Crave's chief correspondent, Erica Ogg, is just back from Ceatec in Japan--and almost caught up on her sleep.
In case you missed Thursday's CNET News Daily Debrief, have a look now. Erica talks about the crazy concept phones that caught her eye at the giant electronics show; a darn cute girlbot; and the some of the best noodles she's ever tasted.
TVs galore at Ceatec 2008.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)TOKYO--The Ceatec 2008 circus is packing up the tent, but it won't be long until we see many of these same gadgets again. As the Japanese consumer tech showcase winds down, let's take a look at the major themes of this year's show and look forward to what will make it to the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
Although the show was a bit smaller this year, it's still the place to see highly imaginative prototypes, as well as get a glimpse of what will actually be on U.S. stores shelves in the coming year.
The most prevalent theme among the electronics giants: thin TVs. Just like at CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin, and CEDIA Expo this year, they're jostling with each other in a race to see who can make the largest screen on the skinniest panel.
Sony continued to push its current 11-inch OLED TV model, the XEL-1, and showed the prototype 27-inch version. But the company also showed an even thinner prototype, whose display is a mere .3 millimeters thin.
But those are small. In larger TVs, Hitachi showed off a 15-millimeter LCD and a 35-millimeter plasma set (see picture), as did Sharp, which announced its new 23-millimeter thin Aquos XS (for "extra slim") model. Toshiba also lined up to show off a concept Regza that looks and leans like an oversize piece of mirrored glass.
Hitachi's super-thin LCD.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)
A slim and trim plasma TV from Hitachi.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)Many companies also showed new types of interfaces, such as gesture-based technology. Panasonic showed its connected-home concept, which included an impressive video wall. Users could theoretically call up an exercise program onto the wall, and a video of an instructor would appear and respond to users' movements. Hitachi showed digital signage technology that used human gestures to play games and create interactive advertisements.
... Read more
Sony's prototype 0.3-millimeter OLED display.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)CHIBA, Japan--Sony has an entire wall of its 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TVs set up here at Ceatec 2008, but in contrast with past gadget shows, it's not the only company showing off OLED prototypes.
Panasonic may have said earlier this week that OLED is still far from becoming a mass-produced mainstream technology for use in big-screen TVs, but other electronics makers are plowing ahead with their own research on the organic, thin film technology: NEC, Sony, and KDDI showed off what they've been doing with OLED in their research labs.
Sony, of course, continues to press ahead its OLED research and development, showing a flexible OLED display as thin as a playing card, as well an OLED TV that's even thinner than its current XEL-1. The prototype measures just 0.3 millimeter thick.
KDDI is going in a slightly different direction, looking to take OLED smaller and mobile. The mobile phone company showed an OLED display measuring 3.1 inches and meant for mobile devices. It's just a prototype for now.
Another theme here at Ceatec is 3D displays. Sure, Panasonic is showing its 3D high-definition home theater using a giant TV, but you still need 3D glasses to get the stereoscopic effect. NEC is showing a 9-inch LCD display a 3D image without the need for those silly plastic frames. KDDI also had its own 3D LCD display measuring 3.1 inches and for use by mobile devices. Also no need for 3D glasses.
Of course, while these are really cool concepts, they're still in the thick of development and it will be years before we see mass production of any of them.
Click here for more stories on Ceatec 2008.
KDDI prototype 3.1-inch OLED for mobile devices.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)
NEC's 3D LCD display. No plastic glasses required.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)
CHIBA, Japan--If the concepts on display at Ceatec are any indication, completely deconstructing the traditional form factor of the mobile phone is one of the next major phases of design and development research.
Fujitsu concept phone
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)Japan has one of the most robust mobile phone cultures anywhere, and it shows here on the second day of the show. Sharp, Fujitsu, NTT DoCoMo, and KDDI each had intriguing takes on the next form factor for devices used not just for mobile communication, but watching videos, playing games, and performing mobile navigation.
Take the necklace on the right. It alerts the wearer when there's a call or a message incoming. It's made by Fujitsu and, while it isn't an actual product, is indicative of how cell phones are thought of here: not just communication devices, but accessories made to fit neatly and inconspicuously into the daily routine.
Then there were a host of phones whose screens and keyboards pull apart to be used separately. The Fujitsu version shown below uses magnets to connect the two pieces in the desired configuration. NTT DoCoMo was demonstrating a similar concept.
But as far as futuristic, elegant design goes, KDDI was far and away the winner. The wireless company showed off beautiful designs, which are nowhere close to being reality, but show the aspirations it has for the cell phone. The Ply was part of its yearly Design Project. (Here's a picture of last year's version.)
Designed by Hideo Kambara, the Ply imagines the phone as a device with a series of layers. One layer is a pop-up projector, another is a slide-out keyboard, and another is a printer, a game controller, and so on. The ones on display here and shown further down the page are just papercraft renderings.
The Fujitsu phone can be configured in any way and stuck together magnetically.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)... Read more
We don't watch much video on our cell phones in the U.S., but the Japanese do. This Sharp phone features Dolby Mobile, 5.1-channel surround sound for the phone. Click on the above image for more pictures from the first day of Ceatec.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)CHIBA, Japan--The entire Makuhari Messe convention center here in Chiba, just outside Tokyo, is packed to the gills with technology. But it's not just completed products. Though several halls are, of course, full of TVs and phones and notebooks and Blu-ray players, there are also entire halls dedicated to parts: LEDs, LCD screens, batteries, and other important building blocks of consumer electronics. Over the next few days we'll bring as much of it to you as we can. In the meantime, have a look at this gallery from day one of Ceatec 2008.
