Japanese Blu-Ray

Japanese to Blu-Ray, HD-DVD "Who Are You?"

We saw recently how Japanese sales figures for high-definition video recorders make worrying reading for the backers of HD DVD, so it’s no surprise that the latest data on the market for players and recorders as a whole shows more of the same.

What is unexpected, though, is the relatively low level of public awareness about the differences between Blu-ray and HD DVD that comes through in surveys by Japanese research firms NTT Resonant and Impress R&D.

Nerds know more

The research targeted two different groups – one consisting of tech-savvy readers of the Impress Watch websites and the other a more general group of non-nerds.

Among the gadget fans, it’s no shock that more than half (57.8 per cent) of respondents knew how Blu-ray and HD DVD differ, but the story in the other group was very different. Of the more ‘general’ public, only 16.6 per cent grasped the differences.

PS3 effect at work

As for hardware ownership, 72.5 percent of those respondents across both groups who own next-generation machines do so through the PS3, with standalone Blu-ray recorders accounting for a further 22 per cent of next-gen ownership.

Even the still-rare Blu-ray PC burners outranked the most popular HD DVD options – HD DVD players, recorders and the external HD DVD box available for Microsoft’s Xbox 360, all of which came in at around 5 per cent.

Although it’s difficult to draw conclusions at this stage regardless of the fact that Blu-ray is so far ahead of HD DVD on all fronts, companies on both sides of the divide might want to look at convincing the public why their products are worth investing in from a technical point of view. And then, of course, hell will freeze over.

Source
DigitalWorldTokyo

LG Blu-Ray

LG Korea starts selling its own branded Blu-Ray-RE disks.

Not much to say here, but here you are, some new Blu-Ray Rewritable disks: 2x single layer of 25GB (BD-RE), sold under the band name LG for the Korean market.

Source
AkihabaraNews

Cyber-Shot ! The S730

Sony Cyber-Shot family is the S730 featuring a 7.2MPx sensor, 2.4 inches monitor, 3x optical zoom and up to 1250 ISO. Soon be available January in Europe





Source
AkihabaraNews

Saori Yamamoto 山本早織

Saori Yamamoto 山本早織

This week gravure feature is Saori Yamamoto, a very gorgeous Japanese gravure idol that was born and raised in Tokyo. She’s one of the more well-known idols in Japan due to her nice pair of eyes.

However, she didn’t seem to release any more work in 2007. Therefore, here’s a collection of photos from her photobook back in 2005.




Name: Saori Yamamoto 山本早織
Birthday: １９８5年11月16日
Height: １65cm
3 Sizes: B92(I)/W60cm/H86cm

Sources
Saori's Blog

Samsung’s VP-HMX10A Ultra compact HD

Samsung’s VP-HMX10A Ultra compact HD camcorder is now on sale...

In Korea ! For $870 you will be able to purchase in Seoul the smallest 720p (H.264) video camera, with 4GB of internal memory and just 310g;

Samsung’s HD camcorder is one of the smallest recording devices among the innovations at the IFA 2007, but its technical capabilities are worth noting. The VP-HMX10A records super sharp moving images at a high-definition resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. It compresses images using the highly efficient MPEG 4 standard (H.264), which was designed for recording HDTV images. A 10x optical zoom fills the screen with impressive detail even when filming from a very long distance. The new HD model has a 4 Gigabyte flash card for saving images, and for additional storage other SD cards can be used.


To ensure that creating a good film is childsplay the Samsung designers attached great importance to easy operation and clear menus. Even before switching on the VP-HMX10A, pressing the ”i-check“ button shows the battery charge status. If power is sufficient, then using the Quick Start function one can start up immediately and be sure not to miss out on even one good picture, as the time lapse between switching on and recording is only 3 seconds. A swivelling handle ensures that users can hold this small, lightweight camera firmly and without wobbling at all times, which is crucial to recording flawless images.

