Honda has unveiled its second experimental walking assist device that helps support bodyweight. It helps reduce the load on the user's legs while walking, going up and down stairs, and in a semi-crouching position. Honda claims the device is designed for people who are still capable of walking on their own.

The product has a relatively simple structure consisting of seat, frame, and shoes, and the user can put it on by simply wearing the shoes and lifting the seat into position. The structure to position the device between the user's legs minimizes the required footprint, therefore making it easier for them to maneuver.

Honda says the walking assistant offers a natural walking experience, which is achieved by changing the amount of assisting force applied to the right and left legs through the control of two motors based on the information obtained though sensors in the shoes of the device.

The company has been doing research on walking-assisted devices since 1999. Honda developed the knowledge required to develop the walking assist device from its thorough study of human walking represented by the research and development of Honda's advanced humanoid robot, ASIMO. Honda will now begin testing the device in real-world conditions to evaluate its effectiveness.

Link: Honda

Cygnett has unveiled GrooveNeo dock, an iPod accessory that works as a speaker system and alarm clock. With GrroveNeo, you can wake up to your favourite iPod tracks, AM/FM radio or buzzer

It features large format digital time displays and touch-sensitive keys for easy programming and operation. The dual 2.75” full-range speakers bring power & energy to every track on your playlist with real-time bass response. The easy dock & play system charges your iPod while it plays.

A full-function remote is also provided to control both your iPod and GrooveNeo. The GrooveNeo dock is available now for $90.

Link: Cygnett

 QNAP Security today launched the new 5-bay, standalone network video surveillance recording system VioStor-5020 NVR for SMB and enterprise users. Designed to meet the high security demand of the business market, the VioStor-5020 NVR combines a number of industry-leading features, e.g. 20-channel real-time recording (Full D1/VGA), five hotswappable SATA drives (up to 7.5 TB for long term recording), dual Giga LAN, and advanced RAID configurations.

The VioStor-5020 NVR is a Linux-embedded system powered by Intel 1.6GHz CPU and 1GB DDRII memory. It supports 20-channel M-JPEG/ MPEG4 recording, megapixel (up to 8 megapixels) recording from Axis, Panasonic, Canon, Sony, Sanyo, D-Link, Arecont, Mobotix, IQeye, GANZ, Vivotek, ACTi, Toshiba and LevelOne IP-based security cameras. The NVR works as a standalone system that no PC or extra software utility are required.

According to Jacky Cheng, Senior Product Manager from QNAP, "The VioStor-5020 NVR is an all-in-one network surveillance system with the most diversified monitoring, recording, and playback features." The complete recording functions of the NVR include schedule recording, alarm recording, alarm recording schedule, motion-detection recording, pre-alarm, and post-alarm recordings. In the live monitoring, different display modes, easy drag and drop function, smart control of PTZ cameras, alarm notification, digital zoom, real-time snapshot, and E-map are supported. Other powerful functions include multi-channel playback at different speed, easy data search by date & time and alarm event, digital zoom, and video snapshot etc. All these functions can be performed through the web-based GUI by the IE browser. "Our NVR realizes true boundless surveillance. The users can simply set up the network cameras and our NVR system for remote monitoring and recording anytime, anywhere over the Internet."

The VioStor-5020 NVR enables secure recording data protection with advanced RAID protection by RAID 0/ 1/ 5/ 5 + Spare/ 6/ JBOD, online RAID capacity expansion and online RAID level migration. Moreover, dual Gigabit LAN ports are provided for network failover, load-balancing, and standalone configurations for efficient data transfer over the network. The VioStor-5020 NVR also supports powerful authority management, host access control, error logging system. The users can set up the surveillance system in a few minutes by Touch-N-Go LCD panel configuration or 6-step web-based installation. The VioStor-5020 NVR is undoubtedly an ideal end-to-end network surveillance system for system integrators, SMB, and enterprise users.

Saitek has unveiled the Eclipse III Backlit Multimedia Keyboard, a sleek backlit keyboard featuring touch-sensitive lighting and volume controls, and ergonomically placed shortcut keys.

The new Eclipse III Backlit Multimedia Keyboard features adjustable, multi color backlighting highlight key controls. The touch-sensitive control panel lets users change settings quickly and easily. Color and keyboard settings remain even after system reboot.

The two stage height adjustment and removable wrist rest increase user comfort. Offering laser-etched, soft touch, durable keys, the USB plug and play device includes pass through headphone and microphone audio ports for simple connectivity.

The pricing for the new Eclipse III Backlit Multimedia Keyboard has not unveiled yet by Saitek.

Link: Saitek

The U.S. government issued on Thursday a recall of 35,000 Sony batteries and the Tokyo-based company said it would recall a further 65,000 batteries worldwide.

Sony Corp said five PC makers including Hewlett-Packard Co and Toshiba Corp will recall 100,000 computer battery packs made by the Japanese electronics maker due to a fire hazard. The recall affects around 74,000 notebook PCs sold by HP and 14,400 from Toshiba. The faulty batteries are also used in laptop PCs from Dell Inc, Acer Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd, Sony said.

