MICHAEL RUNDLE
London-based journalist, occasional artist.
Tech Editor at HuffPost UK
Also:
- Creator of Tower of Ghost
- Illustrator
- Former metal singer
- Interested in Time Travel
Contact details, CV & other whatnot below.
Twitter- LinkedIn
- HuffPost UK Tech
- Other Recent Work
- Flickr
- Contact Me
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Tweets
- Needless to say, when the Flaming Lips covered 'Heroes' @ Roundhouse last night volcanoes of hope covered the world in lava. (It was good.)
- I'm a CoD cynic, but honestly this storyline does sound much better than usual.
- Tell me more about Exclusive Content. That's the most magical phrase in the *world*.
- I could really go for some terrible wub-wub music right now. Anyone know an internationally streamed media event that might feature some?
- 7 Devastatingly Bad Ideas For Robots From Heavy Metal Album Covers http://t.co/oQgH7TpjWy
- Phenomenal metal album cover here. http://t.co/GrVulpFWp4May 21, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- RT @bespokeoffers: Can @engadget associate editor @DanielWCooper travel through time? Let's find out in his own #bespokeballads http://t.co…
- No live-streamed, full-HD console reveal will ever be as exciting as a single next-gen screenshot appearing in a printed games magazine.
- That last tweet was not a joke.
- There is a semi-automatic gun aboard the International Space Station to protect against bears. http://t.co/rDmpkFmjyF
- I may have crossed a line with this. http://t.co/sEEZBTSt16
- 'Ground control to Major Tim…' British man heading to International Space Station. http://t.co/CBCYnB9cez
- The arcade version of NBA Jam earned a billion dollars in quarters. Three times the domestic gross of Jurassic Park! Via @RetroGamer_Mag
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Info
- Summary
Technology Editor of the Huffington Post UK.
Former Assistant News & Politics editor at HuffPost, former editor of the UK's top men's blog, Asylum.co.uk, former reporter for Metro New York and graduate of NYU (MA Journalism) and Cambridge University.
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In 2006, after studying history at the University of Cambridge and completing an internship at the BBC, Michael moved to New York City to read for an MA in journalism.
While in New York he worked full-time as a reporter for Metro New York newspaper, covering crime, transportation and the 2008 election. He also freelanced for several other publications, most notably The Brooklyn Rail.
In 2008 Michael joined AOL as an assistant editor for Asylum, a new men’s online magazine. Four months later, with the site now the leader in its category and having graduated from NYU, he moved back to London to become Asylum’s UK editor. When he left Asylum in 2011 the site had more than a million visitors a month.In 2011 Michael joined The Huffington Post as UK Assistant News & Politics Editor, and in June 2012 was promoted to Technology Editor.
Specialties: Journalism, online business development and outreach, graphics and illustrationExperience- May 2012 - PresentTechnology Editor UK / The Huffington Post
Overall editorial responsibility for HuffPost UK's technology content and website.
- May 2011 - May 2012Assistant News Editor UK / The Huffington Post
News writing and editing, homepage editor shifts, long form features and social media.
- Jul 2009 - May 2011Editor / Asylum (AOL Europe)
Editor of Asylum, AOL's website for men. Role involves directing an international team of editors and bloggers, executive management of content and responsibility for growth and business development at asylum.co.uk and other men's media sites.
- May 2008 - Jun 2009UK Editor / Asylum (AOL Europe)
UK editor of Asylum. Management of all daily news and features content plus direction of online promotion and strategy.
- Jan 2008 - May 2008Associate Editor / Asylum (AOL)
Writing and multi-media production plus viral marketing.
- Jan 2007 - Jan 2008News Reporter / Metro International (New York City)
Breaking news stories (politics, crime and social issues) and features, plus copy editing, photography and web development.
- Nov 2004 - Jun 2006Founder, Editor, Producer / Cambridge Independent Podcast
The Cambridge Independent Podcast was one of the UK's first major music podcasts, with more than 15,000 listeners per show. It was highlighted by the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4664065.stm) and USA Today, among others, for its technical innovation and excellent content.
- Jun 2005 - Aug 2005Intern / BBC News
Produced content for the web, television and mobile services as part of BBC's work experience program.