Pretty girl not included... ^^

Source
AkihabaraNews

Ripple Note

A cute new Notebook from Korea


Ever heard of Ripple Note? Well there is a start for everything!
Korea-based Ripple Note comes up with a brand new laptop and the following features:
-Core 2 Duo T2450
-12.1 inches WXGA
-1GB SDRAM @ 667MHz
-120GB SATA HDD, WiFi B/G and a 1.3MPx webcam!




ps : Business lady not included.. ^^

Source
AkihabaraNews

Samsung Stylish Office Equipment

Samsung Transforms the Printer into a Refined Work of Art

It was about time that SOMEONE, came with a new kind of Stylish laser printer for the Office, and nope we are not good to see any Hermes, Berluti, or Prada brander printers any time soon, but some well built ones from Samsung. Pretty slick isn't ?

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world’s second largest laser printer manufacturer, today unveils the world’s slimmest monochrome laser printer ML-1630 and multifunctional printer SCX-4500. With a ‘grand-piano’ black and high-gloss finish, the compact printers exude a sense of luxury emphasizing personal style and value. For the first time in the printer industry, Samsung develops printers based not only on functions and performances but on sensibility.
“The world is wild about fine design,” said Mr. Junwon Bae, Senior Designer of Samsung’s Digital Printing Division. “In a world where consumers are looking for more than product functionality, Samsung has introduced an innovative product design and functionality that will further cement its position in the high-end printer market.”

With their sleek and elegant form, the ML-1630 and the SCX-4500, reminiscent of a stately grand piano, inspire great performances. The ML-1630 and the SCX-4500’s combination of exquisite design and high performance truly exemplify a world wild about fine design.
Targeting savvy users who value individual style and design, ML-1630 and SCX-4500 accentuate sophisticated forms of minimalism by reducing the printer to its essentials and simultaneously incorporating an aesthetic stylishness. The new products that hide the form factor underneath and cover with a sleek and simple top panel were designed to draw consumers’ first attention. Moreover, the duo employ high quality materials to exude a ‘grand-piano’ black with high-gloss finish, and the blue LED scan process indicator and button-less sensors to highlight its simplicity. This uniqueness achieved convergence of simple lines and forms, culminating into minimal elegance.

The world’s slimmest mono laser printer ML-1630 is only 11cm thick, the two thirds of the competition. Reducing the printer to its most fundamental features, Samsung accomplished the counterbalance between simple and sleek exterior and the printer’s high technology interior.
Despite their compact and slimmer size, compared to competitors, the Samsung ML-1630 and SCX-4500 still assure high qualities in their basic functions, providing most convenient environment to consumers. Reduced some unnecessary buttons and replaced with soft-touch sensors, the ML-1630 and SCX-4500 enable users to exercise the menu more conveniently and effectively. Also, users can easily clear a paper jam with the custom-designed semi-auto docking slide-out cassette.

“Samsung now takes the printer to an entirely new level of artistic refinement, above the technology and functional competition,” said Mr. Jang-jae Lee, Senior Vice President of Samsung’s Digital Printing Division. “With the desire for a product that offers more than just functionality, consumers search for products that are reflections of themselves. Therefore, product competitiveness no longer only draws from product functionality, but product sensibility and uniqueness. Highlighted by sophisticated image, our innovative new printers offer so much more than regular printers, which are often thought of as add-on equipment. Samsung will distinguish its new printers as luxurious icons of the global market by targeting individual consumers,” he added.

Source
AkihabaraNews

Optimus Maximus Keyboard

From Russia with LED: Optimus keyboard/super-gadget nears actual launch

I am sure a lot of you geeks out there have seen this gadget before. It’s the Optimus Maximus, a still unreleased super keyboard (priced at over US$ 1000) which will, when released, have a little color screen in each key, enabling it to display any language, icon or image you want. The possibilities are endless. Or: the possibilities are useless as some critics of this device would say (who needs Photoshop icons on their keyboard).




