Ever Green – SD card adapter – Turns you camera into a Wi-Fi compliant camera

Ever Green - SD card adapter - Turns you camera into a Wi-Fi  compliant camera

Shanghai Donya, Evergreen’s online store, just released a SD card adapter that turns you camera into a Wi-Fi compliant camera.

It’s a Wi-Fi adapter shaped like a SD card. Slip a microSD card (sold separately) into the SD card adapter first, and then insert it to your camera. Now you can take pictures and those pictures you take will be saved in the microSD card.

When you want to transfer the pictures to the PC or smartphone, you can do it by accessing an access point called “Cloud Flash” and connecting the SD card adapter and the PC or smartphone.

Price: 3,999 yen
Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g/n ( simultaneous connections: max. 5 devices)
Compliant card: microSD card 4GB – 32GB
Compatible with: Windows XP SP3/Vista/7/8, iOS 5.1 or later, Android 2.2 or later
Weight: 3g
Size: 32 x 24 x 2mm

Dentsu – ASOBERU-T – New T-shirt technology – Hold up a smartphone over the T-shirt, then characters and other designs will pop up on the screen from nowhere

Dentsu - ASOBERU-T - New T-shirt technology - Hold up a smartphone over the T-shirt, then characters and other designs will pop up on the screen from nowhere

Dentsu, a Japanese advertising company, announced that they have developed a new T-shirt technology called “ASOBERU-T”.

They developed the unique and fun T-shirt technology that gives you 3 different ways to enjoy the T-shirt: Play, Shot and Share.

To start playing with the T-shirt, you need to install the dedicated free application on your smartphone.

Play:
Hold your smartphone over the T-shirt, then you will see characters and other designs pop-up on the screen from nowhere. You can play with those characters and designs.

Shot:
Pose with the characters and take some good photos with them.

Share:
Post those photos on the SNS sites.

As part of its first stage, BEAMS, which is a popular Japanese clothing brand, is going to release 5 kinds of “ASOBERU-T” T-shirts in collaboration with Gindama (anime) and The Wonderful! design works (design company) on July 6.

COWON Japan – High Quality Sound & Slim Fit “iAUDIO 9+” – Slim MP3 player that focuses on the sound quality

COWON Japan - High Quality Sound & Slim Fit "iAUDIO 9+" - Slim MP3 player that focuses on the sound quality

COWON Japan is going to release a MP3 player “iAUDIO 9+” on July 12. The compact body, that is 8.9mm think and weights 40g, has 2 inch LCD screen built-in.

Since it is equipped with the high-quality sound effect “JetEffect 5″, you are able to adjust tones out of 48 different presets, various sound effects (EQ, BBE, Mach3Bass, 3D Surround, MP Enhance, and Stereo Enhance) and 9 types of Reverb Mode (Chamber, Room, Club, Hall, Auditorium, Cathedral, Stadium, Canyon, and Long).

i9+-8G-WH (8GB model)
Color: White
Price: ¥11,800

i9+-16G-BK (16G model)
Color: Black
Price: ¥13,800

i9+-32G-BK (32GB model)
Color: Black
Price: ¥16,800

Size: 43 x 8.9 x 85 mm
Weight: 40 g

Thanko – Moshi Moshi Watch – Answer an incoming call on your smartphone with the wristwatch – Act like a spy agent in spy movies!

Thanko - Moshi Moshi Watch - Answer an incoming call on your smartphone with the wristwatch - Act like a spy agent in spy movies!

“Moshi Moshi Watch”, just released by Thanko, could be very interesting product for people who like spy movies and have ever wished you were a spy.

“Moshi Moshi Watch” is a wristwatch. But it’s not just a regular wristwatch. It enables you to answer an incoming call on your bluetooth compliant smartphone with “Moshi Moshi Watch”. It vibrates to let you know somebody is calling your smarphone and you can answer the call on the wristwatch and talk. You can even make a phone call with the wristwatch.

Price: ¥7,980
Size: 46 x 51 x 13 mm
Weight: 26 g
Battery charge: By USB

Sharp – AQUOS PHONE es WX04SH – PHS and 3G compliant compact smartphone for Wilcom

Sharp - AQUOS PHONE es WX04SH - PHS and 3G compliant compact smartphone for Wilcom

Sharp is going to release a AQUOS smartphone “AQUOS PHONE es WX04SH” for Wilcom in mid September.

