<p>---------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Japan Inc Magazine Presents:<br>
G A D G E T W A T C H</p>
<p>READ GADGETWATCH ONLINE AT:<br>
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The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan<br>
----------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Issue No. 294 Friday April 11, 2008<br>
Subscribers: 9467<br>
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------------------- PBXL IS DIFFERENT ---------------------<br>
PBXL, Japan's leading Cisco hosted telephony provider,<br>
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<p>1) Pick a plan for your office (Knight, Bishop, King)<br>
2) Pick your phones (Standard, Advanced, Premier)</p>
<p>and you're done! One week rush orders also available.</p>
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<p>-----------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>Sony HDR-TG1 puts HD video in your pocket</p>
<p>Name: Sony HDR-TG1<br>
Category: digital video/still camera<br>
Price: Open price (about JPY130,000)<br>
Release date in Japan: May 2008 (pre-order from April 4 at<br>
<a href="http://www.sonystyle.com/" title="www.sonystyle.com">www.sonystyle.com</a>)</p>
<p>Video is one area where Sony's still got it. The HDR-TG1<br>
Handycam is an HD 1080i unit (1920 x 1080 pixels, the same as<br>
digital Hi-Vision broadcasts) that's only 240 grams (300 with<br>
battery), 11.9cm tall, 6.3cm deep, and a mere 3.2cm wide - the<br>
world's lightest and smallest consumer-level 1080i camcorder.<br>
The titanium shell with 'premium hard coat' is another world's<br>
first for the category, Sony says. </p>
<p>Memory is Sony's proprietary Memory Stick PRO Duo or PRO Duo<br>
Mark2 cards (a sticky point for users who prefer more<br>
widely-used formats). The included Mark2 8GB card will record<br>
about 55 minutes of AVCHD-format HD video at the highest-quality<br>
HD mode, or up to 3 hours at lower-quality HD modes. You can<br>
also switch to MPEG2 recording, whose available modes net<br>
between 1 hour 55 minutes and 5 hours 25 minutes on the 8GB<br>
card. (Buy extra batteries for those long recording sessions: as<br>
you'd expect from a lightweight battery, Sony claims only 1 hour<br>
35 minutes of life for straight recording, or 45 minutes for<br>
more realistic conditions using zoom, standby, on/off, etc.)</p>
<p>Vital specs: 10x Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optical zoom lens,<br>
2-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor, BIONZ processing engine (which<br>
optimizes dynamic range by automatically adjusting over- and<br>
under-exposed picture areas), 5.1 Dolby Digital surround audio<br>
recording with zoom microphone, and 2.7-inch touch panel LCD<br>
screen. Still camera functionality is 4 megapixels, or 2.3<br>
megapixels for still photos snapped during video recording. </p>
<p>The HDR-TG1 incorporates face detection technology for both<br>
digital and still images, a feature also found in some Sony<br>
Cybershot models. You've probably seen this tech popping up in a<br>
lot of digital cameras; in this case, Sony says the software<br>
will pick out up to eight faces and, acting on the assumption<br>
that those faces are the highlights of your shot, automatically<br>
adjust exposure, color-control, focus, still photo flash, and<br>
even encoding to best flatter those mugs. </p>
<p>This Sony isn't a pro model with every imaginable feature, but<br>
for HD video in a very compact package, it's worth checking out.</p>
<p>More info:<br>
<a href="http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/handycam/PRODUCTS/HDR-TG1/" title="http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/handycam/PRODUCTS/HDR-TG1/">http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/handycam/PRODUCTS/HDR-TG1/</a><br>
index.html (Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>DoCoMo SH705iII mobile phone puts the focus on talk</p>
<p>Name: DoCoMo FOMA SH705iII<br>
Category: mobile phone<br>
Price: Open price<br>
Release date in Japan: April 9, 2008</p>
<p>With all the text messaging and TV viewing and stock trading and<br>
what not that cellies boast these days, it's easy to forget one<br>
of their uses: talking to people. The new SH705iII brings voice<br>
back into focus with Sharp's trademarked 'Triple Kukkiri (Clear)<br>
Talk' technology trio: 'Noise Reduction Function' to filter out<br>
surrounding din, 'Enhancement Function' to boost the mid-to-high<br>
voice frequency range, and 'Echo Cancellation Function' to cut<br>
the echo caused by the phone's microphones picking up sound from<br>
its speaker. Two built-in microphones aid the unit in all this<br>
sampling and filtering. </p>
<p>'Whoa, that's a lot of information; slow down', you say. All<br>
right, easy enough. Push the i-mode button while speaking and<br>
another Sharp trademark technology, 'Slow Talk', delivers a<br>
fourth trick: it slo-o-ws the next three seconds of the other<br>
party's speech to 1.3 times actual length, giving you a little<br>
more time to hear and think. Sounds perfect for catching the<br>
'name' of that fast-talking caller claiming to be a grandson in<br>
need of quick money. </p>
