M&Soft launches 7-inch Mappy AP1 PND in South Korea

M&Soft’s Mappy navigation software seems well established in Korea, and now the company has decided to offer its own hardware for it in the shape of a 7-inch SiRF-based touchscreen device. Of course, it wouldn’t be a South Korean PND if it didn’t include a DMB digital TV tuner, video and audio playback, and a photo / text viewer, but the company’s gone one better by offering the elaborate, gimmicky GUI you see above. Pricing is pretty decent too, set at 349,000 KRW ($283) with a 4GB SDHC card, or 399,000 KRW ($323) for an 8GB unit. The AP in the model name stands for “Absolute Pride” — sure, make your jokes, but maybe it’s that wise-guy sense of humor keeping this sort of tech away from Western shores.

Toyota’s humanoid robot was born to run

We essentially can’t get enough of advanced robots doing things that look human — probably in the same way we can’t get enough of pretending our dog understands English. Anthropomorphism aside, Toyota’s humanoid running robot is really impressive. It’s got a super impressive sense of balance, and he’s quite fast on his feet — running at an average of 7 km an hour (yes, that’s faster than ASIMO can run), too. We can say with 100 percent certainty that we’d like to hang out with this guy — check out the video after the break.

TASER X3 video hands-on: watch out, baddies

Like most rational human beings, we have a healthy fear of guns. We’ve never shot a man in Reno (just to watch him die), and we’re even unlikely to tase a bro in Atlantic City, just to observe him become temporarily incapacitated. Still, the appeal of a “non-lethal” deterrent is understandable (and certainly preferable to the alternative variety), and TASER has made some big additions to its new TASER X3 triple-shot weapon — things that serve to make it safer for parties on both sides of the barrel. Check out a video of us handling (and firing!) this beast after the break, along with a few tidbits we picked up from the TASER folks that should provide a small amount of comfort for the TASER-averse.

LG’s BL40 “Chocolate” phone sashays its way through new ad

We’ve already gotten a pretty good look at LG’s stylish new BL40 phone (also simply known the new “Chocolate”) courtesy of some official shots, but no phone launch would be complete without an over the top ad, and LG’s naturally got that covered as well. As you can see for yourself after the break, the 4-inch, 800 pixel wide display is one of the main selling points here, and if that’s not enough for you, we hear you can even use it to output full HD video to a TV. Unfortunately, there’s still no word as to when it’ll be release ’round these parts, although there’s at least some indication that it could be making its North American debut on Telus.