Japanese Brands

Vizio says goodbye to plasma.(Credit: CNET Networks)Yet another one bites the plasma TV dust. Barely has Pioneer officially announced its departure from the plasma TV business when Vizio, a US-centric brand …

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(Credit: Logic3)Add a touch of color to your angelic Wii with the new FunChuks from Logic3. Available in red, orange, yellow, green, black and white, they function pretty much like the …

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With the recent closures of two Suzuki car dealerships, this low-price Japanese brand has disappeared from new car lots in Hillsborough County.

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In a talk with investors Palm CEO Ed Colligan dropped a whole ton of previously undisclosed facts about Palm and the Pre .

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Remember that DARPA initiative from a few years back to create cyborg insects? With funding from the agency, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have managed to control a rhinoceros beetle via radio signals, demonstrated in a flight test shown on video at this week’s IEEE MEMS 2009 conference. A module placed on the arthropod uses six electrodes affixed to the brain and muscles to commandeer its free will. The device weighs 1.3g — much less than the 3g payload these guys can handle, and with enough wiggle room to attach sensors for surveillance. Ultimately, scientists say they want to use the beetle’s own sensors — namely, its eyes — to capture intel and its own body energy to power the apparatus. Keep an eye on this one, we expect it to play a major role in the impending robots vs. humans war.

[Thanks, Mimosa]

Filed under: Robots, Wireless

Cyborg beetles commandeered for test flight, laser beams not (yet) included originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Those crazy kids at the University of South Florida are at it again — they’ve given us ‘intelligent’ scarecrows and engaged an RFID network in the fight against Alzheimer’s, and now they’re doing some rather interesting work with the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). The device uses an electrode-covered head cap to capture P-300 brainwave responses and convert them into action, such as “typing” or manipulating a robotic finger. The team has developed a motorized “smart wheelchair” that allows users to pilot the chair and even control a robotic arm without any physical movement whatsoever. USF researchers say that this will be a great help not only for those with special needs, but also for the extremely lazy.

[Via MedGadget]

Filed under: Household, Robots

USF scientists develop brainwave controlled wheel chair originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The HP Mini 2140 combines the best of its predecessors, the Mini 1000 and Mini-Note, to offer a Netbook worthy of the business crowd.

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Digicams with 24x optical zoom are nothing new, but this shooter comes with a 3-inch tilting LCD to set it apart from the competition.

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…oh i love orange drink!

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