Is Japanese technology past its prime?

Japanese electronics makers are hemorrhaging red ink. Overseas competition (Samsung and LG) is intensifying, the domestic labor pool is shrinking and consumption is limp. Are Japan's glory days as a technological powerhouse over?

That's the question posed by this insightful article by David McNeill in The Independent quoting yours truly. Yes, it's amazing to see how much Sony, whose first product was a rice cooker that didn't work, is struggling amid these tough times.

The article highlights the fact that Japan is essentially a hardware-oriented culture. It's no surprise that the Internet was not created in Japan, and that the most recent popular electronics that make use of it are not Japanese. Are Japanese manufacturers destined to fade away due to the old cliche that Japanese lack "groundbreaking creativity"?

I don't think so. Japan is a very creative, imaginative society, as anyone who's studied it to any extent can attest. There are many factors that limit the spread of successful, innovative Japanese products, some social or structural and others economic. Besides, the products that are gaining market share may not have a Japanese brand on the outside, but often have Japanese technology on the inside, as McNeill notes:

Toshiba, for example, manufacturers the mini hard drive that powers the iPod, Japanese companies monopolize the production of semiconductor-grade silicon, and make much of the optical fiber and laser diodes that form the backbone of the internet; Nikon and Canon supply many of the optical machines that print lines on computer chips, and so on.

I think the death of Japanese manufacturing has been greatly exaggerated.

PLEN maker Akazawa goes bust

Systec Akazawa Co., a key player in the Osaka robot scene and maker of the PLEN desktop hobby robot, has gone bust.

The aircraft parts manufacturer is set to declare bankruptcy with liabilities of about 700 million yen ($7.4 million), according to Nikkei Net, which cited a sharp decline in orders.

The company has apparently ceased operations, and its website is offline. The family-run firm was headed by President Ryohei Akazawa, known for his involvement with RoboCup champions Team Osaka. The team won the RoboCup championship in its division five times.

In 2006, the company introduced PLEN, a $2,600 Bluetooth-controlled hobby bot that could rollerskate and skateboard. There was no word about how the bankruptcy will affect users on the PLEN website.

PLEN won't be the first robot to be hit by hard economic times (q.v. Sony's Qrio), but Akazawa's collapse will hit the Osaka scene hard. I expect other robot ventures to succumb to the recession as well.

Via Nikkei Net

Quest for practical robots

A recent article in Newsweek quotes me as saying that Japanese are too in love with robots.

It's a point that is seldom discussed - while U.S. firms like iRobot have turned out hit mass-consumer products such as Roomba that are pragmatic, Japanese companies are still obsessed with building bipedal machines that are very cool but pretty useless.

It's the Astro Boy complex at work. The idea of building a humanoid robot just like the machines of science fiction makes for some very slickly designed robots, but many are marketplace failures.

As the article points out, it's no surprise that Roomba the robot vacuum cleaner has sold over 3 million units, but Mitsubishi Heavy Industries sold only a few dozen of its humanoid communication robot Wakamaru. Granted, the latter was over one hundred times more expensive.

But Japanese engineers are learning that things called "robot" should be practical too. Earlier this month, Toyota unveiled its Winglet electric scooter, similar to a Segway and incorporating robotics technology from Sony's Aibo lab. The automaker calls it "a personal transport assistance robot." Toyota's other robots include a band of humanoid musicians - impressive but nowhere near practical yet. The Winglet, though, is a brilliant fusion of design and functionality.

New Aibo rumor groundless: Sony

The blogosphere has been swirling with rumors that Sony is set to revive its much-loved robot dog Aibo next year with a PlayStation-compatible version.

Sony put Aibo to sleep in 2006 when it shut down its robot entertainment business. Earlier this year, Kotaku.com featured an interview with Aibo co-designer Masaya Matsuura that quoted him as saying, "The engineers behind the Aibo are doing the PS3. We are talking about making something like the new Aibo."

Then Stuff magazine apparently published a photo of the new "Aibo PS" in development and alleged it would be compatible with the PS3, PSP and WiFi. Numerous sites like Engaget and Gizmodo repeated the news.

Sounds great, but it seems no one bothered to call Sony to check.

Well, I did. The company's Tokyo headquarters says the rumor is entirely groundless and it is "definitely not" working on a new Aibo. The Sony spokesperson laughed when he saw the pic from Stuff magazine. (I think that pup looks way too nasty to have been designed by a Japanese company like Sony. It's just not kawaii.)

The whole thing smacks of a hoax. Or hype that got out of hand.
That's Internet journalism for you!

Puppy love, redux

Another robot dog will hit store shelves in Japan in October following the demise of Sony's popular Aibo last year. Sega Toys has announced it will market Mio, a small toy robot dog that can express its "emotions" and respond to petting. It has sensors on its head, chin and back. Mio's eyes will display over a hundred icons to express psychological states. It can also respond to voice with its own "babble," play music and shuffle along. There's a video here.

Retailing for 9,240 yen ($75), Mio is part of Sega Toys' "Dream Pet" line of robotic animals that includes Yume Neko Smile, a lifelike synthetic cat.