This is the third article I have written on this topic recently and it seems like everyone is jumping on the robot bandwagon.  Robots, which have been popular in Japan for years, are making a major leap over the Pacific and landing on store shelves across America. Indeed, everyone from Disney to Sony to Hasbro is piling on to capture an emerging market that is taking many forms.

One of the real hot areas of robot exploitation is combining music with animatronics. I wrote about Sony’s Rolly, the egg-shaped robot capable of choreography.  Why listen to music when there is so much more entertainment potential available?  That seems to be the premise behind Tiger Electronics and Hasbro’s A.M.P.; hot on the heels of Rolly.  A.M.P. stands for Automated Music Personality.

SEGA Toys in Japan is part of the team distributing this new robot with it’s big introduction and demonstration occurring at the Tokyo Toy Show over the next couple of days. (June 19-22)

The 29″ tall robot can use any MP3 player as it’s motivation to start moving. The maker claims that this robot has ‘attitude’, which should make it popular with a lot of consumers. The AMP robot features Dynamic Balancing Technology, which allows the robot to balance ‘in a manner that seems to defy gravity’.  Can you say ‘Segway’.

Music comes from a 5″ mid-range speaker and two high output tweeters. The option of bass boost is available by touching the boost button. While the A.M.P. bot looks like a waiter holding a couple of plates, it actually has user-controlled touch-pads at the end of each arm.  Use the left touch pad to add music effects and the right touch pad to control the audio.

With the release of the Disney-PIXAR movie WALL-E on June 27th, movie-goers will once again be focused on robots. The release of A.M.P. in the U.S. in October will find anxious consumers willing to pay the estimated $500 retail price.

Watch for A.M.P. bot at select retailers. With 12 watts of stereo sound, 49 LED lights that blink to the music and an infrared  tracking system, A.M.P. will be a rolling, dancing fun-bot for those ready for some entertainment. Choose his Dance, Track, Drive modes to keep him moving or put him in Park and just chill. A.M.P.’s unique gyro technology keeps him upright while moving, and when in Park, he deploys his kickstand to keep from falling.  Who ever said that your music just has to sit there?

On June 10th, HP introduced 16 new notebook models designed with new materials and software features at their ‘Connecting Your World’ event. The consumer models feature the sleek new liquid-metallic HP Imprint 2 surface design.  The HP Elitebook business series notebooks feature a durable, aircraft-inspired look.

The new HP Pavilion notebook consumer-focused notebooks have the innovative HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection feature which detects when the notebook has been dropped, and during the fall, automatically stops the hard drive from spinning, helping to prevent the loss of files and data.

Buyers of the consumer series also have the option of a high-speed eSATA interface for backing up data to external storage drives. Accessories for the new notebooks include the HP xb4 Notebook Media Docking Station and HP Bluetooth(R) Stereo Headphones with active noise cancellation.

For the working professional on the go, the new Elitebook series notebooks include a protective coating of anodized aluminum on the palm-rest surface that is six times more scratch-resistant than that used in previous notebooks. EliteBook also includes HP QuickLook 2 software. HP has set a goal to remove any mercury from their notebook screens in the next two years.  Mercury is commonly found in notebook screens and florescent style light bulbs.

For the busy business person on the go, a new product for the iPhone makes keeping a schedule easy and convenient. RemindYou by Make Your Day Media is an application for the Apple iPhone that helps users keep appointments and review their schedules.

When an iPhone user unlocks their iPhone, the default earth view image is replaced with a view of their RemindYou schedule. The application syncs with iCal, Outlook, or Entourage so that the user gets a lock screen schedule, that is up to date, every time they use their iPhone. Time management just got easier.

In my last posting, I talked about the iPhone’s new GPS capabilities. Now you can keep track of your schedule and location all at once. This is the perfect tool for the salesperson or executive on the go.

The RemindYou application can show over a dozen appointments up to six weeks away.  It can be set up in a 24 hour format and uses little battery power. Make Your Day Media offers a free 14 day trial of the RemindYou app. 

Make Your Day Media foresees additional software development for the iPhone that will enhance the iPhone’s utilitarian capabilities.

