Kibo a mini companion and communications robot to arrive to the ISS in summer 2013.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Kibo a mini companion and communications robot to arrive to the ISS in summer 2013.

Tomotaka Takahashi's concept sketch of the robot         

A humanoid robot that will be serving as a companion and communications device to Japanese astronauts living in the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” on the International Space Station is expected to be completed by February next year. This was the announcement made by Dentsu, Inc. who is part of the joint effort to make the robot.

 The design and specifications are subject to change.

 The coloring, speech and voices of the two robots (one in space and one on Earth) may differ slightly.

The KIBO ROBOT PROJECT, whose aim is to create a humanoid communication robot that will be a companion for the Japanese astronauts who will be living in the Kibo Experiment Module, was jointly submitted by Dentsu, RCAST and ROBO GARAGE in response to the call last year from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (President: Keiji Tachikawa) for a feasibility study proposal on the theme of solving social issues in the experiment module. The proposal was accepted, and the project team has been working for more than a year on developing a robot that can communicate with the astronauts via autonomous actions and remote operations. The robot will also transmit information from the Kibo module to Earth. In winter 2013 the robot will come face-to-face with Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station, and will take part in the world's first conversation experiment held between a person and a robot in outer space. A second robot with the same specifications will be built to serve as a backup and for demonstration purposes on Earth.

Together with leading engineering companies in Japan, RCAST and ROBO GARAGE have been working on the development of the robot hardware, while Dentsu has been involved in the creation of the conversation content. Toyota Motor Corporation (President: Akio Toyoda; hereinafter "Toyota"), a new addition to the project team, is responsible for the voice recognition and natural language processing functions that comprise the robot's intelligence. Through its participation in this project, Toyota will gather data and collate the accumulated technology that is instrumental to interactive services as well as the development of the "Toyota Partner Robot" that can coexist with people.

The project collaborators hope that the project's activities will disseminate Japan's technological strengths to the international community, and make a contribution to the development of industry and science education.

Dentsu via Gizmag

Press Release:

Humanoid Communication Robot Will Leave Japan

for the International Space Station in Summer 2013

Dentsu Inc. (Tokyo) President & CEO: Tadashi Ishii; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 58,967.1 million yen announced today that the humanoid communication robot being developed under the KIBO ROBOT PROJECT, a joint research project being carried out in collaboration with the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo (Director: Dr. Yoshiaki Nakano; hereinafter “RCAST”) and ROBO GARAGE Co., Ltd. (CEO: Tomotaka Takahashi; hereinafter “ROBO GARAGE”), is expected to be completed in February 2013. In the summer of the same year, it will be sent to the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” in the International Space Station.

The KIBO ROBOT PROJECT, whose aim is to create a humanoid communication robot that will be a companion for the Japanese astronauts who will be living in the Kibo Experiment Module, was jointly submitted by Dentsu, RCAST and ROBO GARAGE in response to the call last year from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (President: Keiji Tachikawa) for a feasibility study proposal on the theme of solving social issues in the experiment module. The proposal was accepted, and the project team has been working for more than a year on developing a robot that can communicate with the astronauts via autonomous actions and remote operations. The robot will also transmit information from the Kibo module to Earth.

In winter 2013 the robot will come face-to-face with Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station, and will take part in the world’s first conversation experiment held between a person and a robot in outer space. A second robot with the same specifications will be built to serve as a backup and for demonstration purposes on Earth.

Together with leading engineering companies in Japan, RCAST and ROBO GARAGE have been working on the development of the robot hardware, while Dentsu has been involved in the creation of the conversation content. Toyota Motor Corporation (President: Akio Toyoda; hereinafter “Toyota”), a new addition to the project team, is responsible for the voice recognition and natural language processing functions that comprise the robot’s intelligence. Through its participation in this project, Toyota will gather data and collate the accumulated technology that is instrumental to interactive services as well as the development of the “Toyota Partner Robot” that can coexist with people.

The project collaborators hope that the project’s activities will disseminate Japan’s technological strengths to the international community, and make a contribution to the development of industry and science education.

Project Team Members:

Dentsu Inc.

Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo

ROBO GARAGE Co., Ltd.

Toyota Motor Corporation

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (cooperation)

Technical Collaboration

Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation

Vstone Co., Ltd.

crossEffect, Inc.

YUKAI Engineering

Futaba Corporation

HOYA Service Corporation

#####

Contact: Shusaku Kannan

Senior Manager

Corporate Communications Division

Telephone: (813) 6216-8042

E-mail: s.kannan@dentsu.co.jp

China: Microsoft`s new smartphone will be launched in 2013.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

 (mock up)

China: Microsoft`s new smartphone will be launched in 2013.

