Books may already be the perfect form factor--portable, consistent, and user-friendly--but that hasn't stopped several companies trying to replace them with electronic versions. Sony's latest attempt is the scheduled release of an electronic book reader with a newly developed display that is said to be as easy to read as a newspaper, in terms of its resolution, brightness, and contrast level. It's one of a number of noteworthy new products that Japanese consumers will see first in electronics stores this spring.

Also new is an updated version of Toshiba's cool Gigabeat digital music player; a cell phone you can use to watch television; and, after a long delay, the first product to support a removable hard drive system called IVDR.

Sony EBR-1000EP E-Book Reader

Sony is the latest company to try to sell the idea of electronic books to what has been a skeptical marketplace. Scheduled for introduction in Japan on April 24 is an electronic book reader compatible with a new format called Broadband e-Book (BBeB). Sony has worked with E Ink and Koninklijke Philips Electronics on the 6-inch display used in the EBR-1000EP. The display has a resolution of 170 pixels per inch.

Readers will transfer electronic books via USB from a PC or read them directly from Memory Stick cards. The device has 10MB of internal memory, which is enough space for around 500 books (with an average of 250 pages per book), Sony says. The device measures about 5 by 7.5 inches and is a half-inch thick, and weighs about 6.5 ounces. Sony says a set of four AAA alkali batteries should provide enough power for around 10,000 pages of reading. It will cost around $370. Sony has not said when or if an English-language version will be released.

Toshiba Gigabeat G21

One of the coolest hard-disk-based digital music players has been upgraded. Toshiba's new Gigabeat G21 now can connect to a local area network, via an adapter, so data on its 20GB hard drive can be accessed by more than one user.

You can load Windows Media or MP3 files into the Gigabeat, but they need to be sent via Toshiba's own application software, which means that support is limited to Windows machines. This is probably the biggest complaint about the device because it means that while users of machines running Mac OS or other systems should be able to connect to the Gigabeat and even store music files on its hard disk, they are treated as data files and the music player software won't recognize them.

Like the previous version, introduced in June 2002, the interface language can be switched among Japanese, English, French, German, and Spanish. Toshiba says it is seriously considering selling the Gigabeat in the United States or Europe. It went on the market in Japan earlier in April priced around $480, including the LAN adapter.

Sony NV-XYZ77 Car Navigation System

In Japan, only the very largest roads and avenues have street signs, and addresses are identified largely by region--so car navigation systems are almost indispensable. And driving often remains more of a frustration than a pleasure due to frequent urban traffic jams. But Sony's latest car navigation system could prompt people to jump into the car just to see its video-game-like graphics.

The system uses a 3D graphics engine to produce some of the coolest images yet for such products: a 3D representation of the road ahead, complete with landmarks and major buildings, with the route marked with a gold line. Among its many other functions are a music player and television mode. The map is stored on a 30GB hard drive that can be updated via an Internet download service. An optional second screen is available for passengers in the back seat and can be programmed to show TV or DVD content while the driver's screen shows the map. As you might expect, such wizardry doesn't come cheap: the top-of-the-line model costs $1940. Sony hasn't said whether the system will be available outside of Japan.

Matsushita SV-AP30 Printer

Matsushita Electric, better known as Panasonic, is launching a new home photo printer in Japan later in April.

A main feature of the SV-AP30 is its support for PictBridge, a recently introduced standard that lets you directly connect compatible cameras and printers, and then control the printer via the camera's interface. It does away with the need to run images through a PC, making it perfect for anyone who wants to use a digital camera but isn't keen on firing up a computer just to print images.

The SV-AP30's resolution is 259 dots per inch, and the printer can accept four different paper formats. In addition to PictBridge, users can load images directly from a Secure Digital memory card or connect to the printer to a computer via USB. It measures about 7 by 3 by 11 inches and weighs just under 4 pounds. It carries a price tag of $240. Matsushita has not yet announced whether it will market the printer overseas.

IO Data IVDR Mini Disk and Drive

If you bought an Apple IPod or hard-drive based video recorder last year, you might want to avoid electronics stores. With the quick advances in storage technology, now devices offering double the storage capacity are probably available at an equivalent or even lower price.

