Apple Tablet PC to be released this 2010

The much-hyped Apple Tablet PC looks set to be unveiled later today, but how funny would it be if the device did not feature in their announcement. The time of the press event is at 11AM, look below for the time for your country. So let us have a look at what we know so far.

The most recent piece of news that we have is the fact that the biggest announcement from the event could be a Verizon iPhone. We know that the Apple Tablet is big news, but if the iPhone was allowed on the most popular U.S. cell phone carrier, then sales would be huge, much bigger than the iSlate, iPad, iTablet or whatever you wish to call it.

So if and when Apple does release its new tablet device, what do you think the commercial will look like. If past products are anything to go by, we know that it will be slick and polished. However, we wonder if they will do things a bit different this time round?

Yesterday we picked up on the fact that the Apple Tablet could change our reading habits forever. The reason behind this statement is simple; Apple changed the music industry with its iPod and the cell phone market with its iPhone, so why would the tablet be any different?

The biggest news of the week has to be what Steve Jobs was rumored to have said. The Apple CEO said that the iPhone is not as important as the Apple Tablet. We have to wonder what he means by that, but the tablet has to be something very special if Jobs did say this.

Here are the times for the Apple Press Event:

• 08:00AM – Hawaii
• 10:00AM – Pacific
• 11:00AM – Mountain
• 12:00PM – Central
• 01:00PM – Eastern
• 06:00PM – London
• 07:00PM – Paris
• 09:00PM – Moscow
• 03:00AM - Tokyo (January 28th)

Watch Apple MacBook Touch Tablet Concept Video Here:

video courtesy of AuburnSpyder

source: product-reviews

Robots Dancing "Nobody But You" by Wonder Girls

I've just watched a video of Mini Robots in youtube dancing the famous "Nobody But You" by the Korean girl group Wonder Girls. And as i browsed more videos and clicked links, i found out that there were several more robots doing more complex tricks. The minibots look so cute and entertaining. Of course i was able to see the famed Asimo, a humanoid introduced by Honda, whose rapid progression never fails to amaze me. However, I just came to realized how left behind are the technologies of a lot of countries. The Japanese were surely a couple of leaps advanced in technological innovations than most countries.

Pretty amazing, though, it was also a little creepy. Just imagine how many more years to come before the "i-robot" era takes place. The time when human and machines live altogether. Who knows, there may come a point that these robots will no longer be run by remote controls. They might have their own brains or soon develop feelings and emotions. As they evolve, they might even become a treat to humanity. Haha, i guess I'm thinking way too far now. But still, we've already seen it in movies, so we can bet that these things may not really be far from being a reality. ("i-robot" from the movie starred by Will Smith).

Eliica 8 Wheeled Car: Key to Zero Emission?

Could this be the answer to reduce fossil fuel cost and pollution due to gas emissions of vehicles?
"The Eliica (or the Electric Lithium-Ion Car) is a battery electric vehicle prototype, or concept car designed by a team at Keio University in Tokyo, led by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu. The 5.1 metre (16.7 feet) car runs on a lithium-ion battery and can accelerate from 0-100 km/h (60 mph) in four seconds. In 2004, the Eliica reached a speed of 370 km/h (230 mph) on Italy's Nardo High Speed Track.
The Eliica weighs in at 2400 kg (5291 lbs) and seats the driver and three passengers. The body of the four door car has a futuristic, bullet shape design which was tested in a wind tunnel. The front doors open forward and the rear doors open upward like wings. The car's platform contains 4 tracks of 80 batteries, which make for one third of the vehicle's cost. They currently require about 10 hours of recharging from empty to full charge, and can be easily charged off of a residential power grid.
The car has eight wheels enabling it to be closer to the ground for better traction. Each of the wheels has a 60 kW (80 hp) electric motor, giving a 480 kW (640 hp) eight wheel drive which can tackle all kinds of road surfaces. The four front wheels steer. The electric motors mean that the Eliica can deliver a smooth acceleration free from gear shifts of about 0.8 g. Each wheel contains a disc brake and employs a regenerative brake system to recover energy.

Watch the Eliica Car Video Here:

Interest in Dr. Shimizu's efforts apparently has been recently rekindled as the government of Japan recognizes the importance of electric vehicles. The team would like to receive corporate sponsorship to build 200 of the four-passenger vehicles for an estimated price of 30 million Yen or approximately $255,000. This look more like an electric limo in a science fiction film. Will it be worth buying for a four-seated vehicle? what do you think?

source: xyhd.tv

Toyota's Robot Quartet Band

The most talented instrument-playing robots out there just got an upgrade from Toyota's engineers, who also make some pretty good cars.

