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Japan Inc Magazine Presents:<br>
G A D G E T W A T C H
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<p>The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan<br>
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Issue No. 277 Friday October 12, 2007<br>
Subscribers: 9467<br>
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Name: Panasonic Blu-ray DIGA<br>
Category: Home Audio/Video<br>
Price: 250GB: 180,000 yen, 500GB: 230,000 yen, 1TB: 300,000 yen<br>
Release date in Japan: November 1, 2007</p>
<p>The Gist: On November 1st, Matsushita Electric is releasing the<br>
'Blu-ray DIGA' line of Blu-ray/hard disk video recorders under<br>
their Panasonic brand. The three models: the 250GB 'DMR-BW700,'<br>
the 500GB 'DMR-BW800,' and the 1TB 'DMR-BW900,' vary only in<br>
price and capacity. The features of the three models are identical. </p>
<p>To jump right into those features, the main one here is the<br>
ability to record Full HD video signals. The DIGAs contain tuners<br>
that enable them to receive terrestrial digital, BS, and 110 CS<br>
signals, and as a result, you'll be able to record all of those.<br>
But terrestrial digital broadcasts use an MPEG-2 transport<br>
stream, which isn't the latest and greatest. These new DIGA<br>
models take things one step further by supporting Full HD signals<br>
and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoding, so you're able to record Full HD<br>
stuff in its native resolution, but with more space-efficient<br>
compression.</p>
<p>Another nice feature is 4x Blu-ray disc writing, so moving<br>
programs from the unit's hard drive to a disc shouldn't take a<br>
disturbing amount of time. At the device's lowest bitrate (HE<br>
Mode, 5.7Mbps), a full disc's worth of video (18 hours) will take<br>
between 4.2 and 6 hours to write. Japanese dramas are typically<br>
11 episodes per season, so you're looking at roughly 2 seasons<br>
per disc, in high definition, written on a disc while you sleep.</p>
<p>Additional features include Dolby Digital 5.1ch audio recording<br>
when using the AVC codec and planned support for 'AVCREC.' <br>AVCREC is a new disc standard currently being developed by the Blu-ray<br>
Disc Association that allows terrestrial digital broadcasts to be<br>
moved to DVDs. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://panasonic.jp/blu-ray/index.html" title="http://panasonic.jp/blu-ray/index.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://panasonic.jp/blu-ray/index.html</a>
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Name: Kenwood Media Keg<br>
Category: Portable Audio/Video<br>
Price: 1GB: 12,000 yen, 2GB: 15,000 yen<br>
Release date in Japan: Already available</p>
<p>The Gist: Kenwood's latest update to their 'Media Keg' line of<br>
portable audio players comes in two flavors. There's the 'cool<br>
atmosphere' GD55 models, and the 'casual form, vivid color' GD50<br>
models. Each model will be available in 1GB and 2GB versions.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that the designs of the GD55 and GD50 are<br>
different, the players themselves are equal in functionality.<br>
They include canal-type earphones with 11.5mm driver units, and<br>
given Kenwood's experience in headphones, they may actually be<br>
nice.</p>
<p>In addition to MP3, the GD55 and GD50 support playback of WMA<br>
audio. The players also feature a monochrome organic EL display<br>
that shows file tag information. Battery life is not so shabby<br>
either, with 21 hours of MP3 playback or 16 hours of WMA<br>
playback. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://www.kenwood.co.jp/newsrelease/2007/20070928.html" title="http://www.kenwood.co.jp/newsrelease/2007/20070928.html" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.kenwood.co.jp/newsrelease/2007/20070928.html
</a><br>
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Name: Toshiba gigashot A<br>
Category: Digital video camera<br>
Price: 40GB: 158,000 yen, 100GB: 188,000 yen<br>
Release date in Japan: Mid-November 2007</p>
<p>The Gist: To help fill the hard drive of Panasonic's Blu-ray<br>
DIGA, you could look at Toshiba's new 'gigashot A' digital video<br>
cameras. Available in 40GB and 100GB versions, the gigashot A is<br>
slated for launch in November of this year.</p>
<p>The gigashot A joins the ranks of modern digital video cameras<br>
by offering support for recording at Full HD resolution<br>
(1920x1080) in the MPEG-4 AVC format. With the 100GB model,<br>
this equates to roughly 12 hours worth of recording when using<br>
the unit's highest image quality ('XQ'), or 23 hours at the<br>
lowest ('SP'). Of course, as the battery will last for about 75<br>
minutes, you'll want to have some spares or a socket handy if you<br>
plan on recording more than an hour at a time.</p>
<p>According to Toshiba, the gigashot A is the 'world's smallest<br>
Full HD movie camera with a hard drive,' and we're inclined to<br>
agree. The unit measures only 78.1 x 135.4 x 79mm, making it<br>
not much larger than a (American) can of soda.</p>
<p>Those of you wondering about what happens to the hard drive when<br>
the camera is dropped can investigate Toshiba's own 'Diprotechs'<br>
system. This system uses a 3-axis acceleration sensor to retract<br>
the disk head when a drop is detected. In addition, the hard<br>
drive itself is surrounded in an impact gel.</p>
<p>With the gigashot A's SDHC card slot, you can also take still<br>
images as large as 1920x1080. This may seem like a low resolution<br>
compared to the still image resolutions that competing digital<br>
video cameras are capable of, but it's worth noting that the<br>
gigashot A's image sensor is only 1.49MP. 1.49MP is enough for<br>
Full HD video, but it does leave a bit to be desired for still images.</p>
<p>Other optics include a 10x optical zoom, 20/80x digital zoom, and<br>
electronic image stabilization. The 0.23MP color LCD monitor has<br>
a resolution of 320x240. Two notable recording modes are 'Standby<br>
Mode' that allows the camera to turn on faster after being<br>
switched off, and 'Stage Mode' that limits the optical zoom such<br>
that you don't spend all of your child's performance recording<br>
the back of someone's head. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://www.gigashot.net/mobileav/movie/" title="http://www.gigashot.net/mobileav/movie/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.gigashot.net/mobileav/movie/
</a><br>
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STAFF<br>
Written by: Liam McNulty<br>
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<p>Japan's First Family Social Network is here! <a href="http://www.piqniq.jp/" title="www.piqniq.jp" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">www.piqniq.jp</a></p>
<p>Are you raising a family in Japan? Do you speak English?<br>
Would you like to meet other English speaking families in<br>
your area? Piqniq is a Social Network Service tailored<br>
specifically for you!<br>
Our concept is "Families helping Families" and we invite<br>
anyone that wants to meet other families, help other families,<br>
or discuss family-related issues pertinent to life in Japan<br>
to come and join the Piqniq today!</p>
<p>For more information: <a href="http://www.piqniq.jp/" title="www.piqniq.jp" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">www.piqniq.jp</a></p>
<p>------------------- ICA Event - Oct 18 --------------------</p>
<p>SPECIAL JOINT EVENT with the AUSTRALIAN NEW ZEALAND CHAMBER</p>
<p>Speaker: Robert Burnside - President, Empowr<br>
Topic: Using 'Stories' to Create Winning Presentations</p>
<p>Details: Complete event details at <a href="http://www.icajapan.jp/" title="http://www.icajapan.jp/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.icajapan.jp/</a><br>
(RSVP Required)<br>
Date: Thursday, October 18, 2007<br>
Time: 6:30 Doors open, Light buffet, soft drinks included<br>
Cost: 3,000 yen (members), 5,500 yen (non-members)</p>
<p>Open to all-venue is The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan<br>
<a href="http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map" title="http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map</a><br>
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