Japan Speeding Ahead With 500km/h Maglev Train

Traveling the 515 km (320 miles) from Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen bullet train currently requires 2 hours and 25 minutes (and costs a small fortune, too). Come 2045, travel between Japan's two largest metro areas will take just over one hour, following the launch of the country's longest maglev track, which just received construction approval from Tokyo. The nine trillion yen project (approximately $112 billion) was first proposed in the 1970s, but was tabled indefinitely due to its astronomical costs, most of which stem from an extensive network of tunnels that will represent 60 percent of the route. 

You'll be able to get your Japanese Maglev fix beginning in 2027, when the Central Japan Railway launches its high-speed route between Tokyo and Nagoya. One notable neighbor to the west is already operating its own maglev train. China's Shanghai Transrapid has been blasting riders to Pudong airport since 2004, and once achieved a top speed of 501km/h (311 mph). The country is also constructing a 1000km/h vacuum-based train that it plans to launch within the next few years.

 

 

Toshiba's Regza AT300 Tablet for The Japanese Market Delayed

To any of our Japanese readers who've been impatiently awaiting Toshiba's Regza AT300 tablet, you're going to have to hold your breath a touch longer. The 10.1-inch, Japan-only slate is going to miss its expected June arrival, and ship in late July instead. That extra tedious trip to market could be worth it, though: when the AT300 finally does land in Akihabara, it'll come with Android 3.1 and all of its resizable widgets on board. 

But don't expect any surprises, hardware-wise: it'll still pack Tegra 2, a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, and those full-sized HDMI and USB ports that can make a nerd's heart sing.

 

 

A Village Renamed Itself Snapdeal.com?

As a show of gratitude for donating $5000 worth of water pumps, a remote Indian village changed its name to Snapdeal.com, mirroring that of their Groupon-esque benefactor. Wait, wait, wait. Huh?

From TechCrunch:

Snapdeal has adopted a remote village in India and enabled clean drinking water facilities for its people by installing manual pumps. To show their gratitude, the village's residents have decided to rename their village to Snapdeal.com Nagar, actually taking the company by surprise.

Snapdeal.com CEO Kunal Bahl tells me the goal has always been to build a socially responsible organization, and that the decision to provide clean drinking water for the village came from a conversation with one of its 500 employees in the hallways.

A righteous gesture indeed. And I know it's not my place to tell a village what they should and shouldn't do, but this decision doesn't seem terribly well thought out. Especially when considering the longview.

Nanogenerators Could Power a Bluetooth Headset With Your Pulse

Scientists have developed the first self-powered nanogenerators that scavenge energy from their surroundings. They could someday replace conventional batteries in small electronics.

Even the slightest movement or vibration, such as a light breeze or the thump of your pulse, can provide enough energy for these nanogenerators. The energy is stored in a capacitor and used to power sensors or even a small wireless radio like those found in Bluetooth headsets. Signals from these wireless radios can be detected up to 30 feet away.

These technology could be used in tiny spy cameras, small wearable electronics or even medical implants.

The Heart Healthy iPhone

iPhones are being used in all sorts of interesting ways to track our health, but this is one of the more interesting ones. It's a small piece of hardware that turns your phone into an electrocardiogram.

Just millimeters thick, the iCard ECG sticks on the back of an iOS device with velcro and sends ECG data to an app on the device. Place the phone against your chest, start the app and it records ECG data and uploads it as a PDF to the AliveCor server for physicians to review. And it comes in red!

 

 

Kobo eReader Touch Edition Goes on Sale in the US and Canada

At the moment, there are two very similar-looking e-readers with black-and-white Pearl E Ink touchscreens on the market, and now, the smaller and less expensive of the pair is up for grabs. TheKobo eReader Touch Edition went on sale today in the US and Canada for $129.99 (or $139.99 Canadian Dollars) at Best Buy, Borders, Walmart, and the Canadian bookseller Indigo. 

If you'll recall, the 6-inch Kobo is thinner, lighter, and more compact than the Nook Touch, even though its screen is the same size. It also undercuts it by $10 but, there's only 1GB of internal memory reserved for book storage. Could these trade-offs be worth the trimmer design?

