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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. 318 Friday October 24, 2008<br>
Subscribers: 9467<br>
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<p>Softbank Mobile 830SH s targets senior market</p>
<p>Name: Softbank Mobile 830SH s<br>
Category: mobile phone<br>
Price: Open<br>
Release date in Japan: October 25, 2008</p>
<p>According to a government study at the end of 2007, 60% of<br>
Japanese in their late 60s use a mobile phone; over 30% of those<br>
in their 70s do so. (By comparison, in late 2003 only 22% of<br>
Docomo customers were over 50.) As the mobile-equipped senior<br>
market grows, phone manufacturers are striving to mix<br>
senior-friendly features with colorful 'young' designs.</p>
<p>The 3G 830SH s from Sharp and Softbank is another entry in the<br>
category of 'easy to use' mobile phones aimed at 'adult users' -<br>
industry terminology for seniors. The third in the GENT series,<br>
the phone has 'Arc Ridge Keys' with large symbols and<br>
easy-to-push curved shape, plus a 2.4-inch, 260,000-color QVGA<br>
(240x320) LCD screen with Sharp's ASV technology. That's<br>
Advanced Super View, which Sharp says creates a wider viewing<br>
angle from all directions, as well as greater contrast and<br>
brightness. That plus anti-glare 'Reflect Barrier Coating' make<br>
for easy visibility even in bright sunlight. </p>
<p>Included is a trial version of Professor Kawashima's 'Brain<br>
Training' software, one of the puzzle and memory drill programs<br>
especially popular among the older set. Even the main font used<br>
in screens is designed for easier reading, says Softbank. The<br>
company is also playing up a dedicated button for the built-in<br>
Japanese and EJ dictionaries. </p>
<p>The phone has a 2-million megapixel camera and comes in Natural<br>
Brown, Warm Pink, Deep Green, and Matte Silver. </p>
<p>More info (Japanese): <a href="http://tinyurl.com/67zdfq" title="http://tinyurl.com/67zdfq">http://tinyurl.com/67zdfq</a></p>
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Kitty lends her head to 7-inch DVD player</p>
<p>Name: Hello Kitty Face-Shaped DVD Player<br>
Category: DVD player<br>
Price: JPY31,500<br>
Release date in Japan: October 16, 2008</p>
<p>No gadget category stands untouched for long before Kitty<br>
muscles in on the action. This time, her famed head forms the<br>
screen of the 7-inch portable 'Hello Kitty Face-Shaped DVD<br>
Player', an entry in the 'Original Kaden' (orginal appliances)<br>
series from Sanrio. Switch it on, and Kitty and her twin sister<br>
Mimmy entertain you on the screen until it's time to view DVDs,<br>
at which time Kitty's good to go with most DVD media including<br>
CPRM-protected discs.</p>
<p>Kitty offers 2.5 hours of play after a 3.5-hour recharge, ships<br>
with a remote control, and weighs 890 grams. She'll only take<br>
Region 2 discs (drat those finicky cats!), so stock up on local<br>
DVDs when you pick up Kitty at a department store or Sanrio shop<br>
in Japan.</p>
<p>More info (Japanese):<br>
<a href="http://www.sanrio.co.jp/goods/200810/kt_dvdplayer/index.html" title="http://www.sanrio.co.jp/goods/200810/kt_dvdplayer/index.html">http://www.sanrio.co.jp/goods/200810/kt_dvdplayer/index.html</a><br>
Other recent DVD players (English):<br>
<a href="http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/09/trio_dvd" title="http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/09/trio_dvd">http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/09/trio_dvd</a></p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>Sales rankings reveal Japanese buyers' gadget color preferences</p>
<p>Compact digital cameras ('kondeji') have long graduated from a<br>
two-way choice of colors (silver or black). With a wide palette<br>
of colors available, what hues do Japanese buyers prefer?</p>
<p>Business Computing News ran that question through its database<br>
of retail data, looking at all available manufacturers' kondeji<br>
sales data for the year ending in September. Not surprisingly,<br>
silver and black still rule the roost, at about 41% and 19% of<br>
