Hasta La Gadget!

Recently, we came across an interesting interactive promotional display of new shoe technology by Asahi Corporate, at one of the train platforms in the center of Tokyo. An apparent first in the world, “SHM (Scre Home Mechanism) shoe technology” is supposed to “keep knees healthy and the walk enjoyable”. The product is targeted to anyone with troubled knees, either for future pain prevention or for current support of the knee joint movement. However, this product mostly focuses on the growing aging society in Japan, which is proportionally, the highest in the world (65+ make 23% of the population in 2010).

According to the Asahi research, each year, about 30 million knee joint transplants are performed in Japan, mostly among women over 50 years old. As a result, already in 2003, Asahi started developing SHM shoe technology, cooperating with orthopedic surgeons and researchers in Japan. It took them few years of clinical research and product development, followed by marketing and began selling them from 2006, but not until recently has it become a mainline capmaign.

The SHM technology is embedded into the heel of the shoe and apparently lightens the burden on the lower exterior knee joints, which supports the knee and is responsible for rotation when stepping on the heel. According to Asahi, this unique shoe structure; takes off the pressure of body weight when stepping on the heel, creates slight exterior rotation form the center of the heel to the tip toes while stepping on the foot, and controls movement of knee joints. Moreover, this mechanism creates an effective use of the inner thighs, which support the knee as well.

The display was particularly interesting, although aimed to the aging society, it was fairly interactive including touch screen panels which featured personal health questions and a virtual physical examination. A built in television screen then displayed a detailed clinical explanation by physicians, and there was a movable display with wide variety of products. Questions such as: “Is it painful recently, to walk down the stairs?” or “You prefer taking the escalator rather than the stairs?”are set so as to determine your knee’s age (i.e if there has been excessive wear and tear). If the answer in most cases is “Yes”; your knee’s age is apparently over 70. The most interesting question for me was “Recently, is it hard to sit seiza? (Japanese traditional sitting position with folded knees)”. The majority of non Japanese people I am familiar with (including myself) –regardless their age- are absolutely incapable of spending more than 5 minutes in that position, which brings me to think about our Western knee’s age!

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Rumors of a Nikon mirrorless camera have been floating around the web since the middle of last year, and recent leaks have made us wonder not if the company would release a compact ILC — only when such an announcement would be made. Well, we finally have our answer. We journeyed to a secret location in midtown Manhattan tonight, with nary a peep from Nikon about what to expect until just before the clock struck midnight — and only after more than two hours of laptop-free house arrest and live Counting Crows. Only the rumored mirrorless cam seemed worthy of such unusual precautions, so we were relieved to discover that Nikon had managed to justify this late night adventure. The company has finally announced not one, but a pair of compact “1 System” mirrorless cameras, and it seems totally fine with putting the focus speed up against the self-proclaimed champ. Head on past the break for more details!

Continue reading Nikon unveils V1 and J1 mirrorless cameras: 10.1MP CMOS, 1080p video, ships in October for $650+ (video)

Nikon unveils V1 and J1 mirrorless cameras: 10.1MP CMOS, 1080p video, ships in October for $650+ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Do we want to live in a world where the Vizio Tablet actually has Hulu Plus before our beloved Motorola Droid Bionic or Droid 3? No matter your answer, the fortunate news is that we no longer have to, because the streaming video service is now readily available on eight more devices. The list includes the two mentioned above, as well as the HTC Droid Incredible 2, LG Revolution and G2x, Motorola Droid X2, HTC Sensation and EVO 3D. This is great news, though don’t forget that you’ll need to pony up $8 per month for the subscription. Still interested? Follow the source to download and install it on your device.

Hulu Plus for Android gets more plusses, adds compatibility to nine devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Do you despise thick bezels, yet harbor an unnatural aversion to portables from LG and Samsung? We’re not here to psychoanalyze, but ASUS’ U46SV-DH51 might be more to your liking. The “Brushed Champagne” notebook is notable for its diminutive bezel, which, like Sammy’s smaller Series 7, allows for a 14-inch display to exist in a 13-inch chassis. It’s got some punch too, packing a Core i5-2410M, 4GB of RAM, NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 540M and a DVD burner (remember those?). Not bad for a 4.85-pound laptop that’ll supposedly go 10 hours between charges and set you back $879. You’ll find a pre-order page at the source below, but before you go, why not hop past the break and indulge in a video?

[Thanks, Danijel]

Continue reading ASUS’ U46SV-DH51 goes up for pre-order, ships to bezel haters on October 1st (video)

ASUS’ U46SV-DH51 goes up for pre-order, ships to bezel haters on October 1st (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lonely and living in the city, but don’t have the patience or maturity for Man’s Best Friend? Well, you could always take a TankBot under your wing. Desk Pets’ palm-sized four-wheeler first whirred into our hands earlier this year at the International Toy Fair, promising a variety of play modes and iOS control. Now, the team behind the roving gizmo has finally released it to retailers’ shelves, tacking on a $25 price tag and adding Android compatibility. The mini-bot operates in a trio of configurations: an autonomous mode that makes use of its infrared sensors to navigate obstacles, a free-roaming option that’ll have it wandering aimlessly and, most importantly, a free mobile app that puts dual joystick control on your Apple device’s screen or universal remote (connected via headphone jack) for steering on an Android phone. Don’t expect to squeeze hours of fun out of this little tchotchke, though, as its retractable USB port only gets you about 15 minutes of gee whizzery. Skip past the break to watch a video demo of the lil’ guy en vivo.

Continue reading Desk Pets’ TankBot rolls out with Android and iOS support, is the tiny racer in your hand

Desk Pets’ TankBot rolls out with Android and iOS support, is the tiny racer in your hand originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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