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Video: Taizo the robot teaches grandpa how to stretch, so you don't have to
You know, maybe we were wrong-headed to keep harping on this 'evil robot' meme. Sure, there are some no-goodniks in the robot community (as opposed to the robotics community, which we assure you is full of hard-working, well-meaning people) but look at all the good robots have done for us: they build our cars, serve us hot drinks, teach our young children, and now they help our oldsters with the physical therapy. Taizo, pictured here, is a delightful chap with a bulbous visage and a fun, plushy space suit who stands just over 24-inches tall and weighs 15.5 pounds. Operating for about two hours on a single charge, the robot is designed to lead low-impact group exercise (mostly while sitting down) and features voice recognition and a library of thirty different exercises. With 26 joints in its body, it's a flexible fellow, for sure. We just hope that no one weaponizes the thing. Video after the break. [Via Engadget German]
ClarityLife C900 caters to old people, pwns the Jitterbug
There are phones for the geriatric set, and then there's the ClarityLife C900. This mobile makes no bones about what it is -- a dead simple candybar that's meant to easily place / receive calls and give owners access to an impossible-to-miss red emergency button. It also boasts large buttons for easy dialing, a large backlit screen with humongous text, a fierce vibrating ringer, inbuilt flashlight and a speaker that's "twice as loud" as an ordinary cellphone. Ironically, there's two full paragraphs explaining how to actually get a SIM card from your preferred carrier, so there's still a learning curve to overcome. At least Clarity makes the process of handing over $269.99 as easy as possible.[Via UnwiredView]
LG's new Wine Phone has big screens, comfort
If you find yourself squinting at your celly but can't bear the thought of investing in a Jitterbug, LG has a phone that might catch your (bespectacled) eye. The new senior-friendly SV390/LV3900 Wine Phone features a larger screen inside (2.4-inches) and out (1.8-inches) for reading text "comfortably," plus larger buttons for aging fingers to press more comfortably, too. Beyond the up-sized screens your $400 gets you leather texture on the outside and a fancy digital camera, though not much else, much like LG's slightly smaller (and equally featureless) SV300 from last year. It's available now only in Korea, meaning those with bad eyes and big thumbs in the U.S. will either have to stick with their Jitterbugs or just keep squinting. We'd squint.[Via SlashPhone]
Emporia's EmporiaLife gets nod from FCC, seniors
We saw Emporia's handset for the blue rinse crowd at CeBIT a year or so ago, and while the tech has taken a year to get here, we're positive that the target market's not likely to care one single, dentured lick. Specs are the same we saw last year, of course, with dual-band GSM in either 900 / 1800 -- obviously not for US consumption -- or 850 / 1900 freqs., a huge display with super-sized numbers, and a emergency button in case something goes wrong. The handset will eschew a traditional charger for AAA battery power when and wherever -- and if -- it finally lands over here.[Via PhoneScoop]
Wii bowler beats real bowler in senior videogame tourney
Proving once again that athleticism and real-world experience have little bearing on the outcome of Wii Sports matches, a 79-year-old bowler was defeated by an 84-year-old who'd only recently picked up the game -- virtually -- in their retirement community's latest Nintendo tournament. Obviously a popular pastime among the senior crowd, playing Wii has gotten so big at the 3000-resident Riderwood complex in Montgomery County, Maryland that semi-regular tournies are held in the various events, with underdog Nancy Davies (not pictured) upsetting previous champ Hal Winters (also not pictured) in the most recent excitement-filled Bowling final. When asked to comment on the 202 to 182 stunner, the few other folks who were both awake at the time and able to remember the action agreed that the match was surely one for the record books.[Via TG Daily]
AT&T targets a more mature audience with new plan
It seems the wireless industry is at a bit of a crossroads here where cellphone users are starting to retire and their needs are changing drastically. They may not need nearly as many minutes as they did in the workforce -- but as pretty much anyone who has ever touched a cellphone can testify, it's virtually impossible to give up the habit once you've started, particularly now that some folks are phasing out their landlines. Japanese carriers have been catering to this unique segment of the market for a while now and their US counterparts are starting to get into the swing of things with devices like Verizon's Wireless Coupe. AT&T really doesn't have any phones that it's specifically marketing to seniors just yet, but it's moving in that direction with the introduction of its "Senior Nation 200" plan offering 200 anytime minutes, 500 night / weekend minutes, and unlimited mobile-to-mobile for 30 bones a month. Sounds like a good deal for anyone that needs a light plan, but young'uns need not apply; AT&T is actually verifying that you've hit the 65 mark at the cash register.
