Nabazta(blo)g

Rabbit Suleiman keeps track of his health

One of our new Christmas Nabaznauts, Gretchen, has put together a daily blog chronicling what's going on with her Nabaztag, Suleiman (Ottoman Sultan, perhaps?).  She's hoping it will be a quick and easy way for Nabaztag users to get together and learn about their new robotic pets (very sad :( excerpt pictured below).

She'll tell you her Rabbit-status once a day, and of course it is encouraged that you do the same in her posts' comments. Welcome to the community, Suleiman!

NabAIR: A fun way to control Nabaztag from your desktop.

There have been a few applications written to control Nabaztag directly from your computer, i.e. without going to my.nabaztag.com, from the Dashboard widget to MyNab.  Recently, a Nabaznaut named Niels has been using Adobe's powerful AIR platform to make such an app and he has definitely put together a winner:

I like this one's simple and sleek look... it fits in nicely on my Mac.  I love especially the ability to put my bunny to sleep whenever I like.  Right now, you can also send messages to your own bunny, listen to any messages you have received recently, and move your rabbit's ears.  I imagine he'll add full messaging capabilities and other cool stuff as time goes on, so stay tuned to his blog (which is also a killer "Web 2.0" reference guide) to follow his progress.

CreepyTag all over Flickr

Something weird is moving through the Internets, and I just have no explanation.  The meeting of Rayman's phsyco "Rabbids" and Nabaztag was, when you look back at it, inevitable.  Sort of like Nabaztag's showdown with Asimo.

But no one could know the horror of what was to come:

Photos courtesy of rabbit-loving Flickrites Florent Solt & Maurice Svay.

Snakes and Rabbits: Using Python and Nabaztag

Today we have more third party NabazApps from one Mike McGurrin of Virginia.  Mike's work is a little more complex looking to the non-hacker crowd, but he does a great job of explaining them simply but thoroughly.

The main hurdle for those of us that think C++ is a Japanese emoticon is a scary thing called Python.  Yes, it's a programming language.  But, thankfully, you don't have to do much but download a free piece of software for Mike's programs to work (he recommends this one).  After that, you just go on to Mike's handy page and download the apps of your choice.  He has:

• The Nabaztag.py Python API (that's so you can write your own stuff for Nabaztag: Not for amateurs)
• The Nabaztag Control Panel (NCP), which is an easy way to control your Nabaztag directly from your computer (similar to the PERL module or Nabicc)
• Yet Another Weather Nabaztag, which is exactly what it says.  It uses Yahoo! weather to give you a more detailed report than the standard NabazWeather (including temperature, humidity, wind chill, sky conditions, and even sunrise and sunset times).  Awesome app!
• Traffic Reporting Rabbit uses RSS feeds from www.traffic.com to give you audible traffic updates of your choice through your Nabaztag.  Whoa!

The weather and traffic programs look like really fun and powerful alternatives to the standard NabazApps.  Give em a try and remember to thank your local Nabaznaut programming community!

Cloink: A fancy Nabaznaut that makes your Nabaztag even cooler.

One of our wicked programmer friends from the Nabaztalk forums, Cloink from Belgium, has been putting out a few really nice Nabazapps at his site http://nabaztag.cloink.com/

If you go over to his site, you'll create a free and easy account and then get to add and tweak his services to your Nabaztag(s).  So far, he's posted a podcast app allowing you to add and organize podcasts and an eBay app (sweet!) which will make your Nabaztag shout out the status of your auctions.

So far, Cloink's services are listed as "Alpha" releases, so go on over and sign up to help him out with bug reports and suggestions.

From everyone here at the Nabazteam: Go Cloink!

 

Nabaztag as a stepping stone to AI? Big time computer scientists think so...

In the November issue of Science Magazine (you'll have to buy a subscription to read it), Yorick Wilks from the University of Sheffield summarizes his and others' ongoing research into "effectively communicat(ing) with machines in natural language."  Mr. Wilks is the head of the Companions project, which "aims to change the way we think about the relationships of people to computers and the Internet by developing a virtual conversational 'Companion'."

Not surprisingly, one of their principal tools of research is none other than Nabaztag.  Nabaztag already understands voice commands and speaks using text-to-speech technology.  He's also constantly connected to the web, making him, as always, the smartest rabbit in the room.  The scientists of the Companion project see all types of potential in Nabaztag's unique capabilities.  As a demonstration, a team from the University of Tampere in Finland put together this video showing their custom Nabaztag giving health tips in natural conversation using the personal history of the owner and information from the Internet:

Making a long story short, researchers across Europe are working to increase the functionality of the software behind Nabaztag's abilities; one day turning the recognition of pre-programmed words and phrases into a machine capable of understanding natural human speech (hello, HAL 9000).  They are looking for Nabaztag and future smart objects to help bridge the gap between dumb machines and true, interactive companions that can hold a conversation.

