japan

Ah, Valentine's Day. It's just around the corner, so have you thought about how you'll express your love for your favorite inanimate object? Humans are so passe.

Japanese retailers have a suggestion. They're setting geek hearts aflutter with a pretty, ageless female android who's looking for love.

Clutching a bag and cell phone, she seems to be waiting for a suitor.

"Android falls in love? She is waiting for you" reads the writing on her glass box at Takashimaya Department Store in Tokyo's Shinjuku district.

The special Valentine's display features Geminoid F, the photogenic robot developed by Osaka University professor Hiroshi Ishiguro and colleagues. … Read more

Yahoo is currently in discussions with Yahoo Japan to sell off its share in the Asian company.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Yahoo Japan Chief Financial Officer Akira Kajikawa said that Yahoo is trying to "finalize the mechanism [for selling its stake] and we are cooperating with them," according to The Wall Street Journal, which was in attendance at the event.

Kajikawa didn't say how Yahoo would go about selling its 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, but according to the Journal's sources, the company is trying to find a way to do it without paying taxes. … Read more

Japanese peripherals maker Elecom has released two handy iPhone keyboards, including a clamshell gizmo that has a stand for your phone.

The TK-FBP029E Series recalls the awesomely named (if you know "Star Wars" well enough) TK-421 case with flip-out keyboard from 2010.

Elecom's latest Bluetooth keyboard is slightly larger than an iPhone and has a full English keyboard. It supports the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch.

The cover also serves as a handy stand for your phone, and it's not always clipped to your handset. … Read more

Leave it to Sony's marketing arm in Japan to rustle up yet another cryptic advertising campaign.

A video quietly emerged last week on Sony's YouTube channel labeled Dot Switch. It's a first-person view of someone holding what appears to be an Xperia Arco smartphone and wielding it as a remote control. The Arco is the Japanese version of the Xperia Arc, and perhaps it's relevant to note that the Arco also has an infrared (IR) port.

What's got everyone buzzing about the viral ad is that the person holding the device in the vid is controlling a random assortment of products, such as a gramophone, a TV, and confetti machines. What a strange combination!

The end of the video is marked by yet another tap on the smartphone's screen toward a robot arm that reveals a small shiny black box. … Read more

If you tend to feel smothered in your romantic relationships, these photos of vacuum-sealed couples might leave you gasping for air.

Yes, you read that right. Vacuum-sealed couples. Because what says love like being shrink-wrapped to your significant other like a couple of old wool sweaters trying to keep the moths away?

First, let us reassure the claustrophobic romantics out there that this isn't a 2012 version of getting pinned. It's "Flesh Love," a Japanese artist's exploration of the intimate ties that bind (very tightly).

"I am currently seeking new dimensions in portrait photography by challenging the majestic theme of mankind, defined through love," the artist known as Photographer Hal writes on his Web site.

New dimensions, indeed. … Read more

For several years, Japan has been developing a computer virus that can track, identify, and disable cyberthreats, according to a story in the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

Fujitsu reportedly is working on the cyberweapon for Japan's Defense Ministry under a 178.5 million yen ($2.32 million) project initiated in fiscal 2008 by the ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute.

The system "can identify not only the immediate source of attack, but also all 'springboard' computers used to transmit the virus," the Yomiuri reported, citing anonymous sources.

"Test runs in closed networks have helped the ministry … Read more

Google's Android operating system comes to life in a new manga comic that turns leading handset makers into--no joke--Japanese schoolgirls.

Resting firmly in the Japanese-dominated pop culture territory that lies somewhere in between totally awesome and totally creepy Sweet Android High-school chronicles the soap-operatic goings on among a group of students who just happen to be anthropomorphic representations of huge corporations.

The gang includes "international students" Moto-Laura-chan, Sam-Sung-chan, H-T-Syee-chan, Elle-G-chan and Soni-Eri-chan. See what they did there? That last one is a particularly clever play on Sony Ericcson. There are also characters representing some of the Japanese makers, including Sharp, Fujitsu, and Casio.

The latest scandal at Sweet Android High, of course, is that a teacher named Google has married Moto-Laura-chan. While it's tough to translate the panels, there doesn't seem to be any sign that a headmaster named Trade-Commission-chan opposes the marriage, but Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus clearly make appearances. Funny--I never envisioned that the first Android 4.0 phone would be so buxom.

See if you can make any sense of the below panels for yourself:… Read more

Telepresence robotics applications continue to get curiouser and curiouser. For instance, how about grooming your cat via a humanoid robot avatar?

That's what Tokyo-based software engineer Taylor Veltrop did with a Nao robot from Aldebaran Robotics.

Veltrop devised an interesting control apparatus for Nao, a popular research robot known for its RoboCup soccer skills.

He wanted to manipulate Nao from a distance, so a treadmill and Kinect were used to navigate the bot, while a head-mounted display controlled Nao's head while showing its camera feeds. Veltrop could thus see through Nao's eyes.

A Wii remote and the Kinect were used to control Nao's arms, including the task of using a brush to groom a cat. … Read more

TOKYO--Downed a few too many beers this holiday season? No problem. Just tuck your organ into this electronic diaper for men and you won't have to get out of bed to visit the loo.

Japan's Unicharm Humancare recently showed off its new Robo-Humany Urine Aspiration diaper at the Eco-Products 2011 trade show in Tokyo. … Read more