 

 

Firefox 5 Slips Out Ahead of Schedule, Gets Official June 21st

Mozilla promised a faster refresh cycle for its wily web browser, following the release of Firefox 4, and it's made good on that promise. The latest incarnation brings with it support for CSS animation and a more easily accessible do-not-track setting -- now available at the top of the privacy pane -- but won't see much in the way of GUI enhancements. Of course, if you want to play it safe, and avoid any last-minute tweaks, you can always hold off until version 5 gets official, but what's the fun in that?

 

 

Jelly Belly Cases Make Your iPhone and BlackBerry Smell Edible

There are 53 "official" Jelly Belly flavors available at present, few of which are MP3 compatible -- strange, really, in an era where pretty much everything else is capable of music playback. The company's new gadget cases are perhaps the next best thing, though despite the fact that they'll add a candy-like scent to your iPhone, iPod touch, nano, or BlackBerry (sadly not this guy), biting into them will almost certainly void your warranty -- and raise your dental co-pay.

The cases are currently available and will run you $15 apiece, the same price as the new Jelly Belly-branded headphones, which are similarly recommended for external use only.

Razer Ships $80 Orochi Black Chrome Edition Mobile Gaming Mouse

It's an Orochi, but with 100 percent more gloss. The Orochi Black Chrome Edition is the exact same mouse that shipped last fall, but with a much more vivacious set of duds. Aside from being fully capable of sneaking into either of your front pockets, this Bluetooth-enabled unit also touts an ambidextrous design, a 4000DPI laser sensor (with tracking at up to 100 inches per second), on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments and a gold-plated USB connector for those who'd prefer to roll wired. If you've been looking to treat yourself, she's in stock now for $79.99.

 

 

Acer Aspire Ethos: A Detachable Trackpad Is a Pretty Good Idea

Acer's new Ethos Laptop isn't the world's craziest lappy when it comes to guts—Core i5/i7 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M graphics—but it has one interesting feature: a detachable trackpad. that not only detaches from from the laptop, but also functions as a media remote.

The card-sized trackpad functions exactly the same while detached, but then with the touch of a button, LEDs appear from beneath the trackpad's surface and it gains a second life as a media remote with music, movie and presentation control capablities. Useful if you have your laptop plugged into a TV.

The rest of the laptop's feature set skews towards entertainment purposes, with edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass in 15.6-inch and 18.4-inch sizes, instant-on media mode and Dolby sound. The Ethos is available now, with prices starting at $1600.

 

 

LG's Optimus 3D Officially Launched, Debuting in Europe With Dual Lens and Dual Core CPU

The long wait is finally over! Joining the likes of HTC EVO 3D and Sharp SH-12C is LG. The specs for this Android 2.2 device have remained untouched: a 4.3-inch glassesless 3D LCD with 800 x 480 resolution, a 1GHz dual core TI OMAP4430 processor, 512MB of speedy dual channel RAM, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, and a couple of 5 megapixel cameras on the back that can capture 3D 1080p video at 24fps, or 3D 720p at 30fps. Other tidbits include 14.4Mbps HSPA+ connection, an HDMI-out port, and a removable 1500mAh battery, all inside a 5.93 ounce package. Alas, no date's been mentioned for the phone's US launch, but the lucky Europeans will get to pick up this phone first, followed by the rest of the world "over the next several weeks."

PowerSkin Battery Case Pumps Juice to HTC Inspire 4G, Desire HD

When it comes to battery-boosting power sleeves, the iPhone's covered, but what of the little green monster? Well, at least two Androids can now get juiced by way of a new charging case from PowerSkin. HTC's Inspire 4G and Desire HD are getting a little extra power with the release of this black silicone skin, which promises 1500mAh and up to eight hours of added battery life. The PowerSkin will set you back $60, and is now available at Amazon.

 

 

iCufflinks for the iFan in your iLife

These iCufflinks are so cool, yet oh so nerdy. I secretly would like to buy them for Father's Day, but would be slightly embarrassed if my man actually wore them to our next formal occasion.

