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Japanese airline's robots could let the elderly 'travel' from home
If your inability to travel prevents you from embarking on a dream vacation, a robot might one day stand in your place. Japan's All Nippon Airways has unveiled plans to deploy 1,000 "Newme" telepresence robots as surrogates for people whose health prevents them from traveling far. It could attend a big game in your place or go shopping on your behalf, ANA said.
JAXA plans to send robot avatars with human-like hands to space
JAXA unveiled the Avatar X project in early September, revealing its plans to send humanoid machines controlled by human operators to space. Now, Japanese robotics company Meltin has announced that it has teamed up with JAXA and ANA to start the full-scale development of its MELTANT-α cyborg technology for the initiative. MELTANT-α was designed with hands that are about as strong and as fast as real ones -- they're also equipped with haptics to make them as human-like as possible. It's the perfect candidate for a project that intends to use remote-controlled humanoid machines to conduct experiments, to repair space stations and to build human settlements, among many other things.
Xprize enlists sci-fi authors and filmmakers to map our future
Science fiction has been instrumental in creating the future from the very beginning. Real-life manipulator hands, originally created for the nuclear industry, were named after Robert Heinlein's short story, "Waldo." It makes a lot of sense, then, that when the Xprize program partnered with All Nippon Airlines (ANA) to "imagine a bold vision of the future," it would look to celebrated science fiction novelists, writers, filmmakers, producers and screenwriters. The collaboration has produced the Science Fiction Council, a group comprised of high-octane sci-fi storytellers from nine countries, including luminaries like Margaret Atwood, Cory Doctorow, Andy Weir, Charles Stross, Ernest Cline and Nancy Kress.
The new 'Overwatch' hero is causing all kinds of trouble
Online shooter Overwatch is dominating the conversation surrounding video games lately, but not for the reasons developer/publisher Blizzard probably wants. First with the good news: healing sniper Ana is finally available for PC players. And, well, that's where the favorable bits end. Ana's appearance has caused some problems both on PlayStation 4 and PC.
Boeing 787 review: ANA's Dreamliner flies across Japan, we join for the ride
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is not the largest plane in the world. Nor is it the fastest. It doesn't have on-board showers or full-size beds, nor can it lay claim to the greatest range or sleekest entertainment system in the air. But it will change the way we fly for decades to come. Boeing's latest commercial airliner is several feet wider and longer than the 767, the company's smallest wide-body (twin-aisle) jet, yet it's 20 percent more fuel efficient. Given that fuel is the single greatest operating cost for any airline, savings of that magnitude could return the industry to profitability, and perhaps even usher in lower airfares for passengers. But while the 787's efficiency makes it an attractive option for airlines, it also serves up a more comfortable ride for passengers. We recently had a chance to fly on a domestic round trip between Tokyo and Okayama in Japan aboard an All Nippon Airways (ANA) Dreamliner -- one of the first two ever delivered. Quieter engines, dimmable windows, LED lights, huge overhead bins, an in-flight bar and on-demand entertainment enhance comfort, even during shorter flights, while higher humidity, a greater internal pressurization level and a gust alleviation system to reduce the effects of turbulence help improve the experience behind the scenes. Care to take a ride? Jump past the break to join us on board Boeing's brand new Dreamliner. %Gallery-141809%
ANA's Boeing 787 Dreamliner touches down after first international flight (video)
All Nippon Airways' Boeing 787 Dreamliner marked the end of its first international flight today, touching down in Hong Kong. The dreamy flying machine took off from Tokyo and arrived to what looks like quite the crowd, including some folks from Engadget Chinese, who were on-hand at Hong Kong International Airport to snap the 787 from every angle and grab some video of the pilots discussing the aircraft. Check that out after the break.%Gallery-137588%
Boeing officially delivers 787 Dreamliner to ANA, future of air travel finally arrives
It's the plane so nice, they unveiled it twice. Boeing once again presented its long-awaited and much-delayed 787 Dreamliner to client All Nippon Airways, but this time the goods were officially delivered. After taking the wraps off the airliner early this August, the aerospace company managed to get a flight-ready unit over to its Everett, Washington production plant for a celebratory hand-off. Despite a fit of stops and starts for the line's rollout, Boeing expects to meet ANA's order of its future 55-strong fleet, producing an additional 20 craft for the Japanese airline by 2013's end. If you want to be among the select few to call "First!," you might want to consider booking that Japan-bound vacation now.
Boeing presents first Dreamliner 787 to ANA, flights start in September
After years of delays, hacker vulnerabilities, and technical hiccups, Boeing is finally reaching the finish line -- the 787 Dreamliner is ready. The first of the firm's fantasy flyers was presented to executives of All Nippon Airways this week, scoring ANA a dreamy new jet that promises to increase fuel efficiency by 20 percent when compared to similarly sized birds. The 787 owes its fuel savings (and selling point) to a primary structure comprised of 50 percent composite materials by weight; the much larger A380 sits pretty at 25 percent composite, for comparison's sake. Despite the official presentation, the inaugural Dreamliner is still just shy of actual delivery, requiring a few more test flights before beginning domestic service (in Japan) this September.
ANA's Gundam Jet embarks on maiden voyage (video)
In case you weren't already aware, the island nation of Japan regards the thirtieth anniversary of their imaginary anime robot warriors as kind of a big deal, and so it seems fitting that they'd deck out a similarly gigantic flying object to match: the Boeing 777. All Nippon Airways (ANA) decked out the plus-size 777-300 model with full-size Gundam decals on either side, and the jumbojet made its first Tokyo-Osaka trip this weekend after a thorough photo shoot by reporters. We'd advise you to watch the skilled pilots take off and land after the break, but we'll warn you that you're in for mild disappointment -- at no point does a giant beam-saber-wielding robot burst out of the aluminum alloy frame.