Education-
2006 - 2008New York UniversityMA in Journalism
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2003 - 2006University of CambridgeBA (Hons) in History
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Posts
- May 22, 13
You can now talk to Google.
An upgrade to Google Chrome was announced last week which would allow you to carry on a conversation (albeit a fairly one-sided and demanding one) with your desktop search box.
Unveiling the idea at its annual I/O press conference, the search giant demoed how you would soon be able to ask a question with your voice - say, "who is David Cameron?" and then go on to ask "how tall is he?" without repeating the subject. A whole string of these 'natural' search terms can be used in a row without having to repeat yourself.
And now it's live.
In a new update to Google's Chrome browser (version 27) the new conversational tool has been finally switched on for desktop users.
To get it you just have to restart Chrome - it should handle the upgrade automatically.
Then head to Google.com, click the microphone in the search box and start chatting away.
Unfortunately the service seems a bit spotty at the moment - launch jitters, we gather. But as long as you work alone (or can take the mockery of your co-workers or family) then it should prove a welcome new way to check how tall the members of the Coalition cabinet really are. - May 22, 13
Amazon has proposed a new headquarters building for downtown Seattle - and it's pretty astounding.
The new design features three geodesic-style domes, which look like giant greenhouses.
Together with a pair of mirrored towers, the new HQ would total 3.3 million square feet of office space.
The designs are the work of NBBJ, and are intended to create a "natural parklike setting" for its employees in the centre of Seattle:"The generative idea is that a plant-rich environment has many positive qualities that are not often found in a typical office setting. While the form of the building will be visually reminiscent of a greenhouse or conservatory, plant material will be selected for its ability to co-exist in a microclimate that also suits people."
The spheres themselves will be about 80-95 feet high, and feature central pillars covered in plants and trees.
Take a look at more images of the proposed design, which is still in the discussion stage, below. - May 22, 13
Gamers have been left confused - though optimistic - after Microsoft announced it will be possible to play second-hand games on the Xbox One console. They just won't say how.
The new machine will introduce new forms of digital rights management, which tie games to user accounts and also allow you to play different titles without swapping the disc.
But while that move comes with some benefits, it also raises questions about how the system will let users swap, trade or sell games - either with their friends or a used games store.PICTURES: Microsoft Unveils Xbox One
REACTION: What's The Verdict?
In an interview with Eurogamer, Microsoft's Phil Harrison explained - twice - that it will be possible.
Harrison said that gamers will be able to play the same game if using the same system - say a son and a father living in the same house. And that if you take a game to a friend's house, you can play as long as you're logged in as yourself.
But if you leave, your friend will have to buy the game to keep playing under his own account."The bits that are on the disc, I can give to anybody else, but if we both want to play it at the same time, we both have to own it. That's no different to how discs operate today."
Aside from that, many issues remain unclear.
As MCV points out, Microsoft has not explained what happens when you try to sell a disc, either at retail or privately (on eBay, for instance). It says that an announcement is forthcoming.
Microsoft has also left some confused by claiming that the Xbox One will "require" an internet connection, but will not need to be permanently connected.
Prior to the launch, it had been feared that the new Xbox would feature an always-on style of DRM as seen in the recent disastrous launches of SimCity and Diablo III. While that does not appear to be the case, Microsoft is keeping specifics to a minimum on this issue as well as that of pre-owned games. - May 22, 13
The creator of the animated GIF has shocked the internet by declaring that it's pronounced... "jif".
That's right, while the online consensus has largely settled on the hard-G pronunciation ("gift" without the T) its inventor Steve Wilhite says we're all wrong.
Accepting a lifetime achievement award at the Webbys on Tuesday, Wilhite said that the Graphics Interchange Format was always meant to be said with a soft G.
"The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations," Wilhite said, according to the New York Times.
"They are wrong. It is a soft 'G,' pronounced 'jif.' End of story."
The GIF has been around since 1987, invented as one of the first ways to animate images with low file sizes.
Wilhite took about a month to develop the first prototype image of an aeroplane while working at CompuServe.
More than 26 years later the Gif is still one of the most popular formats online, responsible for thousands of memes, videos and dancing babies. It was even used by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to announce her company's $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr earlier this week.
But you're all pronouncing it wrong. - May 21, 13Microsoft has unveiled the Xbox One, the "next generation of entertainment in the living room".