The compact body that is only 60mm wide has a 4inch LCD screen. 1.5GHz dual core CPU and 2,080mAh battery are built-in. It offers convenient features such as Wi-Fi, a waterproof body, One-seg, infrared data communication, and mobile wallet function.

As it’s compatible with PHS and 3G, you are able to talk on the phone through 3G line even when there is no service for PHS. It has PHS tethering function as well.

NTT docomo – Xperia feat. HATSUNE MIKU SO-04E – Xperia A smartphone collaborated with Hatsune Miku – Only 39,000 smartphones will be available

NTT docomo - Xperia feat. HATSUNE MIKU SO-04E - Xperia A smartphone collaborated with Hatsune Miku - Only 39,000 smartphones will be available

NTT docomo revealed that they are going to release the Xperia A smartphone collaborated with Hatsune Miku in late September in a limited quantity, which is called “Xperia feat. HATSUNE MIKU SO-04E”

“Xperia feat. HATSUNE MIKU SO-04E ” is created based on Sony’s “Xperia A” that we saw at the NTT docomo’s 2013 summer new product press conference. The design of “Xperia feat. HATSUNE MIKU SO-04E ” is the perfect combination of the slick design of Xperia A and the illustration and color of Hatsune Miku.

NTT docomo will accept the orders from late August through early September. In case the number of the advanced orders exceeds 39,000, people who can buy it will be selected by lottery.

Mister Donut Thailand – Sushi-shaped colorful doughnuts “Sushido Delight” – Does it stimulate your appetite?

Mister Donut Thailand - Sushi-shaped colorful doughnuts "Sushido Delight" - Does it stimulate your appetite?

Mister Donut, a popular doughnut chain in Japan, started selling “Sushido Delight” in its stores in Thailand. It’s a set of 10 different flavored doughnuts that each look surprisingly like different kinds of sushi.

For the fillings and toppings for those doughnuts, plenty of tropical fruits such as lychees, coconuts, and passion fruits are used, and that sounds really good. However, I am not sure if they look very appetizing to me since they look like sushi…

Pentax – PENTAX K-01 Lens Kit White x Blue – Special color model will be added to PENTAX K-01 series designed by a internationally famous industrial designer Marc Newson

Pentax - PENTAX K-01 Lens Kit White x Blue - Special color model will be added to PENTAX K-01 series designed by a internationally famous industrial designer Marc Newson

Pentax is going to release “PENTAX K-01 Lens Kit White x Blue” on July 25, which is a special color model of their digital single-lens reflex camera “PENTAX K-01″ designed by a world-famous industrial designer Marc Newson.

For “PENTAX K-01 Lens Kit White x Blue”, he also designed the color and the accompanying thin fixed focal length lens “smc PENTAX-DA 40mmF2.8 XS”.

The regular models of “PENTAX K-01″ have been already discontinued in Japan.

PENTAX K-01

Size: 121 x 79 x 59 mm
Weight: 480 g
Image sensor: 23.7mm×15.7mm size CMOS (1.649 million pixels)
Effective pixels: 1.628 million pixels
Monitor: 3.0inch TFT color LCD (0.921 million dots)

smc PENTAX-DA 40mmF2.8 XS

Focal length: 40mm (Equivalent to 61mm in 35mm format)
Min Aperture: f22
Max Aperture: f2.8
Size: 62.9 x 9.2 mm
Weight: 52 g

Japanese Robots: Kids’ Summer School for Robotics & Engineering

Japanese Robots: Kids' Summer School for Robotics & Engineering

A dedicated organization with a few dedicated staff is bringing robotics and engineering education to a part of Japan that’s about as rural as the hyper-densely populated country gets. The NPO Hito Project’s robotics courses are prepping kids for the robotics revolution!

• • •

Rural Japan & Robotics
Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, is the geologically active, ruggedly mountainous home to about 10% of Japan’s total population. With about 1.6 million residents, mid-western Kumamoto City is the island’s second-largest metropolitan area, but by Japanese standards it is considered quite small, even quaint; clean water, friendly people, but mostly countryside. If you’re familiar with the United States, think Oregon or Washington, i.e., one or two big cities in the northwest, then lots and lots of small towns elsewhere.

