Gadgetory

if you want to operate a military robot all it takes is one finger I'm Bridget Carey and this is your seat at update the robotics company i robot is best known as the creator of the Roomba automated vacuum but there's another side to iRobot that many don't know about a military side i robot has more than 6000 defense and security robots deployed worldwide some of these robots are being used in war zones for bomb detection and disarming some are being used in Japan to clean up the Fukushima nuclear meltdown local police use them to scope out dangerous situations each robot required specialized training to operate but now that's all changing iRobot unveiled a new system that controls all these models with a simple touch screen app on an Android tablet previously first responders would use laptops and video game controllers to operate these robots but now just put your finger on a tablet screen to drive the robot and move the limbs during a demo I was able to pick up the controls with practically no training and that's the point any Joe or Jane can run a robot rescue mission without having to go through time-consuming training of course irobot hopes that encourages more first responders and local law enforcement to buy a few for their teams and this is just a baby step to the next advancement not needing a driver i robot is working on programming the robots to recognize obstacles and then give it a few more years and we'll have Robocop and battle mechs let's switch gears to the world of mobile AT&T will have to pay the US government a fine of 105 million dollars to settle charges over the practice of mobile cramming the Federal Trade Commission went after eighteen t for collecting hundreds of millions of dollars from customers who subscribe to services that give you daily text messages with jokes horoscopes or ringtones the problem is those services cost ten dollars a month but consumers may not have been aware of the fees because the charges were not always clear on the bill and 18 teen other carriers were taking a cut of that money at least thirty five percent the carriers have stopped charging for those services but if you feel like you've been charged unfairly you can go to FTC gov to ask for a refund meanwhile the app words with friends is back zynga is rolling out a new version of the scrabble like game now you can play by yourself against a computer and you can pick a nearby stranger to play against and what's a four-letter word for junk advertisements the head of snapchat said ads will soon be coming to the popular messaging app but the ads will not be targeted so basically get ready for snapchat spam that's your tech news update for Moorhead cnet com from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey