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ZHANG: Moving on to Japan, where over 800 companies got to showcase their latest high-tech electronics, gadgets, and robots at an annual show in Tokyo. Let’s take a look at what’s turning heads. STORY: One of the most popular attractions is a robot named “Murata Girl, which is capable of riding a bicycle and a unicycle. With several positioning, motion, and shock control sensors attached to its body, the robot is capable of detecting obstacles while balancing on its own. [Shigeki Fukunaga, Robot Engineer]: “Technology and idea-wise it’s simple because we just had to program the robot to balance back and forth instead sideways like we did with the bicycle-riding robot.” Fukunaga says his company, Murata Manufacturing, hopes to implement the robot’s technology into various electronics and vehicles in the future. They are looking to create a bicycle that never falls down and automobiles that can avoid accidents. Nissan Motors introduced their “Biomimetic Robot 23 Car,” which carries various obstacle-detection and prevention sensors. [Toshiyuki Ando, Nissan Motors]: “Once it detects an obstacle, it automatically avoids it according to its speed, direction and distance, which is something we’ve adapted from bee’s behaviors.” Pioneer, the manufacturer of car stereos, plasma televisions and home theatre systems, also received a lot of attention. Their three-dimensional display called the “3D Floating Vision” is capable of reflecting all kinds of floating images that can be seen …

Japan’s Suzuki Motor will build a fourth Indian plant, boosting its output to 1.5 million cars annually in one of the world’s fastest growing markets. The company already controls around half of the Indian car market though majority-owned Maruti Suzuki and plans to start the new plant’s operations from 2013. Suzuki began production in India in 1983 and sees output in the nation alone exceeding half of its global production forecast of 2.68 million this year. The automaker saw Indian sales jump 24 percent in August, its best ever month, after selling over 333000 cars in the last quarter in a similar rise. Earlier, Chief Executive Osamu Suzuki said the automaker was at its limits in dealing with the strong yen, which pares about .3 million for every one-yen advance against the greenback. Suzuki said the automaker lost over billion in revenues from the strong yen, urging the Japanese government to safeguard the nation’s economy.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson welcomed the news that Nissans investment will create 350 new jobs in northeast England. The Sunderland plant will now be a contender to manufacture new and greener electric vehicles. The government has named the northeast region of England as the second Low Carbon Economic Area with a training center that will be the first to specialize in the manufacture and maintenance of ultra-low carbon vehicles. [Gordon Brown …