HAL Work Robots, LED QR, Web Geography: The Headlines in Tokyo for Dec. 12

Christian Crisostomo — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 10:22:20 +0000

Here is the daily roundup from Japanese consumer tech and tech business websites for Dec. 12, 2014.

Obayashi further tests new HAL exoskeletal robots

Major Japanese construction company Obayashi Corporation will be conducting further testing of Cyberdyne’s newest HAL exoskeletal robots in actual applications. The work load will be increased two-fold, as part of the company’s campaign to promote its updated features.

Officially introduced last month, the new industry assistant-type HAL exoskeletal robots are specifically designed as augmentation tools, to provide extra lifting power to workers. Obayashi Corporation has already introduced the new HAL robot to a considerable number of construction sites for quite some time, and had proven its practicality in many applications. This time, the company plans to prove its practicality even further by doubling the workload given to its users, promoting the exoskeletal robot as a possible industry standard tool.

Panasonic extends light scanning technology to smartphones

Panasonic (TYO:6752) has developed its LED-based light scanning technology for mobile devices, soon enabling smartphones to read specific LED blinking signs to download data and provide other functions.

First developed way back in 2012, Panasonic’s visible light communication system was conceptualized as a new method of transferring minute information from one device to another. The version developed for mobile devices uses the same principle, having a function not too different from QR codes, but is designed to be more convenient. The LED signs will act as “Hikari IDs” (light IDs), transmitting data from as far as a few meters away, and sending it at speeds comparable to standard wireless technologies.

Panasonic expects the technology to become commercially available in 2016.

Fujitsu showcases new geographic analyzer tool

Fujitsu Labs has recently presented to the public its new open data analysis tool, which is made to analyze and provide comprehensive visual data of any geographical spot within Japan.

Named as the EvaCva, the tool is capable of using retrieving various web data about any geographical spot in Japan, presenting it in a visual easy-to-understand form. It can check for different aspects about the area, regardless of whether the data required is meteorological, environmental, economical, social, industry-based, or purely geographical. The visual charts and graphs that the analyzer tool will automatically generate would give the user a more or less accurate representation of anything that a specific area may have.

The EvaCva geographical analysis tool will be available as a web application sometime around the end of 2015.

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New PS4, Fujitsu RFID, IBM service: The Headlines in Tokyo for Dec. 4

Christian Crisostomo — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 03:46:23 +0000

Here is the daily roundup from Japanese consumer tech and tech business websites for Dec. 4, 2014.

Sony celebrates PS 20th anniversary with new PS4 model

Sony Computer Entertainment, in celebration for the Playstation console’s 20th anniversary, has just released a special exclusive version of the Playstation 4. Named as the “PS4 20th Anniversary version”, it was released locally in Japan with a retail price that is equivalent to $417.00.

Sporting its “original grey” finish, the motif of the special anniversary version was modeled after the very first Playstation game console, which was first released last 1994. There are a total of about 12,300 20th Anniversary version units currently available worldwide, and a few of them will be raffled for potential buyers at the Sony Store starting today until the 10th of December.

Fujitsu develops easily attachable RFID

Fujitsu Labs announces its development of a new RFID, one that can be easily used on ID cards and wearable devices.

RFID tags are already usually compact and portable. However, they are not thin enough to be easily affixed on wearable objects, such as ID’s, metal objects, and wearable tech. Fujitsu labs solved this problem by using a looped structure of thin plastic, that allows stable transmission of radio waves from within 2 meters around the RFID’s wearer. The new RFID still remains completely functional whilst worn, having the flexibility to be instantly attached to just about anything.

Fujitsu Labs plans to implement the new RFID technology on a number of applications that involve item management, identification, and access control.

IBM launches Dynamic Cloud Security service in Japan

IBM Japan had just opened its recently launched Dynamic Cloud Security service to the Land of the Rising Sun, with the company initiating the service’s systematization as an official business solution starting today.

Recently unveiled to the west about a month ago, IBM’s Dynamic Cloud Security offers the industry’s first “intelligent security portfolio for protecting people, data, and applications in the cloud”. Basically, this service offers protection to a business’ most important software and data using a data analytics derived from various networks. This new security-based business solution is designed to optimize cloud services in general, thriving on Big Blue’s already well established web-based infrastructure.

For Japan’s interweb environment, IBM expects that the new service should bolster Japan’s steadily growing cloud-based business industries, as well as opening the country to better and more advanced internet-based security solutions.

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