GW-115

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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. 115

Friday, September 19, 2003
(Long URLs may break across two lines, so copy to your browser.)

========================= ADVERTISEMENT==============================
NOKIA Japan Co.,Ltd.

FINALLY THE NEW NOKIA 6650 ALLOWS YOU TO USE THE
SAME NUMBER IN JAPAN AND OVERSEAS*

The Nokia 6650 phone supports both WCDMA and GSM (900/1800MHz),
which can be used in Japan and many other countries outside Japan.
It can meet your calling needs across national borders -
look how convenient and comfortable it could be!

*Check out NOKIA 6650 phone at:
http://www.nokia.co.jp/products/n6650/eng/index.html
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Name: Sharp DV-HR350/DV-HR300
Category: AV
Price: Open
Release date in Japan: DV-HR350, late September 2003/ DV-HR300, early
October 2003

The Gist: Sharp has announced two new, sexy hard disk/DVD recorders
which are -- wait for it -- the thinnest in the industry, at a mere,
fledgling, sliver-licious 59 mm. The company claims that the key
features are the hugeness of the hard disks (120GB for the DV-HR350
model), idiot-proof programming (they may be seriously underestimating
our ability to get confused by simple electronic devices here) and an
i.LINK DV jack for recording from a digital camcorder straight to the
machine's hard disk. The new machines should make a nice, big splash
in the increasingly competitive DVD/HD market. The recorders are also
the first ever to incorporate an LCD panel in the front of the
machine, so users can always see what's going on. Or something like
that. With their sleek and minimalist good looks, the two products --
the HR300 comes with 80 gigs -- are intended to perfectly complement
the company's range of Aquos LCD TVs.

One hundred and twenty gigabytes will apparently allow the recording
of up to 150 hours of television -- or about a day's viewing for your
average, chip-fed couch potato -- and, thanks to the "Easy On-Screen
Programming" function, even the towering intellects of your average
Klingon-conversant Trekkie should be able to cope with setting the
machines to record stuff. Users simply select items from the TV
schedule in front of them, and their new silver surfer best friend
does the rest. New owners will even get a choice of colors -- so long
as it's silver, or silverfish -- with the DV-HR350 available in a
silver finish and the DV-HR300 in "light metallic" only.

More info: http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/030909.html

(Sharp has also announced the world's first notebook PC with a 3D
display! Read about it at
http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/030911.html)

============================= EVENT ==================================
GARTNER'S SYMPOSIUM/ITXPO 2003
Date: Nov. 19-21, 2003
Location: Le Meridien Grand Pacific (Odaiba, Tokyo)

Business today is all about reducing time, increasing speed, and
improving profits. Technology is the enabler.
Keeping up - and looking ahead - is your challenge and our strength.
Join over 2500 senior IT decision makers to hear Gartner's leading
global and Japanese analyst address technology issues that will
have the biggest impact on your enterprise over the next year.

View complete Symposium information at:
http://www.gartner.co.jp/symposium/eng/
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Name: Kyocera Finecam SL300R
Category: Digital camera
Price: Open (but approx 45,000 yen)
Release date in Japan: late September 2003

The Gist: The SL300R digital camera is, say Kyocera, INCREDIBLY THIN!
And, at a svelte 15mm, weighing a featherweight 125g with dimensions
of 100x15x62.5mm, no one's going to be arguing with that. Boasting a
swiveling lens, like on the ones in the popular Nikon Coolpix series,
the SL300R has an image-processing chip dubbed "Rtune," which allows
for up to 3.5 images to be recorded per second, a 3,170,000-pixel CCD
knocking out images at a maximum resolution of 2,048x1,536 dots and
video at a maximum of 640x480 dots running at a not-too-jerky 15
frames per second; it also sports a 3x optical zoom. That's a lot of
gadgety stuff in a very tiny package. The focal range on the camera's
lens is equivalent to 38-115mm on a 35mm camera, there's an optical
viewfinder for more WYSIWYG capturing and an SD card slot to record
the photos. Right now, the anorexic snapper comes in silver, light
blue or red finishes, with later campaigns planned to release
limited-edition colors (er, like pink). Joy.

