---------------------------------------------------------------<br>Japan Inc Magazine Presents:<br>G A D G E T W A T C H<br><br>READ GADGETWATCH ONLINE AT:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com">www.japaninc.com</a><br>The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>Issue No. 298 Friday May 16, 2008<br>Subscribers: 9467<br>SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE TO GADGET WATCH:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up">http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/free_sign_up</a> <br>
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<br>CASIO updates 'world's thinnest' projectors<br><br>Name: CASIO XJ-S series <br>Category: projector<br>Price: JPY207,900 - JPY312,900 <br>Release date in Japan: Early July, 2008<br><br>Modern projectors are thin and light enough to be<br>
briefcase-luggable; they'll happily travel with you to meetings.<br>CASIO, which boasts the 'world's thinnest' 3.2cm-thin B5<br>projectors, is improving its lineup with the similarly-svelte<br>but brighter XJ-S series.<br>
<br>Leading the eight new models is the XJ-S57 (JPY312,900), which<br>sports a 2x zoom, auto keystone correction (to keep the screen a<br>nice rectangle when you project at an angle), XGA (1,024×768)<br>resolution that will display sources up to UXGA (1,600×1,200),<br>
and (along with the XJ-SC215) the ability to read and display<br>data (MS Office, PDF, JPEG, BMP, AVI, MPEG4, Motion JPEG)<br>directly from a USB drive. At 3000 lumens, it's bright enough to<br>use in a meeting room with all the lights on. A separately-sold<br>
USB wireless adapter will let you send data from a PC to the<br>unit via WiFi.<br><br>Lower-priced models cut the brightness, down to 2300 lumens in<br>the entry-level, USB-less XJ-S32 (JPY198,000).<br><br>All eight models offer an impressively small B5-sized package<br>
(27 x 20 x 4.3 cm; 3.2 cm at the thinnest point) weighing less<br>than many laptops at 1.8kg. Minimum projection range is 0.84m;<br>expect a 60' screen at 1.7 - 3.4m distance or a 100' screen at<br>2.7 - 5.6m. (Overall, screen sizes range from 15' to a<br>
theoretical 300'.) Final details: 16+ million colors, contrast<br>ratio 1800:1, mono speaker. <br><br>More information:<br><a href="http://www.casio.co.jp/release/2008/xjs57_s52.html">http://www.casio.co.jp/release/2008/xjs57_s52.html</a> (Japanese)<br>
<br><br>========================================================<br><br>SONY releases 1TB VGF-HS1 home server<br><br>Name: SONY Liblog Station VGF-HS1 <br>Category: server <br>Price: Open price (about JPY60,000, or JPY80,000 for 1.5TB) <br>
Release date in Japan: May 17, 2008<br><br>SONY is set to release a new home server with either 1TB (that's<br>1000 gigabytes) or 1.5TB of storage for your digital media. The<br>'Liblog Station' falls under the 'Extension Line by VAIO' line,<br>
and takes the flat, round white shape of recent SONY PCs. <br><br>As a home server, the VGF-HS1 acts as a big external hard drive<br>for networked PCs in your home or accessed via the Internet.<br>(Remote server access sounds mighty business-like, but SONY<br>
suggests personal uses as well, such as viewing your home-stored<br>photos from a friend's home.) Naturally, it boasts extensive<br>convergence with SONY products. One touch of a button on the<br>server will download video from a SONY video or still cam. The<br>
DLNA-based 'Sony Room Link' function connects the device to<br>additional products, such as the BRAVIA TV and NETJUKE audio<br>system. Finally, the server will accept SONY's MediaStick card<br>media, as well as SD/SDHC and CompactFlash media. <br>
<br>Who's the target market for a home server? SONY notes that over<br>30% of PC-owning households have two or more machines, with 70%<br>of those multi-PC owners connecting the machines by LAN; these<br>are the prime users who can make use of a home server. Sharing<br>
PC files is only the start of the modern household's concerns,<br>though; SONY touts the DNLA standard, found in over 700<br>electronic devices sold in Japan, as the key to getting all of<br>your gadgets talking to each other under the convergence<br>
