Archive for the ‘Japan Technology’ Category

In-car navigation systems are really becoming a driver’s must have add-ons accessory, so manufacturers are really adding some quite sophisticated hi-tech features to keep people/driver interested. Actually in Japan, for example, the big ‘H’: Honda has developed a crime rate detecting GPS (Global Positioning System) that will search through local police database records to inform drivers in real-time if they ever happen to drive by high crime areas.

Nintendo announced that the wireless balance board accessory for the gaming console Nintendo Wii finally has a North American release date which is May 19. Get ready to workout those abs.

The Nintendo Wii Fit bundle pack (Disember in Japan) will sell for $89.99, it’s not exactly cheap gaming accessories, but at least it’ll bundled with a battery of exercises—including yoga, aerobics, training for strength, and balance—that’ll surely get you off the couch and will make you sweat.

Microsoft Xbox Video network has been around since about 18 months ago and Apple has its own Apple-TV, but for Sony and its Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) have remained left behind the curve in aspects of downloadable movies, TV episodes and video files. Because of that, Sony execs promise to get with the program “very soon,” just around the corner; according to some blog posts.


I’ve found the blog entry from Sony SVP Peter Dille, which he promises about offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you’ve seen or used, although he adds that he has no any new announcements about such service.

In the next Sony Playstation 3 firmware update, it will allow the Sony PlayStation 3 to play upcoming “BD-Live” Blu-ray discs, this will make Sony PlayStation 3 an even greater for Blu-Ray device bargain in the market than it was before or at least until prices for stand-alone players start falling down.

The upcoming Sony PlayStation 3 firmware update ver: 2.20, which is due before the month is out, will let you access the great downloadable function, Net-enabled features and widgets that come with the latest Blu-ray movies recently. The newest Blu-ray specification such as the Net-related features (as known as BD-Live) is only available on a handful of upcoming Blu-ray players.

For the second month in a row, the Sony Playstation 3 beats the Microsoft Xbox 360 in aspects of monthly sales. Is this the time for Sony Playstation 3 to take the lead of new generation gaming consoles?

Ars Technica got its hands on the latest sales figures for gaming consoles, and the numbers speak for themselves. The Nintendo Wii, as usual, trumped its console competition with 432,000 units sold in February while the handheld Nintendo DS got an amazing 597,000 units sold, beside that the PlayStation 2—still quite a hit with senior gamers, apparently—came in at an impressive 351,800 units sold. Absolutely. no shockers there.

Do you know what is Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)? Did you believe that there’s a supercomputer has been built from Sony Playstation 3? If you still doesn’t know anything about it yet, here’s the story. From the lab of University of Massachusetts, there’s ongoing a research projects of their group that involve supercomputing in Physics. This project broadly deals with estimating properties of the gravity waves produced by the merger of two black holes. Gravitational waves are “ripples” in space-time that travel at the speed of light. These were theoretically predicted by Einstein’s general relativity, but have never been directly observed.

Most of girls out there love facials, but what if the next facial you got was done by a hi-tech robot? In Japan, the technology to do this already exists thanks to the Tokyo’s Waseda University. The university developed WAO-1 (the Waseda Asahi Oral Rehabilitation) at the first place just for relieving the symptoms of disorders such as xerostomia, jaw arthritis and swallowing disorder. Treatments that apply “just the right amount of pressure” without excessive force have been realized by using existing technologies developed for robots according to the project leader Atsuo Takanishi, but is now being considered for beautician to use it in beauty spas.