GW-103

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J@pan Inc Magazine Presents:
G A D G E T W A T C H
The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan
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Issue No. 103
Thursday, June 12, 2003
(Long URLs may break across two lines, so copy to your browser.)

Name: Sony Cybershot DSC-U60
Category: Digital camera
Price: Open (approx. 30,000 yen)
Release date in Japan: June 27, 2003

The Gist: Sporting the same, easy-to-read "hybrid LCD monitor" of its
Cybershot U sibling, the DSC-U60 is a funky-looking vertically
oriented digicam. When I say funky, I actually mean "odd." The
Cybershot U design department is clearly built on a steep hill. When
they produced the U60, they only realized everything was wonky when it
was too late -- take a look at the pix on the Web site and you'll see
what I mean. But it doesn't matter, because the end result is kinda
nice and, more importantly, you can take this dinky Cybershot for a
swim with you. It's waterproof to 1.5m, swimming fans, so as long as
you stick to snorkeling rather than scuba diving, you'll be just fine.
The DSC-U60 shares most of the same specs as its more aqua-challenged
stable mate, including the 2.1 megapixel CCD, the 1-inch "hybrid" LCD
viewfinder monitor, maximum resolution images of 1,632x1,224, mini-USB
and so on, but is slightly bigger all round. It also weighs a lot more
than the regular, featherweight 89g Cybershot U at 149g.

On the same day, Sony is releasing new, colored "Cybershot U" models,
available in silver, gold, orange, red, deep blue and gray finishes.

More info: http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200306/03-0602/

========================= ONLINE EVENT ==============================
FREE INTEGRATED AUDIO AND WEB CONFERENCING ...
CREATING THE VIRTUAL AND AGILE ENTERPRISE

Today's Enterprise Needs To Be Agile, Virtual And Resilient.
We will explore the impact of audio and web conferencing on
productivity and business communications budgets.

Speaker: Yoshitaka Fujiwara, President/ M-Stone Inc. Publisher/
TeleConNews

Premiere Conferencing is a global leader in unattended and operator
assisted audio and web conferencing.
Registration: Free to Attend,
Date: 12 June 2003
11.00am - 12.00pm,
Tel: +81 3 4560 9610,
Contact - Ayumi Gonno, info@premconf.co.jp
http://www.conferencing.com.au/productevent/productevent-japaninc.asp
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Name: Sharp PA-V500
Category: PDA
Price: Open (approx. 15,000 yen)
Release date in Japan: June 13, 2003

The Gist: We mention a lot of high-tech, pocketbook-straining gadgets
in this newsletter, but sometimes it's the simpler stuff that proves
to be more popular. The smart gadget geeks only buy what they need,
rather than what they desire, saving tons of cash in the process.
Which, presumably, is the kind of guy Sharp is hoping to attract with
the new PA-V500. It's a stripped-down Zaurus-type PDA with a one-touch
record voice memo function and 4MB of onboard Flash RAM. It has all
the expected type of PDA functions, and you can write memos directly
onto the screen and will also take up to about 29 minutes of voice
recordings. The display is monochrome, but it's pocket-sized, at
67.5x112.9x12.9mm and very cheap.

More info: http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/030528.html

============================= EVENT ==================================
Empire www.empire.net.nz - Property Investment Exhibition
Quality Development by Sanctuary Group

Venue: Tokyo American Club, Azabudai, Tokyo
Date: 28th - 29th June 2003
Time: Saturday & Sunday 11:00am - 7:00pm
Contact: Towry Law International (Japan) Ltd -
Ivan Doherty 03-5210-5503 or ipd@towrylaw.co.jp

If you're looking for success in investment property in Auckland,
New Zealand - this is an opportunity not to be missed.
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Name: Victor GR-D200
Category: Digital camcorder
Price: Open (approx. 110,000 yen)
Release date in Japan: early July 2003

The Gist: The GR-D200 is what Victor rather obviously describes as a
"round form design" DV camera. You'd be forgiven for thinking that the
"round form" design hinted at some kind of round form media to stick
inside it. But you'd be wrong. Because the GR-D200 takes a distinctly
rectangular form media, otherwise known as miniDV, for recording
purposes (oh, and it has an SD memory card slot). But it's cheap for
what you get: a 1.3 megapixel CCD, a 10x F1.8 to F2.4 optical zoom
lens and user-friendly functions such as full auto modes and quick
power shutdown place the D200 firmly in the "we're trying to sell this
to novices and first-time owners" category, but just in case you were
in any doubt, the thing comes in four absolutely awful color schemes
to make it more attractive to the target audience. And they are Ice
Silver, Aqua Blue, Cherry Pink and Citron Green. Good God.

More info: http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/dvmain/gr-d200/index.html

============================= EVENT =================================
The Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo - For our July seminar
Andrew Silberman, President & Chief Enthusiast for the AMT group,
will inject us with a dose of "success serum."
A presentation about "Guerrilla Marketing", Jay Conrad Levinson's
term for improving business results (like sales and profits) through
unconventional means --without spending a lot of money.
Wednesday July 2nd, City Club of Tokyo.
www.ea-tokyo.com E-mail: info@ea-tokyo.com
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============================= EVENT ==================================
ICA Special Event on Project Management - June 19, 18:30

PRESENTER: Jim (Coach) Hunter, Senior Partner, PMP-Japan
TOPIC: Managing Process Improvement Projects:
Using advanced project management methodologies.

Location - Foreign Correspondents' Club, Yurakucho Denki Building,
Cost: 3,500 yen (members) 6,000 yen (non-members), Dinner included

To attend please RSVP on our sign-up page at:
http://www.icajapan.jp/signup.html
For more details visit
http://www.icajapan.jp/
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===========================ADVERTISEMENT==============================
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Japan - invites you to participate in a "EXECUTIVE CLUBS" special ad
section scheduled for the AUGUST 2003 issue.

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Subscribers: 3,606 as of June 12, 2003

STAFF
Written by: Max Everingham (max@everingham.net)
Edited by: J@pan Inc editors (editors@japaninc.com)

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