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The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan<br>
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Issue No. 295 Friday April 11, 2008<br>
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<p>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
===========================================================</p>
<p>Nikon Coolpix P80: World's smallest 18x optical zoom camera</p>
<p>Name: Nikon Coolpix P80<br>
Category: digital still/movie camera<br>
Price: Open price (about JPY50,000)<br>
Release date in Japan: April 25, 2008</p>
<p>Leave the heavy lens collection at home. The latest in Nikon's P<br>
(Performance) series Coolpix models, the P80's marquee feature<br>
is an 18x optical wide-angle Zoom-NIKKOR f/2.8-4.5 lens that<br>
offers the equivalent (35mm [135] format) of 27mm wide-angle to<br>
486mm telephoto shooting. It's the world's smallest model with<br>
an 18x optical zoom, says Nikon of the 365-gram (before battery)<br>
camera. </p>
<p>Focus range is from 40 cm on up, though a macro mode lets you<br>
get up to 1 cm away. Image size is up to 10.1 megapixels (3648 x<br>
2736). You'll store a scant 10 to 40 images at that size on the<br>
internal 50 MB memory, depending on image quality setting; get a<br>
big SD memory card or two to shoot all day. </p>
<p>There's a 2.7-inch LCD, 0.24-inch electronic viewfinder, camera<br>
shake reduction, available automatic ISO adjustment (up to ISO<br>
6400) based on lighting conditions, 'Face Priority AF'<br>
recognition of up to 12 faces, and a 'Sports Continuous Scene<br>
Mode' that'll capture up to 30 frames at 4, 6, or 13 frames per<br>
second (though only with image resolution set at 3 megapixels or<br>
lower). </p>
<p>Not too long ago, movie cameras began sporting still snapshot<br>
capabilities; now, it's becoming the norm for digital still<br>
cameras - even mobile phone cams - to also shoot movies with<br>
sound. Although it's mentioned almost as an afterthought, the<br>
P80 will record TV-quality (640x480) AVI video at 30 or 15 fps<br>
(no image stabilization with the higher speed), or 320x240 video<br>
at 15 fps. Highest-quality video will fill the 50 MB internal<br>
memory in under a minute, while a 1 GB SD card will record close<br>
to 15 minutes. </p>
<p>More info:<br>
<a href="http://www.nikon-image.com/jpn/products/camera/compact/coolpix/" title="http://www.nikon-image.com/jpn/products/camera/compact/coolpix/">http://www.nikon-image.com/jpn/products/camera/compact/coolpix/</a><br>
p80/ (Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>DoCoMo F884i does dictation and more</p>
<p>Name: DoCoMo Raku Raku Phone Premium F884i<br>
Category: mobile phone<br>
Price: Open price<br>
Release date in Japan: April 14, 2008</p>
<p>Speak your mind and let the Fujitsu-made F884i convert your<br>
words into email text. It's a way to bypass cell phones' slow<br>
manual text input, especially for long messages and/or unfamilar<br>
users; not surprisingly, the media is chalking up the feature as<br>
primarily attractive to older users not used to communicating by<br>
thumb. </p>
<p>Quality speech-to-text processing is an intensive task for a<br>
cell phone CPU, so the F884i's 'Voice-Input Mail' service farms<br>
out your voice data to remote DoCoMo speech processing servers.<br>
To dictate email, bring a new message to the screen, hold the<br>
input button, and start speaking for up to 30 seconds. Once<br>
you've said your piece, the phone connects to the processing<br>
server, and after a second or few, you get your text in the<br>
target field. Unless the system parsed everything perfectly on<br>
the first run, though, your hands will still get some exercise<br>
re-converting kanji and otherwise cleaning things up, as well as<br>
adding 'e-moji' emoticons of your choosing. For particular<br>
problem areas, more detailed manual editing or voice re-input<br>
are options.</p>
<p>'Voice-Input Mail' is a JPY210/month service, with a 30-day free<br>
test period. But it's the packet fees, not that low monthly fee,<br>
that you need to watch. If you don't have an unlimited or<br>
low-cost packet plan, 5 seconds of dictation can cost you as<br>
much as JPY10.5. Enough dictation, and the bill might send you<br>
back to thumbing. </p>
<p>You can do more with voice input than write emails. The 'Map<br>
Application for Raku Raku Phone' feature offers voice-enabled<br>
navigation, train transfer info, map search, and everything else<br>
you need to get where you're going. 'From Myogadani station to<br>
Yokohama station, leaving 12:00', you say, and if all goes well<br>
while DoCoMo's servers parley with ZENRIN DataCom servers, the<br>
phone displays the route info. </p>
<p>Other features: DCMX 'O-saifu keitai' e-wallet, 1-seg TV,<br>
3.1-inch (240x432) LCD screen (the largest in DoCoMo's Raku Raku<br>
Phone series), 3.2 megapixel camera, twin microphones and voice<br>
enhancement features, and WORLD WING (3G + GSM) service for<br>
global roaming. That big screen will have you doing the<br>
Yokomotion (from 'yoko', side), to use the maker's trademarked<br>
name for its 'swing style' rotation: rotate the screen left to<br>
fire up the camera, right to turn on the TV. </p>
<p>It all sounds great, but does the dictation really work? Reports<br>
from website ITmedia and quick-testing bloggers in Japan are<br>
mostly positive: yes, it works, and is genuinely handy for<br>
longer messages, though you'll have to expect lots of manual<br>
clean-up, and voice input do-overs, while you get the hang of<br>
speaking to the phone's liking. (Like all purveyors of speech<br>
recognition products, Fujitsu offers tips for good performance:<br>
speak clearly, use short sentences, use the little grammatical<br>
particles that aid parsing, etc. But feel free to speak at<br>