Crafted from machined aluminum, just like your MacBook Pro, the iCufflinks are shaped like the familiar Apple power button. They include a pulsating LED to make all the guests at the party take note of the extreme Apple nerd in their midst. The group behind the iCufflinks have made the design open source, so you can download the schematics and mod them to your liking. If you want to snag a pair, they can be had for a cool $128 here.

 

 

Fujitsu Releases F-022 Flip Phone for Women Who Like to Smell Good

Because they're brutish and sweaty, most men don't have a problem with their phone's naturally metallic musk, but 20 to 40 year-old women with a well-developed sense of fashion" apparently do. That's why Fujitsu has announced the F-022 -- a glittery flip phone designed for females who demand slightly morefrom their handheld's olfactory offerings. Developed in collaboration with Japanese accessory maker Folli Follie, this bejeweled little bauble comes with a "detachable fragrance chip" that allows users to mark their tech territory with the perfume of their choice. Just spray the chip with a dab of your scent, latch it on to the phone, and every conversation you have will end up smelling like roses. The F-022 goes on sale in China on June 24th, but for more information, just follow your nose to the PR, after the break.

 

 

Sony Tablets Hitting Europe in September

The device, will be available through Sony Direct, UK department store John Lewis, and a third still-unconfirmed retailer at launch. Availability will apparently open up after the Christmas holiday.

 The note doesn't offer up much info on the tablet, though it does promise that it stacks up well against the iPad and offers up some "unique design features," which may well refer to the S2's clamshell -- or, for that matter, the S1's curved back.

 

 

Microsoft's Comfort Curve Keyboard Makes a Contoured Comeback

Like a vinyl record left out in the sun too long, Microsoft's Comfort Curve Keyboard has returned,slightly more warped than before. The ergonomic peripheral is an attempt to improve the comfort and posture of users who just don't go in for the split variety.

The 3000 features uniformly-sized QWERTY keys, offering up a similar layout to traditional straight keyboards. You'll be able to get your fingers on the input device in August for $20, to see if the comfort does indeed match the curves.

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook now Shipping in Arctic White

Samsung hasn't been particularly shy about its teasing -- but the big day has finally arrived, and the Series 5 Chromebook is now officially shipping to those eagerly awaiting the Google-powered laptop. If you weren't among the high-end coupon clippers who snatched one up during the surprise sale at Gilt a couple of weeks ago, you can now pick up a Chromebook of your own.

At least for now, however, it looks like you'll have to settle for a white exterior -- the "Ttian Silver" (also known as black) edition is still in pre-order mode at both Best Buy and Amazon.

Starbucks Rolls Out Mobile Payment App for Android Users

After having already introduced its own iOS app, Starbucks has now decided to bring mobile mocha payments to Android users, as well. With the free Starbucks for Android app, all you have to do is add credit to your mobile Starbucks Card, scan the app's barcode at the cash register, and that triple shot skinny latte will be yours to pound.

 Available on devices running Android 2.1 or above, the service will also locate all outlets within your immediate vicinity, while offering even more coffee-based incentives, via Starbucks' rewards program. Thus far, there are about 6,800 stores that support mobile payments, though the company is planning to add an additional 1,000 locations, this July.

A Peek at the Steve Jobs Comic Book

From the people that brought you the Mark Zuckerberg comic book comes the boringly named (yet still enticing!) Steve Jobs: The Co-Founder of Apple, a pulp biography in pictures. A few of which PC World has gotten an early look at.

As you can see from this shot—the pages still need to be colored in and dialog needs to be added. A shame for those looking forward to a minimalist kabuki interpretation of La Vida Steve!

The book will be available in August for a reasonable four bucks; no word yet on whether that includes an iBook version. And be sure to check out PC World for more of a taste.

 

 

USB Power Pot Uses Excess Heat to Charge Your Gadgets

Most stoves produce heat that far exceeds the temperature necessary to boil water, but TES NewEnergy has found a way to convert that excess energy into power, which can subsequently be used to charge your USB gadgets. Released yesterday in Japan, the Hitochaja HC-5 USB power pot can generate up to 400mAh of juice -- enough to charge your iPhone in three to five hours. If you want to expand the service offerings at your local soup kitchen, this double-duty cooking vessel may be the solution you've been looking for.