(Credit:
Flower Robotics)
Japanese design firm Flower Robotics has unveiled a new concept robot cell phone that moves around on two wheels and learns from user behavior.
Flower teamed up with telecom KDDI and its Iida line of products to create the device, dubbed Polaris. In the Japanese video below it looks like a cousin of the Sony Rolly MP3 player, but Polaris is more than just a pair of wheels and electronics.
Polaris consists of a robot sphere and the phone itself. The sphere can autonomously dock with its charging unit. The phone gathers information about user behavior and sends it to the sphere, which displays the information on a TV screen. The phone can also serve as a TV remote control.
Flower Robotics says the device can collect data and pool it in a "Life Log." It gathers info such as kilometers walked daily, online transactions, and e-mails sent and received. It then starts to predict user behavior and display relevant "advice and other information" on a user's TV.
The company, which is headed by designer and architect Tatsuya Matsui, isn't too clear on what such advice would consist of. Presumably nuggets like, "You really shouldn't kick me. Don't kick me, OK?"
"Polaris 'grows on you' not only because of its physical charm but also because of the way its daily data collection causes it to develop its own personality, creating unique movements, sounds and light patterns," the firm says.
The lithium ion battery-powered sphere has infrared, image, and obstacle sensors, with a motion range of about 10 yards. At 6.6 pounds and 5 inches across, it's designed to fit right next to a TV.
Flower hopes to commercialize Polaris sometime next year, but there's no word on a possible price.
(Via Pink Tentacle)
Japanese mobile carrier KDDI is showcasing a neat way for providing ordinary cell phones with Wi-Fi.
The trick is to integrate Wi-Fi technology on MicroSD cards, used for storage in most modern mobile phones.
At Wireless Japan 2009, now under way in Tokyo, KDDI is exhibiting two different cards manufactured by Mitsumi Electric and Renesas Technology, Japanese Web site Techon reports.
Both have a wireless LAN IC compliant with IEEE802.11b/g, a transceiving antenna, and passive components. There's no information on release date, compatibility, or battery consumption, which could be an issue, but if the product comes to market it could prove handy.
As opposed to smartphones, traditional cell phones often lack Wi-Fi for a fast Internet connection.
(Credit:
KDDI)
Sunbathers in Japan will have another beach- or pool-friendly keitai (phone) to carry around this summer. Simply known as the Solar Phone SH002, a 10-minute exposure to direct sunlight will yield one minute of talktime or two hours of standby.
Of course, the mileage you get is dependent on factors like the intensity of solar radiation and cloud cover. But you should be able to juice up the battery to 80 percent of its capacity if left outdoors long enough. There's even a Flash animation app that tells you how fast your phone is charging with a growing number of animals onscreen as the radiation gets more intense.
The SH002--available only from KDDI in Japan starting May 29--is waterproof as well. In other words, you won't have to worry if the handset takes an accidental dive. Also interesting are the sports-related applications. You can configure a health and fitness program tailored to your lifestyle, learn to play golf on 2,300 preset courses, and check the number of calories you've burned. Too bad this doesn't measure the UVs you're soaking up even as it's charging up.
(Source: Crave Asia via Akihabara News)
Motorola says that the new set-top box it is developing for Japanese carrier KDDI will not use Google's Android operating system.
Last week, CNET News referenced a report from the Web site Android Guys that said Motorola is building a TV set-top box for Japanese telephone and broadband service provider KDDI.
The Web site reported that Masataka Miura, chairman of Open Embedded Software Foundation (OESF), had said Motorola was making the Android powered set-top box for KDDI. The OESF is a group that consists of several Japanese companies that plan to use Android in embedded devices. ARM, KDDI, Japan Cable Laboratories, Alpine Electronics, and Fujitsu Software technologies are among the group's members.
But Motorola says the device that it will deliver to KDDI, called the "au BOX," is not based on Android. Motorola said that the box uses an operating system developed by Motorola called KreaTV. This platform is based on the open operating system Linux . The company said there are no plans to produce an Android-based version.
The "au Box" will allow users to take their music and video content with them on the go. The box lets users play or rip a CD and either store the music or transfer it to a mobile handset or portable media player via a USB cable, Android Guys reported. The music files can then be played by the device through the integrated stereo speakers.
The set-top box also allows users to upload video to the device and then transfer it to a mobile device. And the device also plays DVDs.
Motorola said its KreaTV open software platform for set-top devices is designed to enable operator customers to easily add new functionality and services.
10047551Android is also an open-source operating system, which is also built on Linux. It was originally designed by Google for mobile phones. But there has increasingly been more talk of the software being used in other devices like Netbooks, as well as on set-top boxes, TVs, voice over IP phones, digital picture frames, and even karaoke machines.