More info: http://www.kyocera.co.jp/news/2003/0901.html

=========================== NEW LAUNCH ==============================
Japan Inc Communications K.K. is proud to announce the launch of its
new portal site: japan.com - your primary access point for Business,
Leisure and News on Japan.

Check it out now at: http://www.japan.com

We welcome your input, feedback, insights -- even gripes. Please share
your comments and ideas. Help make this site rock!
Contact: Yves Bennaim on 3499-2175 ext. 1322 or email:
yves@japaninc.com
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Name: Canon Ixy Digital L
Category: Digital camera
Price: Open (but approx 40,000 yen)
Release date in Japan: late October 2003

The Gist: And while we're talking about fantastic-looking digicams, we
can't leave without mentioning this beauty. Long regarded as the most
beautiful, lustworthy gadget in the known universe -- kinda the
digital equivalent of Angelina Jolie -- Canon's Ixy Digital is a
wonder to behold. And hold. And kiss, and・r・orry, use. Seemingly
carved out of a solid, but tiny, block of pure titanium, the Ixy
Digital was a technophile's wet dream, with superlative quality, a
miniscule "footprint" and that babe-magnet wow factor. But true gadget
heads, however, have previously been put off by the camera being
slightly behind the technology curve in terms of pixel count. No
longer! Because the new Ixy Digital L will be with us in a few weeks'
time and it's a four megapixel monster. Or a mini-monster, with
dimensions of 90.3x18.5x47mm, weight of 100g and -- there are freaks
out there who will want to know this kind of thing -- an overall
volume of 78.5cc. The Digital L is capable of producing a huge number
of image sizes, with a maximum of 2,272x1,704, does a limited movie
thing at 15fps and records to an SD memory card. It has a speedy
start-up time of 1.9 seconds an optical viewfinder and, because it's
such a paragon of design, there's a host of fashionable accessories
available for it -- including a very cool outer case that's waterproof
down to three meters.

More info: http://cweb.canon.jp/newsrelease/2003-09/pr_ixydl.html

===========================ADVERTISEMENT==============================
J@PAN INC magazine -- the journal of business, technology and people
in Japan -- invites you to participate in a "Real Estate Industry in
Japan" special ad section scheduled for the December 2003 issue.

The December 2003 special ad section will feature the major companies
that are actively responding to this competitive industry. Your
company will be interviewed for the ad section article and will be
included in the Directory Listings page, providing a tremendous
opportunity for your company to engage customers, build relationships
and explain your services to a highly targeted audience.

For more information please contact:
Fabien Brogard on 3499-2175 ext: 1281 or email fabien@japaninc.com
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Name: Matsushita D-Snaps
Category: Digital
Price: Open (but SV-AV50 approx 40,000 yen, SV-AV35 43,000 yen)
Release date in Japan: (SV-AV50) November 15/(SV-AV35) November 22

The Gist: Proudly pushing out another couple gadgets that make you
yell "I want one!" even before you quite know what they actually are,
Matsushita (Panny to its friends) has announced the SV-AV50 and
SV-AV35. Much friendlier in the flesh than their names would suggest,
the two new gadgets are basically SD card-toting digital cameras,
nicknamed "D-snaps." But they're much more than that: Both are capable
of recording MPEG-4 video at a very nippy 30 frames per second -- so
your whole family doesn't end up looking like Charlie Chaplin, as on
their competitors -- and, using the company's DIGA DVD recorders, you
can transfer recorded TV programs over to the little D-Snaps and play
them back on the move (and it only takes 15 seconds to send over 1
hour's worth of recordings!) Both multifunction handhelds will also
play MP3 and AAC files and act as digital voice recorders.

The SV-AV50 looks like one of my grandpa's cigarette cases, comes in
silver, blue or (yeuch!) brown and, more importantly, houses a
2,110,000-pixel CCD, knocking out maximum 1,600x1,200 images. It also
has a digital zoom (avoid like an episode of the Anna Nicole Smith
show) and a two-inch LCD viewfinder. The dinky little clamshell-like
SV-AV35, on the other hand, comes in silver, blue and orange and lacks
the digital zoom (hurrah!), but does come bundled with a USB cradle.

More info: http://panasonic.jp/d-snap/

============================= NEWS ===================================
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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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