GW-245

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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. 245
Friday July 21, 2006

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

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Name: Casio Privia PX-410R
Category: Piano
Price: 92,400 yen
Release date in Japan: August 10, 2006

The Gist: The 92,400 yen Privia PX-410R isn't exactly on the cheap side for
an electronic piano, but Casio tries to make up for the price by providing a
USB interface and an SD card slot.

The USB interface of the PX-410R is used for transferring song data between
the piano and your PC. Through Casio's own "Internet Data Expansion System,"
you can also add new tones, rhythms, and DSPs to the unit. If you don't want
to keep your PC nearby your electronic piano, the SD card interface will
serve the same function.

In addition, the PX-410R also contains 4MB of internal memory. This memory
can hold 6 tracks, 5 songs, or about 10,000 notes -- it goes without saying
that something like a 1GB SD card could hold much more. Another nice feature
of the PX-410R is the "Acoustic Resonance System" for synthesizing acoustic
resonance when the foot pedals are pressed.

The music-related specifications consist of 88 keys, 894 styles of tone (670
presets + 224 user), as many as 32 simultaneous tones, 16 digital reverb
effects, 16 choruses, and 200 DSPs.

More info: http://www.casio.co.jp/release/2006/px_410r.html
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Name: Sanyo DVF-DTV100
Category: One-Seg Tuner
Price: 35,700 yen
Release date in Japan: August 21, 2006

The Gist: Leave it to Sanyo to come up with the DVF-DTV100, a One-Seg tuner
that plugs right into some of the company's more recent portable DVD
players.

Only Sanyo portable DVD players are supported, so if you have one from a
different company, you're out of luck; but owners of a DVD-HP71T, HP70T,
HP90T, HP170, or HP62 might want to look into this tuner to add One-Seg
reception to their units.

The DVF-DTV100 also contains a terrestrial analog tuner for VHF, UHF, and
CATV, and you can switch between the two tuners with...a switch. Electronic
program guides are supported, as are closed-captions for One-Seg. Look for
this one about a month from now.

More info: http://www.sanyo.co.jp/koho/hypertext4/0607news-j/0711-1.html
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Name: Sharp Aquos LC-15SX7, LC-13SX7
Category: LCD TV
Price: Open Price
Release date in Japan: August 4, 2006

The Gist: If you've been waiting for the right time to pick up a 13- or
15-inch LCD for the bedroom, this might be it -- Sharp has announced two new
models of those sizes in their highly rated Aquos line of LCD TVs.

It might be the right time because each of the new models contains a digital
tuner capable of picking up BS, 110 CS, and terrestrial digital broadcasts,
as well as a terrestrial analog tuner. This is a first for Sharp; the
company has stated that "all sizes in the Aquos line now contain digital
tuners."

The panel itself has a resolution of 640 x 480, an aspect ratio of 4:3, and
a brightness of 500 candelas per square meter. There's also a 170-degree
viewing angle, which is certainly nice to see on a screen of this size.

Sharp's "Brightness Sensor" will automatically adjust the brightness of the
screen to match the brightness of the room. In the dark, for example, the
brightness will be turned down to help you reduce your power bills. Sharp
put the backlight life at around 60,000 hours, so the backlight might last
you for 6,575 years if you play your cards right and only use it for 1.5
seconds each day.

Besides a carrying handle, each model offers a "Non-operation Power Off
Function" that will automatically turn off the TV if neither channel nor
volume is changed in a 30-minute period. The 15-inch model is set at around
90,000 yen, and the 13-inch model around 80,000 yen.

More info: http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/060714-a.html
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STAFF
Written by: Liam McNulty
Edited by: Burritt Sabin (editors2@japaninc.com)

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