<p>Tech specs: 2.8-inch wide QVGA screen; 3.2 megapixel camera with<br>
hand shake and target movement compensation, face recognition,<br>
and auto-focus; Bluetooth; e-wallet; microSD memory (up to 2GB);<br>
one-button access to One-seg TV; and a camera-based 'Meishi<br>
Reader' feature that claims to automatically transfer data<br>
extracted from snapshots of a business card into the phone's<br>
1000-record address book.</p>
<p>The phone's voice-enhancement functions point to older users as<br>
the target market, as do many other features: initial factory<br>
settings for big on-screen text, additional screen enlargement<br>
function, simplified menu options, big buttons, and staid color<br>
choices (Prime White or Prime Black). Similarly, there's a<br>
'Camera Loupe' feature that lets you use the camera and screen<br>
as a digital magnifying glass, boosting the visibility of little<br>
text in newspapers, bus schedules, etc. Still, whether you're<br>
old or young, the SH705iII may be a great choice if you actually<br>
use your phone for talking a lot.</p>
<p>More info:<br>
<a href="http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/foma/705i/sh705i2/index.html" title="http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/foma/705i/sh705i2/index.html">http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/foma/705i/sh705i2/index.html</a><br>
(Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>GREEN HOUSE 8x Telescope Lens boosts mobile phone camera power</p>
<p>Name: GREEN HOUSE GH-ML8 Series<br>
Category: camera lens<br>
Price: Open price (about JPY8880)<br>
Release date in Japan: Mid-April, 2008</p>
<p>It happens every hanami season. You're in the park, snapping<br>
sakura blossom close-ups with your mobile phone camera, like<br>
most normal revelers do these days. But here they come: the<br>
bigshot photo hobbyists with their fancy SLR cameras and<br>
rifle-like telephoto lenses. Your gazes lock on each other's<br>
equipment. A silent challenge crackles across the air. And in<br>
the end, it's you and your little phonecam that blink, yielding<br>
to the heavy Pentax hardware. </p>
<p>GREEN HOUSE wants to help even the score. The black GH-ML8-K and<br>
silver GH-ML8-S are 18mm, F1.1 8x optical telescope lenses for<br>
mobile phones. An adjustable lens holder clamps over most phone<br>
models, positioning the lightweight 38-gram, 6 cm-long zoom lens<br>
over the phone's camera lens. For extra stability, an included<br>
mini tripod screws into the lens holder. It all looks like a<br>
miniature 'real' camera setup - or a nice mount for watching<br>
One-seg TV, GREEN HOUSE suggests.</p>
<p>If those SLR bullies still smirk, offer to email your rival a<br>
sample of your new zoom-enabled photographs. 'Oh, wait, I<br>
forgot: your Nikon doesn't do email, does it.' Now who's looking<br>
smug?</p>
<p>More info:<br>
<a href="http://www.green-house.co.jp/products/mobile/ml8/index.html" title="http://www.green-house.co.jp/products/mobile/ml8/index.html">http://www.green-house.co.jp/products/mobile/ml8/index.html</a><br>
(Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>Short items</p>
<p>Spotted elsewhere in the news:</p>
<p>1) Got digital secrets? From the end of April, Buffalo Inc. will<br>
sell the 195-gram HDS-PHU2 portable hard disk drive that<br>
automatically applies AES 128-bit encryption to all content,<br>
locking things down when the drive is disconnected from a<br>
computer or when the computer sleeps. Great for government types<br>
that keep losing sensitive info-packed laptops in taxis. A<br>
shock-absorbing body adds to data protection. About JPY29800 for<br>
80GB, JPY39800 for 160GB.<br>
<a href="http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/storage/hds-phu2/" title="http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/storage/hds-phu2/">http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/storage/hds-phu2/</a></p>
<p>2) Oh, you were thinking more of on-screen, visual secrets?<br>
EVERGREEN has your back with a new optical 'Stealth Mouse'. Give<br>
the built-in panic button a quick click, and exactly 0.2 seconds<br>
later, your NSFW (Not Safe For Work or Not Safe For Wife; take<br>
your pick) image is hidden beneath a fake spreadsheet. Whew!<br>
(The product web page coyly shows a screenful of iPod photos as<br>
an example of an image you might want to quickly bury. Uh-huh.)<br>
Windows only. Stealth Mouse: JPY1999. Your job or marriage:<br>
Priceless.<br>
<a href="http://www.donya.jp/item/5467.html" title="http://www.donya.jp/item/5467.html">http://www.donya.jp/item/5467.html</a></p>
<p>3) Just for the curious: If your boss gets wise to Stealth Mice<br>
on office desks, head for EVERGREEN's older foot-activated<br>
'Stealth Switch', which performs the same function while sitting<br>
under your desk disguised as a power outlet. Only JPY499. 'Hmm,<br>
why does Suzuki stamp his foot and sweat every time I check in<br>
on him?...'<br>
<a href="http://www.donya.jp/item/1760.html" title="http://www.donya.jp/item/1760.html">http://www.donya.jp/item/1760.html</a><br>
================================================================<br>
STAFF<br>
Written by: Timm Tuttle<br>
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