ceatec

Here's another possible use of 8K technology besides TVs. Japanese national broadcaster NHK has developed a pair of 8K 3D binoculars, which feature a 4x zoom capability at full-HD resolution. It supposedly allows users to zoom in to images in 3D without any noticeable reduction in clarity. This is possible, thanks to the binoculars' amazingly high 7,680x4,320-pixel native resolution. … Read more

NTT DoCoMo has always showcased interesting concepts at trade shows. For example, we saw a breathalyzer in a smartphone and an ultra-high-speed charging jacket at Mobile World Congress earlier this year.

This time, at Ceatec in Japan, NTT DoCoMo has come up with a concept handset that can be operated with one hand simply by gripping it in various ways.

The Grip UI, which is really a combination of hardware (pressure sensors on the back and both sides of the phone) and software, can be applied to activate shortcuts for opening apps or unlocking the phone. … Read more

Japan has some pretty high-tech trains, but bumpy rides are still common. If you're squashed between dozens of commuters and gripping a strap with one hand while holding reading material in the other, turning the page as the speeding carriage lurches to and fro can be downright dangerous.

That's why NTT DoCoMo has developed a prototype tablet that you can control with your eyes. The "i beam" has a gaze-tracking function that frees your other hand so you can hang on to that subway strap, or, for instance, pull a suitcase around if you're walking through an airport. … Read more

MAKUHARI, Japan--Following the March 11 quake and tsunamis in Japan that caused widespread power shortages, the Ceatec 2011 electronics trade show outside Tokyo is taking up electricity savings as a major theme.

Nissan's NSH-2012 Smart House of the Future concept is part of a Smart Community Zero zone showcasing technologies that operate off the power grid.

The house stands on stilts to maximize space, with a parking area underneath it. Aside from solar and fuel cells that help make the home independent of the power grid, the polyhedral structure can draw electricity from the battery of an electric car such as the Nissan Leaf. … Read more

MAKUHARI, Japan--What if every window of your home or office could generate power? See-through solar films developed by 3M also make your windows shatter-resistant.

At the Ceatec 2011 electronics trade show outside Tokyo, the company was showing off its green-tinged, flexible transparent photovoltaic films on regular and curved glass surfaces.

It was the second time the tech was being displayed, following a brief showing that unfortunately coincided with the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The films stick onto windows, making them less susceptible to breaking in quake-prone Japan. They consist of five layered sheets and an organic photovoltaic substance.

They also help keep interiors cooler by absorbing more than 90 percent of infrared light, reducing the need for air conditioning in summer. At the 3M booth at Ceatec, there was a 13-degree C difference on one side of a window compared to the other, which was heated by powerful lamps but plastered with the sheets. … Read more

MAKUHARI, Japan--For many Japanese, food safety is an urgent concern in light of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, from which radiation has entered the food supply.

Kyoto-based scientific equipment maker Horiba is trying to help with a radiation detector kit that can tell users if their food is contaminated.

It's basically a transparent bucket with a radiation monitor in the bottom and an upper compartment that holds rice and other foods. It also works with soil.

The bucket works with Horiba's new PA-1000 Radi monitor, which was being shown off here at Ceatec trade show outside Tokyo ahead of its release this month.

Priced at 125,000 yen ($1,628), the Radi can detect radiation ranging from 0.001 to 9.999 microsieverts per hour and has a buzzer option for alerts.

Horiba staff members said Japan residents are now looking for higher quality detectors instead of cheaper imports. The company's PA-1100 Radi is a monitor with USB and Bluetooth for links to PCs, smartphones, and tablets. It can be used with GPS applications to quickly create radiation maps. … Read more

MAKUHARI, Japan--A smartphone-only TV broadcaster will begin beaming programs to handsets in Japan next April, offering users live commenting as well as text content and games.

Promoters for Nottv were staging fashion shows in a TV studio set up at the Ceatec 2011 trade show outside Tokyo to drum up enthusiasm for the concept.

Japanese consumers have been able to watch conventional TV on their phones for years using the 1seg service. But Nottv will be the country's first dedicated smartphone TV channel.

Nottv shows will make use of frequencies left vacant when the country officially switched to digital … Read more

MAKUHARI, Japan--Toshiba has been showing off a dazzling 55-inch glasses-free 3D TV here at the Ceatec technology trade show ahead of its December release in Japan and Germany, and people are queuing for half an hour to see it.

The Regza 55X3 has a QFHD (Quad Full HD) screen with 3,840 x 2,160 resolution. That's about 8.29 million pixels, four times that of full HD, and quite a leap from previous 3D Regza models. It will be the world's first 4K TV for the consumer market.

The screen can switch to 2D mode with the … Read more

MAKUHARI, Japan--If you're always pressing the wrong icon on your smartphone touch screen, Japan's KDDI is working on a haptic screen that makes it feel like you're pushing a button instead of just a flat surface.

Prototypes shown off here at Ceatec 2011 respond to pressure and provide a sensation of clicking a keyboard button. The cellphone giant demoed potential applications including easier Web browsing and more interactive game playing.

The tech was developed for industrial applications by Kyocera, which was exhibiting a small tactile screen for industrial use at the trade show outside Tokyo. It consists of a touch panel sitting on an LCD with piezoelectric elements.

KDDI has shown off the tech before for text input at Wireless Japan, but Ceatec saw its first demo for Web browsing and video games. … Read more