Panasonic adds Blu-ray 3D/HDD all-in-one plasmas; redesigned, rechargeable 3D glasses in Japan
Panasonic Japan’s push to bring 3D to wider audiences means more than just offering it in smaller HDTVs. The RT2B series plasmas announced today can record TV broadcasts onto their hard discs or Blu-ray drives, and are the first all-in-ones that p…
Honda will bring plug-in hybrids, full EVs to United States in 2012
Though they probably won’t look anything like Honda’s adorable EV-N, the Japanese automaker’s got some new technological vehicles up its sleeves — in a speech today, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito formally announced plans to produce a plug-in hybrid competit…
Tokyo Institute of Technology announces SSD-packing, 2.39 petaflop supercomputer
IBM has announced plans to start using SandForce SSDs in its enterprise machines, and now it looks like the Tokyo Institute of Technology is doing one better, working with NEC and HP to produce Tsubame 2.0. This next-gen supercomputer will reportedly …
Panasonic adds silver and pink body options to GF1, exhibits poor timing
It’s pretty much common knowledge these days that we’re big fans of Micro Four Thirds cameras, and while Olympus may already be shipping its second generation hardware, Panasonic is holding firm with the still highly desirable GF1. Tweaking up the formula just a tad, the company is throwing its Japanese audience a bone with a pair of frankly stupendous color options, led by the silver (looks more like gunmetal to us) number above. We’re digging the contrast between the black sections and silver body, though the real highlight must be that we don’t find the pink option (pictured after the break) intolerable. Good job by Panasonic on picking out these hues, but why on earth are they coming out on March 12 — shouldn’t the marketing department be aware of certain global consumerist events that exist pretty much exclusively to stimulate indulgent purchases of superficially appealing new gear?
Continue reading Panasonic adds silver and pink body options to GF1, exhibits poor timing
Panasonic adds silver and pink body options to GF1, exhibits poor timing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Keio University and Toshiba ready tiny 1TB SSDs for 2012
Japan’s Keio University claims to have developed, in conjunction with Toshiba, the technology to shrink the size of SSDs by a spectacular 90 percent while also cutting energy consumption by 70 percent. If that’s not enough mind-boggling numbers for you, the final product of this partnership is expected to yield 1TB drives with 2Gbps throughput. The details of this are still somewhat unclear, but we’re told researchers stacked 128 NAND flash chips atop one another, with the breakthrough being in the way they communicate — using short-range magnetic signals — which results in less wiring complexity and reduced production costs. We’ll take some convincing to believe they can really put these to practical use by 2012 as promised, but if they do make it to any sort of commercial launch, you can bet we’ll be queuing up through the night to get one. Note: Nikkei source link requires a paid subscription to access.
Keio University and Toshiba ready tiny 1TB SSDs for 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 07:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Green House delivers USB 3.0-friendly PCI Express interface card
Like it or not (and honestly, why would you not?), USB 3.0 is upon us, and we’re guessing it’s just a matter of time before every single USB peripheral in the entire world is equipped with SuperSpeed support. Exaggerations aside, there’s still a good chance that you’ll snap up an item or two over the course of your life that could benefit from hastier transfer rates, and that’s where Green House comes in. The Japanese-based outfit has just revealed a USB 3.0-compatible PCI Express interface card, enabling mildly ancient desktops to gain USB 3.0 support by simply slapping a card into a free PCIe slot. The company claims that you’ll see maximum data transfer rates of 5Gbps, but you’ll have to wait a few more months to snag it for ¥3,780 ($42).
Green House delivers USB 3.0-friendly PCI Express interface card originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Elecom introduces SDXC-compatible card reader, waits for you to afford SDXC cards
Panasonic’s duo of SDXC cards should be shipping out this month, which means that you’ll be needing a new card reader on the double. Of course, it’s not like you’re really about to pay upwards of $450 for 32GB of wicked fast Secure Digital storage (or $600 for the 64 gigger), but hey, it’s hard to knock Elecom for being proactive. Said outfit has just released what looks to be the first multicard readers to openly support SDXC, with the MR-A001BK handling ten formats and the MR-A002 supporting a grand total of 32 — some of which haven’t been used regularly since Vikings ruled the north. Both are expected to ship in Japan later this month, with pricing set for ¥1,890 ($21) and ¥2,415 ($27) in order of mention.
Elecom introduces SDXC-compatible card reader, waits for you to afford SDXC cards originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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New lithium-ion battery could last 20 years, long after you’ve broken the devices they once powered
Modern gadgetry (you know, as opposed to “ancient gadgetry,” such as the abacus and the hour glass) lives and dies by its batteries, so it’s no surprise that lots of time and effort is spent researching both wacky alternatives to the tried and true power cell, as well as ways to make existing cells better. Among the latter, Nikkei is reporting that Eamex in Osaka, Japan, has developed a lithium-ion battery that will last some twenty years of regular use — that’s 10,000 charges! The secret to the long-lasting lithium-ion? In current designs, the tin that’s used for the battery’s negative electrode weakens through continual charging and recharging. The new design, however, calls for tin-coated resin that stabilizes the electrode and prevents deterioration. Why didn’t we think of that? Look forward to seeing these exciting, new batteries debut in electric scooters sometime this year. [Warning: Source link requires subscription]
New lithium-ion battery could last 20 years, long after you’ve broken the devices they once powered originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hori Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX has a name to match its size, price
Shoulder buttons? Never heard of ‘em. Give us all our buttons in a nice rainbow-shaped array and a big stick for our southpaw and leave us well enough alone. Hori, the company behind the most righteous Tekken 6 arcade controller, is back with a Street Fighter-inspired effort for the true enthusiasts out there. This new deck is a direct copy of the Sanwa arcade cabinets housing Street Fight IV, meaning you can finally take your epic fighting skills home without fearing the misshapen things other people call controllers. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX will be shipping by the end of March, and you can hit the Joystiq link below to find out how to import one for yourself.
Hori Real Arcade Pro Premium VLX has a name to match its size, price originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Japan certifies its first LTE device, LG says ‘whoa, ours?’
In a country whose carriers’ phone lineups are dominated by domestic giants like NEC, Sony, Sharp, and Fujitsu, you wouldn’t necessarily think that the road to 4G would begin elsewhere — strangely, though, South Korea’s LG has garnered the honor of becoming the first company to have an LTE device certified by Japan’s TELEC, a necessary, FCC-like step to getting cellular equipment deployed in those parts. NTT DoCoMo, which intends to launch commercial LTE service later this year, is undoubtedly stoked to hear that the LD100 external modem is the lucky recipient of TELEC’s seal of approval (following FCC certification last year, coincidentally), meaning the carrier now has the green light to use it in trials. Considering that TeliaSonera’s already beaten DoCoMo to the punch with a live, customer-facing LTE network, are the days of being shocked and awed by Japan’s mobile tech drawing to a close, or are we just witnessing a little fluke here?
Japan certifies its first LTE device, LG says ‘whoa, ours?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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