Yotaro baby simulator spotted in japan

A baby simulator has recently been developed by University of Tsukuba in Japan. Its sole purpose for Creation was to teach about childcare and parenting. The robot responds to stimuli presented to it by using sensors ans the responses are shown on a projection. This is similar to a robot named the keiko. This patient simulator is used in teaching hospitals in Japan.The simulator is composed of multiple elements like a water supply tank and circulation pump. I feel this to be evolutionary in the field of parenting because not only can parents practice techniques of parenting that thy can use on their children, but any wrong decisions will have bad consequences. It is however somewhat of a strange concept with the simulation not looking lifelike at all and actually looking a bit more on the creepier side of things.
link to image on left of keiko
link to image on right of Yotaro baby simulator

video in Japanese but shows simulator in action

Apple counter sues Nokia

As you may have read on this blog a couple of weeks ago, Nokia is suing Apple. In recent news however, it has come out that apple is counter suing Nokia. The original case was brought to attention because Nokia claimed Apple had violated some of their patents. The counter sue is based upon Apple claiming Nokia is infringing upon 13 of Apples patents. A small excerpt off a PDF on engadget stated this “In dealing with Apple, Nokia has sought to gain an unjust competitive advantage over Apple by charging unwarranted fees to use patents that allegedly cover industry compatibility standards and by seeking to obtain access to Apple’s intellectual property. Nokia needs access to Apple’s intellectual property because Nokia has copied and is now using that patented technology.” This goes to show Apple will not go down without a fight because analysts had predicted that if apple lost the case, they would loose up to 1 billion dollars.

Google phone confirmed, spotted in wild

The google phone, rumored and most likely to be named the nexus one, is said to have a release date to the public in January of 2010. Images of the phone have been circulating the web with pictures popping up on all sorts of sites but most notably twitter. The phone is to be manufactured by htc and will be sold online by google. Its rumored the phone will be sold unlocked as google has not made any deal with cellular service providers. this mean buyers will have to set up their own accounts with different providers which is good and bad in some respects. It will allow users to keep existing contracts but it might also mean a higher price in the phone seeing as most cellular devices sold off contract are higher priced than those on contract. WSJ has been quoted "The entire user experience is designed by Google". This will hopefully mean that new and exclusive features will be on the phone that are not on other android powered phones. The device will launch with android 2.1 built in, and I'm sure quite frequent software updates in order to fix minor problems that may occur. Google employees worldwide have had the phone for quite some time in order for Google to fix any kinks before the public launch. The phone has received quite positive feedback from early testers with users describing the phone as an "iPhone on beautifying steroids". This could be the phone that finally rattles the iPhone title as one of the most desirable phones on the market and may even beat it in sales in the coming months. Having this said, the same was sated about the Motorola droid which also happened to run on android. This phone however, did not succeed in what it planned to do.
link to original story and image
sorry for image quality, only one I could find

Man Marries Video Game character in Japan

A man that goes by SAL9000 has married a Nintendo DS character in Japan. The ceremony took place in the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The Game character whose name Nene Anegasaki from the DS game Love affairs was portrayed through a red Nintendo ds during the ceremony. the pair had the ceremony online for the world to see a held a small reception after. It was conducted by a licensed priest and the pair are set to go on honeymoon in Guam. SAL9000 stated that he has had many failed relationships with game Characters in the past and that he feels this one is going to last. “As long as the two of us can go on to create a happy household, I'm sure any misgivings about us will be resolved.”
original image of game character

Datel are suing Microsoft

Datel, a third party accessory manufacturer, is suing Microsoft over a recent patch for their renowned Xbox 360 console. The recent firmware update for the Xbox 360 has blocked the use of any unofficial memory units. Datel believes Microsoft is trying to get rid of their competition and make more money. If this was true, it would still be fair game seeing as Microsoft has all the rights to do what they please with their own console. The fact of the matter however is that the update was intended to block out hackers and modders. Because Datel's memory units are expandable using micro SD cards, users can take files off their home computer like game saves and mods and put them on their console. Microsoft's intention was to make the gaming experience more complete and make it fairer for others following the code of conduct for the Live service. Datel has been in court with Microsoft's largest competitor in the video game industry, Sony, although in that instance the were the ones being sued. This was due to a similar problem with memory untis for Sony's PSP handheld console.
Xbox 360 logo
original story and datel picture

Virtual avatars affect mood of people controlling them

A study at the University of Texas has shown that dependent on the virtual avatar the user is using, moods and teamwork are affected. When users take control of a negative figure, in this case, a character wearing black cloaks or a member of the KKK, the users were seen to exhibit more agressive behaviors towards teammates in team excerises as well as the unwillingness to cooperate. Users in white cloaks or physicians were shown to show teamwork and the ability to complete the team exercises given. In order to have a control group, some users were given transparent characters. People using the negative avatars were later asked to create a scenario based on information they were given. All scenarios created by these people involved murder or other scandals whereas the positive groups created scenarios with relationships involved. This was definitely an interesting article to read and is some insight as to moods caused by video games.
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Sony's goal for profitability by march 2013

Sony, one of the largest electronic manufacturers in the world, hopes to reach its goal profit margin of 5% by March 2013. They hope to achieve this by being the main distributer of 3D televisions and ithium-ion batteries. By doing this, they are hoping they can turn their televison and video game departments out of debt. Sony total loss of last year was around £664,000,000 and they expect to loose a similar amount this year. This is due to a decline in sale because of the current economic market. The have let off around 12% of their employees this year and are continueing to reduce the amount of plants they have until they reach 47 which is 10 less factories they had at the beginning of the years which will continue to produce job loss. They also hope to control 20% of the flat screen television market by around the same time.

The PlayStation 3 has seen an up in sales since the release of Sony's cheaper, power saving PlayStation 3 console in September. The cut in price created enough sales in the release month to outsell both the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360. This is a first since the original console's release in 2006. Sony are also planning on launching a variety of 3D devices in 2011 including BluRay players, TVs and game consoles to further boost sales.
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