units, respectively. But those colors may be coasting on<br>
tradition; BCN found that pink and gold, heavily marketed toward<br>
females, rose steeply over the year to a respective 14% and 7%<br>
of unit sales. </p>
<p>Models like the Panasonic DMC-FX37-P, Casio EX-Z300PK, and<br>
Olympus mu 1060(PNK) snap up big portions of the pink market,<br>
while products like the Casio EX-Z100GD, Canon IXYD920IS(GL),<br>
and Casio EX-Z200GD grab the gold. For the silver, the Olympus<br>
FE-320, Canon IXYD25IS(sL), and Olympus mu 1060(SLV) sell the<br>
most units. The Canon IXYD25IS(BK), Canon IXYD910IS, and<br>
Fujifilm FX-F100FDDB were the favorites of black-camera<br>
traditionalists.</p>
<p>Popular for fall 2008, though not yet making the charts, are<br>
cameras in natural tones like plum, raspberry, wine red, and<br>
brown. Ask BCN next year whether those earthy hues have taken<br>
another chunk out of black and silver. </p>
<p>For another look at color preferences, BCN turned its attention<br>
to the brightly-hued 4th-generation iPod nanos. From a palette<br>
of silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and pink,<br>
what's grabbing Japanese buyers' yen?</p>
<p>Surveying JPY17,800 8GB models and leaving out the special<br>
direct-sales '(PRODUCT) RED' model, BCN again hands the crown to<br>
black and silver, followed in order by pink, blue, purple,<br>
orange, green, and yellow. (Sorry, percentage breakdowns aren't<br>
available.) BCN expressed surprise at the win by black, given<br>
the iPod's strong association with white. But the lack of a<br>
white nano and a love of matte black by male buyers put the<br>
non-color on top, says BCN, which also surmises that silver<br>
scores high as a surrogate for white and as a match for the look<br>
of Apple's computers. </p>
<p>Pink was introduced in the previous generation of nanos, and,<br>
ranking high with female buyers then, has been carried over to<br>
the new line. Blue does well with color aficionados of both<br>
genders. Purple wins among the remaining new colors. Orange does<br>
very well at some retailers, not so well at others, says BCN;<br>
green shows hope with its 'eco' associations; and yellow, while<br>
bringing up the rear, still ranked a very impressive #33 among<br>
684 audio player models tracked by BCN. </p>
<p>Speaking of other audio players (and going off the color topic),<br>
one often hears the meme overseas that Japan's electronics<br>
market is a near-impenetrable fortress from the viewpoint of<br>
foreign manufacturers, who are lucky to sell even a few scant<br>
units in Japan. The iPod is one of many examples showing that to<br>
be untrue. In BCN's tracking of retail audio player sales during<br>
the week of October 13-19, individual iPod models (broken down<br>
by color and memory size) took the top 14 sales ranks, with the<br>
Toshiba Gigabeat T401S Black finally breaking the i-monotony at<br>
#15. Then it's mostly more iPods again for a while. The same for<br>
the month of September: iPods on top, that Toshiba at #12, and<br>
then another run of iPods. </p>
<p>Don't listen to the naysayers, foreign manufacturers: bring a<br>
good product, and the Japanese electronics market can be yours. </p>
<p>More info (Japanese):<br>
<a href="http://bcnranking.jp/news/0810/081020_12140.html" title="http://bcnranking.jp/news/0810/081020_12140.html">http://bcnranking.jp/news/0810/081020_12140.html</a><br>
<a href="http://bcnranking.jp/news/0810/081015_12142.html" title="http://bcnranking.jp/news/0810/081015_12142.html">http://bcnranking.jp/news/0810/081015_12142.html</a></p>
<p>========================================================</p>
<p>Short items</p>
<p>Spotted elsewhere in the news:</p>
<p>1) If you like keeping up on robot news, Japanese video-sharing<br>
site Zoome has brought related videos and news links together on<br>
the new 'Robo Channel', a specialty portal for user-submitted<br>
videos of robots doing everything and anything. The site<br>
promises to offer plenty of videos on the goings-on at ROBO<br>
Japan 2008 (October 11-13).<br>