Toyota's robot quartet consists of Harry (trumpet), Dave (trumpet), Chuck (tuba), and Ritchie (drums). Songs played include: "The Theme of Lupin III", "Moonlight Serenade", "Stompin 'at the Savoy", and "A train to go".Honda's ASIMO may have picked up the baton to conduct an entire orchestra, but Toyota has just outperformed the little guy with its suite of robo-musicians. the part-wheeled, part-bipedal quartet recently performed a concert where they actually played a trumpet, tuba, drums, violin and trombone.

Awesome, but no passion. Just plain machine music. Music with no soul. They get all the notes and the right beat and stuff. It's a little too perfect but it doesn't have the feel or atmosphere of a real band. This video may be entertaining, but I hope that the efforts that go into making these robots aren't just for music, because I don't think that's the kind of thing robots should be doing.

Toyota Robot Violinist

Toyota have unveiled a new robot that can play the violin. Toyota's robot violinist has 17 computer-controlled joints in its arms and fingers, which allow it to hold the violin, gently draw the bow, and correctly press the strings against the fingerboard. In a recital held at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo on December 6, the 152-centimeter (5-ft) tall humanoid entertained guests with a rendition of "Pomp and Circumstance."

The rendition was note perfect, but was described by some as "stilted". "Over the next two to three years, we will put the robots to the test through trial applications and see what kind of business possibilities they present," Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe told The Guardian.

Robotics will become a core business for Toyota by 2020. The company will unveil medical robots next year, and plans more advanced "partner robots" for domestic duties, nursing, healthcare and short-distance personal transport by 2010.

Toyota is a comparative newcomer in the robotics field compared to manufacturers such as Honda. Demand for robots is strong in Japan, particularly in the domestic and medical fields.

Watch the robot in action:

Source: www.v3.co.uk

Touchable Holography? Almost...

A New Projector Lets You Touch 3D Objects

It’s cool enough to have holograms, but what if you could actually touch them? Remember those uber-cool 3D projections in flicks like "Star Wars?" The University of Tokyo has turned this movie fantasy into a reality with its latest holographic projector prototype.

For added realism, it utilizes a pair of Nintendo Wiimotes for hand movement tracking and a technology known as (ready for it...) Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display. This essentially adds tactile feedback to the hovering image via ultrasonic waves (the projected images float about 12 inches away from the display surface). So when that hand that you see in the picture tries to dribble that tiny ball, it responds like a real superball would.

Ultrasounds are then given so the hand can actually “feel” the impact. Experiements have shown that the ultrasounds can disrupt things from a distance, and if focused properly, they can create a sense of touch. At the end of the video is that hand underneath some raindrops, and it can apparently “feel” them.

This is definitely one of those “this could change everything” technologies, but it is still in its fetal stage. In other words, don’t be dreaming about having your own holodeck from Star Trek TNG anytime soon.

Though I'm not that old enough, I have seen some really great ideas go nowhere and some other stuff that seemed silly at the time become important developments. Technology can turn some corners that we didn't even know were there. Who knows, this technology might not amount to much in the area of gaming, but could turn out to have useful applications in areas we can't imagine. In the meantime ... hey, it's cool!

Invisibility Cloak - Myth or Reality?

     From Perseus’s helmet to Harry Potter’s cloak, the idea of an object that can render a person invisible has been a staple of fiction and mythology for eons. But for about the past year, physicists and materials scientists have been publishing papers that reveal real progress in turning science fiction into fact. And given the extraordinary work of these scientists, your children or their children might one day be able to pull off that trick as well. Let us now witness how the invisibility cloak comes within our sight.

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Invisibility Cloak "Bends Light Around Itself"

A cloaking device that makes objects invisible is being developed by researchers, bringing the magic of Harry Potter into the world of science fact.  While Harry uses his cloak of invisibility to move about Hogwarts School unseen, electronic engineers at the University of Pennsylvania are working on a real invisibility shield called a "plasmonic cover."  The development, which works by preventing objects from reflecting and scattering light, could have widespread use in the military as it would be more effective than current stealth technology.  Although no final product has been made, the engineers claim their proposal "does not obviously violate any of the laws of physics."

Other types of invisibility cloaks have been developed before, but these mostly use the "chameleon principle" - colouring objects to match their background, enabling them to blend in and become camouflaged.  One such system involved using light detectors and emitters that project a replica of the image appearing behind an object on to its front surface.  Similarly, researchers in Tokyo are developing a camouflage fabric that uses a comparable principle where the background is projected on to light-reflecting beads in the material.  Such systems are, however, dependent on the viewer from which the object is being concealed being in the right position.

