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Toyota to purchase Sony's robotic division?
According to Japan's Nikkei Business, Toyota is set to purchase Sony's robotics division. The whole shebang: robots and researchers. Apparently, Sir Howard Stringer is looking to rid Sony of the money losing division to Toyota's delight. Does this mean the resurrection of little AIBO? No telling (though it's surely a quick way to win converts... hint), but we're pretty certain that the news will raise the eyebrow of Honda's Asimo, you know, if he had any. Update: Sony just issued a statement denying the sale (but confirming their lack of a soul).[Via GetRobo]
Toyota's TPR-Robina facility guide leads you straight to your doom
You know Toyota, adding a fancy haircut and skirt to your latest meet 'n greet robot doesn't make us any less afraid. Note how the "fingers" on Tipper (with gore) Robina's hands are perfectly aligned to hold your face like an organic bowling ball. Just sayin's all. [Via WaziWazi]
Toyota's DJ Robot leaves fame behind, becomes receptionist
It wasn't all that long ago that Toyota's "DJ Robot" was sharing the stage with the rest of its robot bandmates at the 2005 Aichi World Expo, but it seems that "DJ" now chosen a slightly less glamorous career path, with it soon set to start working for its parent company as a receptionist. According to Pink Tentacle, the robot has been working hard to improve its human interaction skills as of late, and is ready to go on the job later this month, working alongside human receptionists at Toyota's Kaikan Exhibition Hall. After that, it'll apparently take up a more permanent position at Toyota's Nagoya office, with other versions of the robot also planned to fill other positions.
Toyota delays next-gen Prius while GM inks deal with lithium-ion maker
It looks like those waiting for the next generation Prius to hit the road are going to have to hold out a little bit longer. Toyota announced this week that it would be delaying plans to bring its plug-in, lithium-ion-based model to market until 2011, as opposed to 2008, due to safety concerns over the company's chosen battery. In very related news, GM has struck a deal with Massachusetts-based battery developer A123 Systems to produce flat lithium-ion batteries for use in upcoming plug-in electric vehicles, such as the Chevy Volt. With regards to whether Toyota's setback could give GM an edge in the electric car game, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said, "I think that our No. 1 competitor has some problems with their technology, and I do think that it very definitely opens a window of opportunity for us to be first to market with a genuine plug-in hybrid," which sounds like fightin' words, if you ask us.Read -- Toyota delays next-gen lithium-ion PriusRead -- GM says it could lead electric car race
Japanese automakers collaborate on operating system
Earlier this year, Toyota was reportedly mulling the idea of crafting its own in-car OS, but now the firm -- along with nine other Japanese companies -- will be collaborating with the Economy, Trade, and Industry Ministry to develop "an operating system for automotive electronics." The initiative is supposedly in reaction to similar joint developments going on with a number of European car outfits, and will aim to "create a global standard in the field." Dubbed JasPar (Japan Automotive Software Platform Architecture), the venture will include big shots such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Denso, and Toshiba, and you can look for a prototype version to reach completion in 2009.[Via The Raw Feed]
Toyota set to test new plug-in hybrid vehicle
Apparently taking a cue from drivers that have already modded their Priuses for plug-in capabilities, Toyota's now gone and created a plug-in version of the Prius itself, and it's set to soon test the vehicle on public roads. Dubbed the Toyota Plug-in HV, the vehicle can be charged simply by plugging it into a standard electrical socket, although you won't get much farther than 8 miles on a single charge (the gasoline engine will kick in after the batts have been exhausted). While Toyota says that a commercialized version will "depend largely on advances in battery technology," the company is planning to test the vehicle in its current state in Japan shortly, with tests in the US and Europe apparently also in the works.[Via PhysOrg, photo courtesy of Reuters]
Google hybrid car shares its juice for a price
Google -- known for its good intentions almost as much as its search engine -- has entered its nonprofit wing into the red-hot science of hybrid vehicles and energy conservation. The company's peace-sign-flashing, tie-dyed-baja-wearing dreamers are working on a number of new technologies including modded solar charged PHEVs with additional battery capacity, which are also wired for swapping energy back to the grid (possibly even earning the vehicle's owner some hard cash in the process). Apparently Google's experimental hybrid can be wirelessly monitored to determine its charge state, and power can be added or drained according to the needs of the power company (and, presumably, the vehicle's owner). No word on whether it has Gmail integration or the ability to let Sergey Brin take control and drive it into the ocean, should he wish to do so.[Via Digg]
Toyota looking to go hybrid-only by 2020?
Be warned, you should certainly take this one with a helping or two of salt, but according to a report over at Motor Authority, Toyota's Masatami Takimoto has at least insinuated that by 2020, hybrid vehicles would account for "100-percent" of the automaker's fleet. Of course, the context of the conversation was surrounding the firm's recent report that it expected to "make as much money on hybrids as it does on conventional gasoline-powered cars by 2010," so all sorts of boasting was likely to be aimlessly floating out of higher-ups' mouths. While making such a bold claim can't be seen as entirely unrealistic, we have to wonder if purely electric whips won't have at least some presence in the mainstream automotive market (and Toyota's lineup) within the next 13 years.[Via Edmunds]
Thieves swiping HOV exemption stickers from hybrids
For those of you enjoying the free-flowing high-occupancy vehicle lane on the Capitol Expressway (in your HOV-exempt hybrid, no less), stay sharp, as it looks like those oh-so-valuable stickers that reside on your ride appear as gold to thieves. Apparently, "two to three dozen" victims per month are surfacing in California, where the now-extinct stickers are presumably fetching a pretty penny on the underground markets. The labels -- which were handed out to some 85,000 hybrid owners in years past to give them the same speedy privileges are carpoolers -- are no longer being administered by the DMV, which means that those that were able to take advantage are now targets. Interestingly, hybrid vehicles that are up for sale in the area are fetching "nearly $4,000 more" than comparative models so long as they come with the coveted sticker pre-installed. Notably, the DMV claims that the "carpool stickers are treated chemically so they crumble apart if tampered with," but that wee tidbit isn't likely to slow down a desperate bandit.[Via Fark]
Prius hack utilizes Vehicle-to-Grid technology to power your crib
For those of you Prius owners who felt the novelty of a hybrid vehicle was finally wearing off, a whole host of new hacks are starting to emerge, which should go quite a ways in expanding the utility of your gas-sipping whip. When you're not cruising around at the tune of 116 mpg, you can purportedly flip the power in reverse and actually juice up your house with your ride. A prototype system being demonstrated by California's Pacific Gas and Electric Company utilizes Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology to actually send power in reverse to energize a few in-home lights, appliances, and of course, Wii exercise sessions. Potentially more interesting is the possibility to actually "sell back energy to the utility during hot afternoons when demand is highest and most costly to avoid blackouts." No word just yet on when this stuff will be rolled out en masse, but if you needed just one more reason to plunk down for a Prius, it doesn't get much better than this.[Via The Raw Feed]
Mileage maniacs hack Toyota's Prius for 116 mpg
In a presumed attempt to prove questionable reports about the Prius' true fuel efficiency dead wrong, a Japanese group of mileage maniacs (or nenpimania) have assembled to push their hybrids to the brink and utilize a sly combination of hackery and zen-ish ways to elicit extreme miles per gallon figures. One such enthusiast burns his gas money on special tires, cardboard surround for the engine bay (saywha?), and blocks of foam rubber that occupy the grill, and somehow manages about 100 mpg by "hacking into the Toyota's computer" and carefully manipulating the accelerator with just his large toe. One upping even him, however, is a fellow mpg freak dubbed Teddy-Girl, who has reportedly become such a master of the "pulse and glide" method of driving that she can crank out 116 miles on a single gallon of fuel. Of course, sustaining such numbers on even mild inclines is entirely unlikely, and we're fairly sure you're hearing best case scenarios with all these gaudy numbers, but until we're all cruising in purely electric whips, this doesn't sound like a half bad approach to keep those trips to the pump at a minimum.[Via The Raw Feed]
Toyota planning its own in-car operating system