Robo Channel (Japanese): <a href="http://circle.zoome.jp/robo/" title="http://circle.zoome.jp/robo/">http://circle.zoome.jp/robo/</a><br>
ROBO Japan 2008 (Japanese): <a href="http://www.robo-japan.jp/" title="http://www.robo-japan.jp/">http://www.robo-japan.jp/</a></p>
<p>2) Office workers! RISO and Olympus are warming up the world's<br>
fastest office photocopier, the ORPHIS X9050. It'll spit out 150<br>
copies per minute, or 2.5 per second - fast enough for you?<br>
JPY4.3 million from February 2009.<br>
More info (Japanese):<br>
<a href="http://www.riso.co.jp/release/20081014.html" title="http://www.riso.co.jp/release/20081014.html">http://www.riso.co.jp/release/20081014.html</a></p>
<p>3) The gadget world is full of 'why didn't I think of that?'<br>
discoveries - and some 'why is anyone thinking of that?' finds<br>
as well. From November, Marubeni Infotech would like to sell you<br>
the patent-pending CMFC-001 'Fragrance Case for Earphone'. It's<br>
a little round aluminum button that you pop open, fill with<br>
fragrance-scented cotton, and snap onto the 'Y' portion of your<br>
earphones. Whereupon it acts as an earphone accessory that emits<br>
pretty smells. Harmless enough, true, but still... Anyway,<br>
designed by CEMENT Design, it comes in white, pink, or black and<br>
costs JPY2980.<br>
More info (Japanese):<br>
<a href="http://www.monodo.jp/comonodo/product/f_e/" title="http://www.monodo.jp/comonodo/product/f_e/">http://www.monodo.jp/comonodo/product/f_e/</a><br>
-----------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Start a Company in Japan</p>
<p>Entrepreneur's Handbook Seminar 25th of Oct, 2008</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>For more details:<br>
<a href="http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar" title="http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar">http://www.japaninc.com/entrepreneur_handbook_seminar</a></p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo Seminar-Tuesday, November 4th</p>
<p>Speaker: Mr. Ricco DeBlank, General Manager of<br>
The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo and The Park Residences</p>
<p>Seminar Title: 'Passion to Serve'</p>
<p>Are you interested in improving your customer service?<br>
If so, then don't miss EA-Tokyo's November seminar with<br>
Ritz-Carlton's service expert, Ricco DeBlank.</p>
<p>Hailing from the Netherlands, DeBlank joined The Ritz-Carlton<br>
Hotel Company in 1995 and since then, has worked in Bali,<br>
Indonesia, Shanghai, China and Seoul, Korea as a director<br>
of human resources.</p>
<p>He served as the General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton,<br>
Sharm el-Sheikh after a stint as Executive Assistant Manager,<br>
Rooms in Hong Kong. In 2003, he arrived in Japan as General<br>
Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka and established the hotel as<br>
the city' finest both in Japan and around the world.</p>
<p>Mr. DeBlank was appointed General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton,<br>
Tokyo for its opening in 2007.</p>
<p>Please sign up early while seats are available.</p>
<p>Date/Time: Tuesday, November 4th 7:00 pm<br>
Location: Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan<br>
Language: English<br>
Website: <a href="http://www.ea-tokyo.com/" title="http://www.ea-tokyo.com">http://www.ea-tokyo.com</a></p>
<p>-----------------------------------------------------------</p>
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<p>Subscribe to your favorite English magazines today -- TIME,<br>
Newsweek, National Geographic, Scientific American, People<br>
and many more.</p>
<p>eigoTown.com is now offering subscriptions to English magazines<br>
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<p>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>
========================================================<br>
STAFF<br>
Written by: Timm Tuttle<br>
READ PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS<br>
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<p>--------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><br>
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