Nissan announced Thursday [press release in English] that it has developed robots that are able to move in a group without colliding into each other. Much like a school of fish, the so-called Eporo can also avoid obstacles standing in their way safely. Nissan claims this is the first time the world sees robots that are able to show group behavior.

The company doesn’t necessarily plan to commercialize the cute little robots themselves but aims at employing the underlying technology in their future vehicles. Obviously, the experience gained in the process of designing the Eporo could be used for vehicles that could communicate with each other to avoid collisions. Another potential side effect, according to Nissan, would be that the technology could reduce the number of traffic congestions in the future.

Nissan presented the BR23C robot car, Eporo’s first version, back in September 2008. The general public will be able to see a group of six Eporos next week during the CEATEC 2009 that will take place just outside Tokyo.

Panasonic has been toying with the idea of bringing 3D TVs to our homes for quite a while now, and today the company announced they will be showcasing a 50-inch full HD plasma TV [press release in English] that’s capable of producing high-quality 3D pictures. End consumers will have the chance to test the TV out during next week’s CEATEC 2009.

Panasonic says the TV is the result of tests they did with a 103-inch 3D TV prototype presented last year (it’s pictured above). The company also says it went for 50 inches because it expects this size to be the standard for TV screens in homes. You’ll need to get a Blu-ray player and discs that support the 3D format though. And shutter glasses are a must.

The 3D TVs from Panasonic will hit stores in the US, Europe and Japan as early as next year.

After unveiling the first 16 GB microSDHC memory card back in October 2008, Toshiba today announced the world’s first 64GB SDXC memory card, which also boasts the fastest data transfer rate out there. The card has a top write speed of 35Mbps and a read speed of 60Mbps, enough for handling a 2.4GB video file in 70 seconds.

Toshiba plans to ship the first samples of the new card to OEM partners in November, followed by general sales starting sometime in spring 2010. In theory, an SDXC memory card (a next-generation SD card) is even able to store 2TB (SDHC maxes out at 32GB).

Around that time, the company also aims at launching a new SDHC cards, a 16GB and a 32GB model. Both versions feature a write speed of 35Mbps and a read speed of 60Mbps. They are expected to go on sale in spring 2010.

The futuristic OLED bracelet has a 4-inch display with a 100ppi resolution/QVGA (320 x RGB x 240 pixels), shows 1.67 million colors and features a luminance of 100cd/m². Weighing 8g, the panel is just 0.3mm thick (as thin as an OLED screen Sony showed last year). This is certainly a cool prototype (just like Samsung’s much larger and thinner “flapping display”), but it’s just a prototype and it seems we have to wait a few more years before we can lay our hands on large-sized OLEDs.

Via Tech-On

They say two channels of “full HD,” which says 1080p to me.

Remember, they’re up against this:

Anybody would be scared. But Panasonic makes good cameras, and if they can mate the versatility and established workflow of the VariCam with a good 3D system, they may just become a standard. Of course, they’ll need more than a mockup, so maybe we’ll see it at next year’s NAB. They’re serious about 3D — most of their CES press conference was about it — so I think we’ll be hearing a lot more about this soon.

Here’s the whole press release:

PANASONIC TO START DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PROFESSIONAL 3D PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Industry’s First System to Support Efficient Production of 3D Full HD Content

LAS VEGAS, NV (April 19, 2009) — Panasonic Corporation, a world leader in High Definition technology, today announced it will start developing a professional 3D Full HD production system. The system, which is expected to be the first of its kind in the industry, consists of a twin-lens P2 professional camera recorder and a 3D-compatible High Definition Plasma display. Panasonic will exhibit concept models of the 3D system at its booth (Central Hall #3712) at NAB 2009 to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 20, 2009.

Panasonic is exhibiting a conceptual model of a 3D Full HD Camera Recorder at the 2009 NAB Show where it announced it would start development of a 3D Full HD Production System.

