japan

We've all known people who, let's face it, have a bit of a pong, and not the cool video game kind. The trouble is that no one wants to be the impolite person who lets them know about it. Well, two companies in Japan have designed a pair of robots that do it for you.

The robots, designed by robot manufacturer CrazyLabo in collaboration with the Kitakyushu National College of Technology, are in the shape of a girl's head and a rather lumpy-looking dog, and they can detect the aromas emanating from your breath and your socks, respectively.

The girl, called "Kaori-chan" (which means perfume or fragrance), analyzes a person's breath when they exhale into her open mouth (ew). A commercially available odor sensor quantifies the components on the breath and give it a rating on a scale of one to four: … Read more

What do you get the kid who has it all? A robot mecha suit wouldn't hurt.

Japan's Sakakibara Kikai has a new crushworthy robot exoskeleton that would turn a few heads at school.

The bright green Kid's Walker Cyclops is an 800-pound, 7-foot-tall drivable mecha suit with a cockpit and moving arms.

The front of the machine opens to become a ladder to the cockpit. As seen in the vid below, one hand has a hook to grapple foes and the other has a power drill to smite obstacles. … Read more

A Japan-based report indicates that production of at least one key component for the next iPhone will begin next month.

Sharp will begin volume production in June of the display "panel" for the "next" iPhone model at its Kameyama plant in Mie prefecture, according to a report in Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, a major Japanese industrial newspaper.

Sharp's Kameyama plant has not been operating at anywhere near full capacity but production of the next iPhone's display is expected to bring the plant to "full production," the report said.

The specifications for next iPhone … Read more

Ever thought about putting a cat on top of a giant piece of sushi and taking a picture? No? Yeah, us neither. Japanese company Tange & Nakimushi Peanuts, however, has a very different mindset, and the result is what you see here.

Besides selling pictures (and there are plenty) of the sushi-fied cats, there's also a mobile app available for iOS and Android smartphones. Unfortunately, these prints are only available in Japan, though the app is free to download. … Read more

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer took a minute during Tuesday's earnings conference call to cite Apple's success in Japan -- an important metric in a country where national brands were once invincible.

"In Japan, IDC Japan announced that iPhone gained the number one position for all of calendar year 2012, as well as for calendar Q4 2012 in both handsets and smartphones," Oppenheimer said.

He continued. "This is also the first time a non-Japanese company has achieved the No. 1 spot for an entire year...In addition, Apple was ranked No. 1 in Nikkei'… Read more

Would you be more willing to buy a tablet if it had a slick sci-fi promo video? How about something that mixes "The Matrix" with Apple's iconic "1984" Macintosh ad?

That seems to be what Japanese app developer Ubiquitous Entertainment iss shooting for with a series of eerie, dystopian videos titled "Brave New World" that introduce EnchantMoon, a stylus-operated tablet that lets you easily create HTML5 games and apps without programming code. … Read more

There are many gestural interfaces under development, but our fingers remain one of the most useful tools we have. Fujitsu's FingerLink lets your fingers control a scanner and projector for printed information, acting as a bridge between digital and analog tech.

The prototype uses off-the-shelf cameras and projectors. Fujitsu's image-processing software links the two.

It can accurately detect where your fingers are as you touch or swipe any printed matter, letting you copy text or images and project them elsewhere. The size of projected images can similarly be adjusted with a fingertip. … Read more

If you long for high-tech eyewear but can't afford, or wait, for Google Glass, these Japanese glasses let you record in HD for less than $100.

Mitamanma Megane from Japan's Thanko hide the camera in the frame and only cost 8,890 yen ($91). That's cheaper than similar products like Pivothead video glasses, which go for around $300. … Read more

You take a seat. The lights go dark. Tony Stark struts across the screen. What's that smell? It's Eau de Iron Man! That's what I imagine the experience will be like when "Iron Man 3" debuts in 4DX in Japan this year. The 4DX format aims for a more interactive experience than just sitting in your seat, passively absorbing a movie through your eyes and ears.

The 4DX format adds odd gadgets to the theater setting, such us tilting seats, bubble makers on the ceiling, fog, wind, strobe lighting, and odor effects (Smell-O-Vision!). It's like some mad scientist got ahold of a Regal cinema and went nuts customizing it. Naturally, 4DX theaters have to be specially equipped to handle all the extras.… Read more