For more information on the technology, science, and history of this groundbreaking work, check out the Companions project webpage.

New design for my.nabaztag.com

Just last week, you probably noticed a facelift of your all-time favorite website, my.nabaztag.com.

We've changed the layout with usability in mind, giving you everything you need to trick-out your Nabaztag on a single page.  If you haven't changed your Nabaztag's settings, or added a new service, or started a Nabcast lately, give it a shot; if only to enjoy the Nabtastic new site!

New, fab plug-in for Wordpress

Intrepid, Italian Nabaznaut Francesco Fullone has just created a first (he calls it "very Alpha") version of a Nabaztag plug-in for Wordpress.

We dig it.

Simple and useful, the plug-in sends a text-to-speech message to your Rabbit each time someone writes a comment on your Wordpress blog.  Then, your Rabbit will read your comments to you (as long as they aren't spam, as Francesco was nice awesome enough to include a spam filter).  He says that future versions will incorporate lights and whirling ears, which we fully approve of.

The world can never have enough whirling ears.

Nabaztag at the Recalling RFID Conference

Nabaztag and one of his creators, Rafi Haladjian, turned up at the Recalling RFID conference at de Balie this last month. The conference covered all types of RFID-related topics, including security, interaction and social networking, the use of RFID in England and Japan (you can pay for your bus ride!  Cool!), and of course Rabbits.

(pic source: Masters of Media blog)

Rafi threw in his two cents, talking about how RFID tags can be used for more than just, "another way to load stuff on your screen." It can be, "a new interaction paradigm (with) direct couplings of meaning and action," in the physical world. All you Nabaznauts will be able to see exactly what he means by that pretty soon.

Until then, you can enjoy extremely in depth coverage of the conference here and the Flickr photo stream here.

You can also expect to see Nabaztag and Rafi show up at the Web3 conference in Paris this December to talk about "the Internet's impact on design."

New and amazing Ztore (yes, with a Z)!

In our never ending desire to find the absolute best way to bring robotic, WiFi Rabbits direct from the NabaztaLand to you, we've put together a brand new online store, with a new design and navigation aimed at simplicity, functionality, and all around web greatness.

Simply called the "Ztore" (we like Z's here... sue us), you can find any and all things related to Nabaztag and all future Violet "connected whatevers" right there, right now.

Enjoy!

Connect: NabazLove

We here at the Nabaztag laboratories took a Nabaztag and a hand stamp into the streets a few weeks ago.  Nabaztag made lots of wonderful new friends.  You can see a few of them below:

Let us know if you see this little video floating around the internet!  Until next time: NabazLove forever.

EDIT: Video also available on YouTube and DailyMotion if those sites are more your style.

Some nice, new services for our Free-Style brothers and sisters

Hello fellow adventurers of the here-to-fore unexplored world of smart objects!

We thought you'd like to know that we've added some fun RSS feeds and Podcasts for those of you who rock it freestyle.  Also, we'd like to point out that all English language services have now been split into US or UK.  Now, this can sometimes put us into sticky situations, like where to put content from Ireland, Canada, Australia, etc... but we thought it was the easiest way to organize (or organise, for the UK... you see the complications here?) everything.

How do you, intrepid Nabaznaut, survey ALL of the English language services?  It's quite simple.  Just make sure that your profile at my.nabaztag.com includes any and all the languages you want (in this case, at the very least English (US) and English (UK)) in the Preferences section under "My Burrow":

Then, while your browsing services, you'll notice a little language toggle at the top right:

In browsing all the feeds and podcasts in their categories and languages, you'll find some newbies, such as:

ABC (US, News), NPR (US, Culture), BBC (UK, Sports & Health), The Guardian (UK, Science & Tech), The Onion (US, Lifestyle),  Storynory (US, Kids),  CBC (US & UK, music), Financial Times (UK, Finance), Virgin Radio (UK, News)... and many more!

We hope you enjoy!  If you have any other wicked RSS feeds or podcasts you think Freestyle Rabbits can't live without, let us know in the comments.

Two New NabazApps: Gmail and Twitter!

Down at the NabazLabs, we've been looking to hook your Nabaztag into your new, connected, Web 2.0 existence.  We've got a few nice apps on the way, but first up is further Gmail integration and a Twitter app!

First: Gmail.  So, you all dig e-mail alerts, yeah?  Mostly?  What was that?  You want your Nabaztag to actually read your e-mail?

Good idea.

