Panasonic officially unveiled its plasma 3D TVs in the UK this week, choosing London’s historic Air Studios to showcase the technology. Speaking at the event, Keith Evans, Managing Director of Panasonic UK, explained how much the company was behind 3D in the home. “In this industry, we get used to innovation. But sometimes new technology comes along which is epoch making – Full HD 3D is it.” Once again, Panasonic re-iterated why the company is best prepared for 3D, with Evans explaining: “We are the only brand that has expertise to be required for every part of the 3D [...]

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Showing us that the future of robot design in Japan may draw inspiration from 50s era American sci-fi, designer Noboru Tsubaki recently showed off his 43-foot tall “Mother Night” balloon sculpture in Tokyo. Tsubaki, a professor in the space design department of Kyoto University of Art and Design, outfitted the sculpture with screens that change in reaction to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by visitors. The work was on display during this week’s Roppongi Art Night in Tokyo, a festival showing off the works of various artists dedicated to design innovation. Via Roppongi [...]

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Japanese developer Shift has recently announced its new Wii quiz title called And Kensaku. Siliconera’s translation of the official Nintendo of Japan site, reveals that the title is designed as a family game which features a simple quiz in which players guess which term has more hits on Google. Popular search term wins You can also choose popular search terms to make characters run faster in a race, or try to avoid choosing unpopular search terms in a good old game of hot potato. The game has 10,000 search terms on the disc, and more can be downloaded through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. [...]

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Eco-campaigners at Greenpeace have criticised the idea of an internet ‘cloud’ – with data centres built by the likes of Facebook, Apple, Google and others still largely powered by coal. Greenpeace releases a new report this week that notes how a Facebook facility being built in Oregon will rely on a coal-fuelled power station, while Apple is building a new data warehouse in a North Carolina region that also relies mostly on coal. “The last thing we need is for more cloud infrastructure to be built in places where it increases demand for dirty coal-fired power,” said [...]

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Nintendo Japan may have shot itself in the foot with regards to the newly launched Nintendo DSi XL, with slow sales uptake being blamed on the imminent launch of the new Nintendo 3DS at E3 in June. M2 Research analyst Billy Pigeon claims that the Japanese announcement of the 3DS – which was made weeks before the DSi XL was launched in the US – will stop gamers investing in the XL model and cause them to wait until the 3DS arrives later in 2010 or early 2011. Leaks forced hand “Apparently, the Japanese press was all over it and talked with suppliers there and Nintendo just wanted to get [...]

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Do you get bored stiff waiting the two minutes it takes to pop your microwave popcorn? Well, what it you could watch YouTube classics like David After Dentist or Charlie Bit My Finger while waiting for your food? That’s the thinking behind the CastOven, a microwave with a 10.4 inch screen where the window would normally be. Created by researchers at Keio University in Japan, the CastOven runs Adobe Air to pull videos from your Internet connection, and is smart enough to choose a video that fits into the cooking time you’ve programmed. I just hope you can program it to ignore all Fred [...]

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Wired, wireless you name it: USB-based solutions through to powerline options, there’s a networking solution for everyone available. In this article we’ll look at just how fast Gigabit LAN can get, whether you can stream HD movies over powerline gear and just what difference a Wireless-N connection could make to your existng network. It’s time to discover whether you should upgrade… Maybe you’re running an ageing Wireless-G network or perhaps you’ve got Gigabit onboard, but are wondering if it’s worth investing in a new switch or router to take full advantage [...]

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We’ve seen creepy dental practice ‘bots from Japan before, though this one gives us the heebie-jeebies even more than the last one. Called “Hanako,” the robot is a collaboration between the experts at Tmsuk and several Japanese universities, and is designed to simulate a patient’s response to questions and dental work. Hanako will respond when greeted and asked several questions, and will react to the dental student working on its mouth. She can open and close her mouth when ordered, perform random actions such as a sneeze and even discharge saliva. Touch sensors [...]

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Following recent concerns that Microsoft’s Project Natal motion control technology would require an extra large play-space in your lounge, the company has issued a response to assure gamers that the tech will work fine in any given space. TechRadar reported earlier that a Microsoft rep had commented on how Natal would require at least 13 feet of free space in order to work properly, sparking concern in Britain and Japan because very few of us actually have that amount of space in our living quarters! Little lounges compatible Techflash was the source of the reports, with the Microsoft rep [...]

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Nintendo has unveiled plans for its next handheld entertainment system, which features no-glasses 3D and bears the venerable DS pedigree. A brief press releases states that Japan can expect the “3DS,” as it’s being called, sometime in March of 2011. The announcement for the new handheld lands on top of the impending release for Nintendo’s other new DS, the DSi XL, which is a larger DS due out March 28th. “[Nintendo] will launch ‘Nintendo 3DS’ (temp) during the fiscal year ending March 2011, on which games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the need [...]

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