Announced early September, the Satellite U925t, a Sony Vaio Duo like ultrabook powered by a Core i5 Ivy Bridge is now making its debut in Japan under the Dynabook series. While Toshiba did not gave any specific price and specification details on this Japanese version of the Satellite U925t is schedule to hit Japanese stores within a few month with identical specs as its North American cousin.
[CEATEC 2012] At CEATEC this year, Nissan unveiled its automated driving vehicle – the NSC-2015, an electric vehicle that can drive itself without anyone behind the wheel. It features a remote monitoring system that recognizes the surrounding environment through the use of an all-around view camera and 4G connectivity. Instead of only relying on GPS to pinpoint the car’s location, the cameras allow the car to recognize its surrounding environment – even when it is in an underground parking lot. As for the car’s automated functions, it can park itself right after the driver exits the vehicle. Saving time for the driver especially if he/she is in a rush for an appointment – not to mention the trouble of circling mall parking lots during a crowded weekend.
Drivers can also give the NSC-2015 instructions through an app on their smartphone – i.e. make the car start up and drive itself from the parking spot to you when you decide to go back home. The smartphone app also acts more than just “remote control” for the car – it can also give users a complete view around the car via its cameras. This useful feature lets drivers inspect their vehicles from afar when any warnings are given, and they can also sound the alarm if they don’t like what they see. No word on when we’ll see this technology on the streets, but let’s hope it won’t be too far away.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: NEC LED with built-in speaker gives you music from above, Fujitsu Gaze Detection Technology lets you stare and use the PC,
Improving something that works just fine is a difficult task and I must say that Docomo did a pretty descent job this year at CEATEC with their new hands-free video-conferencing prototype. The concept is simple, create an digitized avatar of yourself that will not only mimic your facial expression but also reproduce your surrounding environment without the needs for you to face a camera. Simple isn’t it? Well actually not really but Docomo came with something rather interesting in the …
[CEATEC 2012] If there is one challenging thing about programming the hand of a robot, it would be the artificial intelligence required for it to figure out just the right amount of pressure to apply to say, an egg, or when it is holding a child, or the frail arm of an elderly person, as opposed to a piece of iron or an axe that it wants to swing around. Well, researchers might have broken new ground with their latest robot that is on display at CEATEC in Tokyo, Japan this year, where this new robot is touted to replicate the brush strokes of master painters and calligraphers.
Researchers have laid claim that a perfect copy of Monet or Picasso painting might not fall within the realm of possibility at this point in time since the robot will require a living model to imitate, where it basically copies the gesture of the master painter while applying a similar amount of pressure. This “copycat” technology could also come in handy not in the world of arts but rather, when one is involved in complex surgery or mechanics.
Researchers at the Keio University touted that this robot’s motion copy system is the world’s first unit which is highly accurate, capable of recreating the motions of the master artists.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Totsy MRobo dancing robot is no legend, NEC LED with built-in speaker gives you music from above,
Announced a few weeks ago here you are in the “Flesh” Toshiba’s new Canvio external USB 3.0 HDD line-up. Not much to say here really with the exception maybe of Canvio Slim that is indeed slick and elegant!
What can one do with a robot suit? Well, it’s certainly not limited to just lifting sacks of rice, but that was exactly what we got to do at CEATEC courtesy of Koba Lab from Tokyo University of Science. First seen in 2009, the magic behind this 9kg kit are the pair of pneumatic artificial muscles (aka McKibben artificial muscles) on the back, which are made by industrial equipment manufacturer Kanda Tsushin. When pressurized with air using electrical components from KOA Corporation, the lightweight, loosely-woven PET tubes contract and consequently provide support to the user’s back, shoulders and elbows. As such, our arms were able to easily hold two more sacks of rice (making it a total of 50kg) until the demonstrator deflated the muscles. Check out our jolly hands-on video after the break.
Filed under: Robots
Tokyo University of Science shows off robotic suit powered by pneumatic artificial muscles (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Another easter egg at Fujitsu’s CEATEC booth was a system for transmitting coupons, URLs and other digital information from a TV screen to a user’s smartphone. We’ll back up a bit: the data ends up on-screen in the first place thanks to information embedded in light flashing at various levels of brightness (the frame rate is too quick to be detected by the human eye). Theoretically, when a viewer is watching a commercial, they’ll see a prompt to hold up their phone’s camera to the screen, and doing so will bring up a corresponding coupon or website on their handset. The embedded information covers the entire panel, so users don’t need to point their device at a particular section of the screen.