Being that the good folks at google have been cool enough to add RSS feeds for everyone's Gmail accounts, any of you Nabaznauts out there with Gmail accounts can now have your Nabaztag read out the subject line of any e-mail that you get.

Second: Twitter.  Micro-blogging is all the rage.  And as you know, Nabaztag is full of rage.  So he's proud to read out every little thing your friends are doing.  So, instead of bothering with reading on your computer, phone, or whatever else, you can listen to the sweet sound of your Nabaztag saying "Gfunk37 is making origami snails for my grandmother" or "KelheartsBrangelina is building a tank."

Nifty, huh?

BREAKING: IT professional puts trust in plastic Rabbit!

Blogger, IT pro, and communication junky David Rudder has recently posted a video tutorial explaining how and why he has entrusted his entire life and professional reputation to the strong and confident ears of his Nabaztag.

A bold but, I believe, intelligent move.

In short, he has hooked his Nabaztag into his server's monitoring service so that, if your servers all die and you're away from your desk and your phone, beeper, and smart phone have all broken, you'll STILL KNOW IT HAPPENED.  Pretty cool.  Especially if you like to unwind by the coffee machine without sprinting over to your desk every ten seconds.

Watch the video below or check his blog article here.

Robot Fight: Nabaztag VS. Asimo!

From an article in the fantastic LiveScience.com, it has been leaked that the Japanese robot Asimo has begun a regiment of very serious Tai Chi training.  This is a clear sign... a declaration of war, really.

Apparently, Honda's looking to throw down.  And they're looking in old Nabz's direction.  Listen... bad move, Honda.  Because as everyone knows, Nabaztag is the reigning World Champion Robotic Tai Chi Figher.  Asimo, I know you think you're all tough because you have arms and things like this, but you've never seen an angry Nabaztag.  Believe me when I tell you: you do not want to see an angry Nabaztag.

And you really don't want to see an angry Nabaztag who's having his Robot Tai Chi prowess challenged by some punk like you.

Hey, Asimo, do you know what a Flying Dragon Ear Strike looks like?  How about a Five Point Rabbit Throat Punch?  Nabaztag knows.  You see, he's been practicing Tai Chi for years... while you where still playing with LEGOs in your Daddy's server farm.  So just turn around and go home kid... just go home.

Nabaztag's Free Music Bonanza!

On July 15, 2007, your Nabaztag may suddenly become shockingly quiet if you had gotten used to using your Rabbit to listen to any of the 40+ radio stations currently available. That deafening silence you hear is, in fact, the impending DOOM of Internet Radio as we know it. Since there's nothing sadder than a silent Nabaztag, I thought it'd be a good time to tell you all how to get some quality, free music straight from the Nabaznaut community.

You can find a real treasure of musical goodies in the Nabcast section of my.nabaztag.com, from all types of Nabaznauts with all types of different tastes.

For a good variety of popular music, check out:

• Soundtrack of my Life, a great journey through the years with JazziLaCarrot. He'll give you one great song for every year he was alive (he just got to 1981!).
  • Recently played - Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple (1973), Papa's Got a Brand New Bag by James Brown (1965).

• V-Jay, brings some very excellent rock tunes your way from a bunny named Sin, mixed in with the occasional techno or alternative song just to confuse you (in a good way).
  • Recently played - Ace of Spades by Motörhead, You Know You're Right by Nirvana, Ready to Go by Republica.

• Music and Musings, trots out some of the latest and greatest in the Top 40 crowd. This comes from Nabaznaut Apollo who plays, "whatever matches my mood at the moment."
  • Recently played - The River by Good Charlotte, When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne.

But, my favorite emerging sub-genre of Nabcast is the looped soundtrack!

• Saturday Night Fever, is exactly that, on a never-ending loop, courtesy (again) of the insane and/or brilliant JazziLaCarrot.
  • Recently played - tracks 3, 4, and 5 of the enduring Bee-Gees masterwork

• Sound-of-Music-a-thon!, delivers what we always need more of: Julie Andrews. Thanks Nabazbunch!
  • Recently played - Something from "The Sound of Music," I think...

If that's not enough, you can dig deeper to find everything from Greek pop music (from Elaira) to Finnish folk (from Hotfrog all the way in Moscow).

In honor of all this great music, Roy (of NabazHack fame below) and I have started a sub-forum of the Nabaztalk forums, called "Music Nabcasts" dedicated to the rating of, ranting about, and raving for music based Nabcasts. Give your suggestions for a cool new Nabcast, make requests from your favorite Nabcasters, talk music with fellow Nabaznauts (or, conversely, get in epic internet flame wars over your musical taste). Tell each other your last.fm or pandora handles so you can share more.