umbrella. (DLNA, or Digital Living Network Alliance, is an<br>international industry effort toward interoperability among PCs,<br>consumer electronics, and mobile devices.)<br><br>Other details: 3 USB ports, 10Base-T/100Base-TC/1000Base-T<br>
Ethernet, 27cm diameter x 7.1cm height, 3.1kg. Works with<br>Windows XP/Vista PCs. <br><br>More info: <a href="http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/HS1/">http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/HS1/</a> (Japanese)<br><br>========================================================<br>
<br>SONY VGF-CP1 digital frame serves up photos <br><br>Name: SONY Canvas Online VGF-CP1 <br>Category: digital photo frame <br>Price: Open price (about JPY30,000) <br>Release date in Japan: May 17, 2008<br><br>Appearing together with the Liblog Station server is a new<br>
digital photo frame companion, the VGF-CP1. It'll wirelessly<br>grab photos from a computer and dish up slideshows, complete<br>with background music, on its 7' screen. SONY claims one touch<br>of a button will connect the screen to your WiFi-networked<br>
VGF-HS1, PC, or 'SONY Room Link'-enabled device, thanks to<br>simple AOSS (AirStation One-Touch Secure System) configuration.<br>(A little hands-on configuration allows connection to non-AOSS<br>WiFi networks as well.) Internet access to Yahoo! news and<br>
Yahoo! weather displays, RSS feeds, and major online photo<br>sharing services are another plus. <br><br>Remote content isn't your only choice; the VGF-CP1 will also<br>read and display media fresh from MemoryStick, SD, or<br>
CompactFlash cards, as well as USB drives. You can also copy<br>pics into the CP1's internal 100MB memory and let the photo<br>frame take it from there - or even upload from the CP1 to online<br>photo sharing services.<br>
<br>Again, SONY provides a little marketing thought behind the<br>product: Everyone takes digital pictures, but not many enjoy and<br>share them. While 80% of PC users in this digital camera age<br>have photos squirreled away on hard drives or media cards, only<br>
10% get around to frequently enjoying the photos via means such<br>as printing or online sharing. SONY wants to provide its<br>slideshow screen as an easy way for non-technical users to enjoy<br>the photos they take. <br>
<br>Details: 11b/g WiFi, 7' WVGA (800x480) 24-bit 'ClearPhoto LCD'<br>screen (16+ million colors), 17.7 x 13.4 x 3.3cm, 530g, black or<br>white. Designed to work with Windows XP/Vista PCs, or the<br>VGF-HS1 home server. Behind the scenes, the CP1 runs Timesys<br>
Linux on a 400MHz ARM processor. <br><br>More info: <a href="http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/CP1/index.html">http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/CP1/index.html</a><br>(Japanese)<br><br>========================================================<br>
<br>Short items<br><br>Spotted elsewhere in the news:<br><br>1) If you've got one of several Canon digital camera models,<br>there's a free, open-source, and (reportedly) non-destructive<br>firmware upgrade that'll grant your camera impressive new<br>
features: RAW image format handling, longer video times, more<br>on-screen info, super-fast and -slow shutter speeds, scripting,<br>and more. Learn more about, and get your hands on, the Canon<br>Hacker's Developer Kit here:<br>
<a href="http://lifehacker.com/387380/turn-your-point+and+shoot-into-a-">http://lifehacker.com/387380/turn-your-point+and+shoot-into-a-</a><br>super+camera (English)<br><br>2) Osaka-based RUN'A is offering a new JPY9240 FM<br>
radio/CD-player combo from the end of May. Boring, you say? Not<br>when the whole thing is shaped like the head of Disney's Stitch<br>character. Push the nose to open the mouth, place a CD on the<br>tongue, push the mouth closed again, and let the odd blue<br>
creature blare tunes from his purple ear speakers. You control<br>playback, forward, etc. by pushing Stitch's teeth. Naturally. <br><a href="http://www.runat.co.jp/runat/release41.htm">http://www.runat.co.jp/runat/release41.htm</a> (Japanese)<br>
