<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>
<a href="http://www.japaninc.com/" title="www.japaninc.com">www.japaninc.com</a><br>
The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan<br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
Issue No. 302 Friday June 20, 2008<br>
Subscribers: 9467<br>
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<p>Come see a demo at our monthly events:<br>
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<p>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
========================================================</p>
<p>JVC Everio GZ-HD40 video camera boasts a whole bunch of<br>
world's-firsts</p>
<p>Name: JVC Everio GZ-HD40<br>
Category: digital video camera<br>
Price: Open price (about JPY150,000)<br>
Release date in Japan: Early July, 2008</p>
<p>With a 120GB internal hard drive - the same storage capacity as<br>
many laptop computers these days - the Everio GZ-HD40 is good<br>
for up to 50 hours of full high-definition (1920x1080i) movie<br>
recording. That's the longest HD recording time of any shipping<br>
camera, says JVC.</p>
<p>The tech behind that achievement includes a 2.68-megapixel CMOS<br>
sensor and the 'Dual AVCHD/MPEG-2 Codec HD Signal-Processing LSI<br>
for Video Cameras', the latter being another world's first,<br>
according to JVC. You choose the codec to use: AVCHD (1920x1080)<br>
for recording time of up to 50 hours but at a relatively low bit<br>
rate; or MPEG-2 TS (1920x1080 or 1440x1080) for recording time<br>
of only 10 hours but at a higher bit rate allowing more editing<br>
possibilities.</p>
<p>There's more to like than just the ability to record the<br>
equivalent of a couple dozen feature-length films. Push the<br>
record button, and the GZ-HD40 starts capturing the scene in a<br>
twelfth of a second - an impressive speed which JVC says is also<br>
unmatched by anyone else. (Think that rounds out JVC's claims of<br>
'We're #1'? Oh, no, not yet; the company also wants you to know<br>
that this is the smallest hard disk-toting hi-def camera you can<br>
buy, weighing only 455g.)</p>
<p>Additional niceties include a 10x optical zoom, microSD/SDHC<br>
slot, and an 'Auto Grouping' feature to organize your footage.<br>
(Good navigation is a necessity when you've got to sift through<br>
50 hours of video to find a key scene.) </p>
<p>In addition to the JPY150,000 GZ-HD40, JVC is releasing a junior<br>
model, the GZ-HD30 with 80GB hard disk, for about JPY130,000.<br>
Also on sale in July: the CU-VD50 DVD writer, an<br>
AVCHD/MPEG-2-capable disk writer to burn your camera footage<br>
onto DVDs without need for a PC. It's expected to go for about<br>
JPY50,000. </p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/dvmain/gz-hd40/" title="http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/dvmain/gz-hd40/">http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/dvmain/gz-hd40/</a><br>
(Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================<br>
---------- Metropolis and eigoTown.com Party --------------</p>
<p>July 26, 2008 - Hundreds of party people out for a good time<br>
@ Alife, Nishi-Azabu. Alcohol, food and music!</p>
<p>What you get:<br>
All-you-can drink<br>
Live Shows<br>
Prizes: **Trip for two to Macau courtesy of Viva Macau**<br>
DJs<br>
+ Single people</p>
<p><a href="http://www.metropolis.co.jp/iparty/" title="http://www.metropolis.co.jp/iparty/">http://www.metropolis.co.jp/iparty/</a></p>
<p>Nearest stn: Roppongi. <a href="http://www.metropolis.co.jp/party" title="www.metropolis.co.jp/party">www.metropolis.co.jp/party</a></p>
<p>CORPORATE SPONSORS WELCOME</p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
Canon EOS Kiss F lures SLR beginners</p>
<p>Name: Canon EOS Kiss F<br>
Category: digital SLR camera<br>
Price: Open price (about JPY70,000 for body only)<br>
Release date in Japan: late June, 2008</p>
<p>The 'F' stands for 'friendly' and 'family'. That's Canon's<br>
message to potential buyers who may have been eyeing single lens<br>
reflex cameras, but have been put off by price or complexity.<br>
The Kiss F follows in the steps of the beginner-oriented Kiss X2<br>
released in March of this year, with a lower pixel count and<br>
smaller LCD screen to bring the price down by about JPY20,000.<br>
(The older, bulkier Kiss Digital X is heading out of production<br>
to make way for the F.)</p>
<p>Image size is 10 megapixels, more than enough for a home<br>
printer's largest printouts. Automatic ISO setting and automatic<br>
sensor cleaning remove those concerns from newcomers' minds.<br>
Face recognition takes care of the best exposure, flash, etc.<br>
for portraits. And like the X2, 'Live View' lets photogs compose<br>
the image on the 2.5-inch LCD monitor before shooting, a plus<br>
for compact camera users who aren't used to looking through an<br>
SLR's viewfinder. </p>
<p>More experienced users will appreciate RAW image format in<br>
addition to JPEG. Quick shooting allows 3 shots/sec using JPEG,<br>
1.5/sec using RAW. </p>
<p>Expect a price of about JPY70,000 for the light 450g body, or<br>
JPY80,000 for a kit with EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS lens, which<br>
sounds like a good lens for wide and low-light shots, if not<br>
telephoto shooting.</p>
<p>More info: <a href="http://cweb.canon.jp/camera/eosd/kissf/" title="http://cweb.canon.jp/camera/eosd/kissf/">http://cweb.canon.jp/camera/eosd/kissf/</a> (Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>au Sportio W63T is your new running buddy</p>
<p>Name: au Sportio W63T<br>
Category: mobile phone<br>
Price: Open price<br>
Release date in Japan: June 14, 2008</p>
