walking

Toyota plans nursing robots for aging Japan

Toyota wants to help Japan's aging population with machines than can help people move around with a leg brace and a personal transporter.

The Walk Assist Robot is made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic and attaches to the legs of patients who have suffered paralysis to help them walk.

Weighing 7.7 pounds, the device has a position sensor on the thigh area, a pressure sensor on the sole, and a knee actuator that moves the brace based on data from the sensors.

A timing-lock mechanism ensures that the brace doesn't bend when the foot is planted. The device can also be used for physiotherapy when patients are relearning to walk, according to Toyota.

If the Walk Assist Robot looks like part of Cyberdyne's HAL robot suit, then Toyota's Care Assist Robot takes a page from Riken's Riba person mover.

The Care Assist Robot doesn't look like a giant teddy bear, but it's also designed to help reduce the burden on caregivers who have to move bedridden patients. … Read more

The 404 926: Where Siri ratted us out (podcast)

We didn't think it would take this long, but somebody finally exploited the iPhone 4S to catch a cheater using the new Find My Friend app on iOS 5.

The scary part of this story, though, is how easy it is to use GPS to lurk on your S.O. using Google Latitude or any one of these mobile spy apps.

In that same vein, today we're chatting about our favorite tech pranks along with the latest news headlines that include BlackBerry freebies, iPhone record breaking, cell phone bill shock, and a fishy story out of Sesame Street.

SPIbelt: The best way to carry your smartphone while exercising

A smartphone is all but essential gear for runners, walkers, bikers, hikers, gym rats, and other exercise-minded folks. For one thing, there are the apps. As a semi-regular runner, I can't live without RunKeeper (one of many great tools for tracking your route, distance, speed, and the like).

Then there's safety; it makes sense to keep a phone on hand in case of emergencies, like a twisted ankle or UFO abduction. I've been known to get lost on occasion, too.

But here's the problem: How do you carry something as heavy and bulky as a smartphone? … Read more

Charge your phone while taking a stroll

It's not the first concept we've heard of that uses human motion to charge our batteries, but it could be far more efficient than anything up to now.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison say that one day soon, any portable device--including the meatiest smartphones--could be charged by simply taking a stroll.

"Humans, generally speaking, are very powerful energy-producing machines," Tom Krupenkin, a UW-Madison associate professor of mechanical engineering, said yesterday in a statement. "While sprinting, a person can produce as much as a kilowatt of power."… Read more

New York, Silicon Valley teams win Startup Bus competition

AUSTIN, Texas--After three days jammed into buses headed here from cities across the country and four days perfecting their pitches, the winners of the second-annual Startup Bus competition claimed victory tonight.

If you haven't been following the happenings of the Startup Bus, 38 teams of so-called "buspreneurs" departed on six buses from San Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, and New York last Tuesday, headed for the South by Southwest conference (SXSW) here. Each team, formed mainly from strangers aboard their bus, faced this challenge: conceive of an idea, and take the time from departure to arrival in Austin … Read more

The 404 Yuletide Mini-sode: Where we still like it in 2D (podcast)

Wilson's still gone in China rehabilitating baby pandas, so this yuletide episode of The 404 Podcast features me and Jeff going through the movies and film trends that struck a chord in 2010.

Follow along with us as we the best (Inception, Social Network, Hot Tub Time Machine) and the worst (Prince of Peria: The Sands of Time, Devil, Legends of the Guardians) movies of the past twelve months!

Hope you're having a great holiday, and look forward to another 404 yuletide episode coming your way soon!

The 404 Yuletide Mini-sode, Movies and TV of 2010 Edition Subscribe in iTunes audio | … Read more

The 404 728: Where we pet it on its head (podcast)

The Golden Globe nominations were released this morning, and though "The King's Speech" received the most nominations, "The Social Network" was also honored for Best Picture--Drama, Best Actor (Jesse Eisenberg), Best Supporting Actor (Andrew Garfield), Best Director (David Fincher), Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin), and Best Original Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). We saw the movie when it first came out, but CNET's social-media reporter Caroline McCarthy knows much more about the film, so we're psyched to have her on the show today!