<br>3) From June, ever-creative GREEN HOUSE will offer the USB-based<br>GH-USB-FAN desktop fan in a retro design evocative of the<br>nostalgic mid-20th century Showa era. Drop JPY1980 and place a<br>bit of good ol' 'furuki yoki' Nippon next to your PC. Just in<br>
time for warm weather. <br><a href="http://www.green-house.co.jp/news/2008/r0512a.html">http://www.green-house.co.jp/news/2008/r0512a.html</a><br><br>--------NEW GADGET BLOG: TEKRONOMICON.COM------------------<br><br>In collaboration with Gadget Watch, Gadget blog Tekronomicon<br>
offers a detailed look at select gadgets - shiny and strange,<br>from gizmo ground zero in Tokyo.<br>See the gadgets introduced in Gadget Watch,<br>with photos and more at: <a href="http://www.tekronomicon.com">www.tekronomicon.com</a><br>
<br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>STAFF<br>Written by: Timm Tuttle<br>READ PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS<br>Gadget Watch online archive:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/gadget_watch">http://www.japaninc.com/gadget_watch</a><br>
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<br><br>----------------------------------------------------------<br>Marcus Evans Events - Supported by J@pan Inc<br><br>Compensation and Benefits Forum, 27th – 28th May, Tokyo<br><a href="http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=13778">http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=13778</a><br>
This event provides Japanese firms the 'how-to' of investing in<br>their employees to sustain their businesses. Supported by JSHRM<br><br>3rd Annual LNG World, 15th – 16th July 2008, Tokyo<br><a href="http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=13569">www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=13569</a><br>
This event focuses on key operational aspects of LNG business<br>and current market dynamics to succeed in this competitive<br>market.<br><br>Leveraged Finance Japan, 29th – 30th July 2008, Tokyo<br><a href="http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=14126">http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=14126</a><br>
This event provides the opportunity for participants to assess<br>the buyout & leveraged buyout activities in Japan.<br><br>'J@pan Inc readers are entitled to a 10% discount upon<br>registration with Ms. Esther Wong.'<br>
Contact: +603 2723 6736 Email: <a href="mailto:estherw@marcusevanskl.com">estherw@marcusevanskl.com</a><br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Start a Company in Japan<br><br>Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar 31st of May, 2008<br>
<br>If you have been considering setting up your own company,<br>find out what it takes to make it successful.<br>Terrie Lloyd, founder of over 13 start-up companies in Japan,<br>will be giving an English-language seminar and Q and A on<br>
starting up a company in Japan.<br>This is an ideal opportunity to find out what is involved,<br>and to ask specific questions that are not normally answered<br>in business books.<br>All materials are in English and are Japan-focused.<br>
<br>For more details:<br><a href="http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar">http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar</a><br><br><br>---------- Metropolis and eigoTown.com Party --------------<br>
<br>Metropolis-Tokyo's favorite lifestyle magazine and<br>eigoTown.com - Japan's premier English language learning<br>website - join together on June 14, 2008 to bring you<br>The Metropolis and eigoTown.com Party.<br>
<br>Roppongi hotspot Alife will host over 500 revelers for an<br>evening of fun with people from different backgrounds<br>coming together to eat, drink and make friends!<br><br>Tel: Metropolis(Will Thompson) 03-45502759.<br>
Nearest stn: Roppongi. <a href="http://www.metropolis.co.jp/party">www.metropolis.co.jp/party</a><br><br>CORPORATE SPONSORS WELCOME<br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>