Per capita, Japan as a whole is the most active and prodigious hub of robotics research, development, production, and usage on the planet – by far. The bulk of that, however, is centered in and around the seething metropolises of Tokyo and Osaka, so although even somewhat rural Kumamoto City does have a considerable tech-industry presence (Honda, OMRON, Tokyo Electron, etc.), it’s not exactly a hotbed of robotics activity.

But roboticists, engineers, and their creations don’t have to come from the big cities up north, and an enthusiastic non-profit organization is laying the groundwork to prove as much.

NPO Hito Project’s Robot Summer School
Some here argue that an unforeseen byproduct of Japan’s long-running economic success, fueled in no small part by robotic manufacturing and industrial automation, has been the atrophy of practical, everyday physical problem solving skills. In a strange irony, the machines that helped propel Japan to an economic powerhouse have obviated the need for mechanical know-how among the nation’s youth. The NPO Hito Project wants to plug this gap and make sure that Japanese kids are not just playing with robot toys, but building them – and taking the practical know-how and basic principles into higher levels of education and eventually the workforce.

Robot Summer School (“robotto suh-muhh skuu-ru,” for those who appreciate Japanese pronunciation!) is currently held in three municipalities in the Kumamoto metro area. According to the Hito Project’s program coordinator Mr. Maehara, on Saturday, June 1st, 24 students aged 9-12 began a 4-hour robotics, engineering, and programming session in coastal Uto City. Another 4-hour class was held the following Saturday. Next were the Kumamoto City classes, this time with 39 students aged 9-15. Again, 8 hours spread across two consecutive Saturdays. Last weekend saw the first class for 16 students aged 9-15 in quite rural Kōshi City. With the completion of Kōshi City’s second class, the Robot Summer School will wrap up this Saturday.

In conducting the standard theory-to-programming-to-hardware courses, the Hito Project provides various iterations of the tried, tested, and well-liked and reviewed Lego MINDSTORMS robotics kits to each team of 2-3 students. And really, any kid who ends up at Robot Summer School is going to be hip to Legos. The only real problem with Legos is when you’re building something awesome and you run out of Legos.

This year marks the 5th anniversary of Robot Summer School, its widest reach, and the highest enrollment yet. Most grade schools and junior high schools, even here in robo-friendly Japan, don’t going to have the time, resources, expertise – and frankly, the vision – to teach these subjects. But in just one month, the Hito Project will have provided nearly 80 young minds 8 intensive hours of hands-on robotics, engineering, and programming training (jump over here for some great photos of the kids at work).

Oh, and one more thing: it’s free.

Governmental organizations chip in, sponsors donate classroom space and funds for robotics kits, high school students participate and help out, and college students contribute their time as instructors and mentors. The model is really quite simple, and highly exportable. Take motivated and qualified teachers, a small investment in equipment, a little bit of marketing, and POW! The fundamentals of robotics, engineering, and programming – delivered to the brains of the youth.

Or the brains of 30- and 40-somethings. Because come on, who doesn’t want to learn how to build Lego robots?!

Skills for the Revolution
What will these kids do with the knowledge they’ve gained at the Hito Project’s Robot Summer School here in rural southern Japan? Who knows – perhaps they’ll design robotic farming equipment (southern Japan needs it – 50% of farmers are over 60 years old).

Realistically, most of the Robot Summer School students won’t end up in robotics-specific careers, but they will have gained not only a basic knowledge of robotics systems at the physical and software levels, but also invaluable problem-solving logic and mechanical aptitude. Who among us, at any age, couldn’t use more of that?

The global resurgence of all things robotic has been likened to the rise of the personal computer or even the DotCom Revolution, but this time, we’re really paying attention – we see it coming, and we’re getting ready.

The Hito Project is all-in, and they’re taking action. How’s your community doing?

• • •

Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com and a contributor at the non-profit Robohub.org.

Info & Images: Hito Project (Japanese/日本語); Lego MINDSTORMS

 

Japanese Robots: Kids’ Summer School for Robotics & Engineering in Rural Japan

Japanese Robots: Kids' Summer School for Robotics & Engineering

A dedicated organization with a few dedicated staff is bringing robotics and engineering education to a part of Japan that’s about as rural as the hyper-densely populated country gets. The NPO Hito Project’s robotics courses are prepping kids for the robotics revolution!