A report in the journal Nature reveals that the new system is far more ambitious, being both self-contained and reducing visibility from all angles.  In this sense it would be more like the shields used by the Romulans in the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" which hid their spaceship at the touch of a button.  Dr John Pendry, a physicist at Imperial College London, said: "The concept is an interesting one.  It could find uses in stealth technology and camouflage."

According to Dr Andrea Alu and Dr Nader Engheta, the engineers behind the project, the key is to reduce light scattering.  Objects are visible because light bounces off them; if this can be prevented and if the objects did not reflect any light, they would become invisible.  The "plasmonic screen" achieves this by resonating in tune with the illuminating light.  Plasmons are created when the electrons on the surface of a metallic material move in rhythm.  The developers claim a shell of this material will reduce light-scatter to the extent that an object will become invisible, if the light’s frequency is close to the resonant frequency of these plasmons.  In this way, the scattering from the shell effectively cancels out the scattering from the object.

Article Source: Flatrock.org.nz

Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) Robot Suit

A Robot Suit to Help the Disabled Walk, Climb, Lift Weights and more... Almost Giving You Ironman-Like Capabilities

Recently, a Japanese company presented a robotic suit, developed to help people who suffer from strike-induce paralysis or those who had spinal cord injuries. Cyberdyne Corporation called its latest invention HAL, which stands for Hybrid Assistive Limb. According to the company the suit was designed to "upgrade the existing physical capabilities of the human body".

The device weights 23 kilograms and includes robotic limbs along with a backpack that features the battery and computer system. Cyberdyne's latest invention is attached to the body and managed by thought. The technology works as follows: whenever an individual tries to make a move, the brain sends nerve signals to the muscles. The robotic suit then identifies these weak signals from the surface of the human skin with the help of a sensor that is attached on the wearer's skin. Then the signal is transmitted to HAL's power unit, signaling the unit to start moving in harmony with the limb of the wearer.

At the moment the latest invention from Cyberdyne can be hired for Y220,000 a month. The company claims that the device has various applications. For example it can help a person to perform every day tasks like walking, climbing up and down stairs and even lifting heavy objects. On a full charge the suit will function for about 5 hours. In addition, the wearer will not feel the heaviness of the suit due to the fact that HAL supports its own weight, Cyberdyne says. It is worth mentioning that a similar exoskeleton was developed by Honda. .

Cyberdyne's founder and CEO, Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai, initially developed the suit for mountain climbing. The company says that its latest invention can function in extremely cold conditions and at a height of 4,000 meters above sea level.

Article source: Infoniac.com

Robot Expresses Facial Emotions

MIT's Nexi Robot Expresses Facial Emotions
MDS robots, closer to us

Nexi is a MDS small humanoid robot, designed by MIT Media Lab's Personal Robotics Group, capable of expressing facial emotions much in the same way as humans do. MDS actually stands for 'Mobile/Dexterous/Social', meaning it can perform a multitude of tasks, by moving around on its dynamically self-balancing wheels, with its fully compatible arms that can grab and lift objects up to 4.5 kilograms in weight.

Nexi was specially designed to mimic human movements at roughly the same speed. The head and face were created by the Xitome Design and MIT. The neck mechanism has four degrees of freedom and its face is able to express emotions through an array of movable features, such as the eyes, mouth, eyebrows and so on.

Two CCD cameras placed inside each eye gives it binocular vision of its surroundings, while an Active 3D infrared camera and microphones located in the forehead allows it to make 3D maps of the environment in which it is placed. Nexi was build on a previous robot design created at the Laboratory of Perceptual Robotics UMASS Amherst, the uBot5 mobile manipulator robot, which also uses a two-wheel dynamically balanced system to move around.
Nexi's facial expressions

Nexi is powered by lithium-ion batteries and controlled by an onboard personal computer working on a Linux operating system.

According to its designers, "the purpose of this platform is to support research and education goals in a human-robot interaction, teaming, and social learning." Robots like Nexi could one day work alongside with people in their homes. However, before becoming commercially available, Nexi will be used for research into human-robot interactions.

MIT Media Lab's website also reveal that, aside Nexi, three other small humanoid robots were developed, each of them with a fair amount of mobility, dexterity and human-centric communication and interaction abiliies.