According to Chinatechnews Suning  stores a China company who started to work with Microsoft in 2007 and was its channel in the debut of Windows 7, recieved the visit of Jean-Philippe Courtois, Microsoft's global executive vice president and Microsoft worldwide president, in Suning`s new headquarters in Nanjing and implemented comprehensive talks with Zhang Jindong, chairman of the Chinese consumer electronic retail chain.

The two companies reached an agreement on their comprehensive cooperation over the next few years, and they expressed cooperation intent in various sectors, including e-commerce, product sales, and marketing. 

Based on the agreement, Microsoft's new smartphone, which will be launched in 2013 (before rumors said mid 2013), will be first sold via the retail channels of Suning.

Microsoft said that it will consider Suning as its prior sales channels for these two new products.

In other rumors Foxconn has already secured a manufacturing deal with Microsoft for the Surface phone,

National Geographic: Best of the World: Must see Places for 2013: Quito, Ecuador.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

National Geographic: Best of the World: Must see Places for 2013: Quito, Ecuador.

Adelina Carpenter, representative of National Geographic, talks about the selection of Quito as one of the top destinations. (video above)

They walked through the streets, sometimes under anonymity, shared with his people and were seduced by its charms. 

Back, they wrote about those experiences in the pages of various editions. Until their experiences became the subject of debate in the Publishers table Traveler, specialized travel magazine National Geographic. 

In the end they decided that Quito is one of the world's top 20 destinations to visit in 2013.

The recognition was reflected in a plaque that was given last night at the opening of the XII Sustainable Tourism Exchange. (picture below)

The Mexican Adelina Carpenter, National Geographic representative for Latin America, traveled from the U.S. to the Ecuadorian capital to deliver the award. Councilman Paul Ponce was received on behalf of the council. One of the reasons for the selection, as Carpenter, is that "Quito is an ancient city, but now, with tradition and yet contemporary. (Editors) saw the attention given to the tourist, the condition of the school, etc. ". Traveler's edition highlights a story on the capital. As graphic projects a view of the Plaza de San Francisco. They talk about the architecture of the historic center and attractive. "The editors liked that the city is clean, you can walk with confidence and also cares deeply about sustainability."

Valparaiso, Chile, Marseille in France, Hudson Valley in New York and Granada, and Quito, are among the destinations recommended by Traveler.

The printing of the English edition reaches 715 000 copies, 90% is distributed to U.S. subscribers. Luz Elena Coloma, general manager of the Metropolitan Quito Tourism, believes that "it is a real achievement to Quito visible to some 8.8 million readers, you can read this article on the capital." 

For Norman Bock, chief executive of the Association of Metropolitan Hotels Quito, this name "is a good sign for domestic and foreign tourists show interest in learning about this city." 

Other awards:

The promotion of  Quito will continue at fairs as Anato (Colombia), International Tourism Fair, ITB Berlin, Cultour, etc.

According to Quito Tourism, this year 129 foreign journalists wrote 147 articles about the city in Spain, Germany, UK and USA.  That meant  savings of $ 6,169,328.

Between January and August this year, Quito received 347,895 visitors, up 6% compared to the same period of 2011. For 2013 is expected to increase. On Monday, 26 tourist establishments, especially hotels and restaurants, Quito received the seal of Qualitas Q (synonymous with quality) for the quality of its services.

Source: Diario ELComercio Ecuador

LTE: Brazil: Telefonica to launch LTE services in April 2013.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

LTE: Brazil: Telefonica to launch LTE services in April 2013.

Telefonica’s Brazilian unit plans to launch LTE services in April 2013, according to the CEO of the country’s largest operator.

Outlining the carrier’s aim to upgrade its 3G HSPA network, Paulo Cesar Teixeira told delegates: “We will have 4 cities in April next year and then another 6 nearby cities.” Teixeira said the chosen cities will be those that are scheduled to host World Cup games in 2014.

The LTE service will be branded ‘4G Plus,’ a natural progression from its existing 3G Plus service.

In June this year Telefonica’s Brazilian unit – Vivo – purchased 2x20Mhz chunks of LTE spectrum in the 2.6GHz frequency band. It paid around BRL1.05 billion (US$500 million) for the spectrum. In total the country netted BRL2.72 billion from winnings bids from Vivo, America Movil’s Claro, TIM Brasil and Oi.

Although the largest operator, Vivo may not be first to market with Brazilian LTE services. Number four operator Oi last month outlined plans to achieve 50 percent coverage in seven Brazilian cities also by April 2013.

2013: GPS-enabled cameras to break 10 million units sold.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

2013: GPS-enabled cameras to break 10 million units sold. 

According to ABI Research’s latest Report, “Location Applications for Tablets, eReaders, Digital Cameras & Handheld Gaming,” there will be 10 Million digital cameras sold next year that embed a GPS chipset. 