The next version of the popular iPhone is only a day away.  The new phone is expected to have additional features produced by third-party vendors.  It is also expected to take advantage of advanced GPS and have 3G capabilities. So much speculating, but the original version was so good and this one is improved. The possibilities are endless.

The smart phone concept has come a long way and the 2nd generation iPhone aims to please. Speculation is that the new version will have a top connection speed of 7.2 MB/s.  Window’s Media content is rumored to be supported in this version also. Some anticipate longer battery life. Just think how long you could surf the Internet.

Some have speculated that the new iPhone will be slightly thicker than the original. My experience with 2nd gen products is that the opposite is true.  We will see.

The regular great features are there, like touching a name or number in your address book or call log to dail,  Choose to listen to voicemails just as you do your e-mails, in no particular order. Synch your address book/phone book from your PC or Mac with your iPhone. No prob.

Check movie schedules or train schedules. Choose from 600 web apps. You can use your iPhone with most e-mail standards and take it with you around the world.

Skyworks is believed to be the manufacturer of three new chipsets for the new iPhone.                                                                                 1st generation iPhone

There are also rumors with this next iPhone that pricing may be even more attractive with AT&T offering to offset the cost with commitment to a longer service plan. Just another day and we will know speculation from reality.

It’s all about security these days when important personal information resides on your computer hard drive.  Short of sticking your computer in a safe, there are easier means to achieving a ‘hardware’ solution to locking your personal information down. That’s where the Edgetech Corp. DiskGO Guardian comes in.

The DiskGo Guardian exceeds government standards for encryption by utilizing mandatory 256-bit AES hardware encryption. The flash drive comes encased in a very tough anodized-aluminum housing.  It can stand up to the wear and tear of the elements according to it’s manufacturer.

The Guardian requires the use of a complex password and will erase data after eight failed password attempts.  It includes an unencrypted area for storing contact information in case it is lost.  The Guardian features very fast read/write speeds.

One interesting fact about the manufacturer is that the founder, Jeff Thompson, started the company when he was only 14 with money saved from his paper-route.  That was twenty-two years ago.  Now that’s what I call an American success story.

Okay, I’m beginning to realize that we really have moved into the age of robots. It was one thing to watch the robot on Lost in Space back in the sixties and laugh at the moving can with flexi-arms.  Now things are real.
I mean, look at the progression of robot products in the consumer market. 

It began with robots that would vacuum your carpet and mow you lawn. We then began to see advanced animatronics coming out of Japan that were really like the robots we saw in science fiction movies.  Now, in the fall, we will see the WALL-E robot hit the store shelves in conjunction with the release of the Disney movie of the same name. But it doesn’t end there; check out Rolly from Sony.

Your MP3’s were never like this before.  An egg-shaped robot that moves to your music.

Rolly is a more sophisticated device than one might expect upon first appearance. It is amazing to watch, with it’s moving end caps (that move like arms) and the lights and precise movements. But it allows it’s owner to program it’s choreography to exacting routines. It’s really a fully programmable music player.

Using the Rolly Choreographer software, the user can create their own choreography for their favorite songs and preview the results on their PC, or the software will create the moves automatically. The personalized routine can then be uploaded to the Rolly Go forum to share with others.  This is the creative angle that will create a niche following for Rolly.  As an example of artificial intelligence, the Rolly is an interesting advance.

Rolly became available to the buying public in Japan last Fall.  My guess is that Americans will fall into two schools of thought on this product; you love it or you hate it.   There is no doubt that the Japanese really like their robots.  Just check out Youtube. (btw, there are some good Rolly videos on Youtube as well).  Look at the Rolly ‘big brother’ , Miuro that has been available in Japan since 2006.  It doesn’t even have the flapping arms, but it moves to the music also.  Those attributes seem to make people in Japan laugh and can produce some level of amusement.

The price might take you back. The current suggested retail price is $399.00, which is what you can buy it for at SONY Style stores.  Since I see this product as being a hit with teens, I think SONY may need to rethink their pricing model. There is no doubt that some sophisticated electronics exist in the Rolly, but what’s new about that?

The Nintendo Wii Fit hit the U.S. market on May 19th.  The electronic exercise device has already sold 2 million copies in Japan. It includes the Wii Balance Board, a sophisticated platform that has the ability to sense weight and shifts in balance and in movement.

