Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 26th, 2010
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It’s been over four months since I last paid a visit to a robot store in Akihabara/Tokyo, namely the Vstone flagship store . But I have to say the Tsukumo Robot Kingdom [JP] is much cooler, mainly because the shop is larger and offers more robots than its rival. The Robot Kingdom is located on the 4th floor of the Tsukumo PC Store II in central Akihabara. Just like the Vstone store, the Tsukumo counterpart offers a plethora of different parts and bits for your robot pleasure: The humanoid on the left costs the equivalent of $1,100, while the right one sells for $1,300: No robot store without one of the most popular humanoids out there, Robovie-X (pictured below in the middle, price: $1,600): The humanoid on the left costs the equivalent of $1,000, while the one on the right is priced at $1,050: KHR-3 HV costs $1,300: $1,100, that’s the price for this cool Hello Kitty robot: Here’s a short video showing the store/kingdom (not made by me):
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Friday, March 26th, 2010
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Nokia pulled out of Japan, one of the world’s biggest mobile markets, as early as November 2008 . But because this country is quite wealthy, the Finnish company decided to conquer Japan with their luxury brand Vertu [JP], starting operations in September 2009 . Initially the plan was to market handsets priced between $16,000 and $50,000. But today Vertu Japan announced a “golden” handset with a price tag of 20 million yen (it’s made-in-Japan gold lacquerwork, to be more exact). That’s $215,000, with the price including free domestic calls. Buyers will be able to choose between four equally priced models: Kinko (pictured above), Kikusui, Nanten and Daigo (pictured below). The different designs stand for the different seasons of the year. The occasion for these super-limited editions is the first anniversary of Vertu’s flagship store in Ginza, Tokyo next month . Vertu plans to sell just four of these handsets worldwide (more pictures over at Keitai Watch ). Via Keitai Watch [JP]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
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Toshiba is releasing one high-capacity HDD after another lately. Today, the company announced [PDF] two new hard discs, which are poised to find their way into our notebooks very soon, the MK7559GSXP (750GB/pictured) and the MK1059GSM (1TB). The 750GB model is the world’s most capacious 2.5-inch/9.5mm high HDD. Toshiba released its predecessor (holding 640GB) back in September last year . The new HDD is a two-platter that rotates at 5,400rpm, has a seek time of 12ms and boasts an areal density of 541.4G bit/in2, which Toshiba says is the highest in the industry. The 2.5-inch, 1TB MK1059GSM is a three-platter that’s 12.5mm thick and features the same speed and seek time. Toshiba already offers samples of the 1GB HDD to certain manufacturers (samples for the 750GB model will be available next month). The final versions of both drives are scheduled to ship to manufacturers in the second and third quarters of 2010.
Posted by 010081
Tech
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
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Another possible breakthrough for LCD TVs? Researchers at Japanese chemical company Teijin and Yamaguchi University claim they have developed a new technology that makes it possible to halve the weight of LCD TVs. Conventional LCD displays are based on silicon solid-state devices on glass substrates, which “sandwich” liquid crystals. These devices generate heat when used, forcing manufacturers to go for heat-resistant (heavy) glass substrates. But according to the researchers, they placed a thin layer of heat-resistant silicon dioxide on plastic (polycarbonate, to be more exact) instead. The plastic is lighter than glass substrates, which need solid frames to make them more stable. Plastic substrate frames are considerably lighter, with Teijin saying this will pave the way for LCD TVs that weigh 50% as much as normal. The company also claims their production method will lead to clearer images (using plastic substrates makes it possible to build higher-power solid-state devices into the TVs). Teijin plans to enter a joint venture with a major electronics makes and commercialize their technology within the next three years. Via The Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
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Nintendo’s announcement of its new portable 3D gamimg device 3DS was very brief, prompting us to speculate about possible features and implications for the way people will play games in the future. But today the Nikkei , Japan’s Wall Street Journal, is offering a bit more insight (and the Nikkei is usually a very reliable source). As a reminder, what we know so far is that the new hardware won’t require any glasses for users to see the 3D images, will be backwards compatible to DS and DSi games, make its debut between April 2010 and March 2011, and make its debut at the E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles in June. Here are all new details the Nikkei was able to dig up: – Nintendo says the 3DS will be the first device of its kind. – It will be sold, probably in Japan first, in the latter half of this year. – Nintendo considers giving the 3DS a 3D joystick, force feedback and an accelerometer. – The company already secured patents for several 3DS-related technologies last year. – Compared to its 2D-based predecessors, the new device will feature improved wireless communications speed and battery life. – The screen will be not be larger than four inches (the DSi XL’s screen is 4.2 inches). Another interesting thing to note is that Nintendo shares traded above 30,000 yen ($330) for the first time in over 11 months Wednesday (30,850 yen, which is 2,880 yen above Tuesday’s close). Investors have big expectations for 3D, it seems. Via The Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
