Chris Brandrick

Ever leave the house only to realize that you left the over on? If so, this new oven from AGA will put your mind at rest, as you can control it via text message.

The oven, which goes under the ever-so-hip-and-trendy ‘iTotal Control’ moniker, comes with its own SIM card and phone number, ready to take instructions via SMS. The new cooker understands a number of text requests, allowing you to turn on (or off) certain sections of the pricey $15,000 (£10,000) oven. The iTotal Control oven will then text you back to let you know that it received and understood your instructions.

French scientists have created wallpaper that can block Wi-Fi signal, meaning you can boost your network security and redecorate all in one go.

The prototype paper, created by researchers at Grenoble's Institute of Technology, is made up of special patterns of silver crystals that block the frequencies used by Wi-Fi routers.

Whenever you hear the phrase "home automation," the words "home of the future" may spring to mind. The reality is that you can achieve the basics of automating your life today, as proven by one bright UC Berkeley student.

Derek Low, a long-time tinkerer of tech, challenged himself to make his college dorm room as automated as possible. A few months of work combined with several hundred dollars' worth of equipment resulted in the Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm (also known as BRAD), a living space that responds to each and every possible lifestyle scenario any student would need.

[Photo: AV Watch]Set your eyes to stun. Panasonic Japan just raised the game in the "mine is bigger than yours" battle by taking the wraps off its huge 145-inch 8k television, thus outdoing Sharp's 85-inch 8k set by a healthy margin.

The mammoth plasma set, made in partnership with Japan's public broadcaster NHK, has a sizable 7680-by-4320-pixel resolution and claims to be the world's first self-luminous display (that is, it doesn't need a backlight). By comparison, current HDTVs typically max out at 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution. Panasonic's also claims that its new TV is flicker-free, something difficult to achieve on a display of this size.

In science-fiction hit Tron: Legacy, the protagonist Sam Flynn is seen typing with ease on a virtual keyboard. Now, a self-confessed keyboard geek took it upon himself to recreate the keyboard from the movie to see just how good the typing experience can be.

The TRON: Legacy inspired keyboard comes by way of Christian Cantrell, a Product Manager and Application Developer for Adobe's Web Platform team. To create the keyboard, Christian used two iPads, along with some common Web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Chinese auto-maker BYD took the wraps off its latest vehicle ahead of the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, and although at first glance the new car may look fairly typical, the Qin (pronounced Chin) electric hybrid packs in one key differentiator: an on-board robot.

The upcoming car's most unique feature is a robot built into its dashboard that looks strikingly similar to Eve from Pixar movie WALL•E. The robot, which pops out of the dash when needed, is expected to work as a terminal for communicating with BYD's networking system. The BYD 'i' networking system controls the vehicles wireless internet, location services and music downloads.

[Photo: University of Glasgow]Earlier this year, GeekTech brought you news of how 3D printing could be used to create new human body parts. Now, the magic of three dimensional printing is being put to use in another area of medicine: drugs.

Researchers at Scotland's University of Glasgow are currently working on using 3D printing to create medicine. It is hoped that their innovative printing process will allow doctors, and eventually even members of the public, to create their own pharmaceutical drugs.

Rapper Tupac Shakur was murdered in Las Vegas back in 1996, but this past weekend, the acclaimed artist took to the stage once again, only this time in hologram form. In a surprise gig, the Thug Life rapper "performed" several of his greatest hits at the Coachella festival in Indio, California, before being joined on stage by Snoop Dogg.

The performance was enjoyed by the crowds at Coachella, along with thousands of people watching live via the festivals official YouTube channel. The unique gig left many wondering just how the visual trick was achieved.

Sure, Siri may be able to help you find a nearby coffee shop or plan your daily meetings, but can it put out a very real fire? We thought not. Enter Octavia, a robot developed by the US Navy that can help extinguish blazes.

Octavia is part of a research project at the U.S. Navy's recently formed Laboratory for Autonomous Systems Research (LASR). The bot borrows certain technologies from an earlier MIT project dubbed Nexi, including its...uh...somewhat disturbing face (anybody else think it looks similar to this?).

How far would you go for a free soda? Well, Coca-Cola is hoping that us mere mortals will be happy to hug a robotic vending machine, which will dispense free coke in exchange for a quick embrace.

The robotic vending machine, which has the words "Hug Me" emblazoned across its front, is currently giving out freebies at a Singapore university. According to a Coke representative the machine was welcomed with a "long line of people looking to give hugs" to the icy vending machine.

[Photo: tareker]Keeping kitteh safe when night falls is important. So important in fact, that Instructables user 'tareker' took to building an Arduino-powered cat flap to ensure his own feline friend stayed indoors after dark.

The Pet Curfew cat flap is designed to "restrict the time when your pet is allowed to go outside", giving your pet the freedom it is usually afforded during the daytime, but placing a time limit on those evening socials.

Ever wanted to make your next long-distance journey seem that little bit more epic? Well now you can, thanks to a new 8-bit version of Google Maps. Similar in style to old Enix (now Square Enix) games from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) era, this new way to view Google Maps will definitely give your next journey that sense of adventure.