Hasta La Gadget!

NTT DoCoMo’s R&D labs are amongst the busiest in the world, and here at CEATEC the company is showing off a development that it has had in the oven for quite some time. The difference now? Elegance. The eye-controlled music interface that we first spotted in mid-2008 is being showcased yet again here at the Makuhari Messe, but instead of having a short straw-drawing employee stand around with an absurd amount of headgear on, this year’s demonstrator was equipped with little more than a special set of earbuds, a few cables and a swank polo. Put simply, the contraption watched subtle changes in eye movements and altered the music accordingly. A look to the right moved the track forward, while a glance to the left went back a track. The demo seemed buttery smooth, but there’s still no telling when this stuff will go commercial. Still, progress is progress, and there’s a video after the break showing as much.

Continue reading NTT DoCoMo’s eye-controlled music interface evolves at CEATEC

Filed under: Portable Audio

NTT DoCoMo’s eye-controlled music interface evolves at CEATEC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s a day before CEATEC officially kicks off, but Toshiba‘s getting a head start on the news, dishing out all the deets on its Cell-powered Cell Regza LCD TV, now officially due out in Japan in early December. The 55-inch, 240Hz display boasts a mighty impressive 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, self-congruency technology for improved picture detail on the edges, a peak luminance of 1250cd/m², and LED backlits dividing the screen into 512 distinct areas. A 7-speaker sound bar lies just below the display. Want more? How about eight-window simultaneous multi-display, an Opera-based web browser, DLNA, and a 3TB hard disk drive, 2TB for “time-shift” recording recording up to 26 hours of programs, up to eight channels simultaneously. There’s a sizable box on display, too, which seems to be where the Cell hardware is being housed. Curious about price? If we heard correctly, the retail price is expected to be around 1,000,000 yen, or around US $11,140. We just heard their sales target is leaning on the conservative side, about 1,000 units pushed each month.

If that’s not forward-thinking enough, Toshi’s also outlining its future concepts, dubbed Cell Regza Next. Those four include a 3D set, a 4K2K version that upcoverts 1080p to 3840 x 2160 resolution, a 46-inch model integrating its Cell Box dedicated TV tuner and HDD, and a 37-inch that works as a home network server. It looks like we’ll be getting some hands-on time with the 55X1 shortly, but in the meantime, one more pic and video after the break.

Continue reading Toshiba details Cell Regza LCD TV, coming December to Japan (update: video!)

Filed under: Displays

Toshiba details Cell Regza LCD TV, coming December to Japan (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last we saw Nissan’s crash-avoiding BR23C robot “car,” it was rolling along all by its lonesone, taking cues from the humble bumblebee in order to survive in the wilds of CEATEC Japan. Well, it’s almost time for CEATEC yet again, and it looks like Nissan has seen fit to give our robot buddy a new bag of tricks, and a proper name: Eporo. Perhaps the biggest news, however, is that it now models itself on fish, which not only gives it greater peripheral vision (courtesy of a pair of laser range finders) to avoid obstacles, but lets it travel in packs similar to a school of fish. The idea there being that these could one day carry passengers and stick close together to reduce congestion on city streets and, in turn, cut down on the number of accidents.

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

Nissan’s crash-avoiding robot ‘car’ gets upgrade, fresh new outlook on life originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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True, Panasonic’s 103-inch 3D television is more desirable, but Panny’s new 50-incher will be more affordable when it comes time to buy your first 3D set. The 1080p TV requires viewers to wear special specs, naturally, in this case, Panasonic’s active “shutter” glasses. As the name implies, the lenses switch in sync with the TV so that the right image is seen by the right eye and the left image is seen by the left eye. All that quick image swapping requires new PDP materials and chips to maintain screen brightness. The new prototype will be on display at Ceatec show in Tokyo next week with plans for commercialization in 2010. You know, assuming anyone wants it.

Filed under: Displays

Panasonic’s 50-inch 3D plasma announced, seeks fine family home originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re still not entirely sold on the intersection of gadgets and wood. Nevertheless, companies keep pumping out the concepts in response to our greener times. Here’s NTT DOCOMO’s effort using surplus wood leftover from Pacific culling operations. The Touch Wood prototype was developed in tandem with Sharp and Olympus and is based on the SH-04A slider. A Touch Wood mockup (pictured above) resembling a more feminine bean was also announced. In either case, the Touch Wood body is made of cypress without adding any artificial coloring or paint. And by using Olympus’ 3D compression molding technique, they’ve manage to maintain the kind of durability, and resistance to water, insects, and mildew that you’d expect from, well, a tree. With any luck, these handsets will be on exhibit in October at the ITU Telecom World and CEATEC Japan shows… touch wood. SH-04A prototype pictured after the break.

[Thanks, Stop Spamming]

Continue reading NTT DOCOMO’s Touch Wood mockups make naughty puns easy

Filed under: Cellphones

NTT DOCOMO’s Touch Wood mockups make naughty puns easy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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