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================================================================<br>
Article: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. to change name<br>
to Panasonic Corporation</p>
<p>The Gist: Once again we felt it appropriate to cover an item in<br>
the news rather than a specific product. This time around we<br>
look at Matsushita Electric Industrial's decision to change the<br>
company name to 'Panasonic Corporation' from October 1, 2008.</p>
<p>While it's a shame to see Japan's only major consumer<br>
electronics company named after its founder abandon this name,<br>
it's easy to see how this is a good move. Without a doubt,<br>
'Panasonic' is a household name right alongside the likes of<br>
Casio, Mitsubishi, Sony, and all the others. The primary<br>
difference is that until this announcement, 'Panasonic' was<br>
simply not the company's name (at least in Japan). Panasonic<br>
is a brand of Matsushita Electric Industrial. The company's<br>
other major brand in Japan is 'National,' a name known for white<br>
goods and household appliances. Some products in Japan were even<br>
marketed under the brand name 'Matsushita' itself, making things<br>
still more confusing.</p>
<p>The National brand is slated to be completely phased out by<br>
mid-2009, leaving the Panasonic Corporation branding all new p<br>
roducts as Panasonic. Sounds simple enough. This factor,<br>
combined with the high recognition of the Panasonic brand<br>
throughout the world, makes the company's move understandable.<br>
his will hopefully lead to more brand equity for the company,<br>
greater unity for employees, and perhaps most importantly, less<br>
confusion for consumers. Company president Fumio Otsubo<br>
explained that the name Matsushita also 'has a rather local<br>
image,' for obvious reasons. </p>
<p>It's important to point out that this move is likely to go<br>
largely unnoticed outside of Japan; the company's North<br>
American division is already named 'Panasonic Corporation of<br>
North America.' Panasonic UK, Panasonic Deutschland, and<br>
Panasonic Australia are a few more examples. It's difficult to<br>
even find references to Matsushita outside of Japan. </p>
<p>For those who are wondering, 'Panasonic' allegedly comes from a<br>
combination of the Greek-rooted 'pan' which means<br>
'of everything' and the Latin 'sonus' for 'sound.' </p>
<p>More info:<br>
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/36yzep" title="http://tinyurl.com/36yzep">http://tinyurl.com/36yzep</a><br>
================================================================<br>
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<p>----------------------------------------------------------------<br>
================================================================<br>
Name: Brule/Wibrain B1<br>
Category: UMPC<br>
Price: B1E: 119,800 yen; B1H: 139,800 yen<br>
Release date in Japan: Late February 2008</p>
<p>The Gist: Brule is responsible for the Japanese release of the<br>
'B1' line of Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) from a Korean company<br>
called Wibrain. The B1E and B1H will be available, where the B1E<br>
features a 30GB hard disk and 512MB of memory, and the B1H a<br>
60GB hard drive and 1GB of memory. Otherwise, the units are<br>
identical.</p>
<p>'Ultra Mobile' is making a full showing on the B1 series, as the<br>
unit somehow manages to squeeze 1024x600 dots of resolution on a<br>
4.8-inch touch-panel LCD. On either side of the screen you'll<br>
find keys arranged in a QWERTY layout, as well as some<br>
additional keys for volume adjustment. The dimensions are<br>
192x82x28mm, making it look like an elongated mobile phone.</p>
<p>Under the hood lies a C7M processor at 1.2GHz and a VIA VX700<br>
chipset. As mentioned earlier, the memory and hard drive<br>
capacity depend on which model you select. There's also a USB<br>
2.0 port, integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN, Bluetooth 2.0, a<br>
pop-up web camera, and audio input/outputs. The battery should<br>
last roughly 3 hours. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://brule.co.jp/B1/main.shtml" title="http://brule.co.jp/B1/main.shtml">http://brule.co.jp/B1/main.shtml</a><br>
================================================================<br>
------Metropolis Magazine Valentine`s Glitterball---------------</p>
<p>Glitterball is back!<br>
