dottocomu

Turbolinux's wizpy media player/portable PC

Japanese firm Turbolinux is showing off an interesting device called the wizpy, which doubles as a portable media player and as a take-anywhere Linux box that you can hook up to a PC via USB to access your apps and settings. As a media player it handles OGG/mp3/WMA/AAC audio and DivX video and includes an FM radio, voice recorder and still picture/text viewer; in PC mode, you get access to Firefox, Thunderbird, Skype, wordprocessing and other applications and about 2.5G of storage space on flash memory.

The wizpy comes in at a pretty compact 84x42x12mm and a featherlight 60g, with battery life claimed at 10 hours. It's only a prototype at the moment (though the Turbolinux folks had one connected to a Windows laptop to give the launch presentation, so it's certainly beyond the Photoshop stage), but they indicate it should be out next February for under Y30,000.

[Via Impress PC Watch (Japanese)]

Sharp's OneSeg TV-enabled electronic dictionary

We always thought that electronic dictionaries were intended as a study tool rather than a distraction, but Sharp seems to disagree. Their Papyrus PW-TC900 not only includes an indecently large number of dictionaries (40 or so), it also sports a 4.3-inch, 480x272 dot ASV LCD and a one-segment digital TV tuner to make sure you can, er, keep up on current affairs while you study. There's an SD card slot for MP3s, new dictionaries and XMDF or text-format e-books. Size is a slightly chunky 132x91x22.5mm (see comparison courtesy of sizeasy), and battery life is 25 hours in dictionary mode or 5 hours as a TV.

Actually, reading through the details of the press conference we find that this is aimed at businessmen in their 40s--so the emphasis may be more on sneaking in some TV time on the train or while pretending to write that important memo to the New York office.

Out on December 8 in Japan, and should sell for about Y50,000.

[Via K-tai Watch (Japanese)]

Sony's mylo: An uncharacteristic bit of common sense?

What does Sony's mylo tell us? A few thoughts.

One: Can we hope that Sony's choice of mostly third-party software (Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger) marks an admission of its weakness in software development and a decision to give up the route of providing half-assed, poorly supported proprietary apps?

Two: Does the very existence of the mylo indicate that Sony is giving up on the chronically delayed development of the PSP into a multimedia/VoIP device? Or is this the lite version of the PSP-to-come?

Three: A few theories have been advanced for why Sony's not launching mylo in Japan, which historically must be its most tolerant market for new devices. Lack of WiFi coverage is one, and it's an argument not without merit, though cheap subscription-based hotspot services are on the rise. To turn that on its head, though, is the mylo simply a good example of quick, opportunistic thinking and development from Sony? Could they, god forbid, be doing something sensible for a change by looking at a set of conditions (rise of IM/web-based apps/VoIP, prevalence of WiFi in campuses and other US locations) and working up a product based on them?

[Read: Sony press release]

Hagiwara's Firefox thumbdrive

Hagiwara Syscom has a neat, if not entirely innovative, take on the idea of bundling application and security software into USB thumbdrives. Their latest, the UD-Internet, includes Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird on a 256MB disk, set to auto-run an app launcher when you plug it in. Email messages and settings, and browser bookmarks, are stored in password-protected form on the drive. Out March 30 and should cost around Y5,000; unfortunately only compatible with Windows XP/2000, though we can't imagine it being too difficult to home-cook one of these using a cheap thumb drive and whatever Firefox flavour takes your fancy (or all of them, indeed).

Hagiwara also has a security-specific drive, the UD-Security, coming out simultaneously. This features file erase, PC locking and password protection software, and will cost about the same as the UD-Internet.

[Via Impress PC Watch (Japanese)]

Sony's MP3-playing, more open dictionary

Sony's belated conversion to MP3 seems to be gathering steam, with even its latest electronic dictionary able to play back files stored on a MemoryStick. More useful, perhaps, is the ability to read text files or create your own dictionaries using the supplied software, which sounds like something serious language learners could get some mileage out of. There are two models available, a high-school-targeted model that mainly features Japanese-Japanese and Japanese-English dictionaries, and an eight-language tourist model. The former, the EBR-500MS, should go for around Y30,000, while the multilingual EBR-800MS costs Y35,000. Both measure 135 x 14 x 98 mm and weigh in at 195g.

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)]

Our very own Mac mini

OK, so this actually arrived on Saturday and it's taken us a few days to dig ourselves out of things enough to get around to posting, but here goes. We haven't done anything wild with it yet, but it now has the unassailable position of smallest desktop in the house.

The world's smallest desktop? (All right, all right, so we hid the DVI-ADC adaptor under the table for aesthetic reasons.)

Build your own self-destruct button

We reported the other day on an elaborate but non-functioning self-destruct button that piqued the interest of quite a few readers; given the April delivery date for these even in Japan, one impatient guy with a site called Kaizo Aho Ichidai (we might loosely call him the Modding Nutter Unit in English, though there's a pun going on there that we'll leave well alone) has built his own version, which not only fits into a 5-inch drive bay, it also functions as a power switch. He even manages to come in about a thousand yen cheaper than the official version.

