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The Phantom on a roll

Employees at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars celebrated the production of the 2000th Phantom recently. Everyone assembled in the courtyard at the award-winning manufacturing plant at Goodwood - in the design of the number `2000' - for a group photograph. The Phantom is exported all over the world from Goodwood in the South of England and the 2000th motor car is destined for China, which is an important market for Rolls-Royce.

Ian Robertson, Chairman and Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, "We will shortly be celebrating another milestone, our third birthday, on 1 January 2006. The intervening months have been an incredible period for everyone at Goodwood. The team is rightly proud of the tremendous results achieved in a remarkably short space of time. We are now looking forward to the next 12 to 18 months, which will see the launch of a new convertible."

In the short period of time since the Phantom was first unveiled at Goodwood in January 2003, it has become the market leader in the super luxury sector.

Need a helping hand?

A new version of Honda's ASIMO humanoid robot was revealed a short while ago. The improved robot can pursue key tasks in a real-life environment and features an advanced level of physical capabilities. The new ASIMO can act in harmony with people, for example, walking with a person while holding hands. It can also give and receive objects, and walk while using a trolley or cart. Plus, the development of a "total control system" enables ASIMO to automatically perform a series of everyday human tasks, such as those of an information guide.

The running capability of ASIMO is dramatically improved, with the robot now able to run at a speed of 6 kph and can also run in a circular pattern. The goal of Honda's Research and Development team is to create a truly useful humanoid robot which possesses both intelligence and physical capabilities at a high level.

The new ASIMO revealed recently has achieved the advanced physical capabilities target, so now Honda will continue in its R&D efforts by shifting focus to the area of intelligence, which will further enable ASIMO to make comprehensive judgements based on various situations.

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