Category: Japan

USB Carbonite Key

USB Han Solo

Perfect! Now this is worth getting, your very own Han Solo in Carbonite USB key. This is in addition to the C3PO, Darth Vader, and R2-D2 keys that IO Data came out with a few months ago. They also have a very attractive new Darth Vader inspired key that features the head of the Sith lord infront of some flames. I’d stick with the Han Solo key, it has a much higher geek factor to it.

I-O Data Device Ltd. adds “Darth Vader 2” of the new design and “Han Soroincarbonait” to USB flash memory “STAR WARS USB memory collection” that gives the design of science fiction film “STAR WARS”, and puts it on the market in the middle of August. The price is 5,355 yen. OS is Windows 2000/XP.

The second bounce of eye Or and “STAR WARS” USB memory
(Story in the raw Japanese)

storage, memory, Japan, USB, cool, Star Wars

I Want My Kei Car!

Japan-cars/dscn8131_tiny_car

Oh man! Why can’t we import these to the US???? (Ok, you can but the cars must be 25 years old or older. Right, I don’t think there are any cars that old anywhere in Japan!) I saw these cars in Japan and thought they would be the perfect solution to traffic congestion and lack of parking. You can see from the above phcture (that’s me by the way) that even a van has a tiny footprint.

These cars were never available new in the US or Canada, but Canadian law allows their importation if they are 15 years old and pass a safety inspection before leaving Japan and one when they get in Canada. US law also allows them to be imported, but only if they are 25 years old, so de facto they are banned.
Japanoid offers exactly that: 15 years old cars, usually with a low amount of kms (since the Japanese drive less than Canadians on average), many have souped-up motorcycle engines with sophisticated turbos, superchargers and dual overhead cams, and most get fuel economy in the 50 mpg range. Prices seem to hover between CAN$5000 and CAN$7000.

Importing K-Cars in Canada

micro, import, cars, Canada, Japan

RoBoCup 2005

robot

Its that time again, I was puttering around on the MAKE blog today and noticed that the RoBoCup expo was going on. What is RoBoCup you ask?

But what is RoBoCup exactly? It’s a competition between small robots from a number of universities or manufacturers. There are two main themes: an obstacle course and a football game. The last one seemed to be the most popular (we recommend the Aibo football game). There was also a small booth with the latest in cybernetics.

There, that’s it in a nut shell. Yet another reason to go visit Japan. Osaka would be mighty fine this time of year…

RoBoCup 2005

cybernetics, technology, robotics, Japan

Fuel Cell Powered Robot

Nice Bot

This is pretty cool, too but it’s yet another kit that I won’t be buying any time soon, a little pricey at $25,000US. The fuel cell is powered by a Hydrogen gas cylinder that is actualy inside the robot so you can run it totaly without wires.

Robot equipped with the fuel cell

Some more translated links to the Speecys company.
What is Speecy?
Press release

Here is a nice shot of the fuel cell itself.
Fuel Cell

technology, Japan, fuel cell, science, robotics

Neko Shinkansen

Neko Shinkansen

Very cool, and the cat ears make it all the better if you ask me. The ears act as air brakes to slow the train down in case of an emergency (earthquake, fire, etc…) Top speed is expected to be around 405 kph and run at 360 kph in normal operations. So, why can’t we have a few of these here in America? Once between Las Vegas and LA could pay for itself in a year, loads of people want to lose money in sin city. You know, on second thought I don’t think America is ready for something like this. For a start, if it was run by a private company it would be asking for an immediate bail out because the operation costs would be far too high. The company would try to cut costs and lower maintenance standards to keep the money pouring into the pockets of the shareholders from the government funding. Oh yeah, now that would make for some fantastic headlines…

Neko bullet train
Japan, train, fast