A look at the other projects on the site show that this guy is clearly channeling the Otaku mother goddess, with things like a self-powered (as in "has a motor and wheels and moves about") motherboard, a network attached storage device that walks on centipede-like legs and a web server made out of a beer server.

[Kaizo Aho Ichidai page and 2.7MB AVI of the destruct switch in action]

[Via Slashdot-J]

In response to a reader request, here's what can be gleaned from the Japanese site in the way of actual building instructions:

* The decals he printed out at home using a product called "Miracle Sheets" -- they're basically clear adhesive-backed plastic onto which you can print photos etc. using an inkjet printer. For use in temporary tattoos and so forth, but will stick to anything. Not sure whether something similar is available outside Japan.

* The metal plate that holds the switches came with the PC case--he worked up a design in PowerPoint, drilled out the holes in the appropriate locations, then used a reamer to bore them out to the required sizes.

* He then whacked in the switches and wired them up to the motherboard Power SW, Power LED and HDD LED connectors.

* The switches themselves he picked up at a radio components shop. I've listed them up below, though the translation may be a touch wonky as I'm not a big electronic components freak.

- Key switch: CK-L12A -- Y700
- LEDs (zero-resistance) -- Y90
- Handles: TAKACHI BH-26S -- Y200
- Pushbutton: idec ABW111R -- Y724
- Toggle switches (1-circuit, 2-connector) -- Y260
- ON/OFF plates -- Y150
- Miracle sheets -- Y1,000

For your geek interior: Self-destruct button

Why it is that useless gadgets exercise such a strong pull over us, we know not; but this authentically styled but utterly nonfunctional self-destruct button certainly rings our bells. We intend to buy one, attach a USB connection, and rig it up so that next time we try to purchase something silly online we'll have to go through a four-stage arming sequence.

livedoor product page

[Via Slashdot-J]

Akiba PC Hotline's weird gadget roundup

Impress's Akiba PC Hotline can be relied upon to scour the streets of Akihabara looking for the oddest gadgets and PC parts for our delectation each week. They've now posted their reader-voted Top 64 (no, we've no idea) picks for 2004. The higher positions feature some obvious contenders such as the laser-light virtual keyboard we featured a while back and the SCOTTeVEST solar-powered jacket; but try lower down the list for a cheerful trawl through the year's ephemera, including cooling units shaped like V6 engine blocks (pictured right), PC keyboards that glow when your cellphone rings, and the obligatory USB gadgets.

[Read: Akiba PC Hotline (Japanese)]

The PicoServer, sensor control in a pack-of-smokes form factor

Japanese firm Package Technology is coming out with a 42 x 23.5 x 61 mm box called the PicoServer that's essentially a web/mail server with an Ethernet port and three sockets for sensors (one out, two in). Suggested uses include hooking up a heat sensor and have it mail you when Widget No. 24 is overheating before it blows up half the neighourhood, or using it to control your lighting or gas (gas?!) at home; the possibilities for fun are endless. Out in Japan on November 9 for around Y40,000 ($375).

[Via ITmedia (Japanese)]

[crossposted to Engadget]

Shinko Electric's SP-250, for those precious TV moments

From the parallel space-time in which Japanese technology occasionally appears to be developed comes Shinko Electric’s SP-250, a remote-controlled printer that you can hook up to a TV (or anything else with an NTSC video out) and use to print out frames at will. It also has a card slot for CompactFlash, MemoryStick, and SD/MMC cards and will print out JPEG/TIFF images. As it’s a dye sublimation printer we suppose the quality should be decent, but it doesn’t seem to print out on anything much bigger than postcards, which could make the only suggested use they've come up with—printing out recipes from cooking shows—a little unrealistic unless you're into squinting a lot.

Via ITmedia (Japanese)

Tokyo's videophone police boxes

Latest innovation by the Tokyo police force is videophone kiosks in koban (police boxes) so that you can talk to a cop face to face if everyone happens to be out on patrol (or gone for the night). Looks like they're going one step further, too--this kiosk we snapped the other night was in a diminutive hut under a road bridge that didn't seem to have anything else in it. The kiosks do let you do things like calling up and printing out information such as maps to a particular address or the to nearest station or bus stop, but we suspect this cellphone thing that one or two people in Japan seem to have these days might make them a touch irrelevant for most folks.

[Crossposted to Engadget]

The Ubiquitous Communicator

Japan’s second attempt this week to prove that the PDA is still with us comes from the Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory, part of the T-Engine Forum that develops the TRON OS. The Ubiquitous Communicator packs in a lot of goodies: RFID reader, fingerprint sensor, Bluetooth, WiFi, 2-megapixel camera on the back and another 300,000-pixel unit on the front for videophone calls, mic and speaker for VoIP calls, and so forth. There’s a catch, as you might expect; the first production run models will cost something above Y300,000 ($2,700), though the second run should see that come down to about the same price as a high-end digital camera, which should help the quest for, er, ubiquity.

