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Cold coffee?

Do you ever find that after spending much more time than you intended browsing certain, ahem cultural sites, your coffee (or even tea) has gone cold?

Yes? Well fret no more, as this USB powered hot coaster is the answer to all you problems. And as the picture shows, it’s Windows and Mac compatible.

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Still not convinced? Well, this handy graph shows the temperature difference between a cup of coffee with and without the magical hot coaster.

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Noticeably hotter I think you’ll agree. Life will never be the same again.

[link courtesy of A Welsh View]

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Nuvo riche

Another new robot is about to be produced in Japan, this latest one by Tokyo based ZMP. It goes by the name of nuvo, hence the corny title to this post. Which seemed quite clever when I first wrote it.

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Whilst a bit on the short side, coming in at only 39 cm’s, nuvo is a clever little thing. It can walk on two legs, and then pick itself up when it falls over. Which I’m guessing is quite often, as this seems to be a big selling point. And if that wasn’t enough, it also recognizes voice commands such as advance and stop. Unfortunately there’s no mention of whether it knows left or right, so movements could be somewhat limited!

As well as walking (and of course picking itself up), nuvo also has the ability to relay images of its surroundings to a videophone. Although presumably this will be just what’s directly in front of nuvo, and due to its lack of height, all things under 39 cm’s. So you can look forward to lots of shots of people’s slippers, and now and again the carpet, as nuvo picks itself up after a fall.

I presume by now that you can’t wait to get your hands on one of these little beauties. And if you’ve got 500,000 Yen (2,480 Pounds) to spare, you’ll be all set when they go into production.

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Segway. No way!

On Thursday, the Tokyo police sent papers to prosecutors on a businessman’s use of the U.S. made Segway on a public road. During a promotional event, the 42 year-old import company president drove the Segway along Takeshitadori Street, in Tokyo’s fashionable Harajuku district.

Not a major crime you’d think, but the Segway is classified as a motorcycle under Japanese law. And as it’s not sufficiently equipped with brakes, lights, and indicators, it’s illegal. This means that the Segway can only be used in parks and University campuses.

An imported Segway costs somewhere in the region of 850,000 Yen (almost 4,400 pounds). It has to be said, that’s a lot of money for a quick race around the local park.

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A man speeding away from the police yesterday

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A dog is not just for Christmas. Or is it?

Take a look at the latest Aibo.

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Now I can understand people having misgivings about electronic pets, but believe me, Sony’s Aibo has something special. What that something is I don’t really know, but from a recent experience, it seems that the plastic pooch can produce the same reactions in people that a real dog does.

In the shop I found myself happily stroking Aibo, and after stepping back and observing others, the electronic dog produced the same reaction in everybody else. Without exception. People smiled, petted it, and in the end were reluctant to leave.

Strange? Maybe. True? Surprisingly, yes.

And not once did I see it attempt to sniff someone’s groin or hump a passerby’s leg.

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The Prescott

This is not Japan related at all, but I couldn’t help noticing that Intel’s new Pentium 4 processor is code-named Prescott. Now I might be barking up the wrong tree here, but could it be named after Britain’s cuddly Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott?

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On second thoughts, maybe not.

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A wasted opportunity

Matsushita (Panasonic) has recently developed a next-generation battery. So to promote its new Oxyride dry-cell battery, Matsushita followed the well trodden path of hiring the services of an attractive young model. All good up to now it has to be said.

The problem is they then decided to put her inside a bizarre battery driven vehicle, with the resultant publicity shot looking comical at best. It’s so bad she almost appears to have been added into the picture by a Photoshop novice.

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