Article Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/MIT-039-s-Nexi-Robot-Expresses-Facial-Emotions-82930.shtml

Gadget that Translates Dog's Language

Want to understand what your dog is barking? For the first time presented in 2002, the Bowlingual comes back, the gadget examines a dog's bark and then identifies its emotion. The latest invention was developed by toymaker Takara Tomy, which looks forward to present the toy in August. Currently the gadget is expected to be sold only in Japan.

It is worth mentioning that Takara Tomy's latest invention was initially developed by an audio researcher and a veterinarian. The goal was to study and then convey the sound of a dog's bark. The company claims that its new device is able to identify and interpret six basic emotions.

The first version featured a microphone that had to be worn around a dog's neck. There was also a handheld unit that read the information sent from the microphone. The unit then identified the dog's emotion and showed the corresponding information on its screen. The current invention includes a more compact unit that incorporates a speech synthesizer that audibly informs you about the things your pet attempts to communicate. The unit also shows the information on the screen. You can find more curious and interesting latest inventions here at www.infoniac.com; please consider checking the links at the bottom of the story.

If the user wants to analyze the information later, they can save it. This latest invention also features an answering machine function, which allows the user to track the dog's feelings when the owner is away. It is worth mentioning that in 2002, when the invention was introduced, the Time Magazine marked it as a "Best Invention of 2002." Takara Tomy even gave several Bowlinguals to Vladimir Putin for his dogs.

Up till now there has been no information about the release date of new Bowlingual in the United States. When it hit the stores in Japan, the gadget will cost about $220.

 Article Source: http://www.infoniac.com/hi-tech/infoniac-presents-top-10-latest-inventions-of-july-2009.html

New Birthplace of Robots

Japan - The New Birthplace of Robots
By Andrew Newell

From Toys to Tech, Why Japan is a Robot's Number One
Japan is the country that gave the world giant robots, small robots and human sized robots. From the fictional Mobile Suit Gundam to the small tea-making robot maid, Japan's robotics technology has been pushing the limits of our minds and imagination. Just this July 2009, Japan has unveiled a giant life sized model of the fictional robot RX-78-2 Gundam at Tokyo's Odaiba park. This structure is not a robot, but is a model of one. This is a testament to the nation's dedication and fondness for the field of robotics.

In recent years, automobile manufacturers Honda and Toyota have been in research and developing humanoid robots. Asimo, Honda's robot, is more popularly known and has become the icon of robotics in this day and age. Asimo is able to carry items, walk, sprint a little and jump all while staying on its two feet. It is also equipped with sensors for detecting and identifying people, and has excellent control of its hands, allowing it to hold both fragile and heavy objects.

Day to Day Japanese Robots
Robots are not limited in shape and form to be similar to humans; many robots in use today are found in industrial factories, performing tasks inappropriate for humans such as doing precision laser welding, carrying heavy loads and even really boring tasks like moving a box from one platform to another.

Recently the utilization of these robotic arms and limbs has been moved outside the factory and into more unconventional locations. One such example is a noodle shop in Japan where the ramen is made by robots. Of course, taking orders and accepting payments are done by humans, the broth or ramen stock is also prepared by humans. The robot limbs ensure the ramen is cooked consistently and accurately, garnishes and toppings are accurately measured and added into the broth. They also prepare the ramen fast, in less than two minutes.

There are also robots being used to make coffee. The mini coffee-making robot maid is a small humanoid robot that stands a little below five inches. She has legs for movement and arms for grabbing objects. When all utensils and ingredients for making coffee are positioned in exact locations, the robot maid will scoop up the proper measurement of coffee, sugar and cream, pour hot water and stir the brew properly.
Of course, this only works if every single item it located at the proper area since the robot cannot easily detect items. Should this technology be perfected, we would eventually be able to enjoy the service of fully automated robot helpers.

Robots in Today's Japan
Japan also has claim on many robot firsts. They have made a robot that has modeled on the catwalk. They also created a robot teacher who could teach class and recognize students. From tour guides, to receptionists, Japan is slowly creating robots that would perform many service oriented tasks. While robot may gain more and more usage, their presence is not meant to substitute that of humans. Robots are being developed to do our jobs so that we can spend more time focusing on living our lives.

Ruhfus are a leading supplier of Hydraulic Cylinders for the deep hole boring industry. Ruhfus prefer to use Emics for their on-site calibration services.

Article Source: Ezine articles

Cute Japanese Robots Dancing

Here is another bunch of cute dancing robots made by the Japanese. The programming was really impressive. We've really come a long way to this verym moment and time of robotics. But beware of the "I-Robot" scenario. Or we will all be in big trouble just like "The Terminator".