Caroline and Jeff are both addicted to TV shows like "Boardwalk Empire," "30 Rock," and "Mad Men," which share Best TV nominations for a drama, musical, or comedy, but the three of us are confused about the appearance of "The Walking Dead," a show that the Internet seems to collectively hate for its departure from the original graphic-novel storyline.

Along with the rest of the discoveries in Zeitgeist 2010, Google has also shared the "fastest-falling" list of searches in 2010. In other words, these are the search terms that enjoyed popularity in 2009 but failed to keep up the momentum this year.

The list includes swine flu, Circuit City, Myspace Layouts, and Michael Jackson, despite the release of a new album in December.

Check out this graphic of the world according to Facebook. Facebook intern Paul Butler wondered how to show an accurate representation of Facebook's popularity across the globe, and his idea to visualize Facebook "Internet" friendships on a map actually shows the extent of real human relationships.

Interestingly enough, the picture reveals that even Argentina, Southeast Asia, and South Africa have a strong Facebook presence, while a significant portion of China and Russia are missing due to Web censorship.

Girls geeks are uniting in support of a young Star Wars fan who was bullied by classmates after choosing a Star Wars water bottle and matching backpack for school. Her mom wrote a heartfelt blog asking female Star Wars fans to send messages and comments to show Katie that plenty of women appreciate Star Wars, and within days the post received more than 1,000 messages of support.

With all the attention on bullying these days, both online and in person, it's important to remind young people that it's great to be different...and that nerds make more money.

Episode 728 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 404 684: Where Blair Butler puts us in a choke hold (podcast)

Jeff and I are a little intimidated by today's guest, Blair Butler, because she not only loves video games and comic books, but also knows a ton about martial arts moves like the rear naked choke, which makes her one of the coolest guests we've had on the show! Blair joins us after a busy weekend at New York Comic Con 2010 to chat about all the news from the show, as well as her Fresh Ink segment on G4's "Attack of the Show."

The Javitz Convention Center here in New York once again opened its doors to the New York Comic Convention, and Blair tells us the East Coast chapter has been quickly catching up to San Diego over the past five years.

Among the many announcements from the show, we're especially excited about AMC's television adaptation of Robert Kirkman's monthly black and white comic series "The Walking Dead." The story is about a small-town police officer (played by Andrew Lincoln) from Kentucky struggling to survive in a world taken over by flesh-craving zombies. Blair is super psyched to watch the series when it debuts on Sunday, October 31, but in the meantime you should definitely check out her review of the comic in this list of the best graphic novels for comic novices on G4TV.

Remember Konami's classic X-Men beat-'em-up arcade game from the early '90s? Marvel revealed plans for an update on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network that will feature six-player "drop-in" online multiplay, custom matchups, and various difficulty settings. Fans of the original game will enjoy the classic look of the game, and players can use all the original characters including Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler. Konami plans to release the update later this year.

Tune in for lots more video game and comic news with Blair, including the best and worst costumes, a Pedobear dancing to Michael Jackson, Stan Lee's hockey/superhero mashup "The Guardian Project," and much more from the front lines. Thanks to Blair for an awesome show, and thanks to you for listening!

Episode 684 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Woman, hit by car, sues Google for faulty directions

Why trust the machines when you can trust your own eyes, your own brain, your own basic sense of survival?

This philosophical question comes to mind after reading the tragic tale of a woman, her eyes, her brain, her BlackBerry, and her Google Maps.

According to an exhaustive analysis presented by Search Engine Land, Lauren Rosenberg decided to take a walk in Park City, Utah, on January 19, 2009.

I will try and ignore just how fundamentally un-American this act was in order to focus on some of the ensuing action.

Rosenberg fingered her trusted BlackBerry and asked it to … Read more

Angry birds and a tour of our solar system: iPhone apps of the week

Did you know you could get a refund for your purchase of an iPhone app? I didn't until I watched a new CNET TV How-to with Brian Tong. In the video, Brian details the process for getting a refund on an app he wanted to buy for the iPad, but chose the iPhone version by mistake. It's a bit complicated to explain the process here, so you'll want to check out the video linked above to get a detailed visual how-to for getting an app refund.

As Brian points out, though you have the ability to get … Read more