Tiny TV Tuner Card, Panasonic's High-Def Camcorders, and More
Drool over what Asia is getting that we'll never see.
TOKYO -- No matter how many new gadgets you see, some still make you say "Wow!" when you first see them.
This month it's an impressively small digital TV tuner that's doing the trick. It's hard to believe, but the Telebit tuner card has everything needed to receive mobile digital TV built into a little box on the end of an SDIO card. Part of the secret to its small size is that it's compatible only with mobile digital TV broadcasts and not with the signals intended for regular TVs. Mobile broadcasts have a much lower data rate--so they require less processing power and can be received and decoded with more compact electronics.
A handful of nations, including Japan and South Korea, already have mobile broadcasting services up and running, and similar services will be arriving soon in many other parts of the world. Unfortunately, they're not all using the same standard, so a single card won't hook you up with TV worldwide--but some standardization efforts are under way: In Europe 17 countries are already using DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld). In Germany commercial services have begun using the South Korean DMB system.
ELSA Japan's Telebit card is compatible with Japan's "OneSeg" digital TV system and even includes a built-in antenna, although an external antenna can be connected if needed. It comes packaged with a Windows viewing application that also allows for time-shifted viewing of TV shows and access to the electronic program guide. The OneSeg system is already on sale in Japan and costs $107. But because it's unique to Japan, don't expect to see it on sale elsewhere.
They've only been on the market a few months, but Panasonic's high-definition camcorders are already getting an upgrade. The SD Card-based HDC-SD3 and the DVD-based HDC-DX3 will capture video at a resolution of 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels in their highest quality mode compared with just the 1440-by-1080 resolution on the two previous cameras, the SD1 and DX1. That's an interesting jump, especially since the older cameras were advertised as "Full HD." Apparently the HD wasn't quite as full as it could have been. At the two lower-quality recording modes, the resolution remains unchanged. They record in AVCHD, the new HD format jointly developed by Sony and Panasonic, and will hit Japan in late April. The HDC-SD3 will cost around 150,000 yen ($1275), and the HDC-DX3 will cost about 140,000 yen (about $1190). Panasonic doesn't have plans at present to put them on sale elsewhere.
High-definition TV is great when you watch live, but recording it often presents problems. For a start, most recorders just can't handle HD signals, and those that do often come with a hefty price tag. So it's nice to see a lower-price high-def recorder from IO Data. The snappily-named HVR-HD1000LE packs 1 terabyte of storage space and costs $669. The company has managed to reduce the price in part by removing the tuner from the recorder. Instead, the recorder hooks up to a TV or satellite tuner over an IEEE 1394 connection. There's room to record 103 hours of Japanese terrestrial digital TV in full high-definition. No plans have been announced for sales outside Japan.
The market for digital SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras is undergoing a lot of change right now. Prices are dropping, and new models are coming out all the time, pushing makers to innovate. Under these circumstances it's no surprise that digital SLRs are getting smaller and lighter. Take the new Olympus E410, for example: Due out in late April, the camera has a 10-megapixel image sensor that's capable of providing a real-time output to the LCD screen on the rear. That means you can frame your shots the same way as on a compact camera rather than having to use the viewfinder as most SLR cameras require. It can shoot at three frames per second, has four picture modes, and can shoot RAW images. It will cost around $671 in Japan.
Sony's latest Bravia TVs are about to hit the market, and they pack the latest in LCD TV industry buzz-speak: 120-Hz scanning. This involves refreshing the picture at double the rate of a conventional TV set, a benefit when watching programs where there is a lot of horizontal motion, for example in a football game. The double refresh rate (it would be 100 Hz in Europe) means the motion appears smoother and the overall picture better. The new Bravia J5000 series has 120 Hz, with the bonus that the TVs are DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) compliant, so you can network them with other home electronics devices. A 32-inch and a 40-inch model will be available in Japan from late May for 230,000 yen ($1928) and 300,000 yen ($2515) respectively. Similar models are likely to appear in other markets later in the year.
Toshiba pleasantly surprises with a colorful choice of models each time it launches new Gigabeat music players, and the U-series units are no exception. Available in white, orange and blue, the players have a 1.1-inch color EL (electro-luminescent) display, can play Windows Media (unprotected or under DRM), MP3, or WAV audio files, and even have a built-in FM transmitter so you can listen to your songs through a radio and don't have to worry about audio cables. Battery life is about 20 hours, and a 10-minute charge will get you 3 hours of playback. They're on sale now in Japan. A 2-gigabyte model costs $141, and a 1GB model costs $115.
LG Electronics is teaming up with car maker Volkswagen on a digital media player styled along the lines of the New Beetle car. The player sports an aluminum body and will be available in three of the same colors as the car: Salsa Red, Shadow Blue and Sunflower Yellow. The design of the player's user interface was inspired by the car, and the device also has a small VW badge on the front panel and a New Beetle logo on its rear. However, the inspiration doesn't extend to the shape of the player, which looks like other MP3 players on the market. The specifications are fairly standard for a media player of its class. It has a 2.4-inch color LCD (liquid crystal display) screen and can play MPEG-4, Windows Media Video 9, MP3, Windows Media Audio, and Ogg-format files. It will come in two versions: 2GB and 4GB. Launch plans haven't been decided yet.
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