PC makers have reported 40 cases of overheating, including four cases where users suffered minor burns and 21 cases of minor damage from fires and overheating, a Sony spokeswoman said.

Sony blamed the faulty batteries on factory changes dating back up to four years, which it believes may have affected the quality of some battery cells. Other incidents of overheating may have involved a problem with raw materials, the company said.

Consumers have been advised to immediately remove the recalled battery from their notebook computer, and contact their computer manufacturer to determine if their battery is included in the recall and to request a free replacement battery. Consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives.

Link: Reuters

Qik, the live mobile video streaming platform, has announced alpha support for Blackberry devices from Research In Motion (RIM), including Blackberry Pearl and BlackBerry Bold.

Qik's free service allows users to stream video live to the Internet in just two clicks from their mobile phone. Those watching the videos on the Web can take part in live interactive chat with the person broadcasting.

"We are excited to bring our lifestyle technology to the millions of Blackberry users worldwide," said Ramu Sunkara, co-founder and CEO of Qik. "In our quest to bring mobile live video sharing to the masses, we now support the broadest range of platforms including Symbian, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Java-enabled mass market phones."

Qik is initially launching in alpha on the following handsets running Blackberry Operating System 4.5 and above. Owners of the above devices can get Qik by registering at http://qik.com/. Support for these devices is expected to enter beta in the coming weeks, and support for additional BlackBerry handsets is expected soon after.

Microsoft has announced Windows Azure, the cloud-based service foundation underlying its Azure Services Platform. The Azure Services Platform is an industry-leading move by Microsoft to help developers build the next generation of applications that will span from the cloud to the enterprise datacenter and deliver compelling new experiences across the PC, Web and phone.

The cloud-computing architecture allows companies to create software and services that can be accessed from centralized data centers. The primary storage, computing, and networking tools would be hosted in Microsoft's data centers.

The Azure Services Platform will bring together several of the company's developer services including SQL, .NET, Live, SharePoint, and Dynamics CRM. Applications can be created using the .NET framework, Visual Studio, or other technologies and open source standards such as Eclipse, Ruby, PHP, Python, XML, HTTP, representational state transfer (REST), and Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub).

Microsoft claims its Azure Fabric Controller technology is designed to distribute the workload evenly across servers, while instantly rerouting work in the event of a failure.

Link: Electronista

If you want to bring Blu-ray capability to your laptop or desktop computer, this latest offering from Amex Digital is just right for you.Hong Kong-based AMEX Digital on Thursday announced the release of a slim Blu-ray drive for Mac computers (also works with PCs).

The Portable Blu-ray Super Multi Drive supports on the Quiet Drive Technology reduces the noise level of audio and video playback while also delivering increased writing reliability.

Other features include Liquid Crystal Tilt/Blur Compensator that plays and records to discs more reliably. Dual/Double Layer recording provides nearly twice the capacity of a single layer recordable Blu-ray-R.

You can get this Super Multi Drive in black and white versions for $289.

Link: SlashGear

If you had been looking for something that could make sure your teenagers are safe while they drive, your prayers have been answered. Ford is introducing an innovative new technology, called MyKey, designed to help parents encourage their teen-agers to drive safer and more fuel efficiently, and increase safety-belt usage.

MyKey allows owners to program a key that can limit the vehicle’s top speed and audio volume. MyKey also provides earlier low-fuel warnings and can be programmed to sound chimes at 45, 55 and 65 miles per hour.

MyKey lets parents limit their car's top driving speed to 80 miles per hour and cut off the stereo's volume at just 44% of its max output.

With MyKey, the Beltminder chime continues at the regular interval and the audio system is muted until the safety belt is buckled. It also makes it impossible to disable some of the usual safety measures like Park Aid and Cross Traffic Alert.

MyKey is appealing to parents of teen drivers, including 75 percent who like the speed-limiting feature, 72 percent who like the more insistent safety-belt reminder, and 63 percent who like the audio limit feature, according to a recent Harris Interactive Survey conducted for Ford.

Ford’s MyKey debuts next year as standard equipment on the 2010 Focus coupe and will quickly become standard on many other Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.

Link: Ford

Nero and TiVo have announced the unveiling of Nero LiquidTV/ TiVo PC. This new offering revolutionizes the way consumers experience television by offering an enhanced TiVo DVR experience directly from the PC. Now the TiVo experience can be enjoyed on the PC, including TiVo features like WishList searches, Season Pass recordings, TiVo KidZone, and TiVo Suggestions.

With Nero LiquidTV, consumers can watch and pause live TV on their desktop, record their favorite shows directly to their hard drive or transfer shows between computers throughout the home. They can also enjoy their favorite shows on-the-go by exporting them to iPod, PSP, or burning them to DVD.

Nero LiquidTV with one year of TiVo service will be available in Oct. 2008 with a suggested retail price of $199 USD for a retail box (containing a tuner card, TiVo remote control and IR blaster) or $99 USD for a downloadable software-only version.

Link: Nero