Wal-Mart has started quietly testing a university-created robot designed to help visually impaired consumers navigate store aisles and find their desired products. The robot–named RG, for Robotic Guide–is the creation of Vladimir Kulyukin, an assistant professor of computer science at Utah State University and the director of the university’s Computer Science Assistive Technology Laboratory. The initial version of RG–which weighs about 22 pounds and is roughly the height of an upright vacuum cleaner–is limited to three basic functions. It can guide the customer around the store, communicate with the user, and locate products.

Belkin announced new USB and FireWire Hubs that offer additional ports and that are specifically engineered to stack on top of or below the Mac mini-helping to save valuable desktop space. The Hi-Speed USB 2.0 4-Port Hub and Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and FireWire 6-Port Hub for Mac mini feature front ports that give easy access to USB devices such as thumb drives and the iPod shuffle. Both Hubs will begin shipping in North America on July 15, 2005.

PDAMill has released Traffic Mania for the Palm OS and Smarpthones. To kick off these new versions, they’re running a special promotion where you get a full version of Snails for free with every purchase of Traffic Mania. This includes the Pocket PC, Palm OS, and smartphone versions of Traffic Mania. To take advantage of this offer, all you have to do is visit PDAMill’s site and add Traffic Mania to your shopping cart, where you’ll be offered your free copy of Snails. The offer is only valid for this week, so hurry.

California lawmakers have reconsidered and approved a bill in committee that would ban the sale of violent video games to minors. The bill allows for $1,000 fines for violators and requires violent video games to be labeled.

Software developers have figured out how to extract files from the Universal Media Discs used in Sony’s new PlayStation Portable handheld video game device, though there is no way to play the games extracted from those discs. Some details of the exploit were posted Wednesday night on the Web site PS2nfo.com, along with lists showing all the files pulled off the game discs.

A company that handles support for major mobile operators has hit back at Symantec research that suggested people are wising up to a growing threat of cell phone viruses. WDSGlobal said that the threat is being blown well out of proportion and the latest figures reveal a gulf between “perception and reality.” In its research, published at the end of April, Symantec claimed 73 percent of smart phone users are aware of viruses and attacks aimed at their handsets. While that may be encouraging in a “better safe than sorry” way, Doug Overton, head of communications for WDSGlobal, believes people shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that such problems are few and far between.

The first quarter of 2005 has seen healthy growth in shipments of personal digital assistants, fueled by the rising popularity of high-end wireless gadgets, according to market researcher Gartner. In the January to March period, global shipments of PDAs hit 3.4 million units, a rise of 25 percent over the same period last year.

Microsoft’s approach to the mobile device market is a lot like the “Survivor” credo. On the popular reality TV show, contestants are advised to “outwit,” “outplay,” and “outlast” their opponents. Microsoft is aiming to do all three, though it may well succeed if it only manages the last of those tasks. The software maker is expected to introduce Windows Mobile 5, the next version of its operating system for cell phones and handhelds. The OS, code-named Magneto, is the latest in a string of software releases that highlight Microsoft’s attempts to take on rivals including PalmSource and Nokia.

DataViz announced that its mobile Office suite, Documents To Go, is now available for Sony Ericsson P800/P900/P910 smartphones. DataViz has extended the product line to now offer owners of these Sony Ericsson series of smartphones the ability to use, edit and create actual Microsoft Word and Excel files as well as view PowerPoint files. Developed for the Symbian UIQ platform and specifically for Sony Ericsson P800/P900/P910 smartphones, this new edition is also the first to incorporate DataViz’ unique InTact Technology.

MediaGear announced the next generation of its popular Keychain drives called “XtraDrive”, to help satisfy the growing consumer demand for convenient extra USB flash drives created from unused memory cards. XtraDrives have a colored, transparent cap that allows the user to see if a media card is installed. Also, to eliminate crowding of several drives together on a PC or notebook, the XtraDrive package also includes a USB adapter cable. The drives can accommodate most card formats including SD (Secure Digital, MMC (MultiMediaCard), Sony Memory Stick, Compact Flash Types I and II, MicroDrives, SmartMedia, and xD.