According to the research firm, “the camera market has huge potential, with geotagging a clear driver. With over 30 GPS-enabled cameras on the market, shipments are expected to break 10 million in 2013, and a second wave of new applications emerging around tracking, Maps/POI, and dead-reckoning.

As an industry, there needs to be a complete overhaul of how cameras are designed, to find a way to leverage the photography revolution occurring on smartphones. ABI Research has forecast that this will open the door to GPS, alternative location, and LBS  (Location Based Services) in future.“

2013: SONY targets to become third smartphone vendor, to sell 50 million units.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

2013: SONY targets to become third smartphone vendor, to sell 50 million units.

Sony Mobile plans to sell 50 million smartphones in 2013 as it looks to increase sales by 50 percent year-on-year, reports Chinese publication Cens.com.

If the company achieves its target it could leapfrog several rivals, including Nokia, to become the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor behind Apple and Samsung.

The company also plans to increase the proportion of smartphones that are produced on an outsourced basis from 30 percent to 35 percent next year, with Taiwan’s Compal, Arima and Foxconn set to receive orders, according to the report.

HP return to smartphones is not planned for 2013.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

HP return to smartphones is not planned for 2013.

Whitman sees a feeble economy and expects to weaken even more during the next year.

It could be 2015 before Hewlett-Packard Co.'s revenue growth begins to accelerate again, according to Whitman. By 2016, she envisions HP's revenue increasing as the same pace as the U.S. economy's overall growth, with earnings rising at a faster clip.

"It is going to take longer to right this ship than any of us would like," Whitman said.

In her shake-up of HP, Whitman has already reshuffled management and started to eliminate 29,000 jobs through employee buyouts, attrition and layoffs. She's trying to trim the company's annual expenses by more than $3 billion.

HP also is reducing the number of different printers that it makes. It is also rolling out a new line of personal computers and tablets running on Windows 8, an overhaul of Microsoft Corp.'s operating system that's designed to appeal to consumers and companies that want more mobile devices with touch-control display screens.

Whitman also is lacing big bets on "cloud computing" - a term that refers to the increasingly popular trend of storing software applications in remote data centers that are accessed over the Internet instead of installing programs on individual machines.

HP also is angling for a bigger piece of the "Big Data" market, a field devoted to helping companies and government agencies navigate through the torrent of information cascading through Internet-connected devices.

Finally, Whitman wants HP to design another smartphone, something it did two years ago after buying Palm Inc. only to scrap the device after a few months on the market. HP's return to the smartphone business isn't planned for next year, though, but will in some time in the future as she said before to fox business news. (video below)

"There are no silver bullets to solve our challenges," Whitman said Wednesday. "We will solve our challenges through consistency of leadership, focus, good blocking and tackling and, most importantly, great products and services delivered in the way that customers want to buy them."

Whitman delivered the disappointing forecast Wednesday at a meeting that the ailing Silicon Valley pioneer held for analysts and investors. The gathering gave Whitman the opportunity to persuade Wall Street that she has come up with a compelling strategy for turning around HP one year after being named CEO.

Investors evidently didn't like what they heard. HP's stock plunged 13 percent after Whitman's presentation, shoving the company's shares to their lowest level in nearly a decade.

AP.

Dell aims to ship 30 million notebooks in 2013.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Dell aims to ship 30 million notebooks in 2013.

Compal Electronics and Wistron have landed Dell's 2013 notebook orders equivalent to 70% and about 30%, respectively, of Dell's total shipments, according Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

The 2013 orders released by Dell to Compal cover almost all enterprise models, while consumer models are shared by Compal and Wistron, the sources indicated. Quanta Computer is among Dell's ODM in 2012, but has not yet landed orders shipments in 2013.

While Dell aims to ship 30 million notebooks in 2013, the goal ambitious based on projections that Dell will ship 20-23 million notebooks in 2012.

Hewlett-Packard is expected to decide its 2013 ODM orders at the end of July, and Quanta may obtain orders accounting for 40-45% the total while Wistron and Inventec are each likely to land orders for 20% of the total.

Comic-Con2012: Man of Steel, first look.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Comic-Con2012: Man of Steel, first look.

Man of Steel (original title)

Action | Adventure | Fantasy  -   14 June 2013 (USA)

A child sent to Earth from a dying planet is adopted by a couple in rural Kansas. Posing as a journalist, he uses his extraordinary powers to protect his new home from an insidious evil.

Director: 

Zack Snyder

Writers: 

David S. Goyer (screenplay), David S. Goyer(story), and 3 more credits »

Stars:

 Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe and Amy Adams

Director Zack Snyder and "Man of Steel" star Henry Cavill promised to reinvent Superman for a modern generation.

"We certainly respect the history," Snyder told 6,000 screaming fans at Saturday's Comic Con panel. "But I kind of felt like Superman needed to be reintroduced to a new generation," Snyder said. "He's always been like this Boy Scout on top of a mountain and you can't really touch him."