normal speed, says the company.) While your accuracy will<br>
improve, testers still recommend an unlimited packet plan for<br>
dictation. </p>
<p>In any case, it's interesting to think that instead of<br>
communicating directly with a party by talking into the phone,<br>
you can send instead a text message... by talking into the<br>
phone.</p>
<p>Ready to talk to your new dictation assistant? Get a F884i in<br>
gold, red, or black at a DoCoMo shop near you.</p>
<p>More info:<br>
<a href="http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/easy_phone/premium/index.html" title="http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/easy_phone/premium/index.html">http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/product/easy_phone/premium/index.html</a><br>
(Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>Low-cost Corega CG-1SGT 1-seg tuner brings TV to your PC</p>
<p>Name: Corega CG-1SGT<br>
Category: 1-seg tuner<br>
Price: JPY6930<br>
Release date in Japan: Late April, 2008</p>
<p>Yokohama-based Corega hopes to have you watching more TV on your<br>
Windows Vista/XP PC with its low-cost CG-1SGT tuner. It's<br>
cheaper than the company's JPY11,025 CG-3SGTR, though lacks that<br>
model's digital radio. </p>
<p>Plug the tiny 14-gram One-seg tuner into a USB port, find your<br>
show, and watch on-screen or record to hard disk. Just like the<br>
big HDD recorders, you'll have EPG and iEPG program guides, news<br>
and weather data reception, fast-forward/reverse controls for<br>
recorded content, and 'timeshift playback' to stop and later<br>
restart currently-playing broadcasts.</p>
<p>If the dongle's small antenna isn't pulling in the show,<br>
position the included 45-cm long tethered antenna elsewhere in<br>
the room for better reception. It's all powered by the USB port,<br>
so take your TV-watching habits wherever you and your laptop go.</p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://corega.jp/prod/1sgt/" title="http://corega.jp/prod/1sgt/">http://corega.jp/prod/1sgt/</a> (Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>Industry Notes</p>
<p>NEC Saitama unveils keitai manufacturing secrets</p>
<p>NEC Saitama held an open house in April to show the press its<br>
prowess as the only cell phone factory to implement Toyota's<br>
'kanban' manufacturing and just-in-time inventory methods. The<br>
plant manufactures N-series phones bound for DoCoMo, including<br>
the ultra-thin N705iu and the N905i. </p>
<p>NEC Saitama introduced the Toyota way in 1997 after calling in<br>
ex-Toyota consultants. The switch from belt-conveyer assembly<br>
lines to team-based 'kanban' manufacturing greatly shortened<br>
assembly lines, slashed logistics-related floor space by as much<br>
as 80%, cut procurement lead time from 2-3 weeks to 5 days, and<br>
lowered costs overall while increasing quality. Final product<br>
inspection focuses not only on removing defective products, but<br>
on identifying where and how in the assembly process the defect<br>
occured. </p>
<p>Demonstrations of the N905i's assembly showed 11-meter assembly<br>
lines, each manned by an eight-person 'Group-based Cell<br>
Production System' team. It's heavy on the human labor, not<br>
robots - in fact, NEC Saitama dismantled what used to be<br>
robot-heavy lines. The company says human flexibility, know-how<br>
and teamwork are more economical than automation for a product<br>
category that requires rapid adaptation to short-lived model<br>
changes and unpredictable demand. While some operations, like<br>
screw-tightening, use automation, most assembly tasks - even<br>
every-5-minute delivery of parts by cart - are performed by<br>
workers. </p>
<p>Creating a single N905i takes all of 10 minutes to go from trays<br>
holding 80 parts to assembly to final inspection (which is<br>
automated) to packaging. Each line churns out 1000 units a day,<br>
or one phone every 27 seconds. To keep up with the pace despite<br>
low parts inventory, trucks bring parts to the plant from nearby<br>
suppliers in 10 regular daily deliveries.</p>
<p>In addition to assembly lines, NEC Saitama showed off its<br>
'Monodzukuri (Crafting) Dojo', a Toyota-derived training center<br>
that aims to boost workers' assembly skills and teamwork, as<br>
well as their ideas for improving production lines. An exercise<br>
demonstration shown to the press: five-person teams working in<br>
assembly-line fashion to turn 80 blocks of LEGO into a tiny<br>
truck and car (there's that Toyota legacy again). Exercises<br>
focus on identifying slowdowns (such as finding a recipient's<br>
hands full when attempting to pass along a sub-assembly), and<br>
learning to properly stop the 'production line' to effect fixes.</p>
<p>NEC Saitama told the press that the Japanese market for cell<br>
phones is a particularly challenging one for the manufacturer,<br>
with completely new models appearing at a much faster clip than<br>
in overseas markets. Keeping pace with the market - instantly<br>
ramping up production of a new model, and knowing exactly when<br>
to cut off production of an existing one - is the most difficult<br>
task of all, says the company. </p>
<p>More story and photos (Japanese):<br>
<a href="http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0804/10/news122.html" title="http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0804/10/news122.html">http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0804/10/news122.html</a><br>
<a href="http://bcnranking.jp/news/0804/080410_10410.html" title="http://bcnranking.jp/news/0804/080410_10410.html">http://bcnranking.jp/news/0804/080410_10410.html</a><br>
================================================================<br>
STAFF<br>
Written by: Timm Tuttle<br>
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