GW-47

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J@pan Inc Magazine Presents:
G A D G E T W A T C H
A Free Newsletter Covering the Latest Cool Stuff in Japan
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Issue No. 47

Thursday, February 7, 2002
(Long URLs may break across two lines.)

Name: Pioneer SE-CN50-S
Category: Accessory/peripheral
Price: Around 3,000 yen
Release date in Japan: February 20, 2002

The Gist: There have been many attempts by certain consumer
electronics manufacturers recently to make their gear not just look
sexy, but to actually function properly.
The 'Rave' from Acer was one such attempt, as was the Ricoh RR10
digital camera. You can kind of see people showing off their
smart-looking, shiny silver digicams as a sort of status symbol, but
I reckon Pioneer might be struggling with its new SE-CN50-S. A pair
of 'open ear' dynamic stereo earphones, the intention is that the
user wears the headset as a necklace in the "phones down time."
Yeah, right. Anyhow, when not inserted into your ears, the separate
left and right elements snap together to form a stunningly beautiful
(?!) whole. In use, the earphones put out 104dB/mW and, at a total
of 8g, weigh no more than a pair of ear rings. Hey, now there's a
thought!
More info: http://www.pioneer.co.jp/press/release293-j.html

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Name: Nakamichi SoundSpace 2
Category: AV
Price: 66,000 yen
Release date in Japan: February 1, 200

The Gist: First shown many moons ago at the CEATEC show before last,
the SoundSpace 2 MP3/WMA audio players have surfaced again.
Normally world renowned for its stellar design values,
Nakamichi has done a bit of thinking outside the box to bring us the
SoundSpace 2, which looks like a really ugly telephone and
rather unsurprisingly also houses a radio (or FM/AM tuner if you
like), amp and speakers in the main unit. No CD player, though. The
idea being that you really don't need one, given the presence of the
USB socket to port those MP3 and WMA music files over from your PC
to the audio player (with 24-bit DAC). But the reason for the
announcement is altogether more exciting ・the SoundSpace 2 is now
available in shades besides the standard gray, so it'll go with your
decor, and now comes in such colors as coral pink or mint green.
Mmmm, lovely.
More info: http://www.nakamichi.co.jp/audio/SS-2.htm

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Name: Canon 'Dee Vee' digital camcorders
Category: Camcorders
Price: DM-FV30 around 100,000 yen; DM-FV200 TBA
Release date in Japan: March 2002

The Gist: Some manufacturers try to distinguish their products from
the competition by shovelling loads of functions into the bargain,
while others try to compete on price.
Up to now, very few quality makers have gone for the second option
with camcorders, but Canon is just about to put its money where its
mouth is, with these two entry-level bad boy miniDV camcorders.
Both come with a 290,000 pixel CCD, which is where the savings were
made to bring the cameras in at such low prices. Nonetheless,
they're claimed to be good enough for most people's purposes;
particularly in the target market of total novices.
The cameras both have new, proprietary lenses (18x zoom on
the FV200 and 22x zoom on the FV30), an image stabilizer to remove
the effects of the whiskies you had at lunch time, and an accessory
kit comprising a compact AC adapter, both stereo composite and
S-Video AV cables, a battery pack, a shoulder strap and a wireless
remote control functions and an IEEE394 socket for fast, easy
downloading. If you have a Firewire port on your PC, that is.
The more capable FV30 also has an 8-MB MMC (Multi Media Card) and a
PC connection kit in the package and is compatible with SD memory
cards. There's even a night mode and all sorts of silly digital
effects possible. Stick on the BP-535 optional battery pack and the
thing will go for well over 9 hours, too. Design-wise, the two
models look almost identical ・except for some pretty function
lights arranged over the LCD screen on the body of the FV30.
More info: http://www.canon-sales.co.jp/dv/product/fv30.html
http://www.canon-sales.co.jp/dv/product/fv200.html

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STAFF
Written by: Max Everingham (max@everingham.net)
Edited by: Japan Inc editors (editors@japaninc.net)

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