Sometimes the coolest gadgets in Sci-Fi are not gadgets at all. But robots. Here’s a look at some of the most memorable robots from sci-fi in no particular order. It’s not a complete list. Think of it more as a walk down memory lane. Because geeks love Sci-Fi and Sci-Fi has a long history of loving robots.

SSDs promise to give computer users faster data access, faster boot times, better power consumption and more. The catch is that to get all the benefits of a SSD you have to be willing to spend lots more money compared to a traditional HDD and give up significantly on storage space.

Super Talent has a new video of a demonstration it did to show exactly how well its SSD is able to stand up to vibration. One of the MasterDrive 120GB SSDs that retails for about $670 was strapped to a paint shaker and shook around like crazy.

I am not entirely sure that my mobile phone needs “premium” memory cards. I can see the value of having more storage space for music, videos and images but there come s appoint when a bit more speed doesn’t really help. And in this case it seems premium just means an included USB adapter.

SanDisk announced a new line of mobile memory cards today that it calls the industry’s first premium memory cards. The line is complete and has flavors for many different brands of mobile phones. Available memory cards include Mobile Ultra microSD/SDHC and Ultra M2 cards.

Hitachi has announced a new Blu-ray burner that can create discs from the latest camcorders with eSATA ports. The DZ-WR90 plugs straight into the camcorder and automatically creates discs from the footage that you select. So, you don’t need a computer. It even finalises the discs automatically, making it an easy complete one-step process.

The drive will also work with DVD-R discs, and even supports double-sided media as long as you’re willing to flip them yourself. They’re claiming that a Blu-ray disc will fit around three hours of full 1920 × 1080 footage and burn in 1.5hrs; or up to six hours in 1440 × 1080 resolution. A DVD can store up to one hour of 720 × 480 footage. This should make it easy for anyone who wants a simple way to share their video.

Everybody’s favorite whacked out, dancing, escape pod looking robot from Sony is finally making its way from Japan to the USA. The small egg-like bot can blast tunes from it’s built-in speakers, move its cute little flippers to the music and spin around. Is it useful? Hell no. And we like it that way.

The bot comes with pre-choreographed routines for songs. (“Also Sprach Zarathustra,” Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend”, Earth Wind and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland”) You can also use the choreography software to create dances for own tunes. The 2GB bot can be had in black or white, and found online or in Sony stores for $400.

Napster has walked onto Apple’s beach and kicked sand in the face of iTunes. Napster now claims to have the largest MP3 store around with 6 million tracks. Napster also claims that its tracks are iPhone and iPod compatible.

Napster says that its MP3 store is 50% larger than any other MP3 store and has the largest major label catalog of any digital music store. It also claims to have the largest catalog of independent music available as well.

The Mobiado Professional 105 ZAF luxury phone claims to be the most anorexic luxury phone in the world. Measuring just 10.6mm thin, large pieces of sapphire crystal were used to construct the phone from front to back, and it even has a patent pending single-unit sliding mechanism for a battery cover, not to mention an anodized aircraft aluminum frame with stainless steel buttons.

Some other features include a 2 inch 16 million color display, 2MP shooter, 1GB of internal memory, Bluetooth connectivity and microUSB port. The mobile phone supports MP3, AAC and eAAC+ audio formats. No word on pricing or availability yet.

If you’ve been looking for a cheap digital video camera for posting YouTube videos, there is the JVC Everio, but some might find it a bit too large to carry around on a daily basis, and maybe you’re looking for something cheaper still. The Flip camcorders a favorite, but they might have some competition with the latest Vivitar model.

The DVR565HD can record 30fps 720P “HD” videos in MPEG4 or H.264 directly to an SD card. (Up to 4GB cards are supported.) It can also apparently play 1080i videos and can connect directly to an HDTV with an included HDMI cable. It won’t be available for a few more weeks, but Target currently has it listed for just $129.99, which makes it pretty tempting.