Pitching the device as far more than a games device, Microsoft emphasised the Xbox One's ability to integrate live TV, video calling, movies, music and internet browsing on the TV.
"We put you at the centre of a new generation of entertainment in the living room," said Don Mattrick, president of interactive entertainment at Microsoft.
"Xbox One is built to amaze on day one and continuously improve in the generation ahead," he said.
Either way, we're covering the highlights here. Below we've collected the best pictures of the device, the top games and more key details.
For more we suggest heading to our AOL partners Engadget and Joystick, and the official Xbox Wire website, all of whom are covering the event. - May 22, 13Microsoft has unveiled the Xbox One, pitching it as the "next generation of entertainment in the living room".
We're got all the key details here, and more pictures of the box than you comfortably require here.
But while the combination of excellent hardware, a vastly improved connect, a new gamepad and the promise of some impressive launch titles seems like it should be an easy win, the reaction has been pretty mixed online.
In fact some columnists have already labelled the launch a bit of a damp squib, pointing to the lack of stand-out new games, missing details around used games, online connectivity and piracy protection.
We've pulled together a sample of those opinions below - but let us know what you think about the launch in the comments.
Engadget's Ben Gilbert:"The focus on live TV, voice and Skype clearly indicates that Microsoft's aiming to computerize your living room with its game console. Will the public shine to the computer-looking box with an always-on camera? That remains to be seen."
MCV:"Xbox One is "alive" they told us. It is a "lag-free, instant experience". It uses something called 'snap' that lets you watch TV and search the internet at the same time. An actual moment passed where an Xbox exec said that the high-end body-tracking Kinect functions were 'games and science stuff'. In the relatively dry run through some of the smart features, Xbox almost forgot to spell out its plan here."
Wired:"If Microsoft was pushing gaming to the back burner with its Xbox One announcement and potentially alienating the core audience that it's strung along for the last decade, Sony could boost its flagging image by making PS4 sound like a home for gamers who want their egos stroked."
The Register:"On the face of it, the new console looks pretty impressive. Response times and gesture control are very good indeed, the visuals are stunning, and Microsoft scored an instant win over rival Sony by actually having a working console to show off... The elephant in the room for Xbox One is price."
The Verge:"The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 each represent a major leap over anything we've seen before from a home console in terms of hardware and software capabilities. With their latest and most groundbreaking products to date now unveiled, both Microsoft and Sony hope to redefine what a set-top box is capable of in the minds of consumers."
- May 21, 13Microsoft has unveiled the Xbox One, the "next generation of entertainment in the living room".
Pitching the device as far more than a games device, Microsoft emphasised the Xbox One's ability to integrate live TV, video calling, movies, music and internet browsing on the TV.
"We put you at the centre of a new generation of entertainment in the living room," said Don Mattrick, president of interactive entertainment at Microsoft.
"Xbox One is built to amaze on day one and continuously improve in the generation ahead," he said.
Some of the key features include:- Integration with live TV, music, movies and games
- Remarkably sharp switching from games to TV, the internet and other functions
- 8GB ram
- Blu-Ray drive
- 64-bit architecture
- Silent operation
- Built both on the Xbox OS and the Windows kernel to bring new levels of performance to the living room
- Improved voice control
- Upgraded Kinect that is so accurate it can read your heartbeat when you exercise
- Updated controller with integrated battery, precision D-pad
- Integration with Smartglass - an already announced method to control your Xbox with tablets and phones, including Android and iOS devices
- New Xbox Live service - "more powerful, more personal, more intelligent" built on more than 300,000 servers
The announced games include:- FIFA 14 with exclusive Ultimate Team features
- Madden 25, NBA and UFC games
- Quantum Break, a new action-adventure
- Forza 5
- Call of Duty: Ghosts
We're covering the highlights here. Below we've summarised the top details, specs, games and videos.
For more we suggest heading to our AOL partners Engadget and Joystick, and the official Xbox Wire website, all of whom are covering the event in obsessive detail. - May 21, 13
Heavy metal music has done much good for the world, introducing us to the talents of Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Jeff Hanneman on guitar, and the sartorial delights of a really close-cut stonewash jean.
Unfortunately, for fans of the genre it has also been responsible for much ill in the world too.