We've certainly seen all sorts of exotic vehicles run on Windows XP before (so to speak), but Toyota execs are mulling the idea of crafting its own in-car operating system in order to keep that competitive edge alive. Currently, OS' are "built from scratch" for every new vehicle model, but the automaker is realizing that an in-house squad focused on delivering a single system to run behind the scenes could not only dramatically cut R&D costs, but also " boost efficiency and speed up development." Although Toyota wouldn't comment directly, it is presumed that the project is an integral part of the new VI (Value Innovation) initiative, in which the firm is hoping to consolidate the amount of parts used in their vehicle. Still, we aren't going to see a Toyota-branded OS until "closer to 2015," so we hope fully expect an auto-pilot feature to be in there somewhere.[Via Wired]
Questionable report claims Hummer is greener than Prius
You won't have to look too hard in order to find a report or two claiming that hybrid vehicles aren't as miraculous as they are oftentimes portrayed, but when a recent article declared that Toyota's flagship hybrid was more taxing on the environment than a Hummer, you've got to wonder what's going on. Incredibly, the questionable findings from CNW Marketing stated that GM's gas guzzler only cost about $1.95 per mile to put on the road, while the Prius rang up $3.25 per mile in order to hit the pavement. Reportedly, these zany numbers include all production costs -- which supposedly run around 50-percent higher on the hybrid -- but the story started to smell fishy when we found that the per-mile statistics were based on a 100,000-mile Prius and a 300,000-mile Hummer, which seems to be a stretch in both directions. Currently, there seems to be a huge amount of skepticism surrounding the bold figures, and until the testers place both vehicles on a level playing field from the start, we doubt those discrepancies will fade anytime soon.[Via Slashdot]
Toyota, Honda, and Italdesign compete for attention in Geneva
Looks like Geneva's the place to be this week for those looking for a glimpse of a more fuel-efficient, sci fi-inspired future, with car companies doing their best to out-do one another with their respective concept vehicles on display at the Geneva Motor Show. Three of the vehicles unveiled so far are the Hybrid-X from Toyota (top left), the Small Hybrid Sports from Honda (top right), and the VAD.HO from Italdesign (bottom). Both the Toyota and Honda cars are based on advanced versions of the company's current gas/electric hybrid engines, which means that even if the concepts themselves don't make it to the assembly line, their innards could well find their way into some of the company's other vehicles. Italdesign's VAD.HO concept car, on the other hand, opts to use BMW's Hydrogen 7 engine, which is also equally capable of running on plain old gasoline. Sure to attract the most attention, however, is what's wrapped around that engine, with the car sporting a long and mean design with room for just one passenger, not to mention an interior equipped with joystick controls and a full compliment of video screens. Click on through for a couple of larger pics of each, then hit up the appropriate links below to check 'em out from every angle.Read - Autoblog Green, Toyota Hybrid-XRead - Autoblog Green, Honda Small Hybrid SportsRead - Winding Road, Italdesign VAD.HO
Mercedes-Benz gas, brakes and dips into Second Life
Joining Toyota in the continuing trend of setting up shop in Second Life is Germany's own Mercedes-Benz. This Tuesday will see the launch of not just a showroom for the luxury cars, but an entire island. The vehicles themselves aren't ready for a test drive just yet, but a track will be available for when that feature rolls out. Which is a shame, really, as we were already planning our Second Life adventure in ghost riding.Those who stop by for the grand opening can enjoy not only an in-game concert but some free swag as well. Anyone who visits can pick up a free Formula 1 racing suit and helmet, which will quickly be utilized in the red light district in acts that we could not possibly begin to describe here.
