For those who want to buy Nintendo's new video game console, you may have to wait a while. The Wii U goes on sale Sunday, but many stores have already sold out pre-orders. On Amazon, you can find the new console, but for much more than Nintendo's $350 price.
To find out what's the big deal for gamers and for Nintendo is, we've called Daisuke Wakabayashi. He covers Japanese video game companies for The Wall Street Journal, and joins us from Tokyo.
Originally published on Thu November 15, 2012 3:34 pm
Online insurance markets set to begin selling health coverage to consumers next October may be hampered by software delays.
State regulators learned late last week that an electronic system most insurers will use to submit their policies for state and federal approvals won't be ready for testing next month, as originally planned. The lag is being blamed on the wait for several regulations from the Obama administration that are needed to update the software.
"Child-robot with Biomimetic Body" (or CB2) at Osaka University in Japan in 2009, where the android was slowly developing social skills by interacting with humans and watching their facial expressions, mimicking a mother-baby relationship.
Democratic party volunteer Matt Lattanzi worked door to door for the Obama campaign while canvassing in a Youngstown, Ohio, apartment building on Oct. 28.
Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 2:36 pm
A good deal of credit for President Obama's re-election has gone to his campaign's sophistication at interpreting data about potential voters and its use of behavioral research to get supporters to actually vote.
And because success in politics spawns imitators, the approach could well shape how future campaigns are run.
Brian Shaffer tests an exoskeleton developed by researchers at Vanderbilt University at a rehabilitation center in Franklin, Tenn. The exoskeleton locks around the legs and feet. To stand up, a paralyzed person simply leans forward.
Credit Courtesy of Robert Markowitz/NASA
NASA recently announced the development of an exoskeleton for paraplegic rehabilitation use and astronaut strength training. NASA engineer Shelley Rea demonstrates the X1 Robotic Exoskeleton for resistive exercise, rehabilitation and mobility augmentation.
Credit Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Paralyzed from the waist down, Amanda Boxtel walks with the aid of a bionic exoskeleton in London in 2011. Users learn to walk in the Ekso Bionics device with rehabilitation technicians controlling their steps before walking on their own.
Credit Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
Claire Lomas, a paraplegic, walks the last mile of the London Marathon in May 2012. Starting out with 36,000 other runners, she averaged two miles a day with the help of a bionic ReWalk suit by Argo Medical Technologies.
Credit Courtesy of Parker Hannifin Corp/Ekso Bionics/Argo Medical Technologies/Rex Bionics
From left to right, the Vanderbilt exoskeleton, the Ekso Bionics exoskeleton, ReWalk by Argo Medical Technologies and Rex by Rex Bionics.
Credit Shepherd Center
A patient wears the Vanderbilt device in his wheelchair. The Vanderbilt researchers say that it has some advantages over others. It's lighter, breaks into three parts and fits in a small wheelchair.
Credit Adrian Malloch / Rex Bionics
Engineers at Rex Bionics in New Zealand developed an exoskeleton that allows people paralyzed from the waist down to walk again. Unlike other models, the Rex exoskeleton has a joystick control and doesn't require crutches.
Credit Joy Wilson / University of Houston
Steve Holbert (center), a paraplegic, demonstrates NeuroRex, a bionic exoskeleton suit augmented with a neural interface cap, developed by researchers at the University of Houston. Holbert controlled the robot's movements with his thoughts.
Credit Argo Medical Technologies
Robert Woo and Theresa Hannigan, both paraplegics, complete a one-mile walk in the ReWalk exoskeleton, developed by an Israeli company called Argo Medical Technologies. Argo's devices have been approved for personal use in Europe, but need FDA approval for sale in the U.S.
Credit Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
Claire Lomas walks the last mile of the London Marathon on May 8, 2012 in London, England. After a riding accident left her paralyzed from the waist down in 2007, Lomas completed the race walking 2 miles a day over 16 days with the help of a ReWalk bionic suit (by Argo Medical Technologies).
Let's talk now about the shakeup at the top of Microsoft. Fewer than three weeks after the unveiling of a new, extensively redesigned Windows operating system, the executive responsible for its launch is gone. NPR's Wendy Kaufman has more.