No, we don't mean the music (though much of the output between 1998 and 2004 is fairly questionable).
We're talking about the genre's ideas for robots.
While browsing our favourite music streaming service this week, we noticed an album which reminded us just how many terrible ideas for androids, cyborgs and mechanical humans metal bands have come up with over the years.
We've pulled some of our favourite examples below. Let us know if we've missed any. And in future if you see a long-haired Viking wandering around Maplin with a Flying V in one hand and a Raspberry Pi in the other, for the love of all humanity do everything you can to stop them. - May 21, 13
Fresh from unveiling the $1.1 billion deal to buy Tumblr, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has made another huge announcement - the relaunch of Flickr.
The photo storage, presentation and sharing service was purchased by Yahoo back in 2005, but in recent years its fortunes have dimmed.
With a stagnating design heavy on white space and small thumbnails, the site had also been held back by restrictive storage and bandwidth limits.
Rivals were quick to fill in the gaps. On the app store Flickr has been overtaken by quicker, instant-sharing apps like Instagram, while Facebook has taken the crown for photo sharing among groups of friends. Meanwhile Google has recently launched its own fresh assault on the photo storage space with updates to Google+.
Now Yahoo is making a new push for Flickr to regain the lost ground. Alongside an all-new design, which focuses on larger images, improved search and fewer thumbnails, and freshly updated apps for iOS and Android, Yahoo also announced that users will get a massive terabyte of storage space - for free.
By comparison, that's 1,000 times as much space as Gmail gives away.
And you could take a photo every hour for 40 years without filling it.
Flickr said:"At Flickr, we believe you should share all your images in full resolution, so life's moments can be relived in their original quality. No limited pixels, no cramped formats, no memories that fall flat. We're giving your photos room to breathe, and you the space to upload a dizzying number of photos and videos, for free. Just how big is a terabyte? Well, you could take a photo every hour for forty years without filling one."
Yahoo's CEO, Marissa Mayer, also told users that their photos will "be there forever", trying to calm the fear that accounts will one day disappear - as happened to the long-moribund Geocities.
In a blog post - via Tumblr, naturally - Mayer said that the new service was a "completely re-imagined experience"."We hope you'll agree that we have made huge strides to make Flickr awesome again, and we want to know what you think and how to further improve! "
Here's what the new site looks like:
New design:
Old design: - May 21, 13
Clothes you can spray on? We're tempted to say it sounds like something from a sci-fi film, though actually it sounds like something from Tomorrow's World about 20 years ago.
Either way, it's happening.
According to a report on the Discovery Channel, picked up by Oddity Central, the time for clothes which come in a can is now. Or a few years from now.
Fabrican is a sprayable fabric designed by Spanish fashionista Manel Torres. The fabric is made of very short fibers mixed with a solvent and polymers which bind the material together. The texture can be varied depending on what's inside, from wool to acrylic.
Patented way back in 2000, he developed the idea while studying at the Royal College of Art in London.
Apparently it's very cold when it first goes on, but it hardens instantly to make a passable T-shirt or pair of trousers.
And while the idea is 13 years old, Manel has just recently formed a commercial company to make the material cheaper and more viable in practice. Take a look at how it works, below. - May 21, 13
Microsoft is set to unveil the next Xbox later on Tuesday at a massive, live-streamed press conference.
It's pretty obvious that the new machine will pack new levels of graphical power, an upgraded Kinect and an all-new 'connected' interface into a spiffy box - and be able to play some amazing new games.
And before the news hits every big tech site is picking through the rumours to find the most likely combination of hardware and software you can expect from the conference.
But if you're still dreaming big about a truly revolutionary new console, what can you hope for?
We've pulled together five big ideas that might - just might- make it into the new Xbox.
Yes, we know, none of these are likely to happen. But we wish they could...
1) IllumiRoom: a room-sized projector for games
Microsoft is definitely developing this amazing projector-screen-interface for some future device, but as far as we know it's not ready to make it into production. Still, we can dream can't we? The idea is essentially to overlay the contours of your living room with an intelligent, dramatic projected display stretching the boundaries of the game beyond the TV.
