News

Subway authorities in China's larger cities have seemingly taken a page from Japan's book on passenger management. Uniformed, white-gloved “people pushers” in Shanghai and Chongqing subway stations are now encouraging – with a helpful push or two – train riders to squeeze into the cars so the doors can close.

Red light, green light, what light? That's the question a growing number of colorblind people are asking when confronted by new LED traffic signal lights. Since up to 10 percent of the population suffers from red-green colorblindness, an answer is needed pronto... and Professor Taro Ochiai of Japan's Kyushu Sangyo University thinks he's got one: a redesigned LED traffic light easily visible by everyone.

Panasonic's popular Eneloop rechargeable batteries are showing their “LoveLove” for the late Walt Disney. Officially approved, limited edition battery designs in red, white and black honor the award-winning animation pioneer by celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Finding the perfect Valentine's Day gift for your ex-spouse, ex-boss or ex-friend can be ex-hausting... until now, thanks to Saki Ika Chocolate. This "sweet dainty" snack from Japan combines fragrant dried squid with sweet milk chocolate. The term “snack attack” was never so appropriate.

The Flip.to social media marketing platform just launched direct integration with the Hotel Concept's RezExchange channel management and distribution system for hotels. The service is a new means for the hospitality industry to convert guests and website visitors into engaged advocates while extending a brand's reach exponentially and finally providing hotels with a means to push past basic social media engagement, to a definable ROI.

With a movie project that has virtually taken years to "wrap," Twittamentary, is a film about communities that is now available for communities around the world. Having received numerous request from folks and organizations across the globe, the film's producer is thrilled to announce an "open call" for community screenings to take place between February 1 and May 1, 2012. That's right, if you have a suitable venue and meet the screening requirements, all you need is 20 of your closest friends or fans to put on a show - for free!

Honorable homage or a lot of hot air? You'll pay a little more for the white “iFeng 4S” limited edition blow dryer at China's online Tmall but only 100 of the “Steve Jobs 1955-2011” gold embossed tributes are set to be sold.

Whenever a new movement consumes the hearts and minds of a large percentage of the populace, its time to take stock in what really moves these folks to act? The zeitgeist that emanated from Facebook and Occupy Wall Street couldn't be any more different from each other, yet there is an undercurrent that threads the two together. Both attract those that have an overwhelming desire to band together within loosely-knit organizations that welcome all.

It's good to be the king... the King Orange, that is. A new, supersized hybrid orange developed at Taiwan's Agricultural Research Institute is not only the world's largest, it also offers majestic overtones of sweet and sour citrus flavor.

Travelers and tourists used to soaking up the world's most exotic sights and sounds can now satisfy their sense of smell as well, thanks to the new, nasally-oriented, "World Stinky Foods" infographic from TripAdvisor Japan.

Researchers at UC San Diego have developed a "true human neuronal model" that replicates the early stages of Alzheimer's disease in actual human brain cells.  They have accomplished this model by using adult stem cells to more accurately demonstrate the pathology of the disease.

Cleaning Systems, comes a new product called Clarisonic Opal Sonic Infusion System. The Clarisonic Opal Sonic Infusion System is designed to reduce fine lines and wrinkles especially around the eye area. This egg shaped beauty product is small and easy to travel with and comes with its own travel case.

One dog barking isn't enough for this year's Volkswagen Super Bowl spot.  Deutsch, LA, which produced the winning commercial for the 2011 Super Bowl, The Dark Side, featuring a mini Darth Vader and his dog, decided to make this year's stars a dozen barking dogs, moving its energy from The Dark Side to The Bark Side.

Time to take photography to a whole new level, now the sky isn’t the limit – you can include the ground too.  With the new Tamaggo 360-Imager you can share your whole world with a single click.  This cute little egg shaped dedicated pano-shooting camera (available in multiple colors) will change how we take panoramic pictures.

It’s Girl Scout Cookie time (or almost time depending on what part of the country you’re in) and unless you know someone who is in the Girls Scouts of the USA the problem is always about finding them before they’re gone.  Well GSUSA has solved that problem this year with help from technology.

The massive tsunami that pounded Japan's northeastern coast following the devastating March 11th, 2011 earthquake left few trees standing along the shoreline. Among those few survivors is a battered, twisted pine that now resembles a Chinese Dragon. The so-called Dragon Tree has become a symbol of hope and renewal for the region's hard-pressed residents.

Gmail has revamped itself with an all New Look with many great new features.  The new look brings the ability for more customization and a myriad of improvements such as better search filters, automatic adaption to screen size, ability to change the size of your text, new themes, easier to follow conversations, the addition of profile pictures and, one of my favorites, drag and drop attachments.

A Chinese technology company has designed a wearable computer with no visible mainframe or monitor - they've both been miniaturized and secreted in a pair of highly modified eyeglasses! This is much more than just another concept, as China's powerhouse mass production capacity ensures the mighty mini multimedia machine will be filling store shelves this coming March.

There are two things on my mind lately: The upcoming Mobile World Congress 2012 and Nvidia’s Tegra 3 chip expected to be in HTC’s next smartphone the HTC Edge, I mean HTC Endeavor – the world’s first quad-core phone.