Anything and everything relating to debating, sharing, and enjoying music... through a WiFi Rabbit.

NabazHacks

Just this week, there have been some grand developments in the fabulous world of NabazHacking.  No, this isn't a Scottish sport involving WiFi bunnies and axes... it's brilliant owners of Nabaztags coming up with fun, crazy, super-tech-geeky things to do with their tags.

First up, we have famed Nabaznaut (and admin of Nabaztalk) Roy, with his table at Maker Faire.

He figured out a way to show off the RFID tag reader and the vaunted OpenNab servers by writing his own coding (with help from fellow Nabaznauts Juan and Herman) for ascribing actions to RFID tags.  Not only that, but he turned his Nabaztag's ears into a dimmer switch!  Now that's a way to start a romantic evening: "Excuse me while I lower the lights a bit, baby... with my Rabbit."  He even managed to surgically implant a display on one of his Nabaztags which shows relevant information (like stock figures, for instance).  The ever-Nabaz-loving blog Geek Sugar was there and they loved it: check it out!

And across the pond, we have no less than the BBC going all hack happy at their R&D department.

They took a Nabaztag, a Phidgets interface kit, a servo kit, an RFID  kit, and a Teleo board and made, "Zoltar, the music predicting rabbit.  This worked by swiping a number of RFID-enabled objects to build up a  musical profile. These objects represented bands or genres of music;  Oasis (the popular fruit drink), rock, cheese, a glitterball (disco)  and a couple of red hot chilli peppers (kind of). Once the profile was  complete, swiping the OK tag caused music recommendations to be  generated (via last.fm) and read out by a Nabaztag rabbit."

(source: "cookin relaxin" blog by leader of the BBC R&D Department)

Nabaztag, Supermodel

What's the best thing about Nabaztag?  Is it his intelligence?  His sparkling wit?  His immortally sexy figure?  If the photographers of the world have anything to say about it, then it's clearly the "sexy" that defines Nabaztag.

Step aside, Pitt.  You're over.

It's Nabaztag's animal charisma that inspires.  I discovered this when I took a peak at Nabaztag on Flickr, where I found a truly amazing amount of high-quality, photographic Nabaztag love.  There are quite a few stunning portraits of the world's sexiest WiFi bunny, like the series by linda_em of close-up, abstract shots of her Nabaztag's (Moki) signature lights:

(See the rest of her NabazPhotos here)

Then there are iko's angelic, time-lapse photos or his Nabaztag, Chimera:

And the classy portraits of Andreas Schjønhaug:

Nabaztag, as always, is a star...

If you want to see the rest of the Flickr community's Nabaztags, or add your own, you can check out the dedicated group here.

Vote Nabaztag: For a Better World (for rabbits).

Good Citizens

Nabaztag has been gracefully nominated by www.engadget.com for Wireless Device or Technology of the Year.  Currently, Nabaztag himself is unavailable for comment, but I can assure you, he is humbled and honored.

Now, Nabaztag is well aware that, being a WiFi bunny, he is facing some daunting competition from WiFi heavyweights such as 802.11n and HSDPA (though clearly, Nabaztag wins handily in the "Best Named WiFi Device of the Year" category).  That said, Nabaztag noticed that he is currently behind the Zune.  Needless to say, Nabaztag was... upset.  It took three men to restrain his rage.

I fear that if Nabaztag is out-voted by the Zune, he may destroy us all.  Please, for all of our safety, vote Nabaztag.

Thank you.

 

(paid for in part by the International Committee of People Who Would Rather be Controlled by Robotic Rabbits)

Nabaztag is like a fine wine: He gets you drunk (on the possibilities)...

In the year 2000... cars will fly and robots will wash your underpants! Or not... I guess we meant 3000. Anyway, despite the noted, depressing lack of hovering automobiles, we do have some pretty innovative folk out there breaking ground in all sorts of cool ways... like making edible menus.

Super chic chef/genius Homaro Cantu does that and more (even with LASERS!!! COOL!!) at his Chicago restaurant/futurist-techno-palace Moto. He makes environmentally friendly SUPER-knives and utilizes specially coded, giant, voice activated screens in his kitchens. You think I'm joking? See what actually reputable source of information CNET.com has to say about it here.

You know what other voice-activated bit of techno-lust yumminess he has in that kitchen? Oh yes you do... he's got a Nabaztag.

Cantu says, "Yeah, the Nabaztag utilizes a third of the amount of energy as a laptop or PC, and you don't have to be a genius to work it. I use it downstairs for my e-mail... These sorts of things are going to enter the kitchen whether we like it or not."

Nabaztag says, "I get to be in the kitchen? Do I get free nachos?"