Picture above shows the keyboard with Photoshop Icon



Picture above show the keyboard with QUAKE III icons

Personally I think it’s a cool concept that will find a niche market. There is still many people out there who is willing to buy this 1000+ USD keyboards... :)

LG Viewty Phone

The LG Viewty reaches Korea after Europe!

LG introduced its "Viewty" (aka LG-SH210/KH2100/LH2100 depending on the operator) in Korea yesterday, nothing too fancy about that except the fact that we (for once, at least in Europe) could get our hands on it for a few weeks already!

The specifications are:
-HSDPA phone @ 7.2 MBps
-3 inches TouchScreen
-5 Megapixels Digital Camera
-Xenon flash
-Multimedia player...

A microSD port, BlueTooth 2.0 and other things are also part of the deal.
The Korean Viewty, available in Black or Silver, is sold at 737000Won (~540Euros).




Source
AkihabaraNews

A new ShuttlePRO

A new ShuttlePRO

Shuttle Japan announces a new BareBone to be released on December 21st and named "XPC SX38P2 Pro", so let's see what's PRO about it...
The chipset is an Intel X38 Express + ICH9R, ATI crossfire is supported, and the power supply is a 450W (80PLUS certified); Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Extreme + Pentium DC/Celeron are supported, RAM is DDR2-800 on 4 slots and 2PCI.

The dimensions are 210x325x220mm, and there even is an integrated FingerPrints system!






Source

32GB TurboUSB memory Card

SHD-U32GS, a new 32GB TurboUSB memory Card

If you are desperately looking for a way to download all your company client database before running away with it and sell it to any competitors, here you are maybe the ultimate USB Key which will allow you to store up to 32GB of data and which will be 20% faster than any other USB Key thanks to the Buffalo’s TurboUSB…

Oh by the way I am not responsible if someone will actually do what I just wrote previously…

Source
AkihabaraNews

USB key and Micro SD

USB key and Micro SD

GreenHouse presents the "GH-CRMR1-SKA", a new microSD and microSDHC cards reader so small that you can use it as a USB key.
It is USB 1.1 and 2.0 friendly, weighs 0.82 grams (28x15x2.5mm), and is compatible with SD and SDHC cards up to 4GB. Available in 4 colors.

Source
AkihabaraNews

Notebook with Both XP and Vista

Toshiba T31, the first notebook with Both XP and Vista !

Thank you Toshiba, yes THANK YOU !! I have to admit that on this one, you really made my day! While most of computers nowadays are shipped with Vista and its drawbacks, you can, after some very hard work and crying, get from manufacturers the possibility to downgrade to a proper and more efficient OS like XP. While each time you will have to wait for a downgrade CD/DVD, or worse, you will have to spend hours on the manufacturer page to find the correct XP drivers and apps for your computer. Toshiba decided for its shiny new Dynabook T31 to include both Vista and XP Pro recovery DVD's, letting you have the choice of your poison ! Well done on this one guys!

As far as the specifications of this T31 are concerned, the computer will run thanks to an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T7250 (2GHz), a GM965 Express chipset, a 15” LCD with a WXGA resolution, and will also be available in BTO.

Source
AkihabaraNews

128GB SSD

Toshiba unveils a 128GB SSD in Japan

OH YEAH ! Starting from February 2008, Toshiba will start selling several new (module) SSD, with a capacity raging from 23 to 128GB, then (for my birthday) in April, they will start selling 1.8” and 2.5” SSD with a capacity ranging from 32 to 128GB as well.

Our SSD will have a reading speed of 100MB/s and a writing speed of 40MB/s… Ok… I admit… on this one I like Toshiba a little bit more…


Source

Leather Case for ASUS EEE

Leather Case for ASUS EEE

The BW (Brando Workshop) Leather Case is custom built to fit the Asus Eee PC snugly, with openings for all available slots and pockets on the inner front side to hold your memory cards. The black colour of the casing would provide an interesting contrast with the pearl white version of the Eee PC while making a perfect match with the galaxy black version.

The leather case goes for US$38.00 available on Brando.com

Source
Brando