This week brought some sad news from Japan with the closing of the Nagoya robot museum, but maybe our synthetic cousins will be able find employment with NASA. If you still need cheering up, we showcased some wacky handheld gadgetry like this Western hair dryer and this unlikely map/cane hybrid. We also took a peek at what happens when Bose turns its attention toward automobile suspension, and, in Shift, Stephen Schleicher analyzed the ebb and flow of the technological cycle.

More top tech stories from the week:

Saturday: Child robot is much more unsettling than a real child
Sunday: Peer Review: 3G iPod Nano
Monday: Insense goggles: For serious virtual-reality addicts
Tuesday: Will Bose make subwoofers obsolete?
Wednesday: Concept Vaio is pure sex
Thursday: Blaupunkt Melbourne SD27 car receiver/audio player lets you say bye-bye to CDs
Friday: Fujitsu robot Enon lands new gig, wants your job next