[Via ITmedia (Japanese)]

Japan bans cellphone use while driving; IOData is ready

We saw this Bluetooth headset + adaptor for non-Bluetooth cellphones and were left rather unmoved , especially given the Y30,000 ($275) pricetag. Wireless Watch Japan puts a pertinent spin on the news by reminding us of the fact that Japan is banning cellphone use while driving as of November 1, suggesting that we could be seeing a lot more in this vein before long. With pricing this steep, though, we'd have thought the usual cable type of earphone mike is likely to outsell the Bluetooth variety. Not much hope for makers of the usual kind of Bluetooth headset, either, as there are only about two Japanese phones that have Bluetooth as yet.

[Wireless Watch JapanProduct page (Japanese)]

[Via Wireless Watch Japan]

The Virtual Keyboard starts a limited run

Japanese website Tanomi.com is taking orders for a virtual keyboard "developed and manufactured" by Matsushita Electric Industrial subsidiary PinChange (though it seems VKB of the US and i.Tech of Hong Kong are also involved). We had heard all sorts of stories about production problems, so perhaps Matsushita have stepped up to the challenge, Called, er, the Virtual Keyboard, the device weighs about 90g and looks to be pretty compact (here's some video of one in action). We have a feeling we'd rather have a foldup keyboard if we were using it with a portable, but tapping out your masterpieces in red light on the bar counter does have something to be said for it in the coolness stakes. Works with Pocket PC200x and most other flavours of Windows, Palm OS 5.0 and up, and Mac OSX. Costs about •30,000 in the limited-edition run that's being offered; it's not clear whether a general release is in the offing.

[Via PC Watch (Japanese)]

Canon attempts to revive pocket calculator, dies trying

Seeing new desktop calculator models come out sort of reminds us of tweaks to a car model that's soon to be phased out (though 1.5 million are still sold in Japan each year), but we rather like the fact that Canon's new USB desktop calculator/ten-key add-on also has a USB 2.0 hub and cursor keys built in. The thought of all those USB cables snaking around is a bit unappealing, though. Also, there's fierce competition in the form of their own model with a built in trackball. What we really want is a Bluetooth calculator, though; that'd be something with real brag value.

[Via PC Watch (Japanese)]

[Crossposted to Engadget]

Sharp's sub-1mm e-book reader

Sony and Matsushita may be meeting with a lukewarm reception for their recently released e-book terminals (something which Sony at least must be getting used to recently), but that isn't slowing the race to develop the next generation. Sharp claims it will have a paper-thin (i.e., under 1mm) reader in shops by 2007. It's working on a colour "LCD paper" that doesn't need a light source, apparently by upping the amount of light the paper reflects. Sharp already has tie-ups with 7000 content providers for the Zaurus Town site it offers to users of its handhelds, so it sounds like it could slide into the e-book (or rather e-newspaper and e-manga) market with relative ease. It's instructive that Sony is apparently soon to bring two Japanese national newspapers into the content fold for its Librie e-book reader, too: its self-destruct after 90 days content policy would certainly be easier to swallow if you were downloading the morning paper rather than the latest Haruki Murakami novel.

[Via Fuji Business News (Japanese)]

Kitschtastic MP3 wristwatch

Japan's Rare Mono Shop, who are leagues ahead of the pack if you're in the market for a dubiously styled MP3 watch, have outdone themselves with their latest. After the previous MP3 SuperDisk Watch and MP3 UltraDisk Watch we were hoping for at least an MP3 PimpinDisk Watch, but no--this one's all smooth understatement (until you look at it, that is). The Analog MP3 Watch comes in 128MB and 256MB versions, is waterproof (whoo!), and also proves that these days, everything has better battery life than an iPod: nine hours. Looks like these are only available in Japan at the moment, but given that they’re probably made by someone else, all it needs is for some other kind retailer to pick them up and they’ll be massive all over the globe in no time. Mark our words.

[Via Impress AV Watch (Japanese)]

Battery-powered MO datadump drive

MO drives may not be be all that sexy or popular these days, but Fujitsu has a neat battery-powered model coming out in Japan that incorporates an 8-in-1 card reader for dumping images from your digicam memory card. Size is 195 x 135 x 29 mm, and the MO drive section can also be detached for use as an external USB drive that runs off bus power. Your mileage may vary with this one depending on how cheap MO disks are where you are, however; in Japan a 1.3GB disk will only set you back about Y1,000.

[Via Ascii24 (Japanese)]

Mini wireless webcam

Silicon Graphics' Japanese subsidiary has come up with a pintsized (95 x 65 x 24 mm) 2-megapixel webcam that incorporates a server and can stream video via your preferred flavour of CompactFlash communications card (WiFi, 3G cellphone, for example). It has 64MB of SDRAM and 16MB of flash memory, which equates to storage for about two hours' worth of VGA-sized MPEG 4 video at 15 frames per second. There's also an NTSC model that loses the camera in favour of an external camera connection and Ethernet port. Pricing looks set to be rather steep, at around Y150,000, though this is firmly aimed at corporate and government clients, who have more money to throw around than us plebs.