Tokyo's favorite party makes its triumphant return on<br>
February 14, 2008-Valentine's Day.<br>
An institution for nearly a decade, the Metropolis-hosted<br>
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<p>Roppongi hotspot Alife will host over 1,000 V-Day revelers<br>
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<p>----------------------------------------------------------------<br>
================================================================<br>
Name: Panasonic SD9, HS9<br>
Category: Digital video cameras<br>
Price: Open Price; estimated around 130,000 yen<br>
Release date in Japan: January 25, 2008</p>
<p>The Gist: Matsushita is slated to release two new very small<br>
digital video camcorders this month. The 'SD9' and 'HS9' are<br>
both capable of recording high definition video at 1920x1080<br>
(1080p/Full HD) using the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec. Both cameras<br>
are 'SD Card Hi-Vision Movie' cameras, meaning they record video<br>
to SD or SDHC cards.</p>
<p>The models vary in their configurations. While the SD9 has only<br>
the SDHC card slot and includes an 8GB SDHC card, the HS9<br>
features an integrated 60GB hard drive yet includes no SDHC card.<br>
They're the same price, leaving consumers with the decision<br>
between recording video to a hard disk or to a flash memory<br>
card. According to the company, one of the problems with the<br>
previous model (the SD5) was how the included 4GB SDHC card<br>
only left room for about 40 minutes of recording Full HD video.</p>
<p>Recording times will indeed vary depending on the chosen<br>
recording mode. HA (17Mbps), HG (12Mbps), and HX (9Mbps) all<br>
record at a resolution of 1920x1080, where the respective<br>
recording times onto the 8GB SDHC card at 1 hour, 1 hour and<br>
20 minutes, and 2 hours. Also available is HE at 6Mbps for a<br>
resolution of 1440x1080, which is roughly 3 hours on the 8GB<br>
SDHC card. Obviously recording allowances of the HS9's 60GB<br>
hard drive are going to be significantly higher.</p>
<p>Under Panasonic's new 'UniPhier' platform, these new models<br>
offer a smashing 45% lower power consumption. Four LSIs became<br>
one LSI, also allowing the company to make the models lighter<br>
and smaller; these new models can continuously record for about<br>
1 hour 45 minutes using the included battery.</p>
<p>'Face Recognition' technology proved massively successful for<br>
digital still cameras in 2007, so Panasonic is making 2008 the<br>
year of Face Recognition on digital video cameras. The SD9 and<br>
HS9 are allegedly the world's first digital video cameras to<br>
feature face recognition technology. The technology involves<br>
polling the scene 60 times per second for a face, and when a<br>
face is detected, the camera will automatically adjust its AE<br>
level, contrast, and skin tones, so you can be sure faces won't<br>
be too dark or hard to distinguish. Up to 5 faces can be<br>
recognized simultaneously, and this same feature can also be<br>
used when recording still images. Maybe in 2009 we'll find this<br>
same technology adapted to handle dog or cat faces, since it<br>
seems a lot of home videos feature pets just as frequently as<br>
humans. </p>
<p>Both models use the same optics and CCD as the SD5, which means<br>
a 3CCD setup where each CCD is 560,000 pixels and an effective<br>
520,000 pixels, yielding a 16:9 aspect ratio. There's a 10x<br>
optical zoom and optical image stabilization called 'Advanced<br>
O.I.S.,' but because obviously we need yet another acronym. The<br>
SD measures 65x126x67mm at 275g, and the HS9 is 75x126x74mm at<br>
390g, making it the 'world's smallest and lightest digital<br>
hi-vision video camera with a hard drive.' Say that three times<br>
fast. </p>
<p>Another nice feature is the 'Gun Mic,' where the microphone can<br>
be focused on a specific subject in conjunction with the zoom<br>
function of the lens. This may not be 007-level technology, but<br>
at least there's some directionality going on. The 5.1ch surround<br>
sound microphone should make your 1920x1080 videos seem more<br>
environmental. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/37shyr" title="http://tinyurl.com/37shyr">http://tinyurl.com/37shyr</a><br>
================================================================<br>
================================================================<br>
STAFF<br>
Written by: Liam McNulty<br>
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