With Hollywood studios moving towards creation of more 3D entertainment content, Panasonic successfully debuted the world’s first 3D Full HD Plasma Home Theater System based on Plasma display and Blu-ray Disc technologies at the CEATEC trade show in Japan in September 2008. More recently, the company also established the Advanced Authoring Center within Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory in February 2009 to support Hollywood studios in developing 3D Full HD Blu-ray Disc titles.

Production of 3D movies requires a great deal of time and effort. With the new 3D production system, which can enable an easier and more efficient 3D production process and environment, Panasonic will contribute to accelerating the realization of easier high-quality 3D content production.

At present, 3D content producers have to hand-build their own 3D production systems by physically connecting multiple 2D production devices. Panasonic is now starting to work on developing a twin-lens, 3D camera system. Also, Panasonic’s Plasma displays have been used in many post-production facilities in Hollywood, thanks to their high-quality imaging performance, which has been endorsed by leading Hollywood professionals. Technologies and expertise obtained from their use in post-production has enabled Panasonic to further develop high-quality 3D viewing performance in its Plasma technologies. As a result of this process, Panasonic’s 3D Plasma display system will help 3D content producers to quickly and easily evaluate the image quality of 3D content.

Each component of Panasonic’s innovative 3D Full HD production system has unique features. The twin-lens P2 camera recorder enables the capturing of natural and high-quality live 3D images. Thanks to the non-mechanical solid-state construction of the P2 system, the camera recorder will be compact enough to allow more flexible 3D shooting, thereby maximizing the creativity of the filmmakers by eliminating the stress factor from the use of the equipment.

3D Full HD recording using Panasonic’s proprietary P2 system also enables recording of two channels of Full HD images on the P2 card. P2’s non-mechanical construction and compactness will also be incorporated into the company’s 3D image recording and editing equipment to make production in the field highly flexible and efficient.

Panasonic’s 3D Drive System enables the display of Full HD moving pictures for the left and the right eyes, so large screen 3D viewing will become possible. The excellent moving picture performance and accurate color reproduction characteristics achieved by Plasma’s self-illuminating technology enables the realization of high-quality 3D image evaluation capabilities required in the professional content production field

“Panasonic is continuing its efforts to enable consumers to enjoy 3D movies in the comfort of their own living rooms with its 3D Full HD Plasma Home Theater System, which incorporates a Plasma HDTV and a Blu-ray Disc player,” said Dr. Paul Liao, Chief Technology Officer of Panasonic Corporation of North America. “The professional 3D Full HD image production system we are going to develop will improve the 3D production environment and accelerate creation of 3D titles.”

[via Gizmodo]

Japan’s biggest newspaper, the Nikkei, is reporting that Toshiba is finally ready to roll out portable fuel cells for the mass market (as of this writing, Toshiba’s Japanese website doesn’t have any information on this yet). The company even announced a fuel-cell powered cell phone in October last year, but it doesn’t seem likely we get to see that handset by the end of this month (as promised by Toshiba).

Toshiba is the world’s first company that mass-produces fuel cells. Starting next month, a factory in Yokohama will turn out fuell cells that are based on methanol and can be used to charge cell phones or notebooks.

The fuel cells will cost between $100 and a whopping $500 at first, but Toshiba expects these prices to drop significantly after ramping up output. Toshiba mobile phones and notebooks with built-in fuel cells are now announced for the next fiscal year, which ends March 2010.

By fiscal 2015, the company expects to rake in $1 billion in sales of fuel cell-based products.

Via Nikkei [registration required, paid subscription]

Mini fuel cells are a hot topic in the electronics industry as a whole, and companies such as Hitachi, Panasonic and Toshiba showed a number of promising products that are soon to be commercialized. Now Sony follows with a (hybrid) fuel cell system that is sized at just 50×30mm.

The system consists of a fuel cell, which uses methanol as fuel, and a Li-polymer secondary battery. Users can view 14 hours of digital TV on a cell phone with just 10ml of methanol.