Toshiba's Atom-powered mini-notebook at Ceatec.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)CHIBA, Japan--Toshiba hopped onto the Netbook bandwagon here at Ceatec, announcing the NB110.
Design-wise, there's nothing too remarkable about it. It resembles an Eee PC, with specs a mix between that and the HP Mini-Note: Intel Atom processor, Windows XP, 1GB RAM, 120GB hard drive, weighs 2.3 pounds, 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth 2.1, and 3 USB 2.0 ports.
Toshiba is actually one of the pioneers in mini-notebooks, with the Libretto that first came out in 2001, and the Tecra M4 convertible notebook. The NB110 certainly looks like it's related to those two, but unlike its predecessors, won't be available in the U.S. market anytime soon.
"The market is just not right yet," a Toshiba representative at Ceatec said.
But it will be available in Japan starting at the end of October for 70,000 yen ($660), with Europe and other Asian markets to follow.
CHIBA, Japan--Already skeptical about the ability of OLED to uproot the TV technology dominance of plasma and LCD in the next few years, Panasonic cast even more doubt on the opening day of Ceatec 2008.
Speaking to a group of reporters, Panasonic AVC Networks President Toshihiro Sakamoto reiterated that OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs will not be made in sizes of 30 inches or greater for now, and it's still not suitable for mass manufacturing. Currently, Panasonic does not have an OLED product on the market, but Sony does: it makes and 11-inch OLED TV, and is working on a 27-inch model.
Though Panasonic is working on making its own OLED set, Sakamoto said "we may have to redefine the market position of OLED."
His quasi-cryptic comments indicate that LCD and plasma are here to stay for a while, and that the mass production of OLED TVs could be even further off than his .
It's also not clear that we need OLED TVs before then. They're still prohibitively expensive, small, and LCD and plasma are continuing to make great gains. Here at Ceatec, for example, several major TV makers like Sharp, Toshiba, Sony, and Panasonic are showing off incredibly thin TVs as well as those with decreased power consumption, both features of OLED.
Panasonic's connected home concept.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET News)CHIBA, Japan--It won't be ready for at least three or five years, but Panasonic's Total Living Space Solution is a cool, elegant combination of all your home gadgets and appliances in one.
The display is the size of an actual living room and kitchen, set down in the middle of Panasonic's booth here at Ceatec. Since Ceatec is an opportunity for companies to show off some of their more forward-looking products, Panasonic took advantage.
The 54-inch TV (a Panasonic Viera plasma, of course) seems to be the center of the home life in the company's conception. The TV is on a stand connected to a track on the floor that moves between the living room and dining area depending on where you're at. The TV plays high-definition content wirelessly using the WirelessHD standard. Panasonic chose it in favor of the proprietary standard it formally used.
In this home concept, everything is connected, including the air conditioner and lighting. When a movie plays, the lighting automatically dims. When inhabitants move to the kitchen, the lighting comes up to a brightness more appropriate for eating a meal.
(Credit:
Erica Ogg/CNET News)
All of this has been talked about before by various electronics and chip companies, but Panasonic's also added a new element: The Family Wellness Solution. It's kind of like the Wii Fit, but way more elegant.
A family member chooses their own personal wellness profile on the TV, then moves over to a video wall. Using gestures, he or she can choose a workout, and a video-based instructor appears on screen. The system all keeps track of each family member's progress.
And, in keeping with this year's green-focus at Ceatec, there's a built-in green-friendly feature. Using the TV, the whole system's energy consumption can be monitored and optimized.
The KDDI prototype phone was one of the standouts from last year's Ceatec.
(Credit: CNET)Crave is hopping a plane to Japan. How cool is that?
If there's a place that's more of a sensory overload than Las Vegas, it's Tokyo, which makes it a perfect place to host what many say is the best consumer electronics show in the world.
And beginning Tuesday, Crave will be combing through the halls of the Makuhari Messe exhibition center in Chiba, just outside Tokyo, to find the coolest, weirdest, and most useful stuff that the electronics giants of the world have brought to Ceatec 2008. Ceatec, by the way, stands for Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies. Keep checking back this week for photos, video, and more.
There's going to be cell phones galore, 3D televisions, tiny displays, and lots of sustainable technology on display. Oh, and this is Japan, so lots and lots of robots. There's a lot to sift through, and I'd like to hear from you about the kinds of stuff you want to see.
And no worries, the unicycle-riding robot from Murata is already on the list. What else should I keep an eye out for?
This Nissan smart key is also your cell phone.
(Credit: NTT Docomo)In the latest move by convergence, your car keys are about to be swallowed up by your cell phone. The big goal of convergence seems to involve emptying our pockets, not of cash, although that is a side effect, but of things. The fully equipped tech nerd used to carry a cell phone, PDA, MP3 player, and digital camera. Cell phones took over all those functions, so convergence went rummaging through your pockets looking for something else to subsume. And it found your car keys, which, thanks to new smart keys, can easily be converged into the cell phone.
Nissan, Sharp, and Japanese phone company NTT DoCoMo is spearheading this latest effort. Nissan has been offering smart keys in its cars since 2002, and we've become so used to them that we don't bother mentioning it in our reviews any more. Sharp designed a phone that would, we assume, work on NTT DoCoMo's service, and include the functionality of a smart key for a Nissan car.
In practice, you would keep your cell phone in your pocket and approach your Nissan car. Sensors in the car would detect the unique signal from the phone when you got close, and unlock the doors when you touched the door handle. This same signal from the cell phone makes it possible to crank over the engine by pushing the car's start button. Nissan, Sharp, and NTT DoCoMo will show a demonstration of the cell phone/smart key at Ceatec Japan next week.
We assume the next things integrated into cell phones will be pocket change and lint.
