GW-48

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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. 48

Thursday, February 14, 2002
(Long URLs may break across two lines, so copy and paste to your
browser.)

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Name: MT-AV1 Portable AV player
Category: AV
Price: Open
Release date in Japan: February 23, 2002

The Gist: Dinky portable TVs have been on the market for ages, but
the new AV1 from Sharp takes the concept one or two steps further.

Combining television, video and audio playing capabilities, the new
machine can record music and images at the touch of a single button
so all your energies can be focused on the bright, backlit 3-in TFT
color LCD screen. The music files are MP3, the images are MPEG-4 and
they can both be recorded onto the main unit's internal memory, or
on an SD memory card if it overruns. To get the images there in the
first place, you just hook the thing up to a TV or VCR and do that
downloading thang. The machine itself comes in three colors; coral
pink, pearl white and aqua blue.
If you don't like the look of the frame, you can always change it
with the optional and cunningly named 'front parts' that come in
purple, pink and a classy leopard-skin print.
More info: http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/020207.html

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JAPAN SMALL COMPANY INVESTMENT CONFERENCE
New York City - March 12, 2002
An all-day forum featuring presentations by promising Japanese
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the investment opportunities arising as a result of current economic
trends in Japan.
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Name: Audio Technica ATV-527
Category: AV Peripheral
Price: 3,500 yen
Release date in Japan: Now

The Gist: Remote controls are a bit useless really, aren't they? I
mean, all they do is remotely control stuff. It's not very exciting
-- until now. The new ATV-527 Audio Technica remote control
brilliantly doubles as a Frisbee, so when you tire of mindless
channel surfing you can get from the sofa, gather a few friends and
just chuck it around the place. What will these wacky R&D folk think
of next? All right, I'm joking about throwing it around the living
room, but it IS intentionally shaped like a UFO, features four
suitably spacey LEDs which translate to a super-wide beaming area
and, perhaps more importantly (but only perhaps), can operate
televisions and videos from 14 different companies and DVD players
from 10. It'll even take control of your DVD-capable games console -
and with both PlayStation 2 and the new Xbox falling into this
category, that alone should shift quite a few off store shelves.
Particularly since it only costs 3,500 yen. There's even a hand
strap included in the box so you won't drop it down the back of the
sofa. There goes the Friday night entertainment.
More info:
http://www.audio-technica.co.jp/products/remocon/atv-527.html

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The Four Seasons Hotel, Tokyo
March 4-6, 2002

Opportunities in Japanese Private Equity: A Contrarian View

With Japan still groping its way through the lost decade searching
for growth, yet another 'recession' is barring its path. The macro
picture looks gloomy but opportunities for private equity investors
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contrarian view on Japan. With more than 350 delegates attending
last year, AVF/Japan is a MUST go event for the serious Asian
private equity investor.

For the latest details, please download our online brochure at:
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Name: Monster cables
Category: AV peripherals
Prices:
XB Game Link 400 (component) 9,600 yen
XB Game Link 300 (S-video) 7,800yen
XB Game Link 200 (Composite) 5,800 yen
The three products above have RCA stereo audio cables.
XB Game Link 100 (digital) 5,800 yen
Release date in Japan: February 22, 2002

The Gist: Speaking of Xbox, anyone in the know when it comes to
cables is going to recognize the name Monster. For those who don't,
Monster makes products that look like bright blue snakes but which
are, in fact, fantastically good AV cables.
It's a bit old hat to talk about PlayStation 2 gear now (unless it's
to do with the elusive, almost vaporware PS2 broadband technology)
but Monster has just announced dedicated cables for the Xbox which
offer an excellent alternative to Microsoft's homegrown variety. The
'Monster Game' series of connectors are brought from the U.S. to
Japanese gamers courtesy of E.S. Corporation and if you're a gamer
but haven't really tried experimenting with different AV cables to
get a better picture at lower cost, this is reason to rejoice. If
your TV has the right holes around the back, go for the component.
More info: http://www.escorp.co.jp/monstercable/monstergame1.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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