All Nippon Airways giving away DS trivia game
All Nippon Airways are no strangers to the world of bizarre Nintendo tie-ins. But ANA Original Gotouchi Kentei DS (Local Trivia DS) is a special kind of weird: an updated ANA-themed version of developer Spike's (non)game about Japan trivia. The original version covered writing, geography, and other concepts in order to test players' knowledge of their home country. We have no idea what the new ANA version will be about-- airline history? Identifying famous places in Japan based on aerial photos? Airplane safety procedures?What we do know is how unlikely any of us are to see it. Only 3,000 copies are being produced, and they're being given away to ANA travelers along with DS Lites. So it's either flying the friendly skies or traversing the murky waters of eBay.[Via Famitsu]
Microsoft shows off Ana, says no HD DVD in Xbox 360... ever
Microsoft recently had the guys from Ars Technica over to show how the Xbox 360 compares to the PlayStation 3 on one of Sony's own 1080p Bravias, and of course didn't find much difference except in cases where scaling came into play. They looked at the 360's hardware scaler, Ana, which means while it may lack the advanced digital A/V output of the PS3, it will allow every HDTV owner to play games in HD resolutions over component or VGA. Also of note was their response to questions about possibly putting an HD DVD drive in the console, the answer was a firm no, and even referred to the company's own format of choice as a potential "next Betamax". The lack of HDMI may be resolved soon, but with the high def war still very much in flux don't look for Microsoft to put all of its eggs in the HD DVD basket just yet.
Zephyr's HDMI port and new HANA scaler: up close and personal
Alright, so you've had due time to squabble over Microsoft's reasoning for apparently readying an Xbox 360 v2 -- supposedly prepared with a 65-nanometer CPU, 120GB hard drive, and an 1080p-pumpin' HDMI port -- and now XboxScene has dug up photos of what appears to be a prototype board sporting the coveted new HDMI port as well as a new "HANA" scaler. The materials on the PCB certainly seem to match up with what we saw yesterday, and moreover, the direct comparison shot between the current model's (presumably analog only) "ANA" scaler and the forthcoming version's "HANA" model adds a bit more consistency to the whole story. Indeed, if the current machine's scaler can't even output digital 1080p signals, it certainly helps to explain the missing HDMI cable that one would've thought went hand-in-hand with all this HD DVD hoopla Microsoft has got itself into. So be sure and hit the read link for a few more high-res shots, and click on through for the YouTube proof -- oh yes, there's a video.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Meet Ana, the Xbox 360 hardware scaler
How did Microsoft dodge the scaling issue that has plagued Sony since its launch? Maybe it was the timing -- an HD console in a Standard Def world -- or perhaps it was Ana, the affectionate title for Xbox 360's hardware scaler. Whereas the PlayStation 3 downscales to meet resolution, Ana upscales Xbox 360 titles to 1080p to impressive results, according to Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera. Speaking with Microsoft's Scott Henson, Kuchera learns that Ana was designed at the same time as Xenos, the console's GPU. Though the addition of a PS3 hardware scaler is possible in the future, Xbox Group Product Marketing Manager Aaron Greenberg opines that it would be difficult for Sony to fix the issue with software, leaving first-generation PS3 owners in the cold.However, the truth is, as Kuchera notes, differences between the two console's graphics are minimal to nonexistent. "By [the time PS3 has second-generation titles] we'll have Halo 3," Henson said. "We'll be on the third–generation games. We hope to always be a little bit ahead." When will Sony pull ahead of the Xbox 360, graphically, and to what extent is Ana Microsoft's secret weapon in keeping up?See Also: The second Xbox 360 (with HDMI): introducing "Zephyr" [Thanks, Theo1130; image inspiration]
Scaling, head start keys to 360 strategy [update 1]
Recently Microsoft has been wrangling journalists into testing both a 360 and a PS3 side by side, hoping to convince them that the PS3 isn't everything Sony cracked it up to be. Their most recent victim was Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera. Invited to a room with both systems hooked up to a 1080p TV (a Sony Bravia no less), Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg and Scott Henson welcomed his questions. Naturally, they deflected many of them -- those concerning bigger hard drives and microtransaction issues -- but that's what they are trained to do. They're like PR Jedi that way. After testing several games and a hi def movie, Ben gives the slight edge to Microsoft's box. The primary reasoning for this is Ana, the 360's internal scaler chip. Sony's console lacks a scaler, meaning that native 720p PS3 games cannot run in 1080p (it might also be why PS2 games look like crap on the PS3). This gives the 360 an advantage, particularly in multiplatform games and high definition movie playback. Kuchera notes, however, that it's unfair to compare 2nd generation games like Gears of War to PS3 launch titles like Resistance. Henson counters, saying that this is in fact part of Microsoft's strategy. In essence, the 360 will always be a software development cycle ahead of the PS3. For example, 2nd gen PS3 titles like, say, MGS4 will have to compete with 3rd gen 360 titles like Halo 3. It's an interesting argument, because from a consumer's standpoint, "fairness" never enters into the picture. The consumer can only compare what's available right now, making Resistance vs. Gears a perfectly valid test -- if you buy Henson's explanation anyway.In the end, it might not even matter if the 360 can be proven demonstrably better than the PS3. As long as it appears at least level with the PS3 in terms of performance, it may become increasingly difficult for the average consumer to justify the difference in cost. Whatever your feelings on the console war, the article makes for an interesting read. Hit the read link to check it out.[Via Xbox-Scene]Update: Corrected Ben Kuchera's name.
