- Saturday, 28 November 2009
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Intel is playing chess, AMD is playing draughts - Financial analyst quoted in WSJ
Toyota develops Segway lookalike
TOYOTA SEEMS TO THINK that the unltimate geek-mobile, the Segway, has some mileage in it and has designed something similar.
But according to AP, the "Winglet" does not feel quite as safe. Even a demonstrator was visibly worried about its safety while accompanying a reporter who cautiously tried it on a short course in a Toyota showroom.
Toyota claims that anyone can learn to ride it with some practice and the beast is being designed with the elderly as its major target buyers. After all if you get old enough you don't care what you look like.
Apparently the Japanese automaker will start testing the two-wheeler this year at an airport and a resort complex and next year at a shopping mall, all in Japan, to get user feedback.
The Winglet goes up to 3.7 mph, about the same speed as pedestrians, far slower than 12.5-mph Segway, which costs $5,000. The Winglet can go about 3 miles before needing to be recharged.
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Awful name for it, winglet is an already existing word.

The missing pictures of it: 
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-16486-Toyota+announced+the+development+of+its+Winglet%2C+a+personal+transport+assistant.html
Thus showing that the Japanese are good copy monkeys but not very imaginative. Slower, less mileage between charges and not as safe....But just wait a while and they will do with it just what they did with automobiles...

Still don't see these being allowed on sidewalks with pedestrians, though... 

Someone at Toyota must have too much free time on their hands.
segway is a word too
I don't know what they are driving at. It sounds more like a prototype than a real usable thing. The 3mph certainly suggests it's for the elderly but then, older folks would probably want to sit down. That's a bit difficult on the winglet.
No, 'segue' is a word.
the thing is _tiny_ compared to the Segway. It is basically designed to take up no more space than the person standing on it would. I assume that's the reason why it may not feel as stable intially.
The "S" and "M" versions seem to be designed to not even have a handle to grip onto - you just have a little lever-like structure that keeps contact to the inside of your legs below the knee. Only the "L" version has a handle. According to the photos, you could probably fit four to six of these into the trunk of a car - again, definitely far from a Segway copy. Rather, somewhere between a Segway and a Kickboard.
"... visibly worried about its safety"

Bikes have a slight learning curve as well, but they're still available. Even walking isn't that easy the first time.