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<p>The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan<br>
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Issue No. 284 Friday December 7, 2007<br>
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Name: Kaga Electronics Portable 1-Seg TV<br>
Category: Portable Audio/Video<br>
Price: Open Price<br>
Release date in Japan: February 2008</p>
<p>The Gist: Hot on the heels of Sony's recently released organic<br>
EL television (see Gadget Watch #276) is a portable 1-Seg TV<br>
from Kaga Electronics that also features an organic EL screen.<br>
Details are still few and far between given this product's<br>
release is still a few months away, but we do know that it<br>
features a 3-inch, full-color organic EL display with a<br>
resolution of 320x240 dots. The TV measures 64x85x8mm, and the<br>
thickness of 8mm will make this the thinnest 1-Seg TV available<br>
when it's released.</p>
<p>Kaga Electronics didn't make this happen alone. The organic EL<br>
panel is supplied by LG Philips; the panel features better color<br>
reproduction, better contrast, and a wider viewing angle versus<br>
LCDs. LG Philips worked with Eastman Kodak to bring uniform<br>
brightness levels and high quality light emitting components to<br>
this particular panel, so expect a nice screen. The tuner was<br>
developed in conjunction with Andes Electric, and it offers a<br>
higher sensitivity.</p>
<p>While the potential of this product may be limited?we find it<br>
hard to believe a whole lot of people want to carry yet another<br>
device, albeit one solely for watching 1-Seg broadcasts?it's<br>
good to see organic EL already making headway in the markets.<br>
With the advantages organic EL has versus LCD, we're very likely<br>
to see it popping up in more devices over the next few years. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://www.taxan.co.jp/news/pdf/07.11.29-1.pdf" title="http://www.taxan.co.jp/news/pdf/07.11.29-1.pdf">http://www.taxan.co.jp/news/pdf/07.11.29-1.pdf</a><br>
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Name: Panasonic Let'snote W7, US English Keyboard Edition<br>
Category: Notebook PC<br>
Price: 287,600 yen<br>
Release date in Japan: Already available (in limited quantities)</p>
<p>The Gist: A double-row Enter key, and, being two different<br>
buttons it's hard to find, a tiny spacebar, small backspace,<br>
too many useless buttons. Just admit it: you hate using Japanese<br>
keyboards, especially when trying to type in English. In today's<br>
world of Microsoft IME, ATOK, Kotoeri, and all the other various<br>
Japanese input systems, typing Japanese on an English keyboard<br>
seems just as easy as typing Japanese on a Japanese keyboard.<br>
Yet typing English on a Japanese keyboard is so difficult. </p>
<p>Perhaps that's part of the reason Panasonic has announced a<br>
limited edition of their Let'snote W7 notebook PC that features<br>
an US English keyboard layout. According to Panasonic, some of<br>
their users who had experience with 'certain applications' and<br>
other operating systems requested keyboards with a US English l<br>
ayout. We've already highlighted some of the differences above,<br>
but the primary differences on this particular model are as<br>
follows: the Enter key sits only on one row (and is longer), the<br>
spacebar is wider, Kana doesn't appear on the keys, function<br>
keys (DEL, INS) are in different locations, there's a right<br>
ALT key, and the symbol keys are in different locations.<br>
Anyone used to a US English keyboard will be right at home.</p>
<p>This version of the Let'snote didn't stop there; Panasonic has<br>
also thrown Windows Vista Ultimate on it, enabling users to take<br>
advantage of Microsoft's 'Ultimate Extras' for downloadable<br>
language packs. Windows Vista Ultimate has a function called<br>
Multilingual User Interface (MUI) that lets one change the<br>
display language on a per-user basis. If you prefer to have your<br>
Windows interface in English but your spouse prefers Japanese,<br>
that's entirely possible on one machine with the MUI function of<br>
Vista Ultimate. MUI has previously only been available through<br>
Volume Licensing agreements with Microsoft, and not retail<br>
channels, so it's excellent to see this feature make its way<br>
to the consumer segment. </p>
<p>The standard edition of the Let'snote W7 was only released on<br>
November 16th, so don't expect a hardware refresh for this US<br>
English keyboard edition. The screen is a 12.1-inch display of<br>
1024x768 dots, the processor a Core 2 Duo U7500 (1.06GHz), the<br>
memory 1GB, the hard disk 80GB, and the optical drive a DVD<br>
Super Multi drive. Interfaces include three USB 2.0 ports, a<br>
Type2 PC Card slot, an SD card slot, IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless<br>
LAN, Gigabit Ethernet, an integrated 56k modem, and a mini D-Sub<br>
15-pin connector for your external display. The battery will<br>
last about 10 hours. </p>
<p>Unfortunately you'll need to move fast: this US English<br>
keyboard version will be limited to a production of 100 units. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://winki.co.uk/%7E0XuW" title="http://winki.co.uk/~0XuW">http://winki.co.uk/~0XuW</a><br>
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Name: Evergreen EG-CVR1000<br>
Category: IC Voice Recorder<br>
Price: 9,980 yen<br>
Release date in Japan: Already available</p>
<p>The Gist: As many as 69 hours of audio can be recorded on the<br>
EG-CVR1000's internal 1GB of memory. This new recorder from<br>
Evergreen comes via their 'Shanghai Donya' online store.<br>
It measures 86x55x6mm, making it 'business card-sized' according<br>
to the company. According to Evergreen, the non-traditional<br>
shape of this recorder (most are 'stick-style') makes it harder<br>
for the speaker to realize he/she is being recorded. Spy gear.</p>
<p>Audio is recorded in the WAVE format at 32kbps, but this unit<br>
does have the added bonus of being able to playback MP3 files.<br>
Its internal battery will last about 5 hours, and it takes the<br>
same amount of time to recharge. For whatever reason it features<br>
a 2.5mm headphone jack instead of the standard 3.5mm jack, but<br>
it does include an adapter. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://www.donya.jp/item/5071.html" title="http://www.donya.jp/item/5071.html">http://www.donya.jp/item/5071.html</a><br>
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STAFF<br>
Written by: Liam McNulty<br>
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