GW-104

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J@pan Inc Magazine Presents:
G A D G E T W A T C H
The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan
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Issue No. 104
Thursday, June 19, 2003
(Long URLs may break across two lines, so copy to your browser.)

Name: Archos Cinema to Go AV300
Category: Portable wizardry
Price: $799 and $899 (or squillions of yen)
Release date in Japan: June 2, 2003

The Gist: Truly useful portable devices are really beginning to make
an appearance now, and nothing quite gets the juices flowing than the
prospect of being able to watch movies on the move. Current portable
DVD players score high on sexiness and low on actually being able to
use the darn things, given limited battery life and screen issues. But
the new AV300, or "Cinema to Go" gadget, from Archos could change all
that. The company claims that the AV300 stores up to 50 movies on its
massive 20GB internal hard disk (or 40GB disk in the AV340) and serves
'em up on the lovely 3.8-inch LCD display. The new machine is also an
MPEG-4 player and photo viewer. Better still, with the addition of
various add-on hardware, it becomes a camera, FM radio and remote
control, VCR and goodness knows what else. Looking a whole lot bigger
than it actually is in photos, the Cinema to Go range fits neatly into
the palm of your hand and will undoubtedly boost your sex appeal, make
you the star of every dinner party and, if you're lucky, drown out the
boring toothpick salesman from Iowa sitting next to you next time
you're on a transatlantic flight.

More info:
http://www.archos.com/products/av300_series.html?sid=j22o2s2cbjjjkycbsc4...

============================= EVENT ==================================
ICA Special Event on Project Management - June 19, 18:30

PRESENTER: Jim (Coach) Hunter, Senior Partner, PMP-Japan
TOPIC: Managing Process Improvement Projects:
Using advanced project management methodologies.

Location - Foreign Correspondents' Club, Yurakucho Denki Building,
Cost: 3,500 yen (members) 6,000 yen (non-members), Dinner included

To attend please RSVP on our sign-up page at:
http://www.icajapan.jp/signup.html
For more details visit
http://www.icajapan.jp/
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Name: Princeton Technologies Pocket Beat 300/500
Category: AV
Price: Open (but Pocket Beat 300 approx. 16,800 yen)
Release date in Japan: mid June for Pocket Beat 300; mid July for
Pocket Beat 500

The Gist: With or without FM radio is the choice to make here. Your
Pocket Beat portable MP3 player and voice recorder comes in two
flavors: the hip but square pocket beat 300, with 128MB of onboard
memory, a 5-mode equalizer, backlit LCD display and ability to play
back MP3 files from 32 to 320kbps and WMA files from 64 to 192kbps;
and the 500 model. The pocket beat 500 is less square (actually, a
rather neat oblong shape) and -- our more attentive readers will know
what's coming next -- sports a built-in FM tuner.

The 500 model also has more range when it comes to its files, playing
MP3s at 8 to 320kbps and WMA files at 32 to 192kbps. It starts off
with the same amount of memory as the 300, but can be expanded via the
SD memory card slot to 256MB. But they're both cute, both worthy of
your greenbacks/yen, and if you're so flush you fancy buying both,
just send me the one you don't need when you get tired of it. Please!

More info:
http://www.princeton.co.jp/news/info/news_contents/200306060925.htm

============================= EVENT ==================================
Empire www.empire.net.nz - Property Investment Exhibition
Quality Development by Sanctuary Group

Venue: Tokyo American Club, Azabudai, Tokyo
Date: 28th - 29th June 2003
Time: Saturday & Sunday 11:00am - 7:00pm
Contact: Towry Law International (Japan) Ltd -
Ivan Doherty 03-5210-5503 or ipd@towrylaw.co.jp

If you're looking for success in investment property in Auckland,
New Zealand - this is an opportunity not to be missed.
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Name: InFocus LP 120
Category: AV
Price: (Standard model $2,799)
Release date in Japan: (US only for now)

The Gist: There's no doubt that home projectors look cool. They're
even more likely, if that were possible, to get you laid than
possessing that Archos portable movie player. OK, maybe not, but if
home cinema is your thing, but you're not entirely sure you want to
get the builders in and remodel your home just to install a hulking
movie projector the size of a baby elephant into a ceiling, the
LP 120 from InFocus could be what you need. The LP 120 is a
super-portable DLP projector with a second generation DLP panel,
capable of a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, putting out 1,100 ANSI lumens to
form a 4:3-aspect 1,024x768 dot (XGA) image. It only weighs 0.9kg
(1.98 lbs) -- which is the lightest in the world, needless to say --
operates at a whisper-level 37dB and, if InFocus is to be believed, is
a "B5-sized projector you can put in your pocket." If you're the size
of The Big Show, perhaps, with an overcoat made by the local boatyard.

More info:
http://www.infocus.com/products/productview.asp?site_lang=1&site_region=...

============================= EVENT =================================
The Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo - For our July seminar
Andrew Silberman, President & Chief Enthusiast for the AMT group,
will inject us with a dose of "success serum."
A presentation about "Guerrilla Marketing", Jay Conrad Levinson's
term for improving business results (like sales and profits) through
unconventional means -- without spending a lot of money.
Wednesday July 2nd, City Club of Tokyo.
www.ea-tokyo.com E-mail: info@ea-tokyo.com
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Name: Attain CoolOne
Category: PC peripheral
Price: 48,000 yen
Release date in Japan: June 11, 2003

The Gist: That last gadget may be made in the US, but the Japanese
produce all the coolest stuff, hands down. Who else would have come up
with the inimitably-named "CoolOne" -- not a new digicam from Nikon,
folks, but a WASHABLE KEYBOARD. Oh yes. Many's the time I've been
working hard at my PC only to glance down at the keyboard and see
remnants of the morning's croissant and coffee breakfast lurking
bug-like in the crevices between the keys. Or seen the keys drenched
in sweat and other fluids after marathon late-night sessions (of the
gaming variety, of course) alone in my bedroom. Happily now, help is
at hand. The CoolOne is a bit pricey but is a full 101-key, USB and
PS/2 keyboard and, thanks to its silicon keys, is fully waterproof for
washing under a running tap, or can even be swabbed down with alcohol.
Which, in my case, is often how it gets dirty in the first place.
Bizarrely, however, maker Attain thinks it'll prove more useful for
nurses, "clean room" engineers and the like who can't actually help
their keyboards getting all messed up in the course of the working day
and, anyway, can always blame someone else.

More info:
http://www.attainj.co.jp/japanese/top/press/2003/coolone.html

============================= EVENT ==================================
WIN A FREE TICKET!

Economist Conferences presents:
THIRD INTERNATIONAL JAPAN AUTOMOTIVE ROUNDTABLE
Mapping the road ahead
July 17th 2003, Tokyo
http://www2.economistconferences.com/doc/ap/jpauto03/i.htm

Join senior decision-makers and discuss the best strategies for
reversing the slide and to debate new directions for the industry.
Meet industry leaders from Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor,
BMW Japan, Volkswagen Group and many more...

Special offer exclusive for J@pan Inc readers!
Win a free ticket for attending this roundtable, please register at:
http://210.176.233.138/published/asia/jpauto/form.htm
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STAFF
Written by: Max Everingham (max@everingham.net)
Edited by: J@pan Inc editors (editors@japaninc.com)

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