GW-182

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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. 182
Friday March 4, 2005

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Name: iPod mini & Hello Kitty BE@RBRICK Set
Category: Portable audio
Price: 39,800 yen
Release date in Japan: Orders already being taken,
shipments begin mid-April 2005

The Gist: Continuing on their quest to create a Hello Kitty
edition of anything that functions, Sanrio Corporation began
accepting orders for the "iPod mini & Hello Kitty BE@RBRICK
Set" this past week. Only 2,000 units will be sold, so be
sure to get your orders in as quickly as possible.

As you've probably guessed by this point, the new set
consists of a pink-colored iPod mini emblazoned with
everyone's favorite Hello Kitty on the reverse of the body.
It has a 6GB capacity, just like all new iPod minis do
these days.

But that's not all you get. To complete the entire pink
ensemble, you receive a pink Hello Kitty carrying case,
pink BE@RBRICK (a large plastic KUBRICK-style bear with an
iPod mini holder), and three BE@RBRICK keychains. I'm
tickled pink.

More info: http://i-kitty.jp/index_pc.html
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Name: JVC HP-FX55
Category: Earphones
Price: Open Price; estimated at 3,000 yen
Release date in Japan: Early March, 2005

The Gist: Billed as "gummy candy style" earphones, JVC's new
HP-FX55 "Gummyphone" earphones will surely make you feel like
a kid in a candy store. Though they're certainly not for
eating, you'll find JVC's newly developed 8.5mm-diameter
driver unit absolutely delicious. In fact, it is reportedly
the smallest such unit in the world. Don't worry about being
shorted on the base from such a small driver unit though.
JVC went ahead and used a Neodymium magnet in the Gummyphones,
so you'll have no problems hearing those low tones. From a
technical standpoint, the HP-FX55 has a frequency response
of 5Hz - 24kHz.

Three differently sized silicon earpieces are included, and
the HP-FX55s will be available in three different colors:
blue, black, white, and a Hello-Kitty-edition --
iPod-mini-matching pink.

More info: http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/press/2005/hp-fx55.html
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Name: IO Data Device CFMD-6G
Category: Media
Price: 33,285 yen
Release date in Japan: Early March, 2005

The Gist: Just in case you missed it, here's a 6GB Microdrive
from IO Data Device. A Microdrive is a miniature hard drive
small enough to fit into a standard Type2 CompactFlash slot.
These days, it's cheaper to get a multi-gigabyte Microdrive
than it is to buy multiple flash memory cards. Because of
this, the Microdrive provides a sort of go-between for the
flash memory storage and hard drive storage camps. You'll
need support for it on your digital camera (or whatever it
is that you're using) so be sure to check before investing
in one.

You can thus see why a 6GB Microdrive is a pretty big deal.
There's really nothing "big" about it, though -- measuring
only 42.8 x 36.4 x 5mm, a Microdrive is indeed small.

IO Data's CFMD-6G offers up this 6GB capacity along with a
"frame bumper" allowing it to withstand shocks of up to
2,000G when not operating. According to the company's
measurements, the CFMD-6G is about as fast as a conventional
85x CF card.

More info: http://www.iodata.jp/news/2005/02/cfmd-6g.htm
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STAFF
Written by: Liam McNulty
Edited by: Burritt Sabin (editors2@japaninc.com)

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