GW-91

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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. 91
February 25, 2003

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Name: Olympus ｵ-20 DIGITAL
Category: Digital Cameras
Price: 63,000 yen
Release date in Japan: end April 2003

The Gist: The u-20 is the latest little creation out of the Olympus
camera labs and is touted as the "world's first metal-bodied
waterproof digital camera in the mu series." Can't argue with that, I
guess. Mainly because I have no idea what it means.

A 4-megapixel still digicam capable of producing shots of a maximum
resolution of 2,272ﾗ1,704, the u-20 is an update of the u-10 and is
easily distinguishable thanks to the change in lens cover -- from a
rather bright blue to a more understated silver. Otherwise, the new
camera has almost identical tech specs to its predecessor, including
the 3x optical zoom lens, a 1.5-inch TFT LCD viewfinder,
macro-function from 20cm and 16 seconds of 320ﾗ240 movies at 15 frames
per second. The camera records images to the new-format xD Picture
Cards. According to Olympus, the camera is waterproof to the extent
that you can use it outside in the pouring rain without it going up in
smoke -- and even take it down to the beach, if you can find one --
but I'm not sure that it extends to actually taking the u-20 scuba
diving with you.

More info:
http://www.olympus.co.jp/LineUp/Digicamera/M/Mju20d/mju20d.html

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Name: Sharp LL-T19D1-H
Category: LCD panels
Price: Open (but approx 93,000 yen)
Release date in Japan: February 25, 2003

The Gist: The LL-T10D1-H is -- there's a clue in the name if you look
hard enough -- a 19-inch LCD display panel with a super high contrast
ratio of 700:1 from Sharp. Producing an SXGA (that's 1,280x1,024 dots,
fact fans!) display, the unit is only 22.5mm thick and can swivel
through 25 degrees. Hmm, that doesn't seem like very much. Still, the
panel is also viewable through 170 degrees in both planes and has a
maximum brightness of 300 cd/m2. And there are RGB, digital and PC
connections round the back for a choice of image sources.

More info: http://www.sharp.co.jp/corporate/news/030217.html

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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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