Editors' note: The original story incorrectly stated that Motorola is planning to build an Android set-top box for KDDI in Japan, based on reports from the Web site Android Guys. To avoid confusion, the story has been removed. Please click here to see the appropriate information regarding Motorola's set-top box.
Sony's prototype 0.3-millimeter OLED display.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)CHIBA, Japan--Sony has an entire wall of its 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TVs set up here at Ceatec 2008, but in contrast with past gadget shows, it's not the only company showing off OLED prototypes.
Panasonic may have said earlier this week that OLED is still far from becoming a mass-produced mainstream technology for use in big-screen TVs, but other electronics makers are plowing ahead with their own research on the organic, thin film technology: NEC, Sony, and KDDI showed off what they've been doing with OLED in their research labs.
Sony, of course, continues to press ahead its OLED research and development, showing a flexible OLED display as thin as a playing card, as well an OLED TV that's even thinner than its current XEL-1. The prototype measures just 0.3 millimeter thick.
KDDI is going in a slightly different direction, looking to take OLED smaller and mobile. The mobile phone company showed an OLED display measuring 3.1 inches and meant for mobile devices. It's just a prototype for now.
Another theme here at Ceatec is 3D displays. Sure, Panasonic is showing its 3D high-definition home theater using a giant TV, but you still need 3D glasses to get the stereoscopic effect. NEC is showing a 9-inch LCD display a 3D image without the need for those silly plastic frames. KDDI also had its own 3D LCD display measuring 3.1 inches and for use by mobile devices. Also no need for 3D glasses.
Of course, while these are really cool concepts, they're still in the thick of development and it will be years before we see mass production of any of them.
Click here for more stories on Ceatec 2008.
KDDI prototype 3.1-inch OLED for mobile devices.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)
NEC's 3D LCD display. No plastic glasses required.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)
CHIBA, Japan--If the concepts on display at Ceatec are any indication, completely deconstructing the traditional form factor of the mobile phone is one of the next major phases of design and development research.
Fujitsu concept phone
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)Japan has one of the most robust mobile phone cultures anywhere, and it shows here on the second day of the show. Sharp, Fujitsu, NTT DoCoMo, and KDDI each had intriguing takes on the next form factor for devices used not just for mobile communication, but watching videos, playing games, and performing mobile navigation.
Take the necklace on the right. It alerts the wearer when there's a call or a message incoming. It's made by Fujitsu and, while it isn't an actual product, is indicative of how cell phones are thought of here: not just communication devices, but accessories made to fit neatly and inconspicuously into the daily routine.
Then there were a host of phones whose screens and keyboards pull apart to be used separately. The Fujitsu version shown below uses magnets to connect the two pieces in the desired configuration. NTT DoCoMo was demonstrating a similar concept.
But as far as futuristic, elegant design goes, KDDI was far and away the winner. The wireless company showed off beautiful designs, which are nowhere close to being reality, but show the aspirations it has for the cell phone. The Ply was part of its yearly Design Project. (Here's a picture of last year's version.)
Designed by Hideo Kambara, the Ply imagines the phone as a device with a series of layers. One layer is a pop-up projector, another is a slide-out keyboard, and another is a printer, a game controller, and so on. The ones on display here and shown further down the page are just papercraft renderings.
The Fujitsu phone can be configured in any way and stuck together magnetically.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)... Read more
(Credit:
Crave Asia)
Toshiba and KDDI, the second-largest mobile operator in Japan, have teamed up to squeeze a calorie counter and pedometer into a mobile phone.
The result? An unusual-looking mobile phone called the Sportia. Not only does this mobile looks "fat," its weird-looking buttons are almost too small to use. Furthermore, the directional buttons are placed on the left side of the phone instead of the usual top central position. The overall design is simple and unattractive, not what one would expect of normally fashion-conscious Japanese phones.
According to Softpedia, the Sportia will be available in mid-June, but only in Japan. The price is yet to be known.
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
KDDI)
Johnny Carson lived by a golden rule of standup comedy: Quit while you're ahead. The longer you try to milk a routine, he'd say, the better the chances that you'll bomb.
If only companies would take that advice. Case in point: Like others, we thought Au's candy-colored "Infobar" phones looked good enough to eat--and that's where it should have stopped. Instead, according to OhGizmo, it's been paired with a retro-looking line of Nikes in coordinated hues.
We realize that Nike has a thing about incorporating technology into its wares--shoes in particular--but a set of matching phones and sneakers? This is one time that we're happy to see a new product sold only in Japan.
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