Hot Gadgets

The best LCD HDTV is from Korea

This story is slightly dated but it is worth pointing out that Samsung's LNT4661F 1080p 46 inch is the best selling TV right now.(at least in 2008). Not only is it fairly affordable at US $1,644 but it comes with a huge screen 46 in and a host of cool features.

It 's High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) enables simple and easy connection of digital devices. That means I can connect my TV with various appliances, such as a home theater, DVDP, Game console, Blu Ray, and even a Digicam.It also has USB 2.0 port to connect with your USB gadgets. Maybe not everybody will use all these features but it sure is nice to have. Plus as far as I'm concerned this hi tech TV is getting rave reviews for its sound and picture quality.

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Amazing tech train in Japan

You just gotta love this stuff. There are hi-tech trains in Japan that at the push of a button reverses the direction of the seats once the passengers alight at the last stop of the journey. This is to point the seats in the forward direction of the motion of the train. Now this is a life saver for me since I frequently feel nauseous if my train seat is in the opposite direction of the train motion.

I found this video to be a nirvana as far as I'm concerned. When will mortal souls outside of Japan receive this blessing!

Japan Train! High Tech!

Sanwa's odd looking throat microphone

Your cell phone call quality is now destined to improve and be crystal clear with Sanwa's new throat microphone. But you will also need to be prepared for strange stares from other people when they see a microphone strapped around your throat.

This latest hands free system from Sanwa, a Japanese company is said to be inspired from military throat microphones. The mic wraps around your throat and is supposed to improve call clarity. Well whatever.

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Japan's best cell phone

The popular vote is out. Sharp’s awesome Aquos Fulltouch 931SH is the best handset the Japanese got to play with in 2008. The 3.8-inch handset with the gorgeous 1024 x 480 touch screen has wowed all and sundry.

 

Softbank is offering this phone only in Japan with 3G support. And get this. 931SH has the world's highest resolution. This heavily loaded phone also includes a 5.2-megapixel camera with image stabilizer function, a One-Seg digital TV tuner, Bluetooth with A2DP, a media player, an accelerometer, and a microSD expansion slot.

Well, Japan rocks. Sitting outside of Japan, we can only marvel and imagine.

South Korea to have the world's first robot theme park

Most of us have always thought of Japan as being a robot-freak country.But now it is South Korea which is laying its claim to the title by planning to construct the world's first robot theme park.

 

According to the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy, a theme park called Robot Land will be built in Incheon and also Masan in the southern part of Korea. With a billion dollars in investment spread across both the cities, they expect the park to be completed by 2014. This sounds like a long time and who knows by then maybe Japan will come out with their own robot park.

The South Korean goverment expects the robotics industry to be a key part of their economy in the future and wants to ensure a firm foothold is gained as early as possible. The theme park will contain   R&D and education centers, play equipment, experience zones, exhibition halls, a stadium,  and variouscorporate facilities.

(source via Chosunilbo)

Grenade alarm clock

You thought airport security was paranoid. Just wait till you see this. A alarm clock in the form of a grenade is in the market. And whats more...it has be thrown to turn the alarm off. 

Just perfect for all those pranksters intent on scaring their room-mates to death. And certainly this new invention is not funny at all for all the security officials.

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How to play Mario without looking at the screen ?

Yes. The headline deserves a second read. Sounds impossible. But a Japanese girl has done just that. She is a gamer and a model to boot. Haruna Ano shows she is more just than a pretty face.

Haruna played the first level of Mario without looking at the screen. She listens to the music            and plays it by ear. Check out the video.

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Japan is the world's No. 1 robot country

Who would have guessed that ? ;-). Well, the word is out and it is now official. IEEE Spectrum has come up with the statistics putting Japan at the top spot with the highest robot density in the world.

                                 

Nippon country now has 295 of robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers, followed by its Asian neighbors Singapore (169) and closely by South Korea (164). Germany (163 robots) ranks 4th. (Europe as a whole only has 50 robots).

Check out a robot story here and here.

Kids beware - You have a Robot teacher !

The Robot stories just keep on coming from the land of Japan. After a Robot office assistant, now we have got a Robot teacher hot off the labs of Tokyo University of Science. Named as Saya by its developer Prof. Hiroshi Kobayashi, this robot "teacher" can call class rolls, scolds kids and generally display the six emotions most commonly displayed by human teachers: surprise, fear, disgust, anger, happiness, and sadness.

Boys and girls, meet Saya.

Pay for your TV entertainment via the Sony TV - only in Japan

Now you can easily pay for Pay-per-view entertainment items with your Sony TV's new electronic money card reader. Ofcourse you need to be based in Japan for that. That's right. Sony's new Bravia TV series  has the world's first remote controller with a built in smart card reader, which the user can pay for video on demand services, provided through the Internet, with a pre-paid or credit smart card.

 

According to a company statement released recently, Sony's Bravia W5 and F5 series will be equipped with electronic money card readers for pay-per-viewing via an Internet link. As many of us know, electronic money is already widely used in Japan, such as through credits held in mobile telephone "wallets" or on top-up commuter passes. And this new stuff is probably the icing on the cake. While we outside of Japan have to be satisfied with old fashioned credit cards or paper money payments.

This is some smart universal TV remote.

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