases. Phase 1 is geared toward experienced programmers; phase 2, due out later this year, will support kid-friendly, novice languages like Scratch; and phase 3 will introduce a means of installing third-party Cozmo Apps.

For those capable of crafting such routines, the possibilities are nearly endless. Anki has exposed Cozmo’s hardware in its entirety. You can have it patrol a kitchen counter and trigger a connected coffee maker when it detects a face, or have it watch the living room couch and dim the lights when someone takes a seat.

If programming isn’t your thing, though, Cozmo’s a harder sell. In July, Tappeiner told The Wall Street Journal that Cozmo would gain “story-based” activities and “a few friends” in the weeks and months ahead. The buying decision, then, might come down to whether or not you’re willing to play the waiting game.

There’s no doubt that Cozmo is a breakthrough, but it’s the cornerstone of potentially more impressive work to come. Maybe software updates will improve Cozmo’s emotional range substantially. Maybe new games and apps will have greater longevity than the current crop. But for now, it’s a dream of affordable, fun artificial intelligence not yet fully realized.

Google’s ‘Be Internet Awesome’ initiative teaches kids how to stay safe online

Why it matters to you

Parents want to make sure their children know how to behave online, and Google’s new program could serve as a good primer.

It’s very normal today for children to access the internet at a young age, and Google wants to do its part to ensure that their first steps onto the web are safe and enjoyable. To that end, the company has launched Be Internet Awesome, a new program that aims to educate youngsters on how to make smart decisions online.

Be Internet Awesome is designed with all kinds of different learning scenarios in mind. There are resources that teachers and educators can use in class, videos for parents to watch alongside their children, and fun interactive experiences that kids can enjoy by themselves.

It’s all about digital safety and citizenship, according to a post on the the company’s blog. Google is trying to teach children how to protect their information and determine whether something they read on the web is real or fake, but there’s also an ambition to educate the younger generation on how to be kind to one another online.

The interactive component will likely be the most engrossing aspect of Be Internet Awesome from a child’s perspective. The web-based Interland comprises four minigames, each of which takes aim at a different dimension of online activity.

Reality River tasks players with answering multiple choice questions, with a focus on who can be trusted online. Kind Kingdom is about blocking out cyberbullies and promoting more positive online interactions. Mindful Mountain focuses on the importance of only sharing information with the right people. Finally, Tower of Treasures aims to instill the importance of strong passwords.

It’s good to see Google being proactive with this sign of content, as it could certainly help make the web a better place for future generations. Releasing it for free is certainly a positive move, and hopefully parents and teachers alike will take advantage of the materials.