GW-162

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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. 162
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
(Long URLs may break across two lines, so copy to your browser.)

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========= Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo - October Seminar =========

This month's EA-Tokyo seminar introduces Naota Hamaguchi, President and
CEO of JCI Inc, an international consulting firm assisting non-Japanese
companies in conducting business with Japanese companies and assisting
Japanese companies in expanding their businesses overseas.
His presentation is entitled, "How to succeed as an entrepreneur in Japan."
For more information please visit the EA-Tokyo website.

Date/Time: Tuesday, Oct. 5th at 7:00 pm City Club of Tokyo - Maple Room
(Canadian Embassy Complex)
Language: English http://www.ea-tokyo.com Email: info@ea-tokyo.com
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Name: Panasonic D-Snap "SV-AS30" and "SV-AS3"
Category: Digital camera
Price: Open Price, estimated at 34,000 yen (SV-AS30) and 28,000
yen (SV-AS3)
Release date in Japan: October 30th (SV-AS30), November 27th (SV-AS3)

The Gist: This week saw the introduction of two new "D-Snap" digital
cameras from Panasonic, both supporting MPEG-4 video recording.

Panasonic claims the AS30 is "the world's thinnest" 3.2MP digital
camera with an LCD screen -- I'm inclined to agree, as it is only
9.9mm thick. You may remember the SV-AS10 from Panasonic debuted
last year. This is basically the same camera, but the CCD has been
upgraded to 3.24MP (from 2MP), and the movie recording is now done
in MPEG-4, rather than Motion JPEG. MPEG-4 video can be recorded
at a resolution of up to 320 x 240, with a framerate of 30 frames
per second.

Another feature of this camera is its ability to be used as a digital
audio player. In fact, it even comes packaged with headphones and a
remote controller just for this purpose. You'll get about 18 hours
of battery life playing back audio, which equates to 70 minutes
of recording MPEG-4 video, 160 minutes of playing said video, or
taking 140 pictures.

If you're thinking "that's pretty skimpy," Panasonic answers right
back with the "AS3." In fact, that only areas in which the AS3
differs from the AS30 is its battery life, non-rotatable lens and
MP3-player functions. Simply put, the battery life on this camera
is double that of the AS30. But this also doubles the camera's
thickness. Other features of the AS3 include a "play/stop" button
by the power button, volume up/down buttons and a direct USB
connection.

More info:
http://panasonic.jp/d-snap/

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Name: iAudio M3L
Category: Portable audio
Price: Open Price, estimated around 40,000 yen
Release date in Japan: Late September, 2004

The Gist: Earlier this year Vertex Link began sale of the "iAudio M3"
to Japanese consumers. Manufactured by Korea's Cowon Systems, the company
has this week unveiled the "iAudio M3L," which features the same hard
drive capacity as the "M3" but with twice the battery life. The 35
hour battery life of the M3L is certainly longer than the 14 hour
life of the M3, but with this change comes an increased thickness.

Thankfully, it hasn't increased by much -- the 18.2mm M3L is only
4mm thicker than the iAudio M3 at 14.2mm. Also added to the M3L is a
line-in port on the cradle, an FM tuner and recording FM radio at up
to 320kbps.

Otherwise, you'll find the same MP3/WMA/OGG player with a 20GB capacity.

I wonder how the iPod would sell if a 4mm thicker model came out, but
had double the battery life?

More info:
http://www.vertexlink.co.jp/press2004092101.html

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STAFF
Written by: Liam McNulty
Edited by: Roland Kelts (editors2@japaninc.com)

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