[SGI Japan press release (Japanese)]

Seagate's 1-inch drive--small enough for cellphones yet?

Seagate has announced a new range of hard disk drives, including the pictured one-inch model, which will come in 2.5GB and 5GB versions. There's also a Type 1 CompactFlash-format version coming. Out in the third quarter of 2004, so they say. Could this finally be the drive that's small enough to make it into a cellphone? Questions of shock-proofing aside, it's got to happen sooner or later.

[Via ITmedia (Japanese)]

Foldup mini-speakers

We suspect the promo photos show these looking the best they're ever going to, but these mini speakers with 2ch x 3W amp from Princeton have two things going for them: one, they're cheap, and two, the speakers slide in and out and the stand folds up. And as members of the generation that grew up playing with Transformers, we roll over and fall asleep for anything that doesn't either slide in and out or fold up.

Size is about 17 x 6 x 9 cm folded up, weight is a slightly heavy 400g, and they only run off AC power; however, they only cost Y4,000.

[Via Impress AV Watch (Japanese)]

Casio's credit card watch

Putting IC chips into things to turn them into electronic wallets is officially the latest Japanese gadget trend. Casio gets in on the act with a watch it has developed with card company JCB that can be swiped over a reader to pay for purchases, or get through security gates in office buildings. It uses the Sony FeliCa chip, which is fast becoming the de facto standard and will start appearing in Japanese cellphones very soon.

Casio is very big on the fact that you now don't have to root around in your bag for a credit card or cellphone in order to pay for things or get in and out of the office. We're happier with the latter idea, if only because the standard IC-chip company ID cards are apt to snap in half if you look at them crosseyed; on the other hand, being able to pay for stuff with something that doesn't even look like a credit card sounds like a recipe for disaster, unless they have the hands swing to one minute to midnight when you're about to hit your credit limit. Also, it's worth pointing out that the kidz of Japan don't seem too bothered about watches these days; we recall a survey not so long ago in which the most popular watch brand among teens was "NTT DoCoMo".

[Casio press release in Japanese]

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)]

Eight-flavoured card reader

Memory card readers are mundane devices, but let's face it: we've all the experience of buying some new device, then finding that it uses a type of memory that's a square peg and there's nothing in the house but round holes. This IO Data card reader sorts you out with pretty much every common memory format: CompactFlash, Microdrive, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, SD card, MMC, and xD Picture Card. You can also use miniSD cards and MemoryStick Duo cards if you have the adapters. Supports USB2.0, and you can also plug two cards in and transfer data between them.

Size is 97 x 69.5 x 16 mm, and it weighs about 85g. Costs Y3,255, and is out soon in Japan.

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)]

Sanyo's stereo mp3 recorder/radio

We're not absolutely certain that we're allowed to love Sanyo's new voice recorder, but we've always had a soft spot for these gadgets as a way to record interesting bits of sound here and there (and the odd meeting, we must admit). The DiplyTalk (no, no idea what it means) has a stereo mike, records in mp3 format at up to 128kbps and plays back mp3 and WMA files at up to 192kbps (160 for WMA). It also weighs 56 grams and is sized at a vestment-untroubling 29.2 x 117.6 x 12.5 mm. If we had to pick holes in it we'd point out the lack of an external memory card slot (the internal memory is only 128MB, which is enough for voice recording but not much for music) and the fact that inexplicably it's not Mac compatible (though it connects via USB and is apparently usable as an external drive in Windows). Battery life ranges from 13 hours (if you're recording radio) to 21 hours (playback). Price should apparently come in at under Y30,000, which is towards the high end of the market but not astronomical.

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)

Stripped-down hard disk photo storage from Sony

Sony has a surprisingly workmanlike photo storage gadget, the HDD Photo Storage HDPS-M1, coming out on June 18. For Y31,290 you get a grey box with a basic 4-LED meter to show how full the 40GB hard disk is, with slots for Type 2 Compact Flash cards/Microdrives and Memory Sticks. It also has a USB 2.0 port and can function as an external drive for PCs and, unusually for Sony, Macs. There's no display for viewing photos--this is strictly survival-kit stuff. Dimensions are 135 x 92 x 30 mm, weight is 300g. Runs for 60 minutes from a 4-hour charge. The simplicity may appeal to professionals, but it does seem awfully spartan.

[Via PC Watch (Japanese)]

Bringing the humble fan into the modern age

Nissin Denki has a novel take on the Japanese fans that are the traditional accessory when you're wandering around on humid summer evenings in a yukata, watching firework displays and the like. Wave these fans around and they produce an electric current that lights up the LEDs on the surface (see the kanji character on the hillside in the design to the right, for example). Available via the company's website (Japanese only) for Y2310 for one or Y4200 a pair.

[Update: In response to a comment asking how the electricity is generated (it's been a long time since science class, so we were hoping no-one'd ask)--According to the company's website the fan consists of two thin, flexible ceramic sheets layered together that generate electricity each time they're bent (called a "bimorph", apparently), which powers the LEDs.]