Enter IVDR, a removable hard drive system first announced two years ago and now finally making its commercial debut. An IVDR Mini is little more than a hard drive in a plastic case with a common interface, but its introduction could mean the equipment you buy today doesn't become obsolete so quickly. That's because upgrading becomes as easy as pulling out one drive and inserting another, higher-capacity device. It also means that transferring a large amount of data, say a video file from a PC to a TV, is as simple as transferring the disk rather than messing around with cables and possible network delays.

The success and usefulness of the system depends on the number of devices that will support it. Right now there's just one: a USB drive from IO Data Device, which will go on sale later in April in Japan bundled with a 20GB IVDR Mini for $315. The disk alone will cost $222. IO Data has not announced any plans for an overseas launch.

Sony DSC-T11 Digital Still Camera

Sony is launching a new digital still camera, the DSC-T11, in Japan near the end of April.

If the name didn't give the game away, then one look at the camera immediately reveals it evolved from the DSC-T1, which was launched last year. The new camera is a little more stylish and the sliding front panel is gone. Like its predecessor, it has a 5.1-megapixel CCD image sensor, 3X optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD monitor, and PictBridge support. It's slightly longer but also a little thinner than the T1, measuring about 4 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches, and weighing about 5.5 ounces. It will cost around $535. Sony has not given any official word on whether this model will be sold overseas, but the company typically markets its cameras internationally.

Toshiba V401T TV Cell Phone

After becoming the first cell phone operator in Japan to offer a handset with built-in TV tuner, Vodafone Japan is adding a second TV model to its lineup.

Like the V601N from NEC released in December, the new V401T from Toshiba features an analog TV tuner but adds a video recording function to the mix. The handset has a limit of 12 minutes of video recording and can also capture still images from TV broadcasts. You can switch between horizontal or vertical display of images. The device will notify you of incoming e-mail or calls while in TV mode.

Like the NEC handset, it falls down when it comes to battery life in TV mode--it lasts about an hour. Other features include a 2.2-inch QVGA resolution display (320 by 240 pixels), a 3.2-megapixel digital camera, and an FM radio tuner. Toshiba will announce the V401T's price upon its release in late April; it will not be available outside of Japan.

Matsushita TH-LB10NT Projector

The performance that usually accompanies a speaker at a conference or meeting--unplug a notebook, plug in a new notebook, mess with settings to try to get a picture, reboot the notebook, finally get a picture--could soon change. A new projector from Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) uses a IEEE 802.11b wireless LAN to connect to as many as four computers at the same time. This makes changing between computers as simple as pressing a button, and the projector can also tile images from the four machines so all can be viewed at once. The TH-LB10NT has a brightness of 2000 lumens, a contrast ratio of 500:1, and is expected to cost around $3700. Matsushita has not disclosed its international marketing plans for this product.

Sanyo Electric Banryu Robot

Sanyo Electric has started renting out its Banryu "utility robot," which was developed with Tmsuk in western Japan. The four-legged device is styled like a dinosaur, is about a yard tall, and weighs a hefty 80 pounds.

Sanyo is marketing it as a sales promotion tool or gimmick with which to attract attention at a trade show. It has some speech recognition and speech synthesis functions and can be controlled via either wireless LAN or NTT DoCoMo 3G mobile phone. A camera inside the robot can also transmit live images back to the operator.

Sanyo rents a Banryu at a cost of $2210 for a single day. But wherever Banryu is used, it needs to return to a power source at least every 2 hours for recharging. The robot is available only in Japan.

Sony/Toppan Paper-Based Blu-Ray Disc

In the research and development corner is a new optical disc developed by Sony and Toppan, a large Japanese printing company, for Sony's Blu-ray Disc format.

The disc replaces the 1.1-millimeter-thick plastic substrate used in discs until now with one made from paper. By using a paper substrate, the developers hope the disc will be more environmentally friendly because recycled paper can be used. The discs themselves will also be recycled more easily.

Sony says another benefit is that users will be able to cut them up with scissors, thus increasing the security of data stored on discs when they are disposed of. The new disc is a prototype at this stage and the partners are now beginning to work on mass production techniques.

Martyn Williams is Tokyo bureau chief for the IDG News Service, a consortium of IDG publications.