Glance through the gadgets I cover this month, and you'll see they're all portable and use wireless connections. There's no doubt about it: Cords are on the way out.
Wireless communications technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are making cables a thing of the past. Take Canon's Ixy Digital Wireless, for example, which uses Wi-Fi coupled with PictBridge printing technology to let users send images directly from the camera to a printer without a PC or cable.
But no matter how portable your product is, it still has to come down to earth once every few hours to get recharged. Fuel cells hold out some hope for extending this time frame, and Canon drew attention with a prototype hydrogen fuel cell. But fuel cells are still a few years off, so until then we have to rely on conventional battery technology.
And if you're using disposable dry-cell batteries to power your gadgets, that's not such a great thing. Around 40 billion dry-cells are disposed of worldwide each year, according to figures from Sanyo Electric, and many end up in landfills where they leak and pollute the earth. Sanyo hopes to change this with its new Eneloop battery.
Sanyo Eneloop Battery
A battery might not seem exciting, but Sanyo's Eneloop brand is worth a look. The basic nickel metal hydride technology has been refined so that an Eneloop rechargeable battery is better at keeping its charge when not in use. That means Sanyo can charge them at the factory and they're ready to go as soon as you buy them--no more charging up for 3 hours before they can be used. Sanyo hopes this will eliminate one of the final barriers towards mass adoption of rechargeable cells.
Eneloop batteries are available now in Japan. A pack of two AA batteries, including a recharger, costs $10. The batteries alone will be available in packs of four and eight, but pricing has not yet been announced. AAA-size batteries in the same range will go on sale in Japan on January 21, 2006, and cost about $8 for two. The batteries will go on sale overseas but no firm details have been decided.
Sony DSC-T9 Digital Camera
Sony's latest digital camera, the DSC-T9, has something for people who seem unable to take a clear picture. The camera incorporates two anti-blur systems: one to compensate for the effect of unsteady hands, and one to capture fast-moving objects clearly. According to Sony, about one-third of compact digital cameras on sale in Japan include an anti-blur system of some type, and that number is growing.
The credit-card-size DSC-T9 shoots at 6-megapixel resolution and has a 2.5-inch LCD. It will go on sale in Japan on November 18 for around $406. It will be launched in Europe, Australia, and the rest of Asia before the end of the year and in the U.S. in January, Sony says.
Canon Ixy Digital Wireless
The Ixy Digital Wireless is Canon's first camera with built-in Wi-Fi and will offer users the ability to automatically transfer pictures to a PC via the wireless link as the photos are taken. Wireless printing is possible via an adapter that will ship with the camera. The camera and adapter will be preprogrammed to work together so users will be spared the tedious task of setting up the Wi-Fi link between the two devices.
The camera has a 5-megapixel image sensor and a 3X optical zoom. It will be available in Japan starting in December and will cost about $433. Canon plans to put it on sale in Europe, the U.S., and other Asian countries, although launch dates have not yet been decided.
Sanyo W33SA Cell Phone
Sanyo has unveiled Japan's first cell phone that's compatible with terrestrial digital TV. The W33SA promises to bring crystal-clear TV images to users while they are on the move. Perhaps best of all, and unlike 3G video-on-demand services, the programming is free to watch.
Japan, South Korea, and several European countries are all testing such services, so we're sure to see similar handsets launching in the coming months.
There have been a few cell phones capable of displaying analog TV, and battery life has been a problem. But Sanyo has done better: It claims 2 hours 45 minutes of reception on a full charge. But this technology doesn't come light--at more than 5 ounces, the Sanyo W33SA is a good deal heavier than most phones on the market. The phone will be on sale in Japan only starting in December. The price hasn't been announced.
Takara Music Visualizer
Takara has developed a low-cost device that's intended to bring your music to life on a television screen in a similar way to visualizers that are built into some music playback software applications.
The Music Player Television connects to the headphone socket on any music player and to a TV through standard yellow, red, and white RCA jacks. It will pass through the audio for playback through the TV speakers while producing visualizations based on the track playing.
The MPTV will be launched in Japan in January or February of next year and will cost $34. The company is already making plans to launch the device in the U.S., it said. The price will likely be similar to that for the Japanese market, but a launch date has not been set.
Shanda EZ Mini Gaming Device
It's not often that I cover gadgets from China, but Shanda Interactive Entertainment unveiled a handheld game console in Beijing recently that's worth a look, if only for its uncanny resemblance to a slightly more famous gaming device.
At first glance, the EZ Mini resembles Sony's successful PlayStation Portable. Like the PSP, the EZ Mini has a central LCD that is flanked by groups of buttons that control movement and other functions. Few technical details are available, but we do know that the game player is equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; and it can play Windows Media Audio files, display electronic books, and play videos in DivX, MPEG 4, and Microsoft's Windows Media Video format.
The EZ Mini is expected to be on the Chinese market at the end of this year or early next; won't be available overseas. The price isn't yet finalized.
Samsung SCH-V8400 Cell Phone
Samsung's latest mobile phone, the SCH-V8400, is its thinnest slider-type handset yet.
The phone follows a trend for thin phones that was kicked off with Motorola's Razr. But unlike the Razr, which has a clamshell design, the new Samsung handset slides open. The SCH-V8400 is much the same size as its clamshell competitors, however: It's just over 0.6 inches deep, slightly thicker than the Razr's 0.5. It is also slightly longer, at just about 4 inches compared to 3.8 inches for the Razr. However, the SCH-V8400 is 1.8 inches wide, which is less than the 2-inch wide Razr; at 3.2 ounces, it is also lighter.
Samsung's new phone is designed for use on South Korean CDMA networks, so don't look for it overseas. Features include a 1.3-megapixel camera and an MP3 player. It comes with Picsel, software for viewing text files, Adobe PDFs, and files in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats. The SCH-V8400 costs between $700 and $800; it's available in South Korea now.
R&D Corner: Canon Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Canon has unveiled a prototype hydrogen fuel cell that it has developed to power portable electronics products such as digital cameras. The prototype, the result of several years' research, was shown in Tokyo in October fitted inside the extension battery pack for a Canon EOS Kiss Digital N professional digital camera.
At present, the fuel cell provides about the same amount of power as a rechargeable lithium-ion battery of the same size. Canon's goal is for the fuel cell to offer three to five times the amount of power, the company said. While many of Canon's domestic competitors are also working on fuel-cell technology, there's a difference between the device Canon showed and many of those we've seen to date. Fuel cells produce electricity when hydrogen reacts with oxygen through a catalyst, and most companies are working on fuel cells that derive hydrogen from methanol fuel. Canon's prototype uses hydrogen as the fuel. It's not expected to become a commercial product for several years.
Martyn Williams is Tokyo bureau chief for the IDG News Service, a consortium of IDG publications.
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