Bandai robot keeps eye on your home

I, robot: Bandai's robot designers must be fans of the iconic sci-fi movie "Forbidden Planet." While Sony has forsaken its line of Aibo robot dogs, it solidified the spirit that Japanese robots should have a high cuteness factor.

Bandai's NetTransorWeb robot

Bandai's newest robot, the NetTansorWeb, looks to draw its inspiration from Robby, the robot costar of the aforementioned movie. Robby was distinctive in appearance but certainly not cute. His appeal rested on having a quirky personality and the ability to serve his human masters. The NetTansorWeb is intended to be a hard worker rather than a mechanized companion.

The robot's main purpose is to serve as a surveillance device. It has a built-in camera and it can be remotely controlled via a computer through its Wi-Fi connection. Moreover, it is equipped with sensors that allow it avoid obstacles as it moves around your home. It can keep its owner informed of what is going on by sending reports to a computer or mobile phone.

The robot can also aid your blogging efforts. It can monitor the comments section of your blog and automatically respond to requests, such as somebody asking for an image on your blog to be reuploaded. Unveiled at the recent Robot Japan 2008 event, Bandai's new creation will reach the market in December and will cost about ¥50,000.

In truth, the blog-related capabilities appear to be a gimmick. Its real appeal rests on its surveillance functions and in that regard it looks like a capable device, but not for extended periods: The battery delivers power for less than three hours.

www.roboken.channel.or.jp/nettansorweb/

Go for the record: Vinyl is not dead, just on life support. Fortunately for those who still cling to records, electronics maker Denon isn't quite ready to pull the plug.

Denon DP200USB

Denon's new DP200USB is not intended to replace your old turntable but rather to transfer your records to a digital format. Simply dust off your circles of vinyl, put them on the DP200USB's platter, set the speed, plug in a digital-storage device via USB and hit play. The turntable automatically converts the tracks on the record into MP3 files and copies them to the connected storage device. Just about any digital device that can be connected via USB and is able to record can be used with the Denon to preserve your music in digital form. The turntable has two speed settings, 33 1/3 and 45 rpm, catering to most of the vinyl still in existence.

Denon is deservedly acclaimed for its quality audio products, and the DP200USB no doubt shares that heritage.

Clearly this is a niche device for those who still have a music collection from another time. The DP200USB will cost ¥31,500 when it's released in November.

denon.jp

Writing on the run: Pity the makers of pens and paper — surely they trade on borrowed time. While the general trend is to use computers and smart portable devices for writing, there is still some diversity.

Stationery maker King Jim is reaching out to a more mobile crowd with its ultraportable Pomera DM10 gadget, which is to be released Nov. 10.

King Jim's Pomera DM10

In essence, the DM10 is a fold-up keyboard attached to a 4-inch VGA display into which you can type your text. It can store up to about 48,000 characters in its internal memory and has a microSD card slot, supporting cards of up to 2 gigabytes in size. The main selling points for the DM10 are its extreme portability and superb battery life.

Folded up, the device is about the size of a paperback novel and weighs 370 grams, making it fine for carrying in a suit pocket and distinctly lighter and smaller than even the midget netbooks now gaining popularity. It can run for about 20 hours on each battery charge, giving it a serious advantage over a laptop, which is typically gasping for power after just a few hours. The unit also has a USB port for connecting to a laptop, so its contents can be easily transferred. Its PC-link compatibility chart lists only the Windows Vista and XP operating systems.

On first assessment, the Pomera DM10 looks rather superfluous, and a pricey indulgence at ¥27,300. But for serious note-takers, it could be ideal.

www.kingjim.co.jp/