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USA Taps Yap.TV For New Social TV App
Video: Hands-Free, Facial Muscle-Controlled Wheelchair
Samsung Tries To Stop iPhone 4S Sales In Japan And Australia
Gadgets Week in Review: System

Posted: 17 Oct 2011 05:03 AM PDT

Today the USA television network has announced a partnership with Yap.TV to power its mobile social application. Yap.TV is one of the hottest social TV apps on the App Store, offering users the chance to chat up television shows in real time. It’s basically a souped-up Twitter client for TV, and now all the same cool functionality will be available for USA programming.

USA’s Yap.TV-powered app won’t debut until November, but it’ll give owners of the Apple iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad a way to discover USA television shows that they might otherwise be unaware of. Plus, you can tweet with your friends in the app, or with other fans who enjoy the programming your watching.

The app will be integrated with USA’s Character Chatter platform, where viewers can discuss the latest shows and plot twists. The app will also integrate with Facebook, and tap into all the other Character Chatter features including instant polls, custom chat groups, cast photos, show rankings, along with an easy-to-navigate show guide.

As I said before, the new USA social TV app won’t be available until November. But once it does pop up in the App Store, it’ll be a free download.

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Video: Hands-Free, Facial Muscle-Controlled Wheelchair

Posted: 17 Oct 2011 03:57 AM PDT

We have covered “intelligent” wheelchairs before, but one that can be controlled through facial muscles is new. A team of researchers at Japan’s Miyazaki University developed a system aimed at people paralyzed from the neck down or those who have lost muscular strength in their body for a reason.

The way it works is pretty simple: the wheelchair, which is still in prototype mode, can be turned left or right by blinking the eyes and put into motion (and stopped) by clenching one’s teeth.

Professor Tamura, the mastermind behind the system, says that the hands-free wheelchair will see a commercial version (which won’t require the four electrodes) next year.

This video, shot by Diginfo TV in Tokyo, provides more insight (in English):

Samsung Tries To Stop iPhone 4S Sales In Japan And Australia

Posted: 17 Oct 2011 02:16 AM PDT

News from the never-ending patent war between Apple and Samsung: the Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Samsung filed for preliminary injunctions in the Tokyo District Court and in the New South Wales Registry, Australia. This time, the goal is to block sales of the iPhone 4S, which launched in both countries last Friday.

According to the report, Samsung also tries to stop sales of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2 in Japan. The company says that Apple – you guessed it – infringes on its technology patents (earlier this month, Samsung made a similar move in Italy and France). Samsung earlier stated it will be more aggressive towards Apple going forward.

It’s not the first time Japan and Australia are in the spotlight of the Apple-Samsung dispute: in Japan, Apple sued Samsung over iPhone and iPad patents just last month. In Australia, Samsung offered a deal to Apple regarding the Galaxy Tab sales ban last month. Last Friday, the Korean company pulled a publicity stunt to counter the iPhone 4S sales start in the country.