The little robot should be able to recognize nearly anything now. When shown an object, EMIEW 2 can take a picture and do an online search for similar images. It also has a new network of cameras that are positioned throughout the office space, and with these, EMIEW 2 can locate specific objects and guide humans to them. The robot also turns much more smoothly than before, without having to slow down.

Of course, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see this guy in our homes, but maybe one day we will have a similar bot for household use. Hopefully it will do all of our housework (and maybe our jobs) for us.

For what this robot probably cost to produce, I would be willing to do the same job for half the price. And quicker too.

[via Plastic Pals]

So if you’re feeling East Bound and Down, or just into retro geekery, you might want to skip that hard drive purchase and check this out. It’s a 1:18 die-cast metal scale model (almost a foot long) of a 1979 Trans Am, modded to cram a USB hard drive inside. It comes complete with gold and silver WS6 snowflake rims and is the only Pontiac I know of that can store files. Inside, it has a Hitachi 500GB hard drive, which isn’t huge by today’s standards, but should be plenty for most of us. And besides, you’re only going to use this thing to impress the ladies, right?

The 1979 Trans Am hard drive comes courtesy of  Etsy seller Coast2CoastDeals. It’s a one-of-a-kind ride and will set you back $275 (USD) if you’re ready to evade some smokeys with style. Mustache sold separately.

The 4TB hard drives will be part of Hitachi’s G-RAID and G-DRIVE lineup of external drives. Their perforated, all-aluminum cases look pretty nice. Matching the look of the Mac Pro tower, these drives are clearly targeted at Apple users. All models will come with Thunderbolt support, while PC users will have to be content with eSATA and USB 2.0 (sorry, no USB 3.0).

The drives will start shipping in October. Other hard drive makers will certainly release their own 4TB drives in the near future as well.

Here’s the interface in action. It’s still in development, hence the delay in response, but it does work:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

What I can’t understand is why Hitachi is planning on incorporating this on desktop PCs and even TVs by the middle of next year. No doubt, gesture-based technology is useful in some instances, but does it really have a place in everyday usage? Will our lives be more awesome if we could wave our hands in front of our PCs just to view pictures and zoom in on maps? Have I just become too old to appreciate new technology? What the hell is going on?!

[via Akihabara News]

This ‘bot is actually kind of amazing since it can scoot around on uneven ground, including bumps up to ½ an inch. It can also distinguish different human voices and speak with people. Its top speed is around 4mph and it’s about 3 feet tall. The little guy weighs 30 lbs, so you should be able to take him in a fight.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It looks so cute right now, but we all know that in the coming robot apocalypse, these things will take over and become our masters.

[via Crunchgear]

By using advanced facial recognition technology, the monitor can tell when your eyes are on the TV screen, and keeps it turned on only when you’re actually watching. Jump to the 45 second mark on the video below to see an early prototype of the technology in action (or watch the whole thing to see some other cool Hitachi display tech from the CEATEC show)…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Both Hitachi and Sony have been working on versions of the system, so maybe that lends it some added creedence. I’m just not sure how much power this will really save, especially now that more and more TVs are moving to LED backlighting, but I suppose every little bit helps. I also think I’d turn off this setting the minute I got up to the kitchen and tried to watch my TV from the other side of the room during the football game.

[via BBC News and Engadget]

There’s more: [re]Drive’s packaging is made of either recycled or recyclable material. And that “naturally grown” bit? Hitachi – or SimpleTech – really means that they grow their own bamboo. That’s one less thing that they have to transport, which means less fossil fuels consumed, which means less air pollution.

And there’s a bit more, but I’m tired. Go read the rest of it if you want. But if you’re already sold on the [re]Drive, head on to Amazon and get one for $84 (USD). Let’s hope bamboo doesn’t become scarce because of these environment-friendly electronics companies and their bamboo-encased gadgets.

The new biometric system can measure the unique signature of the blood vessels in your fingers to authenticate transactions. Once you register your “vein signature” with your credit card company, your vascular pattern is the key to unlocking your funds.

Hitachi plans on starting to test their Finger Vein Technology in real world applications this Fall, using 200 of their employees. They’ll be able to purchase items at the company’s corporate shops and cafeteria using the new payment tech.

All in all, the premise of payment authentication systems which don’t rely on simple numbers and key codes seems like a really good idea to me. I’d have to think it would be a lot harder to copy someone’s blood vessels than their credit card number.

[via NikkeiNet via Pink Tentacle]

Hopes are that the combination of these new high resolution screens with high-speed data services such as HSPDA will allow for better web browsing and streaming media experiences on mobile phones. The display also features a wide 170-degree viewing angle, which is better than most. I can’t wait to see the first phone with one of these in it.

[via TechOn!]