Here's a new card reader from Elecom, supporting as many as 22 different types of media, including the new SDHC (SD High Capacity) cards. It is retailing for 2,520 yen, and connects with your PC via USB 2.0. It will work under modern Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. The following media types are supported: SD card/MMC, Memory Stick (PRO/High Speed), xD-Picture Card (type M/H), and CF/Microdrive. Yeah, I suppose there are 22 media types in there somewhere.



Inspired by:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2006/0824/elecom.htm

Press Release:
http://www.elecom.co.jp/news/200608/mr-a13hsv/

If you're for some reason obsessed with pyramids, you'll be pleased to know that "The PC-Factory" has released their pyramid-shaped ATX PC case called the "LUXOR." Retailing for 52,800 yen, the LUXOR doesn't include a power supply. It consists of two pieces: the top part tht houses a 5" drive bay and the power switch, and the bottom part housing the mobo and power source. In total, there are two 5" drive bays, one 3.5" drive bay, and two 3.5" shadow bays. There are two 8cm fans: one on the side and one on the bottom.



Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/akiba/hotline/20060826/etc_pyramid.html

The PC-Factory Homepage:
http://www.thepc-factory.com/

Inside you'll find details on NTT DoCoMo's first phone supporting HSDPA, the "N902iX HIGH-SPEED."

Evergreen's latest "almost-portable" DVD player is the 5,980 yen "EG-D2340X." It supports all of your standard CD and DVD media types, but can also handle the playback of multimedia files like DivX, MPEG-1/2, JPEG, MP3, and WMA. It also has an integrated NTSC/PAL converter, so Europeans/South Americans may also take interest in this one.



Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20060824/everg1.htm

Product information:
http://donya.jp/everg/7.1/4547479504524/

We just reported on the N702iS a few days ago. Today, DoCoMo announced that as part of the promotion for this new handset launching on the 25th, "companions" who look like "Motekawa" (perhaps a combination of "moteru" and "kawaii") will be distributing free nail stickers on the 25th, 26th, and 27th. These "companions" will be stationed at Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Sendai, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, and Matsuyama.

Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/30695.html

Product Information:
http://www.n-keitai.com/n702is/

Panasonic is plopping down the "P702iD" for NTT DoCoMo on August 31st. More information on this handset inside.

Things are really in full swing over at NTT DoCoMo, perhaps as they should be. Yet another new handset for the company -- the "Raku Raku Phone III" is the latest in the company's "simple handset" genre.

Slated for release on September 1st of this year, the "FOMA Raku Raku Phone III" (F882iES) is a Fujitsu FOMA handset including large-character iChannels, a one-touch alarm, noise cancelling functionality, brightness sensor, megapixel camera, "Magnifying Mirror" finder display, and several other fetures targetting Japan's aging population.

"One-Touch Alarm" allows a pre-determined number to be called with a voice announcement while at the same time sounding an alarm as loud as 100dB.



Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/30700.html

Press Release (NTT DoCoMo):
http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/info/news_release/page/20060824c.html

Press Release (Fujitsu):
http://pr.fujitsu.com/jp/news/2006/08/24.html

Yikes, Sony Ericsson's new "Z610" handset looks buttery. It is equipped with what the company calls a "Magic Mirror" subdisplay that can't be seen while it isn't in use. The Z610 sports a 2MP camera and "Picture Blog" software for photoblogging, as well as TV phone, push email, and RSS feeds. It's slated for release in some markets -- I don't know which -- 3rd quarter of this year. It supports UMTS 2100, and GPRS 900/1800/1900. I don't have any other details, but I don't think it matters. I don't even want to use this phone...I just want to have it in my hands. Anyway, this picture explains it much better than I can.



Inspired by:
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0608/23/news075.html

Press Release:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/

KDDI is all set to launch "EV-DO Rev.A" in December of this year, an extension to their existing CDMA 1X WIN (EV-DO Rev.0) network. Rev.A is the basis of KDDI's upcoming all-IP-based next generation network. The primary advantage of Rev.A is enhanced upload speeds -- as fast as 1.8Mbps -- which are around 12 times as fast as those of the existing Rev.0 network (144kbps). Compared with HSDPA being pushed by NTT DoCoMo, Rev.A offers a more efficient use of frequencies and faster upload speeds.

A number of services are planned to take advantage of the new communication system: KDDI will expand existing realtime communication services, and introduce TV phone services using packet transmission (VoIP). After that, they will expand communication services such as email and blogs, and introduce voice calls using VoIP. This will all be made possible with the introduction of Quality of Service (QoS) controls.

All major cities in Japan are scheduled for coverage by the end of this year, with the entire country covered within the next three years. KDDI is investing 200 billion yen (~$1.72B USD) in their plans.

Furthermore, in September of this year, KDDI will be introducing BCMCS, or "Broadcast/Multicast Services." These services allow content such as video to be simultaneously distributed to a large number of users. Since introducing BCMCS requires o­nly a software upgrade to existing EV-DO Rev.0 facilities, coverage will be nationwide when the service launches in September.

Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppage/30660.html

Press Release:
http://www.kddi.com/corporate/news_release/2006/0822/

Another day, another new handset: here's the N702iS from NEC for DoCoMo's FOMA. Details inside.