2) Oculus Rift-style Virtual Reality
Everyone with an interest in gaming wants to try the Oculus Rift, said to be a revolution is 3D headset displays. From what we've seen it could be a transformative tech, if several issues - from weight and resolution down to how to actually make decent games for it - can be sorted out. Maybe it's down to a big-hitter like Microsoft to push that innovation through?
3) Full Backwards Compatibility
This doesn't sound like a major ask - several other consoles have launched with backwards compatibility in the past. But from what we've heard, Microsoft isn't looking to bring 360 games to the new device, especially since it looks set to dump PowerPC for an x86-based architecture. But we can dream.
4) Multi TV Support
Imagine if a console could connect to two TVs at once - extending your playing area, or allowing for full HD, same-room multiplayer like the good old days? No, we don't expect this to happen either - the graphical issues would be immense. And who's really going to drag two TVs into their living room anyway? Oh, but if it was wireless too... *Dribble*.
5) PC Compatibility.
As good as the next Xbox innards are going to be, they're likely not going to match today's highest-spec PCs (at least in potential power). So what if the next Xbox software also ran on Windows 8, high-end gaming PCs? And what if you could play the same games and cross-platform multiplayer? Finally PC and console gaming would be united, and we can all walk off into the sunset, forever. - May 20, 13
The history of Nintendo's key franchises is more complex than three seasons of Game of Thrones, run backwards, in French.
Take Mario, (deep breath), whose recent Wii U outing was a home console remake of a retro-inspired but original 3DS handheld game, but whose upcoming 'true' 3D reboot is more inspired by the Gamecube's 'Super Mario Galaxy'. Or Zelda, who has both an all-new Wii U game on the cards, as well as a 'Wind Waker' remake and a 3DS sequel to the 1991 SNES Game 'A Link To The Past'.
It's exhausting.
Then there is Donkey Kong. Behind Super Mario, 'Donkey Kong Country' was the best-selling SNES series of all time. And while it didn't match the same heights in terms of sales, the sequel 'Donkey Kong Country Returns' for Wii was also rapturously received. So Nintendo has now remade the latter for the 3DS.
But while the decision to bring DK back in this specific incarnation sounds a bit arbitrary, it turns out it's actually barrel-busting genius. Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is one of the best platformers available on the rapidly maturing handheld 3DS console. And it's hard not to suspect that with its rich, deep graphics and retro-themed gameplay, it was actually meant for its 3D screen all along.
With 70 seriously varied levels (jungles, factories, pirate ships etc), plus mine cart chase scenes and exploration-heavy areas, DKC 3D is a very rich and challenging platformer. While at its core this is a pretty standard precision running-and-jumping game, it also has a number of interesting mechanics that include rolling to make long jumps and attack enemies, pounding on the ground and blowing various game-world objects to solve puzzles.
Most of the levels are exactly as they were on the Wii. But this time around there's also a 'New' mode which softens the difficulty somewhat, and adds a boosted role for shops, where you can trade items for extra lives and energy boosts plus other new upgrades like green balloons to lift you out of deadly pits. The game also comes with eight new levels which act as a sort of 'greatest hits' for the game's more difficult moments which is a good challenge if you've already played the original.
As on the Wii, the levels are designed to constantly play with depth and perspective, shooting Donkey Kong between rocket barrels in the foreground and background, twisting through mines and jungles and factory stacks. But with the 3DS 3D enabled, everything is massively improved. The game feels faster, more creative and more fun than ever, and effects that once seemed a bit shallow - the game is still essentially a 2D experience - now feel integral to its appeal.
That said, this is not an easy game. Even in 'New' mode the game is still surprisingly difficult and completing it is a tricky and frustrating task. It's also not quite as visually smooth as the famously silky original.
But despite those niggles, DKC 3D is essentially excellent - a bright, cheerful and challenging adventure, which combines a retro feel with state-of-the-art level design and is straightforwardly fun to play - no matter how tortuously complicated its history might be. - May 20, 13
Yahoo has confirmed that it has purchased Tumblr for more than $1 billion.
The internet giant said it paid around $1.1 billion in cash for the microblogging network, which boasts more than 300 million monthly unique visitors.
Some Tumblr users are said to have fled the company ahead of the widely-expected deal, with Wordpress alone claiming an extra 72,000 posts imported from Tumblr.