[Via Nikkei BP (Japanese)]

Cheap, compact networked storage from Logitec

Logitec has come out with three Network Attached Storage devices that get a definite "want" rating. Ranging from 160GB to 300GB, they come with the expected 100BASE-TX LAN connection, plus three USB2.0 ports; additionally, plug a digicam or flash drive into the port on the front and press "copy" and your files are zapped onto disk. All models support up to 128 users and 100 shared folders, and at 60 x 213 x 181 mm and 1.4 kg in weight, they're admirably compact. Supported OSs are Windows and Mac OSX.

Pricing is Y36,300 for the 160GB version, Y49,500 for the 250GB, and Y59,800 for the 300GB. The first two models are out mid-June in Japan, with the 300GB following in mid-July.

[Via Ascii24 (Japanese)]

Casio's bathtime LCD TV

Latest company to try and make sure there's no escape from TV is Casio, who have kindly developed a waterproof model that you can take into the bath, garden, and all those other places that had until now been peaceful and free of the idiot box. The XF-1000 consists of a tuner unit that connects up to your home antenna socket or DVD/video and squirts digitally compressed audio and video to the monitor, which can be up to 30m away. The monitor runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that lasts for 3 hours, so you'd be pushing your luck trying to watch Lawrence of Arabia in the bath. Given that you'd come out looking like ET, that's probably not a bad thing.

Satellite TV on mobile devices

Seems that TV is indisputably the next killer app for mobile devices (in the sense that it kills more braincells, if nothing else). Vodafone Japan's launching handsets with analogue TV tuners as fast as it can get them out of the door, and now a company with satellites dedicated to broadcasting for mobile devices is getting ready to launch. Mobile Broadcasting successfully put its first satellite into orbit last month, and says it will have 40 channels of multimedia TV and radio broadcasting ready to go in July this year.

Test broadcasts started up in late April, and hardware manufacturers are apparently in the process of using these to tweak whatever gadgets they have planned. News on these is scarce to nonexistent at the moment--it's not clear if the technology is far enough along that a receiver could be crammed into a cellphone or PDA, or whether we should expect some sort of handheld TV with a few extra bells and whistles.

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)]

First look at the Sony EBR-1000 Librie eBook reader

Kakyou kindly offered us his first impressions of the the Sony Librie, as his own site is b0rked at present. Thanks! For some background on the Librie, here's our initial post on the product release, and a Guardian article with some background and an interview with the folks who developed it. We should note that these views are Kakyou's rather than those of dottocomu, as we haven't had a chance to touch a Librie yet.

First look at the Sony EBR-1000 Librie eBook reader

Got my Librie yesterday. Had a bit of time to play around with it, so wanted to put out my initial thoughts on it.

The Good

First, the good news. Initial reports of the screen quality left me quite unprepared for the actual thing. The screen is unbelievable. Not quite paper, more like a dull plastic like look. My first impression of the device was that it was not an actual working unit, but a plastic mock up made for stores. With high contrast black text on a reflective background, the screen has a readability rivaling actual paper. The weight of the book is also quite a shock. About the weight of a long paperback, the book will be both easy on the eyes as well as very easy to hold and carry around.

Running on 4 AAA batteries, the book is supposed to last 10,000 page turns, more than enough for extended trips, and the use of standard batteries ensures you'll never be stuck in a lurch.

Additional features include a memory stick slot for adding additional space for your library or BBeB formatted dictionary cards, a keyboard for using said dictionaries, and a well designed removable integrated screen cover. You can select text from a document and run it through a built in dictionary for a definition or even an English translation. A huge thing is the ability to play embedded audio files through a small built in speaker or earphone plug.

Overall this is a sharp, stylish, package with cutting edge technology. The perfect new gadget if it weren't for.

The Bad.

OK, there are some flaws. I'm drawing some comparisons to my good ol' Rocket eBook (REB 1100), a workhorse gizmo from the 90's. Size and weight being obvious factors in the design philosophy, I found the buttons to be pretty hard to use. The keyboard and option buttons have almost no play and are a bit too small to read. The page turning buttons are the biggest disappointment. The Rocket Book had these 2 great buttons for page turning. In fact, they were the only obvious buttons on the entire device. The Librie's buttons in contrast are too small, awkwardly placed (about an inch or two too low for me), and not very responsive.

Responsiveness in general seems to be a big problem. The e-ink technology produces great results, but at a substantial cost. Namely screen refresh. I feel like I have to wait almost a full second between screen presses while the screen refreshes. OK for page turning, but murder when typing text or doing a search. While the dictionary lookup features are great, the usability is seriously compromised due to the slow input.

Finally, the biggest mistake was that the Librie MUST be plugged in to AC power in order to interface with a PC. Yes, you heard me right. In spite of the standard non-rechargeable battery system, you are still required to lug around an AC charge brick with you in order to update the library on your book. Ooops! Anyway, these shortcomings aside, this would still be a neat toy, except for the inevitable appearance of.