In Fujitsu’s demo, pointing a smartphone at the TV pulled up a website on the phone. It only took about a second for the URL to pop up on the device, and there was no noticeable flickering on the TV itself (essentially, the picture looks identical to what you’d see on a non-equipped model, since your eye won’t notice the code appearing at such a high frequency). The company says this technology works at a distance of up to two or three meters. Head past the break to take a look at the prototype in action.
Filed under: Misc, Home Entertainment
Fujitsu demos ad transmission technology, sends info from TV to handset via smartphone camera (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 16:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
[CEATEC 2012] We are covering CEATEC, Japan’s largest consumer electronics show, until October 6, and Hubert Nguyen, Ubergizmo’s co-founder, is a judge for the Innovation Awards there. So far, we have seen a number of exciting new technologies from the leading consumer electronics companies exhibiting at the show.
From the Docomo Shabette Robot to the Sharp 6.1-inch / 498 ppi smartphone display or the Toshiba 4K Regza HDTVs and the Toyota Smart INSECT automated vehicle, the list of the latest and greatest innovations coming from Japan is quite impressive. See below a round-up of our CEATEC articles or you can go directly to our CEATEC page.
Toshiba pushes 4K REGZA HDTVs at CEATEC 2012
Murata Electric Walking Assist Car isn’t really a car
Pioneer Augmented Reality Heads Up Display
Totsy MRobo dancing robot is no legend
Fujitsu brings pet care to the cloud
Sharp 6.1-inch IGZO display has 498ppi, WQXGA resolution
KDDI palm authentication app
Sharp 5-inch Igzo Full HD LCD panel
Docomo Shabette Robo keeps you in the know
Docomo helps commuters with one-handed smartphone/tablet use
Docomo works on video-calls for glasses-shaped phones
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Clarion full digital speakers are power savers for your vehicle, Rohm hydrogen fuel cells are perfect for emergencies,
Rohm’s hydrogen fuel cells are meant to power smartphones and other mobile devices, but unlike other juicing-up solutions, the cells are only good for one charge. Rohm says disposable fuel cells can be made smaller and lighter than their multi-use counterparts, and as the only byproduct is hydrogen, the company is touting the cells’ eco-friendliness. The system generates electricity by using hydrogen that’s created by the reaction of a metal material and water. While the device we saw here at CEATEC is a prototype, Rohm may offer its recharging system as both a smartphone case and a USB-attachable juicepack. Each offers 5Wh and can fully charge a handset once. There’s also a 200W power generator, which certainly stretches the meaning of portable but can keep a laptop, LCD TV and a peripheral or two going for three to four hours. Rohm says its fuel cells will see a commercial release some time in 2013; for now you can get a sneak peek in our hands-on gallery below.
Gallery: Rohm Hydrogen Fuel Cells hands-on
Zach Honig contributed to this report.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals
Rohm 5Wh hydrogen fuel cells power up smartphones, ready for the trash after one charge originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
NEC isn’t much known for its Android devices outside of Japan, but having played with the Media Tab UL N-08D at CEATEC we now think that’s something of a shame: it’s one of the best tablets we’ve seen so far. Running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on a 7-inch, 1,280 x 800 LCD display, and clad in a 7.9mm thick, 249g chassis made of metal, plastic, and carbon fiber, it’s fast and feels high-quality in the hand.
Inside, there’s a 1.5GHz dualcore Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor paired with 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a microSDHC card slot to add to that. Connectivity includes LTE, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and microUSB, and there’s GPS and two cameras.
Up front is a 2-megapixel shooter for video calls and vanity shots, while there’s an 8-megapixel camera on the back with autofocus, an LED flash, and 1080p 30fps video recording. The main camera uses Sony’s Exmor R for Mobile technology, with a backside-illuminated CMOS.
It’s how NEC has managed to package together the various components into something so thin and light which really impressed us, though. The Japanese market gets a TV tuner, and there’s a special haptics system with five levels of response to suit different alerts. A 3,100 mAh battery drives the 7-incher for up to 690 minutes of 3G talktime or 900 hours of LTE standby, and the display – although not quite of the resolution of B&N’s NOOK HD – has great viewing angles and impressive brightness levels.
NEC Media Tab UL hands-on:
In short, it’s Apple-levels of polish but resolutely running Android for those who can’t be swayed to iOS, something we’ve been hoping for from Android OEMs for some time now. Unfortunately, NEC shows no sign of offering it outside of Japan, where it’s been available on NTT DoCoMo for a couple of weeks now.
NEC Medias Tab UL hands-on: The best Android tablet you probably can’t buy is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