The Wii Balance Board connects to the Wii console through a wireless connection.  The Balance Board allows the user to engage in up to 40 different exercises including yoga, aerobics, strength training and balance. 

The device features virtual trainers that egg-on the user. The Wii Fit even tracks users’ progress, which lets people see how they have improved while challenging them to better their scores and stay motivated to keep going.

Wii Fit should prove to be a great solution to get gamers off the couch and enjoying the game-like approach to fitness. It should also prove to be a great introduction to Wii for non-gamers who are just interested in exercise. What could be better than bringing interactive entertainment to getting fit.

Displays have become such an integral part of our culture and society that there is an organization devoted to just their ‘research, design, manufacturing, applications, marketing and sales’.

The Society for Information Display holds an annual event that draws thousands.  Six thousand display professionals will be among those in attendance at the SID Symposium, Seminar, and Exposition May 18-23 in Los Angeles. According to a SID press release, some of this years exhibitors will include:

Samsung Electronics , who will display an 82″ TV panel, which is the largest commercial LCD TV in the world, ultra-slim 40″ and 52″ panels less than 10mm thick and a white e-board (electronic blackboard for corporate and institutional applications), which will feature ultra-high resolution (4K*2K) and a 120Hz driver and embedded touch sensors.

Epson is debuting its new OLED display systems capable of producing the “Ultimate Black”.  It is black that holds the key to overall image quality.  Epson has succeeded in lengthening the life of the display system to more than 50,000 hours through the creation of their own original element structure.

Microvision will display their new pocket-sized laser projector which is enabled by their novel PicoP™ display  module.  The new miniature projectors make use of Microvision’s MEMS single scanning mirror technology which does not require a lens, so it is focus-free.  The tiny mirror will steer a beam of light precisely to project an image for use with automotive heads-up displays, cell phones and lap tops.

LG Display will show their 15″ TFT-LCD made by an All Layer Roll Printing Process and a 6″ oval TFT-LCD, and a 1.4″ round TFT-LCD for small and medium displays. Displays come in many shapes these days apparently.

Display technology has to keep up with the increasing demand for miniature displays and large displays in any number of devices. The technology continues to advance with new applications and structures unveiled at shows like the SID Symposium and many more in the pipeline.

A glimpse into the future perhaps? It’s hard to talk about the future when you’re talking about technology. The future usually refers to a month from now. So is the case with laser applications. What was once science-fiction is finding new applications every day.

QPC lasers is introducing their BrightLase(R) Red-Green-Blue “RGB” laser for use in high resolution miniature projectors.  Why a miniature projector you ask?  With the tiny screens on many portable consumer devices; Internet browsing, games and video sharing can be difficult. The miniature projector solves that problem.

The new lasers are expected to find their way into PDAs, games, laptops, automobiles, and aircraft.  The RGB laser is designed to be compatible with the leading micro-display technologies.

It seems like yesterday that we were witnessing lasers used as the weapon of choice in Sci-fi flicks. Then we graduated to laser pointers. Now lasers will expand beyond CD players to yet another useful application. 

Have you ever seen an ebook such as the Amazon Kindle or SONY Reader. I bought my wife the SONY product two or three years ago and was fascinated by the readability of its screen.  The text was very clear and as easy to read as a good paper book.  The SONY ebook uses the same E Ink Vizplex technology that is now available in a number of other applications.

Consumer electronics, PC-accessories, display smartcards, capacity indicators, electronic shelf labels, signage and communications applications are all potential uses for the E Ink display cells, which provide visual information in a paper-thin product.

Delphi recently had a key fob designed using the E Ink technology.  The wireless, bi-directional key fob offers car-to-user and user-to-car communication over an extremely long range.

A variety of  shapes are possible, including holes, curves, and other non-standard designs. The segmented display cell provides a viewable angle of nearly 180 degrees.  It can also be viewed under a variety of lighting conditions from direct sun to low-level ambient light.  The displays can be made down to a thinness of 330 microns.  The display will withstand a wide range of temperatures also. 

Watch for these tiny displays to become more commonplace in the future.