The Ugly.

So the rumors have been around and the details available for a few weeks now. Sony has opted for a DRM and distribution system for the Librie that must have been designed by the same guy who made up the guidelines for NetMD's DRM. In other words, some dinosaur in SonyHQ who still doesn't read his own e-mail since he can't use a keyboard.

As of launch day, Sony's new book rental program contains a whopping 400 books. That's it. The convenience store down the street from my apartment has a wider and more current selection. Also, the innovative (read as idiotic) new 60-day-and-it-evaporates download service has NO periodicals! No magazines, no newspapers. The only types of documents that would lend themselves to a rental system aren't even offered. Instead we end up with a moldy list of books that would be public domain if it weren't for the fact that Japan doesn't believe in giving away information for free, even if no one would want it.

As for permanent content, well there ain't any! Not yet anyway. So right now, if you don't keep buyin' the crappy book, you have 60 days to finish it, or you gotta buy it again. Oooo, that will be a popular concept. So distribution sucks. Well, how about the Rights Management system? Well in a word, "Customers can go and bite me in the a$$". At least I think that 's the message Sony is trying to get across. Yet another proprietary format, with a heavy emphasis on not actually selling things to customers. All valid documents couple with a license document. The entire purpose of the license file is to cut you off after a certain date. So Sony is not selling you anything. They are "loaning" it to you. Well, after 60 days, let's see if they will return that money I "loaned" them! This new format was supposed to offer advanced compression so that hundreds of books can be stored on your eBook (this many books would cost I estimate 5.2 million dollars). The amazing compression created a single comic book file size of 24 MB. That's only 2 and a half times the size of the built in storage area. Want to keep more than a dozen or so books and you better start hoarding MemorySticks. Lord knows using an Open eBook format or even PDF format would give you the same level of functionality and portability but also give you the problems of ease in handling and widespread compatibility. Wouldn't want that would you?

So for an investment of a few thousand dollars, you can have a crappy collection of books no one reads that will evaporate in a couple of months. Well, at least it's safer than burning money. After all you could burn a finger. Still, the fire sounds more fun than this book.

So the end analysis is that this is a great first step device that showcases some cutting edge technology as well as pointing out that genetically altered monkeys should not be allowed to submit marketing plans for Sony. Until there is a hack out there for personal published documents (like there is for the Rocket Book) this product will go down in Sony's vault for stupid expensive ideas. At least it's so small it should fit. It's getting crowded down there lately.

A G5 case for your PC

Not sure what it is about Taiwan today, but Akiba PC Hotline has spotted a new PC case from Lian Li that looks awfully close to Apple's G5. When the first iMac came out white cases were suddenly all the rage and a few case makers who sailed too close to the wind found that they got sued by Apple, so Lian Li may want to brace themselves.

[Via Akiba PC Hotline]

USB drives for rock stars

Because in the body of every geek is the soul of a rock star yearning for release: Taiwanese firm Wepro has put a 128MB USB drive into a huge eagle-shaped totem-pole-looking tchotchke that you hang around your neck. The mini-to-normal USB adaptor stows conveniently behind the eagle when not in use. They also have several moderately less extravagant silver pendants in the same range (photos at the Akiba PC Watch site below). These are selling in Akihabara for about Y5,000-Y6,000 at the moment, but no idea whether they're being exported elsewhere.

[Via Akiba PC Watch (Japanese)]

TV-to-cellphone SD card video recorder

We're amazed they even got anything built with this many cooks stirring the soup, but Solid Alliance, in partnership with Mitsubishi Plastics, Media Ring, and Connect Technologies, has come up with a little pyramidal device that hooks up to your TV and records video in 3GPP format onto an SD or miniSD card for playback on a cellphone. We're sure we've seen an air freshener that looks like this somewhere, but hey, looks aren't everything. Two hours' worth of programming will fit on a 128MB card, and can be played back on any of DoCoMo's recent FOMA phones or a couple of the new Vodafone Japan handsets. (We presume it might just work with non-Japan phones that shoot and play 3GPP video too, if there are any with SD card slots out there. You apparently have to specify which phone you're recording for, however, so there are obviously some quirks in the spec depending on the phone maker.)

You have to love the fact that in the specs they go so far as to note that the shape is a 1/2000 scale model of Khufu's Pyramid, too.

Should be out in Japan in June, and will apparently sell for around Y20,000.

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)]

Shiny shiny, shiny stick of leather

Following on from the leather-bound PC case we came across the other day is a leather USB memory--all we need now are a keyboard and mouse to complete the ensemble. None of this enviro-conscious wooden stuff.

The downside to this one is that it's only available in a 128MB, USB1.1 version at present, but the case itself looks to be a decent enough piece of work (we'll overlook the fact that the flap leaves the sides of the USB connector open to the elements).

Out now in Japan, price Y6,279.