• • •

Rural Japan & Robotics
Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, is the geologically active, ruggedly mountainous home to about 10% of the total population. With about 1.6 million residents, mid-western Kumamoto City is the island’s second-largest metropolitan area, but by Japanese standards it is considered quite small, even quaint; clean water, friendly people, but mostly countryside. If you’re familiar with the United States, think Oregon or Washington, i.e., one or two big cities in the northwest, then lots and lots of small towns elsewhere.

Per capita, Japan as a whole is the most active and prodigious hub of robotics research, development, production, and usage on the planet – by far. The bulk of that, however, is centered in and around the seething metropolises of Tokyo and Osaka, so although even somewhat rural Kumamoto City does have a considerable tech-industry presence (Honda, OMRON, Tokyo Electron, etc.), it’s not exactly a hotbed of robotics activity.

But roboticists, engineers, and their creations don’t have to come from the big cities up north, and an enthusiastic non-profit organization is laying the groundwork to prove as much.

NPO Hito Project’s Robot Summer School
Some here argue that an unforeseen byproduct of Japan’s long-running economic success, fueled in no small part by robotic manufacturing and industrial automation, has been the atrophy of practical, everyday physical problem solving skills. In a strange irony, the machines that helped propel Japan into a modern economic powerhouse, it’s argued, have obviated the need for mechanical know-how among the nation’s youth. The NPO Hito Project wants to plug this gap and make sure that Japanese kids are not just playing with robot toys, but building them – and taking a practical understanding of the basic principles of robotics engineering into higher levels of education and eventually the workforce.

Robot Summer School (“robotto suh-muhh skuu-ru,” for those who appreciate Japanese pronunciation!) is currently held in three municipalities in the Kumamoto metro area. According to the Hito Project’s program coordinator, Mr. Maehara, on Saturday, June 1st, 24 students aged 9-12 began a 4-hour robotics, engineering, and programming session in coastal Uto City. Another 4-hour class was held the following Saturday. Next were the Kumamoto City classes, this time with 39 students aged 9-15. Again, 8 hours spread across two consecutive Saturdays. Last weekend saw the first class for 16 students aged 9-15 in very rural Kōshi City. Then, with the completion of Kōshi City’s second class this Saturday, the Robot Summer School is a wrap.

In conducting the standard theory-to-programming-to-hardware courses, the Hito Project provides each team of 2-3 students one of the tried, tested, and well-liked & reviewed Lego MINDSTORMS robotics kits. It’s an excellent strategy, really. Any kid who ends up at Robot Summer School is going to be hip to Legos, and the only real problem with Legos is when you’re building something awesome and you run out of Legos.

This year marks the 5th anniversary of Robot Summer School, its widest reach, and the highest enrollment yet – and it fills a definite need. Most grade schools and junior high schools, even here in robo-friendly Japan, don’t have the time, resources, expertise – and frankly, the vision – to teach these subjects. But in just one month, the Hito Project will have provided nearly 80 young minds 8 intensive hours of hands-on robotics, engineering, and programming training (jump to the Facebook page for some great photos of the kids at work).

Oh, and one more thing: it’s free.

Governmental organizations chip in, sponsors donate classroom space and funds for robotics kits, high school students participate and help out, and college students contribute their time as instructors and mentors. The model is really quite simple, and highly exportable. Take motivated and qualified teachers, a small investment in equipment, a little bit of marketing, and POW! The fundamentals of robotics, engineering, and programming – delivered to the brains of the youth.

Or the brains of 30- and 40-somethings. Because come on, who doesn’t want to learn how to build Lego robots?!

Skills for the Revolution
What will these kids do with the knowledge they’ve gained at the Hito Project’s Robot Summer School here in rural southern Japan? Who knows – perhaps they’ll design robotic farming equipment (southern Japan needs it – 50% of farmers are over 60 years old).

Realistically, most of the kids probably won’t end up in robotics-specific careers, but they will have gained not only a basic knowledge of robotics systems at the physical and software levels, but also invaluable problem-solving logic and an enhanced mechanical aptitude. Who among us, at any age, couldn’t use more of that?

The global resurgence of all things robotic has been likened to the rise of the personal computer or even the DotCom Revolution, but this time, we’re really paying attention – we see it coming, and we’re getting ready.

The Hito Project is all-in, and they’re taking action. How’s your community doing?

• • •

Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com and a contributor at the non-profit Robohub.org.

Info & Images: Hito Project (Japanese/日本語)
Hito Project Facebook Page