GW-285 -- The hottest gizmos and gadgets from Japan

[gadgetwatch at mailman.japaninc.com]

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Japan Inc Magazine Presents:
G A D G E T W A T C H

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The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan
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Issue No. 285 Friday December 14, 2007
Subscribers: 9467
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****OUT NOW: J at PAN INC MAGAZINE'S****
IT SPECIAL (NOV/DEC 2007)
J-SOX Software Solutions-Virtual Machines-Industry Analysis-
PLUS A New Treatment for Cancer & Travel in Okinawa
Read online at www.japaninc.com

------Metropolis Magazine Valentine`s Glitterball---------------

Glitterball is back!
Tokyo's favorite party makes its triumphant return on
February 14, 2008-Valentine's Day.
An institution for nearly a decade, the Metropolis-hosted
Glitterball was on hiatus this year due to the closing of
Velfarre nightclub, but 2008's version promises to be better
than ever.

Roppongi hotspot Alife will host over 1,000 V-Day revelers
for a night of eating, drinking, dancing, making friends-and
who knows what else.
Prize drawings, swag bags, and Tokyo's funnest crowd will make
the reborn Glitterball the highlight of the Tokyo social calendar.

CORPORATE SPONSORS WELCOME
www.metropolis.co.jp/glitterball

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Name: Logitec LDT-1S30X4U
Category: USB 1-Seg Tuner
Price: Open Price; estimated around 16,800 yen
Release date in Japan: Already available

The Gist: 1-Seg tuners are popping up in all kinds of consumer
electronics nowadays and you're probably dreading even reading
about yet another one. Especially yet another USB one as we've
reported on such products in the past.

But the LDT-1S30X4U adds a new twist, or to be more specific,
three twists. Not only does it contain two tuners, but it has
two USB ports such that you can add two more tuners
(not included), bringing your total number of tuners to four.
What would you do with that? Watch four TV programs at the same
time, of course. Or watch one program and record three others.
Watch two, record two. You certainly have a lot of different
options with this setup.

The 1S30X4U has a 'Triple Antenna,' or three antennas instead of
just one. There's also an internal booster. Otherwise, says
Logitec, you wouldn't have stable signals when watching more
than one program at a time. While USB bus power is sufficient
when using the two internal tuners, you'll need to use the
included adapter if using three or four tuners.

Additional features include support for time-shift playback,
EPG/iEPG support, subtitles, data broadcast support, and email
recording scheduling. Video is recorded in MPEG-4/H.264 and
audio in MPEG-2/AAC.

More info:
http://www.logitec.co.jp/products/1seg/ldt1s30x4u.html
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Name: Kenwood CLK-7i-S
Category: Home Audio/Video
Price: Open Price; estimated around 50,000 yen
Release date in Japan: Already available

The Gist: From Kenwood is the new CLK-7i-S, a desktop audio
system with a thin profile and support for CD, MiniDisc, and
USB playback. The 'CLK-5i-S' and 'CLK-5i-W' will also be
available ('silver' and 'white'), dropping support for MiniDisc
for those not needing it, saving you 10,000 yen.

At its deepest point, the CLK-7i is 18cm thick. This makes it
pretty easy to place on a kitchen counter, desktop, bedside
table, mantel (do those even exist in Japan?), and similar
positions. The speakers are also detachable from the main body,
giving you still more freedom about how you want to setup the
unit.

The 7i-S has universal support for MP3 and non-DRM WMA audio
files. So if you insert a CD-R or RW disc with such files
recorded on it, it can handle them. If CDs aren't your way of
life, the integrated USB port allows you to easily connect USB
storage devices (or other portable audio players) and play audio
files from them. It can also read files from folders and read
their ID3 tags, so organization shouldn't really be an issue.
Additional magic comes from the integrated iPod connection port,
right on the stand of the unit. This port, when used with an
additional cable (the PNC-iP120, unfortunately not included),
allows you to connect directly to some modern flavors of iPod
for playing audio files and recharging. 'Some' is the key word
here?the iPod touch and shuffle don't appear to be supported.
Owners of Kenwood's own 'D.AUDIO' line of players will be
pleased to know this unit also supports those, but also with a
not-included cable.

Also included is an integrated AM/FM radio, 10Wx2ch speakers
with 80mm full range units, and remote controller.

More info:
http://www.kenwood.co.jp/newsrelease/2007/20071207.html
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---------------- ICA Event - Jan 16 ----------------------------

Event: New Year Mixer Party-Joint event with
the American Chamber (ACCJ)

Overview: An evening of fun, games, salsa dancers, dancing,
prizes, drinks, and delicious food
Details: Complete event details at http://www.icajapan.jp/
(RSVP Required)

Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Time: 7:30-9:30, includes open bar, finger food.
Open ended nijikai at same location
Cost: 6,000 yen (members), 6,500 yen (non-members)
Open to all-venue is 57 - Roppongi 4-2-35, Tel. 03-5775-7857

http://www.fiftyseven.co.jp/

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Name: COWON A3
Category: Portable Audio/Video
Price: 30GB: 49,800 yen, 60GB: 59,800 yen
Release date in Japan: December 20, 2007

The Gist: For a portable audio/video player that supports most
formats under the sun, look no further than Cowon's new A3, due
out in Japan on December 20th.

The A3 is available in 30GB and 60GB iterations. Either model
features a 4-inch LCD of 16.7 million colors and a resolution
of 800x480 dots. The list of supported formats is long. For
video you'll have support of DivX (versions 3 through 6, even
with DRM), XviD, WMV, MPEG-4 Simple Profile, MPEG-1, MPEG-2,
and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264. Say that three times fast. Or not. The
new chipset from Texas Instruments gives this player some
impressive scaling capabilities ?you can run videos 'fullscreen'
if they're smaller than 800x480 dots, and you can even play
HD-level DivX files as large as 1280x720 dots (720p). Thankfully
Cowon thought ahead here: the AV input/output allows for video
output via S-Video, Composite, and Component interfaces, making
this player a 'portable HDTV-outputter.' Since that's an AV
input as well, the A3 is also capable of capturing video as
large as 720x480 dots at 3Mbps in the ASF format.

Audio file support is in full force. You'll file support for
MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, AAC, AC3, Apple Lossless, True Audio,
Monkey Audio, MusePack, and Wavpack. Cowon said the A3 is the
first portable player in the world to support MusePack,
True Audio, and WavPack. Those formats sound obscure enough to
remind me of Yamaha's VQF format from the days of yore, but I
suppose this is great news for some people. For sharing your
favorite songs with friends, the A3 has an integrated 2ch
speaker of 1W. Not exactly huge, but it's a nice bonus.

Photographers will also love the A3 as it features support
for not only the standard JPEG, BMP, PNG, and GIF images,
but also RAW images from Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus, Sony,
and similar brand cameras. With USB Host support, you'll be
able to connect the A3 directly to such cameras, copy image
files, and continue shooting. The FM tuner doesn't even seem
worth mentioning at this point, but there it is.

For still more entertainment, Cowon plans on releasing an
A3-only 1-Seg tuner ('A3-OS1') for 9,980 yen. The A3 itself
can record 1-Seg programs and features support for EPG, giving
you the (mobile) freedom to record and watch programs whenever
you so desire.

With all that functionality in a small package (133x78.5x22mm,
to be exact), the battery life is a bit low. Video playback will
last about 7 hours, audio about 9 hours, and 1-seg about 5 and a
half hours.

More info: http://www.cowonjapan.com/
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STAFF
Written by: Liam McNulty
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