Japan Style

Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi on Wednesday installed a robotic arm outside the country’s Kibo laboratory module on the International Space Station, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said. Working together with NASA astronaut Timothy Creamer, the 44-year-old Noguchi opened the air lock for the first time, brought out the 2.2 meter-long arm into a space and attached it at the tip of a longer, 10-meter arm. The installation of the smaller arm is aimed at allowing astronauts to engage in more delicate operations, including fixing problems with experimental devices, from inside the space station.

Hitachi Ltd, NEC Corp and Casio Computer Co said Friday the launch of their merger on mobile handset operation will be delayed by about one month beyond it's original schedule in April. The three companies agreed in September to integrate their mobile phone operation in April this year by forming a new joint venture to boost their global competitiveness amid a saturated domestic market. But in joint statement issued Friday, Hitachi, NEC and Casio Computer said they put off the launch of their venture called NEC Casio Mobile Communications Ltd to lessen the impact on their businesses due to imminent delays in overseas antitrust screening procedures. NEC Casio Mobile Communications will be formed by merging NEC's mobile phone business with Casio Hitachi Mobile Communication Co, and existing venture firm founded by Casio and Hitachi in 2004.

Terrible winter in Niigata, Japan produces an abundance of snow, whic can cause problem for resident especially parents are faced with the tedious task of cleaning the street. To do it, now proudly present Yuki-taro ^_^, an automatic snowplow robot developed by a team of researchers from five organization in Niigata area. Yuki-taro measures that appear friendly 160 x 95 x 75 cm and weight 400 kg. Equipped with GPS and a pair of Video cameras embedded in the eye, which guides the robot itself is looking for snow and swallowed into the huge mouth. Part of Yuki-taro consist of a system to compact the snow into hard bricks measuring 60 x 30 x 15 cm, which Yuki-taro expelled from the rear. These bricl can then be tacked and stored until summer, and can be used as an alternative cooling source.

If you needed an added incentive to forego that taxi ride home of a brisk stroll, this should do the trick. In Addition to logging distance walked and calories burned, this pedometer from Happinet Toys also tells you how much money you're saving by striking out on foot rathet than hailing a cab. Dyed in the wool pedants will particularly enjoy the "roykin up" function, which counts down the final 50 paces before your hypothetical fare rises again. Bening tight fisted never felt so good.
Available for 2,079 yen at major electronics store, Amazon Japan and other retailers


source : JT Taxi Walker

Nokia corp said Tuesday it axing 220 jobs at research and development units in Japan as the world's largest mobile maker continues to cut costs.
Last week it announced 330 job cuts in finland and Denmark at is R&D operation that globaly employ 17,000 workers.
Nokia said it will continue "significant sourcing activities" in japan. "Japanese manufactures are importent partners who play a critical role Nokia's global supply chain strategy and with whom Nokia continues to develop its world-class logistic operation," the Finish company said.
The cuts will not affect Japanese operation of Nokia Siemens Networks, the company's network infrastructure sector, not Vertu, Nokia's Luxury handset line, the company said. Nokia employs 123,350 people worldwide. Last year, it sold 468 million handset, up 7 % on 2007.