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We’ve covered Tsutenkaku, a Japanese robot that looks like a tower to promote tourism in the city of Osaka, just last week . Standing 170cm tall, his makers claim Tsutenkaku [JP] is the tallest robot in the world. And now he finally showed himself in the public, during a street festival that took place over the weekend in Osaka’s shopping district of Nipponbashi . Verdict: Tsutenkaku is a very weird robot. I just wonder how the handful of companies from Osaka that made it think about Hajime , another tall robot from Japan that stands even 210cm tall. Just look at the way he “talks” and moves in the (Japanese) video below: Via Nico Nico Douga [JP/registration required]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
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Honda’s Asimo is probably the world’s most famous humanoid robot. The company today leaked the first technical details and pictures of the fourth version of Asimo, the P4. And the new and improved Asimo, which took 13 years for Honda to develop (P3 was unveiled in 1997), looks much more elegant and human astronaut-like than the previous models. Standing 160cm tall, Asimo is probably only second in height to “tower robot” Tsutenkaku . P4 is as tall as P3, but Honda managed to reduce his weight from 130kg to 80kg. He now has 34 joints (two more joints in each hand than P3) and is said to be able to dance better than his predecessors (“dancing” was always one of Asimo’s special skills). The new Asimo has a more flexible waist (which allows him to walk in a smoother way) and completely redesigned chest and shoulder areas. It looks completely different from the P1 Honda showed back in 1993 . We’ll let you know when we get the first videos showing Asimo in action. Via Plastic Pals and Response [JP]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
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Big news from the Japanese video game world today: Nintendo announced [JP, PDF] they will launch a successor to the DS/DSi for the next fiscal year (which begins next month in Japan and ends in March 2011). And what sounds particularly cool so far about the Nintendo 3DS is that the new portable device won’t require any special glasses for users to see the 3D images, according to Nintendo. Details are scarce at the moment (no price, no specs, no pics), but what’s confirmed so far is that “3DS” is just the tentative name of the device. It will be backwards compatible to conventional DS/DSi games (meaning it will have 2 cameras again) and is sure to hit Japanese stores first. Just as a reminder, Nintendo will release their new handheld, the DSi XL, on March 28 in the US . Nintendo also said they will give us more details about the DS sucessor at the E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles in June. Now let’s just hope the 3DS won’t be another Virtual Boy …
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
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Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR) has unveiled robovie mR2 [JP], a cute desk robot that stands just 30cm tall and weighs 2kg. The cool thing is that users can place an iPod touch in his chest to control the robot (via Wifi or by touching the screen). ATR says he can use “information gathered with the iPod by means of gestures”. Other features include a CCD 3.4MP camera, two microphones, a mono speaker (2W), 18 joints (3 in each eye), and 18 servo motors. The robot can also be controlled via Bluetooth. ATR says the goal with robovie mR2 was to design a „likeable“ robot with particularly cute looks. The institute might actually commercialize the humanoid in the future. Here’s a short demo video (with English subs) showing robovie mR2 in action: Via Node [JP]
Posted by Kevin Huffman
Tech
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
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The giant Gundam statue that protected Tokyo last summer was so cool that we covered it multiple times . In September 2009 , Bandai (the company responsible for the marketing coup) decided to retire Gundam once and for all. But five months later, in December 2009 , the city of Shizuoka (some 125 miles west of Tokyo) announced it plans to re-erect the statue in July this year. And now it has come to light that it will really happen [JP] (on the 24th of July, Gundam’s 30th birthday, to be more exact). Shizuoka is the city where most of the Gundam plastic models come from. But his time, Gundam will be armed with a gigantic “beam saber” (in 1:1 scale, as the 18m statue itself). Just like in the eponymous anime series, he will hold the saber, which will glow during the night, in his right hand. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see him wielding the saber inone way or the other when the statue is ready, too. Shizuoka is expecting Gundam to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city from July 24 until January 11, 2010, when the statue will be deconstructed again. Bandai claims the statue that was standing in Tokyo was visited by some four million people.