Yahoo - which now runs its official blog on the platform - said it would run Tumblr as a "separate company" and promised "not to screw it up".
"Tumblr is redefining creative expression online," said Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer who announced the deal on her own Tumblr, complete with an animated Gif:"On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo! couldn’t be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn’t be more complementary. Yahoo is the Internet’s original media network. Tumblr is the Internet’s fastest-growing media frenzy.
"Both companies are homes for brands - established and emerging. And, fundamentally, Tumblr and Yahoo! are both all about users, design, and finding surprise and inspiration amidst the everyday."
Tumblr has:- 300 million monthly unique visitors
- 120,000 signups every day
- 24 billion minutes spent on site each month
- 50 billion blog posts
- 75 million posts a day
Once the deal is closed later this year, Tumblr founder David Karp will continue to run the company.
The deal will reportedly earn Karp - who attended high school for only a year - £164 million.
"The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators," Tumblr said.
David Karp added in a statement:"Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission — to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve — certainly isn’t changing. But we’re elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from."
- May 20, 13
Britain is to finally get its own astronaut aboard the International Space Station - but who got there first?
Yes, it's pretty obvious that the US and Russia have had their share of astronauts aboard the craft in the 12 years since it was launched.
And Commander Chris Hadfield's recent social media heroics aboard the station have also placed Canada firmly in the premier league of ISS visitors.
But who else has been to the station aboard the 343 spaceflights to the station?
Turns out, people from 15 nations have made it to the Space Station before us - and that doesn't include those who help dual nationality such as the Iranian-American space tourist Anousheh Ansari.
Indeed it's not just ISS crew who have been the space station. The majority of its visitors remain onboard only for a short time.
Tourists usually stay for a week or two, travelling aboard the Soyuz craft when a third seat is not needed for cargo or another passenger. They stay in the period between one crew leaving and the other settling into their new home.
Here's a look at who has been to the ISS already - and where they've been from:- US: 138 individuals, 39 ISS crew members (five tourists)
- Russia: 41 individuals, 34 ISS crew members
- Canada: 7 individuals, 2 ISS crew (one tourist)
- Japan: 6 individuals, 4 ISS crew
- Italy: 3 individuals, 1 ISS crew
- France: 3 individuals, 1 ISS crew
- Germany: 2 individuals, 1 ISS Crew
- Belgium: I individual, 1 crew
- Netherlands: 1 individual, 1 crew
- Sweden: 1 individual
- Brazil: 1 individual
- Malaysia: 1 individual
- South Africa: 1 tourist
- South Korea: 1 individual
- Spain: 1 individual
By agency, Nasa has sent the most individuals (133) while the Russians have sent 41. The European Space Agency has sent 12, soon to be joined by Major Timothy Peake. - May 20, 13
Are you rich, lonely and want a giant robot to hug? Then today is your lucky day.
A nine foot tall humanoid robot built in 1957 is to be placed up for auction at Christie's.
Cygan, designed by the aeromodeller Dr Ing Fiorito, was once a "great celebrity" during the 1950s and 60s.
Christie's says that the robot "captivated" crowds with its futuristic, sci-fi moves and features:Cygan was first presented at the Milan sample fair in 1957 and then travelled to London, Olympia in 1958 to perform in front of astonished crowds. The colossal robot captivated children and adults alike, walking around the auditorium and even showing off its dance moves with a well-dressed lady. It would have been an extraordinary experience to witness the workings of such an advanced robot and Dr. Ing Fiorito was most likely considered an innovator of the time.
Describing the robot as "a monumental relic of the atomic age", they add that its creation "epitomises this new era of technological innovation".
Admitedly, the robot's functionality was pretty limited. It was able to walk (or rather roll forwards and backwards), at a rate of 10 feet per minute, turn left or right, raise its arms and carry things.
A magazine report about the robot from 1960 adds that the robot weighed more than 1,000 lbs, and with batteries had an operational time of about four and a half hours.
Cygan was also said to be able to respond to voice commands and light signals - though quite how this was done (and how accurately) is probably lost to time.
Check below for a full-sized image of this amazing relic.
The robot is just one of more than 150 lots included in the auction house's eclectic 'Out of The Ordinary' sale, which starts on August 5 and also features a full fossilised cave bear with an estimated value of £30,000.
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