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.
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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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Playstation 2 launches in Brazil for just $462

The PlayStation 2, a last generation console and predecessor to the PlayStation 3, has officially launched in Brazil. The console available since 2000, costs roughly 799 Brazilian Real or about 462 US dollars. I find these quite ridiculous seeing as the PlayStation 3, a far more supieor console costs less (about $399) in the United States. I don't think sony manages to make much money off of this because anyone who would want the console, would of gotten it through other means, more likely for a cheaper price, quite a ways back. PlayStation 2's selling point is also at $100 in the US. This go's to show how companies like sony aren't reaching far enough on a global perspectrum and focusing on European, Asian, and North American Countries.
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Toyota planning to put robots on the moon

Toyota's Partner robots are set to be placed on the moon by 2020. The upgrades involved would include the ability to withsatand lunar temperature drops, jumping mechanisms, and solar panels mounted on the back of the robots in order to maintain a charge. This is one step closer to colonization on the moon and/or other planets. Although this was only introduced in a press conference, if this was to happen, which most likely it would, we would be able to gather much more information on planets like mars which are somewhat mysterious at this point in time. Toyota also stated they would release a rover type robot some what similar to ones used by NASA.
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Mordern Warfare 2 Sells big

Activision, Publisher of higlhly acclaimed game, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has announced Day 1 sales for the game. The game sold over 4.7 million units on the first day of release in just the US and UK. This is not only record breaking in the video game industry, but for entertainment in general. The money from the sales for both nations is said to be over 300 million dollars which breaks the record for highest revenue on release day for any source of media. Publishers Infinity Ward were most likely not so surprised to hear this seeing as Amazon and Gamestop had already both announced that they game was each of their most pre-ordered items in the history of the companies. People speculate but it is looking possible that the game will become one of the most sold of all time and will continue to generate millions of dollars.
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EA restructuring

The widely video game publisher, EA, is laying off 1,500 employees in order to restructure the company. This is due to poor third quarter earnings as well as the recent purchase of casual game developer Playfish. Playfish focuses mainly on games for social networking sites like Facebook. EA made the purchase for 250,000,000 dollars because they believe the gaming community is growing largely around simple, social, flash games. EA had a similar incident last year where the let go of over 1,000 employees by closing down their branch, Black Box studios.
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Touch screen iMacs

Troll Touch have announced touch screen kits for the iMac 21.5 inch and 27 inch computers. The kits and the machines with pr installed screens will ship december 1st of this year and will cost $1099 for the kit and $2299 pre installed. This just shows how if third party deveolpers can create touch screen computers, it is more than likely that apple are in the process of doing this and the tablet rumors will prove to be true.

iPhone Hackers Targeting Jailbroken Phones

Over the past week a hacker in the Netherlands released a hack to hack all existing jailbroken iPhones connected to Tmoblie in the Netherlands. The hacker displayed a message on the iPhone slide screen stating that the iPhone is not safe and to fix this issue, you must go to a certain website and download a patch. This patch would cost people 5 euros. The method used to gain control of the iPhones was not to complex. The hacker only had to search for devices with SSH active and use the default password. This did not effect users of jailbroken iPhones that had switch the password away from the default. This goes to show that by jailbreaking your iPhone, you are taking any safety features that were pre installed on it off. Later this past week the hacker issued an apology letter and made the patch free to the public. He also stated he would give back any money recieved through the scandal. A similar incident has happened in Australia recently as well. This hacker did not ask for money to get rid of the hack and still give full functionality of the phone. The hack smply replaces the background of users iPhone with a picture of Rick Astley. Although this is somewhat amusing and does not seem to be doing any harm, it will make it easier for hackers to, in the future, use the same method but with more severe consequences.
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New approach to rhythm based games

Many of you have most likely played a rhythm based video game likely guitar hero, but none of you can say you have used footballs being hit against pads on a wall on a controller. In order to promote kasabian's new single, technicians created a mod for the freeware game, similar to guitar hero, Frets on Fire. The technicians made it possible to create pads that when hit, mimicked hitting a key on the keyboard of a computer which in turn hit a button in game. The pads had motion sensors in the back that were all connected to the computer with a projector showing the onscreen displays. It's a bit hard to explain so here is a video:

N Gage service being shut Down

Nokia's handheld gaming service, N Gage, has officially been announced as being shut down. The service was originally launched back in 2003 in hopes to compete with Nintendo, whom, at the time, dominated the market. The first device was launched October 7th, 2003. It was not successful from the start due to its clunky design as well as the poor library of games. The design actually developed a nickname for the phone which was the "taco phone". The cell phone gaming service will no release any more games but will continue to run nokia's ovi store up through september of next year. Users will be able to buy currently released games up until that point. Games will also still work on devices after the service has been closed which may be good news for the few that use it. The downside to that is that all the community support will be gone. This isno suprise for Nokia or the public because the device and service have had poor sales as well as softwrae issues in the past.
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Nokia sues Apple

Nokia is suing apple over 10 patents violated. According to Nokia, Apple has been using the ideas since the first generation iPhone and Nokia are asking for sales numbers so they can account for damages. Some analysts expect somewhere near 204-408 million dollars asked for. Apple is going to try to invalidate the patents or settle this out of court. If neither can be done, the court case could last 2-3 years. Nokia is asking to stop selling to iPhone until this is worked out but it is not in spite of the fact they want it of the market. They just believe Apple should pay where money is due.
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Windows 7 Launched/Apple's new ad

Earlier this week Windows 7, Microsoft new operating system following the bug filled windows vista, launched. The new operation system launched October 22nd although it has been in a public beta since January 10th. This may not be big news to most people seeing as the full version has been available to download on the Internet since December 27th of last year of sites like Bit Torrent. The operating system is said to run quite smoothly and decreases shutdown and boot up times as well as decreasing application loading times. In spite of the new OS, apple has released a new ad featuring the traditional Mac vs. PC format. It shows PC telling Mac that the new OS will fix all the problems vista had. It then shows the duo through time with PC saying the same thing every time a new windows OS gets released with Mac then question, are you sure? The ad is pretty funny seeing as Microsoft has had so many problems in the past with windows.
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Z Corporation has recently released their latest printer. The ZPrinter 350 is a 3D printer that has a price point of $25,900 (which is a bit more than the average person spends on a printer. The printer can create any object of any color, the catch being that they all come out in white. It can create objects as big as 8 x 10 x 8 inches tall as well as it creating the objects faster than any other 3D printer on the current market. This is somewhat suprising because that speed it prints at is .8 inches and hour (vertically). The machine uses snap-in cartridges of the material the object is made out of and then recycles an waste made in the process of the creation of said object. This just proves how advanced and portable technology is becoming and much it has developed over the years.
Link to ZCorporation's page listing printer
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Original JK wedding

Side Kick data somewhat recovered

Most are familiar with the server failure that resulted all sidekick cellular device users to lose all of their memory. Microsoft now claims to have redeemed their mistake by recovering "most" of the data lost. Losing data on a cellular device is definatley a problem and just proves that there are some issues with using the "cloud" to save all your information. Since Microsoft claimed all of the data was impossible to retrive, you might be wondering how the majority of users data was recovered, Microsost had this to say, “We have determined that the outage was caused by a system failure that created data loss in the core database and the back-up. We rebuilt the system component by component, recovering data along the way. This careful process has taken a significant amount of time, but was necessary to preserve the integrity of the data.” The first data to be restored to the sidekicks will be the address book with the rest eventually to follow.
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Portable Wikipedia

A new device has been created with the sole purpose of having access to wikipedia as you are on the go. The WikiReader has a $99 price point and offers access to all of Wikipedia's articles (currently massing over 3 million.) This device runs off of two AAA batteries and has a small touchscreen with only three buttons. This offer the commands "search, history, and random". The WikiReader fits comfortably in the palm of your had is about the size of a "stack of post-it notes". No internet is required for reading articles. This is somewhat a downfall because it also menas articles don't update instantly as they do with the website. Updates are offered quarterly. They can be obtained for free via the WikiReader website or at a $29 annual cost through the use of microSD updates.

Video talking about WikiReader