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Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, USA, is the manufacturer of a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle, the Segway PT, invented by Dean Kamen. The name "Segway" is a homophone of "segue" (a smooth transition, literally Italian for "follows"). Segways have had success in niche markets such as transportation for police departments, military bases, warehouses, corporate campuses and industrial sites. The legal roadworthiness of the Segway varies with different jurisdictions' classification of the device as a motor vehicle. ==History== The Segway was unveiled December 3, 2001, following months of public speculation, in Bryant Park, New York City, on the ABC News morning program ''Good Morning America'' and first produced in 2002.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=About Segway - Who We Are - Segway Milestones )〕 The first owners of Segway Inc. were Dean Kamen and venture capitalists. A few years after production and sale of the Segway had begun, Dean Kamen gave up control of the company to the private investors. The Segway PT was known by the names ''Ginger'' and ''IT'' (pronounced "it") before it was unveiled. ''Ginger'' came out of the first product that used Kamen's balancing technology, the iBOT wheelchair. During development at the University of Plymouth, in conjunction with BAE Systems and Sumitomo Precision Products, the iBot was nicknamed ''Fred Upstairs'' (after Fred Astaire) because it can climb stairs: hence the name ''Ginger'', after Astaire's regular film partner, Ginger Rogers, for a successor product. The invention, development, and financing of the Segway was the subject of a narrative nonfiction book, ''Code Name Ginger'' (in paperback as ''Reinventing the Wheel''), by journalist Steve Kemper. The leak of information from that book led to rampant and hyperbolic speculation about the "IT" device prior to release. The speculation created an unexpected advance buzz about the then-unknown product that was, at times, hyperbolic. John Doerr speculated that it would be more important than the Internet. Bezos was quoted that "...Cities will be built around this device." Articles were written in major publications speculating on it being a Stirling engine. ''South Park'' devoted an episode to making fun of the hype before the product was released. The company was sold on Christmas Day 2009, to a group led by British millionaire Jimi Heselden, chairman of Hesco Bastion, who later died in an accident after driving his Segway over a cliff above the River Wharfe near the town of Boston Spa, Leeds in Yorkshire on September 26, 2010.〔(【引用サイトリンク】author=Lindor Reynolds )〕〔(Segway boss dies after riding scooter off cliff in northern England )〕 Summit Strategic Investments, LLC announced in February 2013 that they had acquired the company for an undisclosed amount. The company planned to refocus, grow its product portfolio and expand its worldwide network. In September 2014, Segway filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission about the infringement of several of its patents by several Chinese companies, including Ninebot, Shenzhen INMOTION Technologies and Robstep Robot.〔United States International Trade Commission: "Complaint of Segway Inc. and Deka Products Limited Partnership under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as Amended." 9 September 2014. (Available on Segway's website ).〕 On April 1, 2015, Segway was acquired by Ninebot Inc., a Beijing-based transportation robotics startup backed by Xiaomi, for an undisclosed amount.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-15/xiaomi-backed-startup-says-it-plans-to-buy-u-s-rival-segway )〕〔Jack Lingshi: "(Why This Chinese Startup Just Bought a Company Americans Love to Ridicule )", 'Time', 15 April 2015.〕〔Catherine Shu: "(Beijing-based Ninebot Acquires Segway, Raises $80M From Xiaomi And Sequoia )", 'TechCrunch', 15 April 2015.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Segway Inc.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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