[Product page in Japanese]

[Akiba PC Hotline (Japanese)]

Cellphone keyboard from Reudo

K-Tai Watch brings news of a kind of gadget that seems to be particular to Japan--the external cellphone keyboard. It's perhaps a reflection of the fact that while cellphones here are tremendously advanced, we don't yet have anything equivalent to the PDA phones exemplified by the Treo 600. The Reudo RBK-320 works only with Japanese Vodafone models and costs about Y15,000, which pricing would seem to doom it to very low sales indeed--given that Vodafone's in the midst of a full-on discounting drive to try and hang on to some market share until its first decent 3G handsets come out later this year, that's probably about the same price as most of its current phones.

One interesting thing we find sniffing around the product specs is that DoCoMo's 3G FOMA phones are by design unable to take input from an external keyboard. We wonder whether that's just something that DoCoMo didn't feel was important enough to include in the spec, or whether it's eyeing PDA-style phones for the future. Certainly, it's worth noting that it has specified handset manufacturers must use either Symbian or Linux for phone operating systems, and Sharp, which makes the Linux-powered Zaurus PDAs, is one of those manufacturers.

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)]

Aiwa's mp3 recorder headphones

We somehow managed to miss this one amid the recent news of Aiwa's woes (product cancellations, delays, etc.): an actual new product that's in the shops. The UZ-PS128's interesting twist is that it can be connected to an external audio source for use as a conventional pair of headphones that will also record whatever you're listening to in mp3 format at the same time. AV Watch rates the sound quality as decent, though the feel is a touch on the tight side; the high-sounding 100g weight is apparently not a problem in practice.

The catch is that, as the name suggests, the UZ-PS128 is only available with 128MB of memory. Pricing isn't bad, though, at around Y15,000. Out now in Japan.

[Via Impress AV Watch (Japanese)]

TV watch from NH Japan

NH Japan has formally announced the release date for the TV wristwatch it was showing at the CES. We're perhaps less impressed with this now that Vodafone Japan has come out with its new TV phone (which has a larger screen, at 2.2 inches vs. 1.5), and also because the specs are a little less attractive than initial reports suggested.

Specifically, the battery life has gone down to "up to an hour" from "up to two hours"; the company is now billing it as a "lightweight wearable TV" that can be attached to either a wrist strap or a neck strap (ugh), which doesn't perk up our gadget antennae half as much as a "wristwatch TV"; and lastly, the reason for this deemphasis of the wristwatch TV idea appears to be that to get decent battery life you need to attach the screen to a monster external battery pack (that's it lurking in the background of the photo). That'll get you three hours' televisual enjoyment, but we can't help feeling that if we were going to carry around something that big, we'd want it to have a bigger screen. Ultimately, this seems like the kind of product that'll be great when battery technology catches up, but whose time hasn't quite come yet.

Out in May in Japan; price should be around Y20,000.

[Via K-Tai Watch (Japanese)]

All not well at Aiwa

Sony came storming off the blocks in January with plans to revitalise subsidiary Aiwa through a new range of audio players. A couple of months down the road, things aren't looking so rosy.

First, the promised AZ-FS256 headphone-type mp3 player with built in FM radio, to have launched this month, was cancelled in February when it became clear that developing an FM tuner of the necessary size and quality would have put the launch back dramatically.

Today, Sony announced delays to the remaining four models in the Aiwa range. The two Giga Pavit hard-disk players, the business-card-sized HZ-WS2000 and the shock-resistant HZ-DS2000, will be launched on May 21 instead of in April. The problem lies in the newly-developed one-inch 2GB hard disk, which isn't meeting reliability standards. Worse, this won't just result in a delay; Sony is downgrading to 1.5GB capacity drives, though pricing for the players themselves will stay the same as the smaller drives are no cheaper to procure.

As if that weren't enough, the two players compatible with Aiwa's Pavit USB memory drives, which were scheduled for launch in March and April, will now not be out until June 1--again, because they're not meeting Sony's reliability standards.

Small print on the Aiwa business card shown top right probably reads: "Don't blame us; we're just doing what the guys upstairs tell us..."

[Via ITmedia (Japanese)]

Waterproof SD memory cards

Adtec is to release a full range of waterproof SD cards (32MB-1GB) on April 20. In addition to adhering to JIS standards when it comes to water resistance and preventing moisture getting inside, they're also good at shrugging off shocks, shakes, and static electricity. Pricing ranges from Y2,500 for the 32MB version up to Y30,000 for the 512MB, with no information available about the 1GB version as yet.

For all the cards' toughness, the maker offers one caveat--make sure they're dry before you insert them into anything.

[Via PC Watch (Japanese)]

Sony's car navigator/multimedia player with PC dock

We don't usually pay much attention to car navigation systems, but Sony's latest is something of a tour de force. Key feature is that the main unit is detachable and comes with two cradles, one for in-car use and one to hook up to a home PC via a USB2.0 connection. It's possible to transfer a range of video, audio and graphics files (most varieties of MPEG, including mp3s, plus JPEG/TIFF/BMP images) onto the main unit's 30GB hard disk for in-car enjoyment, along with new map data that will be available from July via a web-based update service.

