Tech Universe: Thursday 9 December

The WheeMe is a diminutive massage robot. Photo / Supplied

TICKLE ME WHEEME: The WheeMe is a diminutive massage robot that clings to your body (the horizontal parts, anyway) and gently massages you. Built-in tilt sensors stop it from moving far enough to fall off. The videos make it look more ticklish than massage-y. WheeMe? Seriously? Details at Dreambots and video on YouTube.

AVAST ME HEARTIES: Avast security software aims to keep PCs safe, but you have to pay for it. Unless you're one of the 774,651 people who used a licence code released on a file-sharing site. Avast knew about the sharing, but tracked it instead of fighting it. They saw the licence being used in 200 countries, including Vatican City. Then they had the pirated version pop-up a link to the free or paid versions.
That's a lesson in how to go with the flow. More at PCPro.

SUN BULBS: Nokero's newest solar lightbulb captures the sun by day with its polycrystalline solar cell. At night 4 LEDs release the stored energy over 6 hours. If necessary the bulb can be turned to high power for a brighter light that lasts only a couple of hours. The aim is to replace kerosene lamps in places where that's the only source of light. But it's handy for overnight camping trips anywhere. More at Nokero.

H TRAIN: China's first light-rail train fuelled by hydrogen took to the tracks recently. It's driven by a permanent-magnet synchronous
motor and frequency converter which together provide high power, efficiency and energy conservation, but create little vibration and minimal noise. It goes like a rocket, but quietly. More at People.

99, HAND ME MY SHOE: Maxwell Smart had his trusty shoe phone. Now American researchers are suggesting a shoe radar, for those times when your GPS loses its signal. The shoe radar detects how far your foot is from the ground. If that distance doesn't change then you must be stationary. An Inertial Measurement Unit, estimating your movement while out of GPS range, can take that into account, before determining your position. That's technology: always on the move. More at ScienceDaily.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz