It may look like a glorified salon chair, but a new Japanese hair-washing robot replicates the dexterous touch of a human hand to care for the locks of the elderly and the infirm. Its creators at electronics firm Panasonic say the machine features the latest robotic technology and could help replace human care-givers in this rapidly aging nation without degrading the quality of the service.

It was not without a little sadness that we witnessed the end of Sony's Walkman cassette model last year. Thankfully, the brand still lives on in more modern Sony products. The latest of these was revealed earlier this month, as the company announced its new Walkman B Series. This new Walkman series (the NWZ-B160/B160F) of mp3 players is tiny and available in a wide range of bright colors, they also have a convenient clip on the back.