<p>KDDI is now offering the Toshiba-made CDMA 1X WIN 'Sportio'<br>
(W63T) mobile phone. Designed expressly for the 'au Smart<br>
Sports' service, the new Sportio (whose name is said to combine<br>
'sports' with the Latin 'actio') looks roughly like an iPod<br>
(with added cell phone keys in an unorthodox layout) and packs<br>
in the features for exercise nuts.</p>
<p>First, you enter your personal data (height, weight, etc.) into<br>
the Smart Sports application. Then, with a touch of the SS<br>
(Smart Sports) Key, you can easily active a stopwatch or the<br>
built-in Smart Sports Run & Walk application, which tracks<br>
steps, distance, average speed, and calories burned for current<br>
and past running sessions, all aided by Sportio's three-axis<br>
motion sensor. (Run & Walk and Sportio's GPS also let you map<br>
out your runs online.) Even without activating Run & Walk,<br>
Sportio will automatically watch your current motion, displaying<br>
steps, distance, and calories on the idle screen. If you'd like<br>
a running coach, Sportio offers BEAT RUN, a musical soundtrack<br>
for your jog that changes as you match its tempo.</p>
<p>(Don't accidentally delete that Smart Sports Run & Walk<br>
application. Some bug prevents re-downloading the app to a<br>
Sportio; au expects to have this fixed soon.)</p>
<p>Like the iPod's collaboration with Nike, Sportio has also signed<br>
up a big-name pal: Adidas, which will soon offer sportswear and<br>
armbands designed to complement the Sportio look. </p>
<p>Other specs: 2.2-inch 240x320 TFT screen, 1.96-megapixel camera,<br>
microSD card slot (max 2GB), Bluetooth. Missing from the feature<br>
list are 1-seg TV and 'saifu keitai' electronic wallet.<br>
Available in orange, black, green, white, and red. </p>
<p>More info:<br>
<a href="http://www.au.kddi.com/seihin/ichiran/cdma1x_win/sportio/" title="http://www.au.kddi.com/seihin/ichiran/cdma1x_win/sportio/">http://www.au.kddi.com/seihin/ichiran/cdma1x_win/sportio/</a><br>
(Japanese)</p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>Short items</p>
<p>Spotted elsewhere in the news:</p>
<p>1) This is sort of a clever gadget for the PC user: Canon<br>
Marketing Japan's new 'LS-100TKM' looks like a regular black or<br>
white PC mouse, but flips open like a clamshell phone to reveal<br>
a ten-key pad. The keys rest on the bottom of the opened mouse,<br>
while an LCD screen appears on the underside of the flipped-open<br>
'lid'. Use it for either ten-key input, or as a calculator (with<br>
the ability to transmit the calculated result to your PC). From<br>
late June, JPY3500.<br>
<a href="http://cweb.canon.jp/calc/lineup/mouse/index.html" title="http://cweb.canon.jp/calc/lineup/mouse/index.html">http://cweb.canon.jp/calc/lineup/mouse/index.html</a></p>
<p>2) What's new in hard disks? Bigger storage in a smaller space -<br>
same as always. From late June, BUFFALO will begin selling the<br>
'LinkStation mini', a network external hard disk unit containing<br>
two 2.5-inch disks in RAID configuration. It's fanless and<br>
quiet, fits neatly on the palm of your hand, and weighs a mere<br>
half a kilogram - great for a home server that won't take up<br>
much space or make noise. JPY37,000 for 500GB, JPY74,000 for<br>
1TB.<br>
<a href="http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/storage/ls-wsgl_r1/" title="http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/storage/ls-wsgl_r1/">http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/storage/ls-wsgl_r1/</a></p>
<p>3) SONY announced a prototype back-illuminated CMOS image sensor<br>
with double the previous sensitivity and low noise. Additional<br>
tech specs probably won't interest many readers; what it means<br>
to you is this: significantly clearer, richer images from future<br>
cameras once the sensor makes its way into products.<br>
<a href="http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200806/08-069E/index.html" title="http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200806/08-069E/index.html">http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200806/08-069E/index.html</a><br>
-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
More info: <a href="http://aerospacebiz.jaxa.jp/cosmode.html" title="http://aerospacebiz.jaxa.jp/cosmode.html">http://aerospacebiz.jaxa.jp/cosmode.html</a> (Japanese)<br>
Space food pictures: <a href="http://iss.jaxa.jp/spacefood/index.html" title="http://iss.jaxa.jp/spacefood/index.html">http://iss.jaxa.jp/spacefood/index.html</a><br>
STAFF<br>
Written by: Timm Tuttle<br>
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--------NEW GADGET BLOG: TEKRONOMICON.COM------------------</p>
<p>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/" title="www.tekronomicon.com">www.tekronomicon.com</a></p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
-------------------- ICA Event - June 25 ------------------</p>
<p>Speaker: Henry Ng, Head of Professional Security Services<br>
-Asia, Verizon Business</p>
<p>Topic: Bridging the Security Management Gap:<br>
How to Move from Point Solutions to Process</p>
<p>Details: Complete event details at <a href="http://www.icajapan.jp/" title="http://www.icajapan.jp/">http://www.icajapan.jp/</a><br>
(RSVP Required)<br>
Date: Thursday, June 25, 2008<br>
Time: 6:30 Doors open includes light buffet<br>
Cost: 4,000 yen (members), 6,000 yen (non-members)<br>
Open to all-venue is The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan<br>
<a href="http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map" title="http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map">http://www.fccj.or.jp/aboutus/map</a></p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------</p>