TECHNOLOGY Sony Corp. said Monday it will release a digital music player later this month that moves around on the floor, flaps speaker lids on its ends and flashes lights in time with music. [ASAHI]

TECHNOLOGY When Interior designer Timothy Corrigan first saw the bidet-style bathroom appliance, equipped with a warm-water spray and other functions to cleanse and coddle posteriors, he was impressed. So impressed, in fact, that he bought one for himself, joining a small but enthusiastic group of Americans with high-tech commodes. [REUTERS]

TECHNOLOGY Recovering Japanese giant Sony Corp. said Wednesday it will introduce a new lineup of flat-screen televisions including the largest on the market in a bid to boost its mainstay electronics sales. [AFP]

TECHNOLOGY The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which has been working to develop a reusable spacecraft, is gearing up to test an unmanned prototype in November, it has been learned. [MSN MAINICHI]

TECHNOLOGY Toyota and Sony, two of Japan’s biggest technology names, are getting together in robotics, both sides said Monday, to develop an innovative, intelligent, single-seat vehicle. [INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE]

TECHNOLOGY The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry will start a project to develop a high-performance computer chip with a processing speed 10 times faster than existing ones in cooperation with industry from fiscal 2008. [YOMIURI]

TECHNOLOGY Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Friday a recall by Finland’s Nokia Corp. of mobile phone batteries supplied by a Matsushita subsidiary will likely cost Matsushita 10 billion yen to 20 billion yen. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

TECHNOLOGY The first of a brand new fleet of Hitachi Ltd.-built high-speed bullet trains arrived Thursday at Britain’s south coast port of Southampton following a 10,000-km, two-week journey by sea from the company’s manufacturing facility in Japan. [THE JAPAN TIMES]

TECHNOLOGY Toshiba revealed Aug. 22 that it will soon add three new high-density flash memory cards to its product lineup—including one it touts as the world’s first 32GB flash card. [EWEEK]

TECHNOLOGY The Japan Atomic Energy Agency likely will postpone until October next year the resumption of the Monju fast breeder reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, which has been shut down since a sodium leak accident in 1995. [YOMIURI]

TECHNOLOGY It’s still beyond the reach of science to predict exactly when an earthquake will strike, but Japan will soon get the next best thing — televised warnings that come before anyone feels the ground shake. [AP]

TECHNOLOGY Sharp Corp said it has developed the world’s thinnest and lightest LCD TVs with enhanced picture quality, in a pre-emptive move before the release of organic light-emitting diode TVs, known for their thin displays and crisp images. [REUTERS]

TECHNOLOGY Japan will try to turn the millions of wooden chopsticks that go discarded each year into biofuel to ease the country’s energy shortage, officials said Wednesday. [AFP]

TECHNOLOGY Leading consumer electronics manufacturers will start a pilot program in fiscal 2008 to notify consumers of recalls via cellphones. [ASAHI]

TECHNOLOGY The launch of the Kaguya lunar orbit explorer, which was delayed due to equipment trouble, will take place on Sept. 13, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced on Wednesday. [MSN MAINICHI]

TECHNOLOGY Nokia offered to replace as many as 46 million mobile-phone batteries made by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. as some may overheat, in what would be the largest voluntary consumer electronics recall. [BLOOMBERG]

TECHNOLOGY Sony Corp. has set its sights on women fond of decorating anything from cellphones to make-up cases with the release of special editions of its Walkman portable music player. [ASAHI]

TECHNOLOGY The Chiba Institute of Technology unveiled a new eight-legged robot on July 31. [MSN MAINICHI]

TECHNOLOGY Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it has developed a plug-in hybrid vehicle for public road tests in Japan and plans tests for the U.S. and Europe. [MSN MAINICHI]

TECHNOLOGY Kansai Urban Banking Corp. is to introduce a new system in August that will enable employees who visit clients to collect money to issue a receipt using a mobile phone and a small printer connected to its headquarters. [YOMIURI]