Toyota's "Map on Demand" a world's first
It's not an absurd idea in the slightest. In fact, we're surprised to hear nobody has done this yet, but Toyota is claiming its new Map on Demand service is a world first, and who are we to argue? Due to the large volume of data and detail in a traditional map pack, updates are usually done about twice a year, meaning high-construction areas can become terribly inaccurate before your maps company gives you a fresh edition. Toyota's solution is to only provide updates to areas relevant to the user: where they live, where they're going and commonly used expressways. The solution involves a pretty major change to the GPS map industry, including how map changes are made and published, but Toyota seems to have its hand in enough of the process to make it happen. Updates are delivered over your home internet connection, cell phone internet or both, routed to Toyota's G-BOOK telematics system, and should be fresh enough to warn you of a closed road or newly opened lane. Toyota will be delivering this "differential map data" to your car -- in Japan only, of course -- this spring.[Via Far East Gizmos]
Toyota selling new Scions for $1 in Second Life
Toyota held simultaneous launches of two new Scion models today. One at the Chicago Auto Show, the other in Second Life. Both the redesigned Scion xB and brand-new xD are being offered for 300 Linden dollars ($1 USD) for use in the virtual world; a nominal fee toward becoming one of Toyota's virtual "trendsetter" promoters. The cars are being sold at kiosks in Toyota's 'Scion City' district of Second Life, where the automaker hopes to also sell unused real estate to young entrepreneurs. The idea is to grow Scion City into a bustling promotional "cultural" mecca.Last year, Toyota invaded Whyville, a virtual playground for tweens. Scions were peddled to under-agers, with the hope of infecting their lustful minds with the brand name; the payoff coming when the young'ns came of age. Toyota sold about 173,000 Scions in 2006 and is expected to challenge General Motors as the top global automobile seller this year.[Thanks, Matt]
Toyota getting into the anti-drunk driving game
Just days after most everyone in the world celebrated (read: ingested alcohol) the new year, Toyota is hitting us up with news declaring that drunk driving won't be tolerated in its future fleet of vehicles. Although Nissan has already considered an add-on option that would prevent inebriated individuals from motoring around on a whim, it looks like Toyota is following suit with its own anti-drunk driving approach. Reportedly, the automaker is developing a "fail-safe system for cars that detects drunken drivers and automatically shuts the vehicle down if sensors pick up signs of excessive alcohol consumption." Utilizing "sweat detectors," the steering wheel automatically sniffs out the driver's BAC and can restrict the car from cranking if it deems necessary; additionally, it can recognize "abnormal steering" or take advantage of the "special camera installed to monitor your pupils" in order to slow your vehicle to a halt if you're smart aware enough to wear gloves when taking the wheel. While we've no idea how much Toyota will inflate vehicle prices to account for this, um, luxury, the firm purportedly hopes to outfit its cars with the system "by the end of 2009."[Via The Raw Feed]
Toyota's monopedal robot leg will jump, jump!
We can imagine few things more frightening than a monopedal robot with a white plastic bulge as a head, but that's precisely what Toyota has created: a monopedal 3.3-foot tall robot that can jump 1.6 inches off the ground. Seriously. This guy is next on the evolutionary ladder for robots, which are slowly coming together with articulate arms, faces, and now fully extendable legs to eventually form the Voltron-like shape of a seriously bulbous dude. In fact, this leg would go well on that bot we blogged about the other week that is designed to carry injured soldiers off of the battlefield -- given that any given robot could run probably monopedal-jump away faster than it could roll (at least in our vivid imaginations). [Via The Raw Feed]
Toyota developing integrated "carphone" with KDDI
In a move designed to foster tighter integration between cars and the cellphones that cause people to crash their cars, Toyota has just announced that it will be co-developing a handset with Japanese carrier KDDI based on an existing Toshiba model. The phone, cutely name TiMO (and obviously NOT pictured above -- if you think that's a Toshiba, you need to hit up this site a little more often), will feature Bluetooth functionality to make it compatible with Toyota's in-car navigation systems (think: on-screen caller ID and audio piped through the vehicle's speakers) as well as a dedicated OnStar-like button that drivers can trigger in an emergency. A special charger will also be part of the package, allowing the phone to dock in an armrest and give owners access to downloadable games and tunes, the latter of which will presumably be playable through the car's audio system. Next to Kyocera, Toyota is the largest shareholder in KDDI (with an 11% stake), and will offer the handsets exclusively at its 7,500 Japanese dealerships starting in October.[Via Autoblog]Update: Okay, we've snagged a picture of the real phone. Looks like a perfectly plain flip with the notable addition of a submicronic "Toyota" logo on the backside to us. Strong work, guys.
