GW-111

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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. 111
Thursday, August 7, 2003
(Long URLs may break across two lines, so copy to your browser.)

Name: FinePix S5000
Category: Digital camera
Price: 75,000 yen
Release date in Japan: August 24, 2003

The Gist: Fuji's new, SLR-style S5000 digicam has a 3,100,000-pixel
CCD and is capable of producing images with a max resolution of 2,816
x 2,120 dots in JPEG or RAW formats. That equates to 6 million pixel
photos after Fuji's imaging system has worked its wizardry. The camera
will also do 320 x 240 dot video in Motion JPEG format at a very
decent 30 frames per second and has a 10-times optical zoom so you
don't need to be too close to your subject. Snaps are recorded to the
16MB card in the xD-Picture Card slot and the digicam connects to your
computer via USB. But the neatest thing about this camera is that it
looks just like a regular, professional 35mm unit (not unlike my own
Nikon F100, in fact) and that should please a lot of
old-school-but-open-minded photography enthusiasts.

More info: http://www.fujifilm.co.jp/news_r/nrj1102.html

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Name: I-O Data Motion Pix AVMC211
Category: Digital camera
Price: 19,800 yen
Release date in Japan: TBA

The Gist: In a recent joint press conference in Tokyo, Banpresto and
I-O data announced a collaboration to produce two different Mobile
Suit Gundam theme products, following the previously successful (at
least that's what they claim) Gundam Easy Disk USB Flash RAM memory
storage devices. One is an MP3 player ・ we'll ignore that right now
・ and the other is the Motion Pix AVMC211, a digital camcorder with a
2,100,000-pixel CCD, SD and MMC memory card slots, and a 1.5-inch
color TFT monitor. It looks as ugly as 10-day-old roadkill (and is
about the same color if you go for the red one), but it only costs
19,800 yen. That's about 160 bucks, which is a total bargain if you
ask me. The AVMC211 will knock out 320 x 240-pixel movie images and
still pictures with a maximum of 2,048 x 1,536 dots. At 110g, the
camera weighs less than my ancient mobile phone, but I am sad to
report that it does, as a relatively serious down side, have
"Principality of Zeon Army Supplies, Zionic Co. Ltd., UC 0079" printed
on the side.

More info: http://www.iodata.co.jp/news/200307/03_pr012.htm

======================= SPECIAL AUTOMOBILE ===========================
J@PAN INC magazine -- the journal of business, technology and people
in Japan -- invites you to participate in our special, comprehensive
advertorial section on the AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY in JAPAN scheduled for
the OCTOBER 2003 issue.

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- Priority advertising space in the special "Automotive" section
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- Directory listing containing all of your corporate contact information
- Exposure in both the print magazine and the www.japaninc.com Web
site (OVER 550,000 page views/month)
- Access to J@pan Inc's Executive readership and to all members of the
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Name: Fujifilm DPC-UD1
Category: Digital storage
Price: Open (but approx 3,000 yen)
Release date in Japan: August 24, 2003

The Gist: In a flash (sorry) of brilliance that just makes you want to
leap up and cry "Viva Japan!" at the top of your voice from a high
building, Fujifilm has taken a good, long look at a serious
compatibility problem concerning the new xD-Picture Card storage
format and produced a killer solution. The DPC-UD1 is basically a
flash RAM USB key-like xD-Picture Card adapter with a USB connection
stuck on the end. So, whichever capacity xD-Picture card you've gone
for (they're currently available in anything from 16MB to 512MB) in
your cute new digicam, you can now download them to a PC, Mac or
laptop in a snap. No driver installation is necessary and a little LED
lights up on the side to signal access and prevent you from taking the
thing out too early. Which is always useful. The DPC-UD1 is housed in
a coolio transparent casing and is a pocket-friendly 12g.

More info: http://www.fujifilm.co.jp/news_r/nrj1103.html

Name: Sony DCR-PC300K
Category: Digital camcorder
Price: 198,000 yen
Release date in Japan: September 6, 2003

The Gist: Announcing a product that puts the pricing of I-O Data's
Motion Pix AVMC211 in some perspective, Sony brings us its new
3.1-million pixel DCR-PC300K miniDV digital camcorder. Boasting a
10-times optical (and up to 120-times digital) zoom, a focal range
equivalent to 45-450mm on a 35mm camera, the DCR-PC300K is JPEG and
MPEG-1 capable (max of 2,016 x 1,512 for still shots). It has a
high-quality, super-bright Carl Zeiss lens onboard and comes loaded
with something Sony calls "Bluetooth BIP." It stands for "Basic
Imaging Profile" and apparently lets you remotely operate the camera
from compatible Vaio and Clie devices. Great for when you're in the
bath and don't want to risk getting the camera wet. Not that I have
any idea why you'd want to use a digicam in the bath, of course.

More info: http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/200307/03-0731/

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Subscribers: 4,032 as of August 7, 2002

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

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