GW-190

========================================================
G A D G E T W A T C H
The Hottest Gadgets and Gizmos from Japan
========================================================
Issue No. 190
Saturday April 30

1. Mitsubishi REAL LCD-H37MX5, H32MX5, H26MX5
2. JVC Lip Lap UX-Q10
3. Toshiba Libretto U100

========================================================
Entrepreneur Association of Tokyo - May Seminar

This coming May, Norio Murakami, President of Google Japan
Inc., will be presenting "The Past, Present and Future of
Google."

Date/Time: Tuesday, May 10th 7:00 pm
Location: City Club of Tokyo - Maple Room (Canadian Embassy
Complex)
Language: English
Website: http://www.ea-tokyo.com
Email: info@ea-tokyo.com
========================================================

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Name: Mitsubishi REAL LCD-H37MX5, H32MX5, H26MX5

Category: LCD TV
Price: H37MX5: 420,000 yen;
H32MX5: 290,000 yen;
H26MX5: 250,000 yen
Release date in Japan: Early June 2005

The Gist: Mitsubishi Electric is the first to release an LCD
TV with an "Auto Turn" function. "Auto Turn" allows the
entire panel to rotate 30 degrees to the left or right. If
you're the kind of person who likes to have the TV
pointing right at you regardless of where you are in the
room, Auto Turn could be a nice feature. Perhaps
Mitsubishi can put a sensor in the next version for it to
automatically follow you around the room?

A second nice feature of the TVs is their startup time;
the units can go from completely off to displaying in about
5.5 seconds.

The "REAL" TVs will be available in 26-, 32-, and 37-inch
sizes. All of the panels have a resolution of 1366 x 768,
so they unfortunately do not qualify as "Full HD."

More info: http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/news/2005/0421.htm

========================================================
AMT Group's Exclusive Seminar

"Leadership Awareness Seminar" (in Japanese) at AMT Group's
Development Den in Yotsuya. 10:00 - 15:00, May 17 & 19
In a small group (maximum 6 participants):
* Learn and apply new leadership & coaching tools
* Access 100+ ways to motivate yourself and others
* Practice presenting before a group of peers and professional
coaches
Total investment: JPY97,000.
E-mail seminars@amt-group.com for details and to register.
And...for a FREE subscription to Andrew’s Ax Leadership
Development newsletter, e-mail Ax@amt-group.com

========================================================

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Name: JVC Lip Lap UX-Q10

Category: Home audio
Price: Open Price; estimated at 40,000 yen
Release date in Japan: May 18, 2005

The Gist: JVC is introducing the "UX-Q10" into their
"Lip Lap" line of minicomponent systems.

What sets the UX-Q10 apart from other minicomponent
systems is rightfully considered a gimmick. "Touch
Illumination," as JVC has named it, involves a touch
sensitive portion of the system. When the top of the
unit is touched, the display and a number of other parts
will shine a certain color. JVC didn't specify which
colors the unit would glow, but given their press release
pictures, we do know that at least blue and pink are in
there. It's not as though just the main display changes
color, either; JVC uses transparent plastic in various
places throughout, meaning you will also see the new
colors surrounding your dials or even lighting up the
CD tray.

JVC has also introduced a few other innovations with this,
such as showing the date and day of week when you
touch the top of the unit while it is in standby mode.

As far as actual music capabilities are concerned, you
will find the Q10 comes with the same standard equipment
you expect of a CD/MD/Cassette/Radio minicomponent
system. Recording to MiniDisc can be done at 5x with a
single button push via the "Single Push Record Button."
Unfortunately JVC left out a few features that would
have made this unit strikingly more modern -- it does not
offer Hi-MD compatibility or MP3 playback from CD-R/RW.

More info: http://www.victor.co.jp/press/2005/ux-q10.html

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Name: Toshiba Libretto U100

Category: Notebook PC
Price: Open Price; estimated at 240,000 yen or
190,000 yen (with/without Office 2003)
Release date in Japan: Already available

The Gist: For the first time in three years, Toshiba has
updated the "Libretto" notebook series with the
introduction of the "libretto U100." Capital letters
aside, the U100 provides quite a technological punch in
a small package.

"Small" may not be the right word to use. How about
"tiny?" The Libretto U100 measures 8.26 x 6.49 x 1.31
inches. These kinds of dimensions are on par with many
portable DVD players, and perhaps smaller than even
those.

I mentioned a technological punch -- inside the unit
lies a Pentium M 733 (1.10GHz) processor, 256MB of DDR
SDRAM, Intel 855GME (onboard video) chipset, and
perhaps, best of all, 60GB hard drive. Toshiba has also
accomplished yet another pixel-density feat by equipping
the U100 with a 7.2" Clear SuperView LCD that has a
resolution of 1280 x 768 (WXGA). Just for a quick
comparison, the 17" LCD I'm using right now has a
resolution of 1280 x 1024. Expect some of that resolution
to go towards larger font sizes.

Another feature of the U100 is called "Quick Play,"
allowing you to play CDs and DVDs without even starting
Windows. When using the U100 in this fashion, you can
expect a battery life of about 5 hours.

Finally, the U100 is equipped with plenty of interfaces,
such as USB 2.0, Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11b/g wireless
LAN, mini RGB, IEEE 1394, Type2 PC card slot, SD card slot,
and even fingerprint recognition.

More info: http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2005_04/pr_j2001.htm

========================================================
Email Marketing Works

Study after study shows that email marketing ranks among the
most effective, and cost-effective, methods of reaching your
audience. However, constructing an effective email marketing
campaign involves far more than simply stuffing your customer's
inboxes. Follow up mailing, reporting, personalization,
autoresponders and, of course, crafting of the appropriate
message are all essential components of a successful campaign.

Ashley Associates Ltd. (http://www.ashleyassociates.co.jp)
is a leading provider of email marketing solutions. For
more information, or to request a free white paper please
contact info@ashleyassociates.co.jp.
========================================================

SUBSCRIBERS: 7,717 as of April 30, 2005

STAFF
Written by: Liam McNulty
Edited by: Burritt Sabin (editors2@japaninc.com)

(C) Copyright 2005 Japan Inc Communications KK. All Rights Reserved.