Deserving of mention on the navigation front is the "motion street guide" (see pic bottom right), a 3D graphical representation of the road ahead with a golden line showing your course that looks highly detailed and probably nigh-on indispensable if you get lost as easily as we do.

The wallet damage from the top-line model is fairly severe, at an estimated Y210,000, but it does mean you get the full feature set, including e-mail, web browsing, the ability to hook up a rearview camera or a DVD player, receive TV broadcasts, and do all sorts of other things best avoided unless you're in a monumental traffic jam. (Japanese motorway traffic jams are, by the way, frequently monumental.) You can also buy an optional "rear station" to dock the main unit in the back of the car, which sounds perfect for entertaining fractious children on long drives, assuming you already know where you're going.

[Via PC Watch (Japanese; includes screenshots); Sony press release (Japanese)]

NTT's home phone of the future

Telecoms giant NTT tends to be overshadowed by mobile brother DoCoMo when it comes to phones, but it has high hopes for its latest product, a low-priced touch-screen IP videophone that hooks up directly to an ADSL or fiberoptic line. NTT envisages it as the broadband era equivalent of the black Bakelite instrument that marked the telephone's first entry into the average household. No further details regarding spec or pricing are available yet.

The unit is scheduled to go on sale this June and will be available to all subscribers to NTT's broadband services, expanding thereafter to ISPs that use the NTT infrastructure (i.e., an awful lot of them).

NTT has something of a history of coming out with products that end up as footnotes to history because they're easily replaceable with software applications, but the idea of a PC-independent videophone sounds like it might just fly, especially as the artist's impression looks a good deal better than the "phone with a screen stuck to it" designs that seem to have been the mainstream so far.

[Via Ascii24.com (Japanese)]

1.8-inch portable hard disk

Not a Japanese product (we just happened to spot it on the Japanese newswires, is all), but this 1.8-inch external drive from Taiwan's Transcend looks like a useful piece of kit. The USB 2.0-compatible drive comes in 20GB and 40GB varieties, both of which measure 72 x 95 x 15 mm; weights are 118 g and 130 g, respectively. Works with all recent flavours of Windows and Mac OS 9.1 or later. Comes (at least in Japan) with backup software, a leather carrying case and a USB cable.

No info on pricing yet, as the drives don't seem to have been released yet (the company press release says they'll be out "in April"). Looks like they should be available pretty much anywhere.

[Company press release]

[Via PC Watch (Japanese)]

Leather-covered PC kit

To add to the incredible proliferation of PC-kit cases available already in Japan comes Freetech's latest, the F-force MP-162GTV. It includes all the usual connections (FireWire, audio and TV outputs, LAN port, etc.), and adds to previous models the ability to play DVDs and mp3s independent of the operating system using etBIOS.

The most distinctive feature, however, is that initial shipments come with a leather case that covers the whole caboodle. Black and brown versions are available; price is Y29,800.

[Via PC Watch (Japanese)]

Remote control anything you like

Inessential device of the week (found in Akihabara, where else) is a remote control/receiver board set that can be built into a PC, or pretty much any electrical device you fancy. Comes in two versions: the 3-channel model shown has a 30-metre range, and there's also a smaller, 10 metre-range 2-channel model. Both allow you to set a security code to avoid chaos when using other remotes.

Perfect for busy people with long, thin apartments who want the PC to be up and running by the time they get to it?

We haven't been able to track down who makes these, but they're on sale at Sengoku Densho in Akihabara. Prices are Y9,980 for the 3-channel version and Y6,980 for the 2-channel.

[Via Mycom PC Web (Japanese)]

Solar iPod charger

Bird Electron is developing a solar iPod charger to go on limited sale from May. The unit very sensibly comes with a battery built in, meaning you can charge that during the day and plug your iPod into it overnight. At the moment it apparently takes two fine days to get a full charge, but they reckon a single day's worth should be enough to cover you for a shortish commute. Obviously it's going to take years before the electricity savings pay for the charger, but the idea here is ecology rather than economy. Man.

Price should be somewhere in the Y15-20,000 range.

(Bird very brusquely states on its website that it doesn't sell overseas and can't respond to queries in English, by the way, so those overseas will have to be patient.)

[Via MYCOM PC WEB (Japanese)]

DoCoMo's FOMA appliance controller

DoCoMo has announced a controller for home appliances that includes a built-in camera, compatible with its 3G FOMA phones. Sounds like quite a package:

The controller enables operations such as programming the recording of a TV program and then viewing the playback on the phone, turning air conditioners and lights on an off, and viewing live video from the controller's built-in camera, including automatically if the unit's built-in motion sensor detects movement. Video can also be transmitted from a FOMA phone for live viewing on a screen connected to the controller.

It can also control a Sony Aibo, should you feel the need, and will in future be able to remote control a PC, though we imagine that could be an amazing pain from a cellphone screen. The only downside we can see is the need to sign up for another FOMA line and buy a datacard to plug into the controller; would be great were it possible to plug it into a network and access it over the web. No info on pricing yet.

[Read: NTT DoCoMo press release]