GW-119

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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. 119

Thursday, October 16, 2003
(Long URLs may break across two lines, so copy to your browser.)

============================= EVENT ==================================
GARTNER'S SYMPOSIUM/ITXPO 2003
Date: Nov. 19-21, 2003
Location: Le Meridien Grand Pacific (Odaiba, Tokyo)

Business today is all about reducing time, increasing speed, and
improving profits. Technology is the enabler.
Keeping up - and looking ahead - is your challenge and our strength.
Join over 2500 senior IT decision makers to hear Gartner's leading
global and Japanese analyst address technology issues that will
have the biggest impact on your enterprise over the next year.

View complete Symposium information at:
http://www.gartner.co.jp/symposium/eng/
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Name: NEC V601N (J-N51)
Category: Mobile phones
Price: TBA
Release date in Japan: early December

The Gist: Now, regular GW readers will know that I generally steer
well clear of reporting on developments in the mobile phone sector.
The reason for this is twofold: Firstly, I don't use all the fancy
functions on mobile phones and only want one in order to speak to
people a long way away and, secondly, because some time ago I made a
small error reporting a function on a mobile and half the industry and
about a gadzillion mobile phone addicts emailed me telling me what an
idiot I was. Which I already knew. But there is an exception to every
rule, and the V601N from NEC (sold as the J-N51 by Vodafone) is
what's made me do it. This is the first mobile phone in the country to
house an integral terrestrial analog TV tuner. It may even be (visibly
flinches, anticipating ensuing corrective email onslaught) the first
in the world to do so. That's amazing -- at only 24mm thick in its
closed, clamshell form (opened up it's completely invisible), you
wouldn't think it possible to squeeze that kind of technology into it.
The phone has a 2.2-inch TFT screen displaying 216x160 dots, you can
capture stills from the TV in MPEG-4 and you can even use the thing as
a remote control for your television, if you feel like it. Mad. But
I'm saying nothing more.

More info: http://www.nec.co.jp/press/ja/0310/1402.html

========================= ADVERTISEMENT==============================
NOKIA Japan Co.,Ltd.

FINALLY THE NEW NOKIA 6650 ALLOWS YOU TO USE THE
SAME NUMBER IN JAPAN AND OVERSEAS*

The Nokia 6650 phone supports both WCDMA and GSM (900/1800MHz),
which can be used in Japan and many other countries outside Japan.
It can meet your calling needs across national borders -
look how convenient and comfortable it could be!

*Check out NOKIA 6650 phone at:
http://www.nokia.co.jp/products/n6650/eng/index.html
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Name: Nagase AXN-3808R
Category: Portable AV
Price: Open (but approx. 49,800 yen)
Release date in Japan: October 24, 2003

The Gist: Nagase has announced the forthcoming release of a lovely
little portable DVD player, manufactured by Taiwan's Action
Electronics. The 8-inch widescreen LCD portable DVD player replaces
the AXN-2588R; the main differences -- apart from the fact that the
old model looks like a reject die cast mold from a Fisher Price "from
birth" toy -- being a further 2.2 inches added to the screen size of
the new model, a drop in weight from 950 to 720g and very slightly
smaller dimensions. The player has a rechargeable lithium ion battery
that should play for three hours on the trot before needing a recharge
(that should take five hours), so you can get all but the very longest
movies viewed on a single charge and there's not one, but two
headphone sockets on board, although I can't really think why you'd
need two of them. Oh, and it's released on my birthday. Er, lovely
wife, come here a second, I need to ask you something...

More info: http://www.nagase.co.jp/

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

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