"I just wanted to bring Superman into the modern world," Cavill added. "Hopefully I bring a version that everyone can relate to."

Snyder screened the first-ever footage from the film, which premiers next June.

The trailer opens on the Kent family farm in Kansas with nostalgic shots of an overturned child's toy wagon and what appears to be a young Clark Kent running through the yard with a homemade red cape on his back.

The voice of Russell Crowe, who plays Superman's father Jor El, narrates the opening moments. "What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than society intended?" Crowe asks. "What if he aspired to be something greater?"

The footage then cuts to a grown up Clark Kent dressed in street clothes, walking alone along a snow-covered road, carrying a backpack.

The trailer clip then returns to footage of a young Clark lifting a school bus that has fallen off of a bridge into the water. The voice of a woman says off-screen, "My son was in the bus. He saw what Clark did," as a young Clark is seen lifting the bus from the water.

The trailer then moves to inside a barn on the Kent farm, where the spacecraft Superman traveled in from Krypton is hidden. As the ship is revealed, an image of an infant Superman, floating in the air is seen.

Photo by Warner Bros

Kevin Costner, who plays Kent's earthly father, says, "It's not from this world Clark and neither are you."

"You have to decide what kind of man you want to be," he continues, "Whether his

character is good or bad, he's going to change the world."

As Costner speaks, footage of a now-grown Superman is shown, as he flies through the sky with a sonic boom behind in his wake.

Cavill then narrates how his father felt the world wasn't ready for Superman and we see footage of Superman being escorted by the military.

Next, Superman is seen flying to engage what appears to be the film's main villain, General Zod (originally played by Terrence Stamp in "Superman II").

There is also a brief scene of Crowe back on Krypton, wearing a grey superman costume and preparing to send a baby Superman off to Earth from the dying planet of Krypton.

"We had to act as if no films had been made," Snyder said when asked if "Man of Steel" references any of the earlier Superman films. "This is the first Superman movie in our heads. We couldn't steal from any of the other films."

Cavill said he based his inspiration on the Superman character from two modern comic book storylines, rather than on any of the previous cinematic portrayals.

"Primarily, 'The Death of Superman.' and 'The Return,'" Cavill said. "Beyond that, 'Red Son," an alternate Superman storyline which imagines what would of become of the character had landed in the Soviet Union rather than fictional Smallville, Kansas.

Snyder refused to answer directly when asked if Zod is in fact in the film. But he all but gave away the secret, smiling broadly when asked, and saying, "Everyone in the film has to be relatable. If it were him [Zod], just in theory, he'd have to be super relatable."

Snyder was also asked if the Superman reboot was part of a larger planned effort to launch a "Justice League" film that could eventually compete with Marvel's "Avengers" film.

"We know that Superman is the jewel of the DC universe and we want to first get his house in order," Snyder said. "Beyond that, we'll see."

Yahoo Movies.

Is HP`s Todd Bradley hinting webOS tablets on the HP`s tablets roadmap?

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Is HP`s Todd Bradley hinting  webOS tablets on the HP`s tablets roadmap?

In a recent  Q&A  session made at the HP Global Influencer Summit 2012, held over two days in Shanghai last week, the first question asked of Mr Todd Bradley, head of HP's newly merged Personal and Printing Systems (PPS) Group, was about tablets, he dropped hints that there may be more to its tablet strategy that the world has yet to see.

"That's not to say that (our stated strategy) is forever. I think it's clear that the market's evolved, the market's changed," he said. "I think when we announce the roadmap for tablets you'll see a very compelling solution set that the tablet becomes part of."

HP's senior vice-president for the Asia-Pacific region for the PPS group, Mr Dion Wiesler  echoed Todd Bradley saying:

"I think what we've learned about tablet devices are that they benefit from three key things. Always on, always connected, thin and light, long battery life,"

Sounds like a webos tablet on HP`s roadmap . After all we take HP`s CEO Meg Whitman word :

 HP wanted to clarify that Whitman said HP could make WebOS-powered tablets in 2013.

While we know that HP is ceasing development of WebOS in phones, it’s interesting that the company is continuing to bet on the OS in tablets, said techcrunch.

With respect to whether HP can be a consumer and an enterprise company, Whitman believes that the company can continue to do both and says that the company’s current strength is that it is able to be successful in both product areas. “If you ask any guy on the street about what HP is known for, it would be computers,” she says, in an interview made  by techcrunch

In April 5,2012 we wrote about this related news:

India: HP we continue to study the tablet market. A new webOS tablet ?

The probability of a new webOS tablet  for early 2013 is high. The Stingray,OPal, or Topaz or.........webOS tablet perhaps?

Note: The code names Stingray, Opal and Topaz were before found  for webOS devices in 2011 and we are just guessing these names here.

Source: todayonline