iPods now linked to pacemaker malfunction?
What's a 17 year old doing presenting a study before a gathering of heart specialists? Why, drawing the connection between iPods and heart implants, of course. According to student Jay Thaker, the findings of his study showed that of 100 installed pacemakers, electrical interference was detected 50% of the time when an iPod was held at a distance of 2-inches from the chest for 5-10 seconds. We'd really liked to have been there to see him try and pitch this study of his to the variety of seniors with heart problems who participated (they averaged 77 years of age), but don't get alarmed, we have a feeling your grandparents -- who've probably never even heard of that newfangled iPoddie doohickie -- won't find out first hand whether this is the real deal.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, photo via Rositress]
NEWS FLASH: Old people like games!
The New York Times reports not-so-breaking news today that the over-60 set plays the occasional video game. The story hits all the standard points: your Grandma likes the Wii and PopCap's library of casual titles. They also mention the Wiis on cruise-ships thing from yesterday. Think the Iraq war was a big deal in 2006? Well, you're not going to hear about it much this year. The big news in 2007 is hot Grandma-on-game action.We're eagerly awaiting the Times's top story for tomorrow: "Kids Like Rap Music!"
Wii: sucking in the seniors, bit by bit
There's nothing quite like seeing a video game bringing families together, even if the above image does look like a page out of a slightly wacked IKEA catalog. Reader Jim has sent in his own entertaining tale about mom and dad proceeding to get hooked and pwn in Wii Sports, particularly bowling, as you can tell from his dad's nice form in the above photo.Our own parental units were never really sucked in by the glitz and polygon counts of the other consoles, so it's great to see a new generation of gamers getting drawn in by the Wii-novation. Are we every going to declare a moratorium on adding Wii to words? You swear you'll never do it again, and then *bam* there it is. Wii apologize.[Thanks, Jim! Check out his upcoming comic book too, nifty stuff.]
Japanese doctors recommend Brain Training for seniors
Nintendo's line of brain-training games for the DS has found success among a wide range of ages in Japan, but its success with seniors has now been noted even among doctors and hospitals over there.According to the Associated Press, some hospitals have started placing DSes in waiting rooms and wards for patients. An administrator of a "memory loss clinic" in a Kyoto hospital said that doctors there have gone so far as to recommend the purchase of a DS and a game for elderly people to "stimulate their brains regularly at home," even watching patients play as an informal method of diagnosing dementia.Apparently, "Sony rushed out its own version of brain-training software in October but has yet to release sales figures." It's unlikely that the title could match the millions of units sold by its DS-based rival, but regardless of who's ahead, the gaming community should be pleased that 67-year-olds are now eager to "play a little everyday before going to bed," maybe even beating their grown-up children at the game someday.[Thanks, madgamer & samsoon; via Go Nintendo & GameDaily BIZ]
Seniors and HDTVs
TV technology changes fast these days; that's why you come here to keep up on it, right?Well, there is one group of our society that's left in the dark by the digital transition: our senior citizens. They are totally missing out on the whole digital revolution. Now don't get me wrong, there are a few elderly people that are hip on the new things, but as a retail TV salesmen, I can honestly tell you most are not.The issue is not receiving the signal nor about how to do that, the issue is that there are simply so many options to choose from. To make matters worse, they all have an expert that knows everything about the HDTV and loves spending ol' Grandmas money. But do they really need HDTV?