If Honda has anything to say about it, in the 2010 version of 'the office' Dawn will be replaced by a robot. The new and improved Asimo is able to perform receptionist tasks, serve as an information guide and can serve drinks. Be sure to check out these videos (konichiwa!).

It is back to the drawing board for the people of Frog navigation system. Just days after the Parkshuttle application was opened by the Dutch PM, two of the buses crashed into each other. Hopes were high for this new unmanned, derailed and supposedly intelligent form of transportation. Fortunately, the buses were empty when they crashed and nobody was hurt.

Is DTP becoming something of the past? At Xerox they have developed a way of automating your document layout using genetic algorithms (a personal favorite of mine). You can find the paper here.

As an effort to stimulate advances in research and use of robots in space missions, NASA has announced two new competions in the field of robotics in 2007. The exact rules for the competition have not been finalized yet, but in one challenge robots will be required to autonomically build complicated structures out of building blocks strewn around an arena. The other challenge is to build a auto-piloted plane that is able to carry out a complicated flight path. The conditions of actual planetary exploration will simulated during the competition. The prize money in both challenges will be $250.000.

In a few years consumers will carry devices that may become the ultimate shopping assistant. Watson developer Kristian Hammond talks about its possibilities to make your shopping experience more pleasant in an interview with the Chicago Tribune.