This one is blowing my mind, so see if you can follow along. Toyota today announced a “partner robot” that is supposed to help carry you around. Also known as a PTA (Personal Transportation Assistant), you could think of it as a Segway with AI. It’s called the Winglet and it will come in three different models: The “L”, “M” and “S”. Why the weird naming system? I’m glad you asked:

Toyota’s created three models, the “L”, “M” and “S”, each having different handling features that allow consumers to select a model appropriate to their needs—from “practical” to “hands-free sporty”. If all this sounds familiar to you, it should.

Again, like I said. A “Super Segway” if you will. Expect to see them in Japan first, who knows when in America. By 2010 they should be commonplace in the Land of the Rising sun. After the jump, pictures of all three models.
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The ultimate eco-rumor has been making its round this morning. Nikkei biz daily in Japan is reporting that the next-gen Toyota Prius, due out in 2010, will have solar panels to power accessories and amenities like air conditioning and the radio. Getting excited ’cause you were thinking about getting a Prius? Not so fast.

Apparently, only high-end versions of the 2010 Prius are receiving the solar panel treatment. To boot, Toyota is exploring the option of charging a costly premium for the paneling. For now, we’ll have to wait and see whilst Toyota barrels ahead in the auto industry.

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Our favorite itch to scratch, John Brownlee, brings to our attention a photo found on Flickr. It features a red Toyota Prius being pulled over by a police officer on a motorcycle. This isn’t any regular Prius though, this is the Google Street View car that takes all those lovely pictures for Google Maps!

Considering how huge that camera mount is, it doesn’t surprise me too much. I can’t help but wonder if the cop actually ticketed Google. I mean, isn’t Google above the law? They probably offered him an invite to Google’s latest secret: Google Cops - a new search engine that helps search for donut shops in a three-mile radius.

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You might have your car’s interior and sound system down as far as geeky prowess goes, but what lurks under the hood? A standard engine just won’t do for my fellow car modding comrades, oh no! We need more! Better! Geekier!

The owner of this car is such a huge fan of the NES console, that he modded a NES controller design right into the very innards of his VVT-i 16 Valve engine. Blasting away at all cylinders, this modded Toyota deserves some serious respect. Hit the jump for a close-up. (more…)

A new addition to the Toyota Partner Robots project, a campaign to integrate robots into everyday life. How a 56 kg violin-playing robot could be useful to us in everyday life is beyond us. In fact, we might even shoot the damn thing since we can hardly stand professional violin playing.

Equipped with 17 joints it its legs and arms, the violin bot uses “precise control and coordination to achieve human-like dexterity.” The problem with this is that much music is best when filled with the human emotion. Something that a robot would never be able to truly obtain. — Andrew Dobrow

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Toyota has announced that they have created a world-class driving simulator which will “effectively analyze the driving characteristics of average drivers”.  Located at TMC’s Higashifuji Technical Center in Susono City (wherever that is), the simulator apparently offers the most realistic driving experience without being in a car.

We must ask, wouldn’t it have been a lot cheaper just to use a real car instead of spending all of that money on 360-degree concave displays and a 7.1-meter-diameter dome to house the machine? Sure, the conditions are always the same when your driving in laboratory conditions, but why bother when an actual car could have done almost the same thing? — Andrew Dobrow

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Somewhere along the line Toyota realized that construction workers and middle-aged suburbanites aren’t the only people out there with an interest in trucks. What about nerds? We enjoy driving, and we may have to haul computer rigs and giant millennium falcon replicas around from time-to-time. Plus programming jobs pay decently, so we have some money to burn. And if you are going to pander to a nerdy audience, what better way is there than capitalizing on the success of World of Warcraft? Hit the link below to check out the Toyota WOW commercial. —Sean Fallon

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The Toyota i-Unit is a new concept design that is made to increase personal mobility. The i-Unit hopes to meet the user’s wishes by producing a better balance between the human body and the society and nature around it.

The design is inspired after a leaf, with the thought in mind of how leaves create sunlight into energy. The i-Unit “seeks to express the power of the unknown, the logic of living things and the simple beauty of waste-free functionality.” Much more after the jump. (more…)

When Toyota halted the production of the supra, Celica, and MR2 Spyder, the future of Toyota sports cars enthusiasts seemed bleak. However, their ears perked back up again when Toyota revealed the new FT-HS Hybrid Concept. This new 2-door sports coupe is rumored to be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show on January 7^th. The FT-HS is said to have a 292HP 3.5 liter V6 and a 197HP electric motor. There is a very nice design on this concept, but in the words of Marvin Gaye, ain’t nothing like the real thing, meaning that this is only a concept so you won’t get all the cool features. Yes that means you might lose hubless steering wheel, the retractable roof, or the interior focused on the driver; however you will probably get to keep the speed capability of 0-60 in 4 seconds. As of right now, the projected cost is around $35,000, which for a hybrid sports car is quite a good deal. Now you can pick up chicks and be high-tech at the same time; getting the chicks to actually get in the car is another story. More pictures after the jump.

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