This should make a lot of people happy. After a bit of a wait, I present the first Netflix set-top-box. Previously, Instant Viewing was available only to Windows PC users through the IE browser. But now, thanks to Roku, users can finally tap into at least a chunk of the Netflix library without having to wait for those damn discs in your mailbox for just $99.99.

The Netflix Player can even use a wireless signal to stream, but performance may differ here and there. It’s got HDMI, component, composite, Ethernet, S-Video and a Toslink optical audio jack as far as ports go. No HD support, but things look quite positive so far.

A pair of new DS Lite flavors have been seen in the wild. And by the wild, I mean on some Spanish retail sites, in delicious looking cherry and lime candy colors. One of the sites is GAME, who are said to be the second-largest specialty gaming retailer worldwide, so we have good reason to think these beauties are real.

I guess we’ll know one way or the other on June 13, when they’re supposed to hit. It would be a real shame if these are not real though. These colors just make you salivate. I gotta have some candy around here somewhere. Damn! They just look so…Juicy.

When a device comes along that lets us operate with one less cable on our desk, we’re all for it. The latest offering from IOGEAR uses the sharing-over-network method with its new Net ShareStation.

It plugs into your router (wireless or not) and can take up to four USB devices of your choice, but you’ll need your own AC-powered 4-port USB hub if you want to use more than one device. Yes, that kinda sucks doesn’t it? But if you still want one, you can get it for $80.

If you’re anxious to get rid of some of that excess flab, you may be in for a disappointment. First Nintendo had a launch date of today, but it turns out that this was only applicable to the Nintendo World Store launch in New York. The rest of the out-of-shape in the country still have to wait until May 21 to get their hands on the Wii Fit.

Thing is, if you didn’t preorder a unit, you might not be getting on May 21st. Gamestop’s online store has them temporarily-out-of-stock, and Amazon stopped online preorders awhile ago, with 2.5 units being sold every minute. Your best bet is to get to your local video game retailer bright and early on Wednesday, since things are not looking good.

Personally, there’s only one piece of hardware I want riding down below, but unfortunately hardware in your undies may become the norm one day. All I ask is that they leave room for the main package I’m hauling and that they’re comfortable. For some unknown reason, Philips is looking to create a pair that monitors your blood pressure.

A recent patent application from the firm shows off a “wearable” system, but they do point out that “it is particularly suitable for implementation in a continuously wearable undergarment with integrated measuring sensors or electrodes, so as to be directly in contact with the subject’s skin.” You know, I’m not too sure about all of this. I mean, don’t outfit our drawers with something that’s going to stunt our growth. (Insert George Costanza “shrinkage” joke here)

I’m sure everyone and their imaginary roadie wishes the Guitar Hero guitar played more like a real instrument. Forget the fact that you don’t have any talent.(If you’re like me anyway) Instead of just dreaming about it, Dave actually made it happen. He converted a Wii Guitar Hero axe into a full-fledged MIDI controller. No, really. There’s a 5-pin jack down there that makes it official.

Now it can play two octaves of an eight note scale at time, alter the keys and octaves, change tonal modes, use the whammy bar to bend the pitch and generally rock out far more effectively. My only gripe is that if you are going to go through the trouble, you should at least improve on the look of the fugly stock guitar while you’re at it. This isn’t an easy mod, but if you think you’re up for it, hit the link.

Clean up on isle six, I just kicked your ass at Missile Command. How cool is this? This Milwaukee, Wisconsin grocery store has an atari section, where you can hang out and play, complete with period TV, wallpaper and furniture. It’s a great way to get the guys to do the shopping, I’ll say that.

The display includes a fully-functional Atari 2600(Newer black version), and a nice assortment of about 50 classic games just waiting to be stolen. Looks like the only detail from my childhood that they missed is having my mom stand there nagging me while I’m trying to play Space Invaders. Otherwise, it’s like being there. Note to the employees: That plant fails to hide the cords.