New app “IEEE Spectrum ROBOTS,” not only provides news but has an extensive detailed section for current-day robots of all types: from exoskeletons to remote presence; from military transport to Google self-driving car; from Keepon and Paro to Asimo. For each there are specs, factoids, builder name and cost and interesting graphics and videos. There is also a substantial LEARN section with videos and text by notable and inspirational roboticists.

The news section is analogous to the NY Times: thorough and in-depth reporting on a wide range of topics — in this case the multiple sciences of robotics — by technical authorities in the field or on the IEEE Spectrum staff. The news section joins many other magazine tablet-style news apps such as ScoopIt, Zite and Trapit and news portal sites such as Robohub and The Robot Report.

All in all – and particularly for the non-news sections – the new app it is a worthy addition to the field of robotics.

An even newer site of interest is “Robot Radar” – which provides critical analysis on robotics technology articles published and distributed by the popular press.

Robot Radar‘s list of contributors is a who’s who of robotics in the US and UK and includes Alan Winfield, UWE, Henrik Christensen, GA Tech, Kerstin Dautenhahn, U of Hertfordshire, Benjamin Kuipers, U of MI, Illah Nourbakhsh, CMU, Maja Mataric, USC, Matt Mason, CMU, and Noel Sharkey, U of Sheffield.