Hasta La Gadget!

And this, friends, is why Japan is a marvelous place. Panasonic has just removed the wraps from its new DIGA DMR-BF200, which is being hailed as the planet’s smallest Blu-ray recorder. For all intents and purposes, this is simply an external hard drive with a slot-loading Blu-ray burner baked in, but there’s plenty more on the inside to pay attention to. It’ll stream DLNA content, interface with your other VIERA Link equipment, output content via HDMI and even access acTVila (a Japanese video-on-demand service). Users can also toss in an SD card for watching flicks stored on more portable media, and most anything housed on the 320GB internal hard drive can be toasted on BD-R/RE for playback elsewhere. It should be noted, however, that neither BDXL nor Blu-ray 3D are supported, but those still keenly interested can find it on November 15th for ¥70,000 ($861) in black or white.

Panasonic’s DMR-BF200 stuffs hard drive and Blu-ray burner into one tiny, magical box originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d tell you these things are probably too easy to lose, but it probably matters not — after all, you’ve already been suckered into buying one based on how insanely janky / adorable it is. JVC has just introduced the SP-A230 and SP-A1M portable speakers, with the former being shown above. That guy is a bar-styled stereo unit with a pair of 30mm drivers, a brain-melting 160mW x 2 of power and a 3.5mm auxiliary cable for connecting to any ‘ole PMP. The A1M ships with a single 30mm driver and relies on a pair of AAA batteries, compared with a pair of AA batteries necessary on the larger A230. Pricing remains elusive, but you can expect ’em in a variety of colors this November… well, in Japan at least.

JVC introduces SP-A230 and SP-A1M: portable speakers for portable players originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp has just taken the veils off its bold new e-reader devices, dubbing them both Galapagos in honor of the evolution the company believes they represent. The 5.5-inch Mobile version (pictured above) has a delightfully dense 1024 x 600 LCD screen, while its 10.8-inch Home sibling offers a very decent 1366 x 800. There’s 802.11b/g WiFi on both, while the littler slate is also enriched with a navigational trackball. Sharp’s emphasis here really seems to be on the cloud-based ecosystem it’s creating for these “terminal” devices — 30,000 newspapers, magazines and books have been lined up for its planned December launch and an “automatic scheduled delivery” facility will help you get at them as soon as the latest issue’s ready for consumption. Sadly, we should note that this is specifically tailored to suit the Japanese market, which makes an international release seem somewhat unlikely. For a size comparison between the two tablets and the full press release, jump past the break.

Continue reading Sharp announces Galapagos e-reading tablets: 5.5 and 10.8 inches, getting e-bookstore in December

Sharp announces Galapagos e-reading tablets: 5.5 and 10.8 inches, getting e-bookstore in December originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 03:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You won’t find this trio hitting US shores anytime soon, but those situated in Japan have a new gaggle of Sharp BD decks to ogle. The BD-HDW65 and BD-HDW63 both include a pair of TV tuners, BDXL support and compatibility with Blu-ray 3D titles, with the only difference being the hard drive — there’s a 500 gigger in the former and a 320GB drive in the latter. The BD-HDS65 goes with a single digital tuner, a single analog tuner and a 500GB hard drive, which might prove useful for storing copious amounts of drama from Sky TV. You’ll also find WiFi integrated throughout, not to mention an Ethernet jack, HDMI output, component jacks and DLNA support. We’re told that the first two should ship in around a month, with the last fellow going on sale in Japan this November; as for pricing, we’re hearing a range from ¥90,000 ($1,066) to ¥120,000 ($1,422), which ain’t cheap no matter how you slice it.

Sharp intros HDD-equipped AQUOS Blu-ray 3D players, complete with BDXL support originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Sep 2010 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Akihabara is home to some rather unorthodox wares, but Japan’s certainly seen it’s fair share of ion generators over the years. Though, we have to say — we’ve yet to see or hear of one with a name this good. Sharp’s IG-CM1 is better known as the Plasmacluster Ion Generator (or Virus Buster, if you will), and so far as we can tell, it’s a portable Ionic Breeze. In other words, this thing somehow cleans the air around the owner and rejuvenates their skin, and when the day’s done, it’ll recharge over USB. We know, it’s all you can do to stifle that chuckle, but Sharp’s clearly pretty serious about this thing. You know, judging by that stratospheric ¥17,950 ($210) price tag.

Sharp’s Plasmacluster Ion Generator: refreshes skin, won’t eradicate enemies originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 07:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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