Word processing "on edge"
Tired of not being able to see all of your page onscreen? Casio's Darwin CX-7000 word processor sports an 11.3-inch "spin top" color LCD screen that rotates 90 degrees to stand on the vertical. A Pro Design function fits text into a selected pre-made layout with one click. The built-in scanner can scan full-color photos (at 400 dpi) or handwritten text for OCR conversion. Other features include printer; automatic font size, tracking, and leading adjustment; compatibility with various file formats (including JPEG, BMP, Ichitaro, and MS-Word); character sets for 10 languages; 3 dictionaries (E/J, J/E, and Japanese); and an English spell checker. All this for just JPY200,000.
Casio Computer: 03-3347-4811
MPEG camera allows video transfer to PC
Hitachi has released the MP-EG1, a video camera that enables users to record video in the MPEG-1 video compression standard format, then easily transfer the video to a PC for full-motion editing and viewing. The recorded video can also be viewed on the camera's 1.8-inch LCD screen. The MP-EG1 weighs just 540 grams; it records video and audio onto a 260MB Type III PC Card, which can store up to 20 minutes of full-motion video, or 3,000 still images linked to four hours of audio. The camera is bundled with seven CD-ROM-based applications and utilities, including MPEG decoder, data transfer, and nonlinear editing software, and a variety of MPEG-1 and JPEG titles. No MPEG decoding board is needed. List price of the MP-EG1 video camera is JPY132,000.
Hitachi: 03-3506-1678
Low-priced color scanner from HP
Hewlett Packard has released an easy-to-use, low-priced 300x600-dpi color scanner for home use. When the user pushes the button on the front of the HP ScanJet 5p, the unit automatically launches the scanning software and begins scanning. The compact 5p (with a footprint 30% smaller than HP's business models) comes with a full range of useful software on CD-ROM, including scanning, image filing, Japanese OCR, and photo retouching applications. The ScanJet 5p (without SCSI card) retails for JPY54,800 (DOS/V and NEC versions) and JPY59,800 (DOS/V and Mac versions, with card).
Hewlett Packard Japan: 03-3335-8333
A data-capable PHS phone
Kyocera's Data Scope DS-100 is a PHS unit with 2400-bps internal modem. (A 32K-bps version is being developed.) In addition to normal PHS phone functions, the unit can be used to dial into an online service account for sending/receiving e-mail (although direct PPP connection is not supported). The flip-down portion of the unit doubles as a type II PCMCIA card that can be inserted directly into the PC card slot of a Windows-compatible laptop for sharing data. The DS-100 also has PIM (personal information management) functions, including a scheduler, address book, and calculator. Pricing of the DS-100 PHS unit is "open."
Kyocera: 045-943-6183
New ATM switches from Fujitsu
Fujitsu has announced three new models of its EA1000 ATM switch series. These switches, designed to handle the increasing loads on LANs and WANs that come from the introduction of intranets and use of multimedia, are compatible with the latest ATM function standards (such as P-NNI, UNI 4.0, and ABR). The 2.5GB EA1330 small workgroup switch (JPY2.9 million) and 5.0GB EA1550 standard-type backbone switch (JPY4.6 million) were released in March; the 5GB-10GB EA1570 high-capacity, high-performance backbone switch (JPY7.8 million) will be available in August.
Fujitsu 03-3216-9245
New CD-ROM reference works from Microsoft
Microsoft Japan's newest Bookshelf CD-ROM features six dictionaries published by Shogakukan: Japanese, English-Japanese, Japanese-English, old Japanese idioms, word usage, and Data Pal (new words). The user can search a selected dictionary, or do a global search. Some definitions are accompanied by video, sound, photos, or diagrams, and approximately 40,000 English words come with a sound clip of their pronunciation (with North American English accent). Bookshelf integrates with Microsoft's Word 95/97 and PowerPoint 97 so that users can choose a shortcut menu and look up words in a document. The Windows 95 version is slated for a late-May release; no schedule has been set for a Mac version. The retail price of Bookshelf is JPY14,800.
Microsoft has also localized its successful Encarta 97 Encyclopedia CD-ROM for Japan; about one-third of the content is original Japanese material. Some 500 Japanese experts contributed to the project. There are about 10,000 photos, diagrams, sound clips, and video clips. Web links in entries link to new information on Microsoft's webpage and other relevant Internet websites. Pricing of Encarta 97 is "open."
Microsoft: 03-5454-2300
Pirate problems? Enlist a wizard's help
Developers' revenues are always in danger from software piracy. Rainbow Technologies' Sentinel Wizard offers a solution by which developers can easily make protective "dongles" (a hardware key that must be attached to a computer in order to run the application). Sentinel Wizard's user-friendly, graphical interface asks the developer questions about the product and how it will be distributed (e.g., as a retail product, leased software, or timed demo), then automatically programs the Sentinel SuperPro key and generates pseudocode that the developer can then incorporate into the software. SentinelWizard is now included at no extra cost in all Sentinel SuperPro Developer's Kits (along with a Sentinel SuperPro key and CD-ROM with new software releases and online documentation). The Sentinel SuperPro Developer's Kit sells for $19.95 in the US, or JPY4,800 in Japan.
Rainbow Technologies: +1-714-450-7300; e-mail: japan@rnbo.com
Apple debuts two PowerBook 3400c models
At February's Tokyo MacWorld Expo, Apple announced two new models of the PowerBook 3400 series: the PowerBook 3400c/200 (with 200-MHz PowerPC 603e processor and 2GB hard disk) and the PowerBook 3400c/240 (240-MHz PowerPC 603e processor with 3GB hard disk). This high-performance notebook is made for heavy-duty multimedia and communications work.
New on these models are hot-swappable expansion bay modules (swap the CD-ROM module for a floppy disk module, for example, without restarting). Other features include Apple Location Manager (a software utility for saving location-dependent system settings), a four speaker sound system, PCI video controller with hardware acceleration, VGA connector for 16-bit video output, 16-bit stereo in/out, Zoomed Video support, and software-based MPEG-1 decompression. Each PowerBook 3400c model (weighing in at just over 3 kg) has built-in 10M-bps Ethernet and 33.6K-bps modem, and an RJ-45 connector that accepts Ethernet or telephone cable.
Both systems have 16MB of RAM (expandable to 144MB), 1MB VRAM, 12.1-inch TFT display (800X600 pixel resolution), one expansion media bay, lithium-ion battery (2-4 hours), and 12X CD-ROM drive. Bundled software includes MacOS 7.6, Claris Organizer, PC-exchange software, Apple Internet Connection Kit, WebWhacker 2.0 (offline Internet browsing), WyndMail (wireless e-mail), and Macplay (a 3D pool game). Prices for both models are "open."
The 3400c/200 will be released in late April, and the 3400c/240 will go on sale in May.
Apple Customer Assistance Center: 0120-615-800
