« March 2005 | Main | May 2005 »
April 28, 2005
Arttu Harkki Sets Texting World Record
Former World Text Champion Arttu Harkki used a Treo 650 smartphone to type the fastest-ever email on the move using a QWERTY keyboardn - using a single thumb.
Harkki's mighty uni-thumb went supernova as he bashed out the following message:
"The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell (UK), who filed his patent for the telephone on 14 February 1876 at the New York Patent Office, USA. The first intelligible call occurred in March 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts, when Bell phoned his assistant in a nearby room and said 'Come here Watson, I want you.'"
After several attempts, Le Roux announced that Harkki had managed to complete the message in just 2 minutes 22.9 seconds. Huzzah! A new world record!
From: Mike Slocombe, "Treo 650 Sets Speed-Typing Guinness World Record," Digital Lifestyles, 27 April 05.
http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=platforms&id=2152
Posted by sjc at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2005
Hitachi's Fast Robots
Pal and Chum look a little bit like stocky children, chatting with spectators and racing around the room on their Segway-like wheels. For Hitachi Ltd., Japan's biggest electronics conglomerate, they are the next generation of humanoid robots.
Hitachi unveiled the "Emiew," its first humanoid robot, on Tuesday, saying it was the world's fastest-moving robot yet.
"We aimed to create a robot that could live and coexist with people," said Toshihiko Horiuchi, project leader at Hitachi's Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory Robotics Technology Project.
These wheeled robots go against the current trend of legged robots. "If the robots moved slower than people, users would be frustrated," he said, explaining why Hitachi bucked the industry trend and went for wheels instead of feet for its 4.22-feet-tall robot.
Source: Steven Hopstaken, Hitachi's Fast Emiew Robots, OnRobots.Com, Thursday, 24 March 2005. http://www.onrobo.com/content/view/82/1/
Hitachi built the two Emiews -- Pal and Chum -- for the World Expo, which will take place beginning later this month in Aichi prefecture, about 205 miles west of Tokyo.
“Emiew,” which stands for "excellent mobility and interactive existence as workmate," can move as fast as 3.7 mph, compared with Honda Motor Co.'s celebrated Asimo, whose top speed is a pokey 1.86 mph.
At their debut on Tuesday, Pal moved forward on Chum's command and avoided obstacles using sensors on his head, around his waist, and near his wheels.
"I want to be able to walk about in places like Shinjuku and Shibuya in the future without bumping into people and cars," Pal told amused reporters, citing two of Tokyo's most crowded shopping areas.
Hitachi said the Emiews, which currently have a vocabulary of about 100 words, still need to be trained before they are fit for practical office and factory use in five to six years.
Posted by sjc at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
Robots Safety Dance
Three robots dance together during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan. Used for security and entertainment purposes, the small walking robot goes for 588,000 yen, or $5, 450. The robot links to mobile phones so people can check images of their homes from a digital camera inside the device's head.
Source: CNN Offbeat Images, April 23, 2005. http://www.cnn.com/offbeat/gallery/content.3.html
News20.Com, CapeTown, South Africa, has a more detailed report
Walking robot going on sale
12/04/2005 13:06 - (SA)
Tokyo - A small walking man-shaped robot for home security and entertainment is going on sale in Japan for 588 000 yen (US$5 450).
The 39cm-tall, 2.5kg robot called nuvo from ZMP Inc also comes in a fancier 888 000 yen (US$8 200) version with the same functions and a design inspired by lacquer-ware painted on its body.
The robot can walk, get up and respond to voice commands such as "turn right". It links to mobile phones so that people can check on images of their homes taken on a digital camera inside the robot's head. It can be controlled by a remote and is programmed to do a dance. It also makes musical sounds.
A robot called nuvo from ZMP Inc walks during a demonstration in Tokyo. (Itsuo Inouye, AP)
The creators are billing the machine as an eye-pleasing addition to fashionable homes, the collaboration of a designer and a choreographer as well as a computer chip maker.
Tokyo-based ZMP is planning to sell 2 300 robots, and shipments are set for late April. Orders are being taken through the internet and robots will also be sold at a Tokyo shop. The robots are being sold only in Japan, the company said.
Japan leads the world in robotics, and Japanese companies, including automakers Honda Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp, have produced experimental human-shaped robots. Sony Corp has sold the Aibo dog-shaped entertainment robots, but ZMP says it's the first to mass-produce humanoids for the home.
Posted by sjc at 1:28 PM
April 7, 2005
Robot Teaches Science
Tokyo: Honda's Asimo has begun appearing in Tokyo classroom as a teaching aid - "to help teachers demonstrate the wonders of science".
" The 130-centimeter (51-inch) -tall, bubble-headed robot ... has already shown it can jog, walk up stairs, wave, avoid obstacles and carry on simple conversations. It has worked as a guide in showrooms and visited schools as Honda's ambassador.
AP Article
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050407/D89A8OA81.html
Asahi Shimbun Article
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0406/TKY200504060293.html
Asahi Shimbun Photo
http://www.asahi.com/photonews/image/gallely/TKY200504060295.jpg
Posted by sjc at 8:10 AM | Comments (0)