Sony claims the prototype features a maximum output of 3W and says it will be mass-produced for use in mobile devices in the future.

Via Tech-On

Sony’s razor-thin OLED display (thickness: 0.3mm) was one of the most spectacular products of the CEATEC 2008 exhibition that took place just outside of Tokyo last month. Now Samsung, after having the tech world impressed with its “flapping OLED display”, showcased a similar device during the FPD International 2008 in Tokyo.

Samsung’s 15 million-color display boasts a screen size of 6.5 inches and a resolution of 480×272. The company said it didn’t use conventional glass for the substrate and decided to go for low-temperature polysilicon TFT for the drive element.

Via Tech-On

Sony unveiled a spectacular OLED display (curved, 0.3mm thin) at the CEATEC 2008 exhibition earlier this month, only to be followed by a product from Samsung, which the company calls “flapping display”.

The Samsung display is just 0.05mm thin (yes, that’s millimeters) and currently being showcased at the FPD International 2008 in Tokyo. According to the company, the 4-inch panel could even be made thinner (even though its thickness already comes close to that of paper). The display features a contrast ratio of 100,000:1, a luminance of 200cd/m² and 480 × 272 resolution.

Via Tech-On

Panasonic Electric Works today released sales information on its 3D motion detector [JP] that was first presented to the general public during the CEATEC 2008 exhibition (held in Chiba/Japan three weeks ago). Panasonic claims its product is the world’s first of its kind that works in direct sunlight.

The company is planning to sell the detector to video game and robot makers, surveillance equipment manufacturers and advertisement companies.

The device, which measures 150mm×60mm×80mm (weight: 740g), has a detection range of one to five meters. It emits light from several dozen LEDs and can track movements of any object in 3D via CCD sensors. The device features an angle of view of 50° horizontally and 36° vertically.

Panasonic plans to sell the detector from next April for $10,000, targeting sales of 100,000 units per year by 2011. The company will sell the devices worldwide.

Deccan Herald via WMExperts

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KDDI au is not only Japan’s second biggest cell phone carrier but also famous for its KDDI Design Project. And while their exhibition in the KDDI Design Studio in Tokyo was disappointing, the company made a strong showing at this year’s CEATEC.

See the coolest cell phone designs below. KDDI has been running this design project for years now and actually started mass-producing some models, for example the so-called INFOBAR.

The pictures below show design prototypes KDDI manufactured in cooperation with Yamaha:

Japan’s biggest cell phone carrier NTT Docomo had one of the coolest booths at this year’s CEATEC (which ended last Saturday), showcasing a lot of spectacular new stuff.

These are their cell phone concepts, some of which even might make it to the mass market one day. Watch a video of their microprojector cell-phone hybrid here and a see this post for more information on their cell phone/car key prototype made for Nissan (both are not pictured here).

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Asked if and and when the device will be commercialized I received the usual answer: “Maybe in a few years, maybe never.”

Murata’s Little Seiko was not only the coolest robot of this year’s CEATEC (that ended Saturday) but one of the biggest fan favorites overall. But as the CEATEC is a Japanese exhibition, there was a number of other companies that showcased robots.

The video above shows Fujitsu’s Enon robot in action. Enon is a service robot that serves multiple purposes: surveillance, transportation, customer interaction, information terminal etc. It’s really cool.

I took the video below at Business Design Laboratory’s booth. Their Mechadroid Type C3 is meant to one day replace human receptionists and features face recognition technology and a touch panel display that enables people to request information.

Mechadroid Type C3 doesn’t have legs but he can talk.

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Video being shot live is transmitted using the camcorder’s IPTV server capability. It compresses the video into H.264 format in real time and delivers it via a wireless LAN. With an IPTV reception capability compatible with the “acTVila” specification, Hitachi’s TVs can receive the video signals.

Now you can monitor the fridge in high def! No one’s going to sneak those premium pickles now. [via HardOCP]