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Peter Crookes
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 26, 2010
Casio cell phones in the frame; Panasonic pushing Blu-ray angle for TVs
Mobile snaps: Casio's latest cell phone, the CA005, just released by KDD's mobile phone service "au by KDDI," offers two products in one. A typical glossy clamshell mobile phone, the CA005 also packs a 13-megapixel camera into its sharply rectangular form. The phone's camera features smile detection...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 19, 2010
Sony makes the NEX move, Pioneer's iPod docks double as home theaters
Fashionably late: Sony has finally released its alternative to the already popular Olympus EP-2 and Lumix DMC-GF1 micro four-thirds, interchangeable lens cameras. Using the same technology that Olympus and Panasonic pioneered, the Alpha NEX-3 and NEX-5 are effectively compact DSLR cameras, light enough...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 12, 2010
Buffalo accelerates in speed and price; Sony's mug pours out more sounds
Revving up the hard drive: Solid-state discs (SSDs) are the sports cars of external hard drives. But running an SSD on USB 2.0 is akin to buying a Ferrari with only three gears. Buffalo is putting the foot down by revamping its lineup of external SSDs to run on the much faster and newer USB 3.0 connections....
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 5, 2010
Sony ups sound for 3-D TV sets; iPad gets a challenger
Change of view: The 3-D steamroller is far from flattening the opposition, but it is picking up pace. Sony is giving it a nudge by paying some attention to the sound that goes with it. It has just unleashed a pair of 3.1 channel sound bars, the HT-CT350 and HT-CT150 3.1. The big innovation is HDMI 1.4....
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 28, 2010
Toshiba television to stream its content from the Internet
Change of view: Traditionally, the preferred methods of delivering content have been over the airwaves or on video tape or disc. In the wings, though, is the rival technique of watching TV footage sent into homes via the Web. Toshiba is trumpeting this newer method with its latest Regza LCD televisions,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 14, 2010
Sony brings the world's radio into your room
FM flight: In the old days, listening to the radio meant turning a dial and hunting out a few signals amid waves of static. FM stations in particular have moved beyond such primitiveness, but it is on the Internet that radio has made its greatest strides. Internet radio is one of the less obvious features...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 7, 2010
Softbank's brings a smartphone named Desire to Japan's shores
Object of desire: Not content with having the famous Apple iPhone in its stable of smartphones, Softbank is now bringing the HTC Desire and its Android 2.1 operating system to the local market. Also known in Japan as the X06HT, the new phone has already created waves overseas. It seeks to live up to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 31, 2010
Onkyo notebook offers up new DIY features
Made to order: Onkyo's latest notebook computer, the DR511, is a built-to-order creation that offers something different. Onkyo highlights its own heritage with the option of an FM/AM tuner, an almost unheard of feature. The other interesting feature, which comes as a standard inclusion, is an actual...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 24, 2010
Sony steps back from 3-D rush; Panasonic reworks CD-blaster
LCD price system: Amid the expensive scramble to sell 3-D televisions, Sony has come up with a new series of high-definition LCD TV sets that are fairly reasonably priced.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 17, 2010
Sony sets up 3-D for homes; Music Planet makes bathtime groovy
To 3-D, or not 3-D: Despite the dearth of content to watch (Avatar and Alice in Wonderland aside), 3-D television is quickly rising to the top of the hype parade. Sony is determined to remain leader of the 3-D pack, despite rivals LG and Panasonic also coming out with significant offerings. Sony's latest...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 10, 2010
Onkyo's computer stands in for TV; Thanko aids shy phone users
Budget computing: Onkyo opts for a very different form of computer in the shape of its new DE411. Apart from being an all-in-one design, the DE411 also nixes a high-powered processor in favor of the low-powered, 1.6-gigahertz Atom 330 chip, one of those that netbooks favor. It compensates somewhat for...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 3, 2010
Cowon puts sound before vision; Nikon camera zooms ahead
Sound choice: Korean maker Cowon is known for portable media players that have exemplary audio reproduction. Its V5HD, which is due to hit the Japanese market on March 5, follows the formula. It employs Cowon's new JetEffect 3.0 technology, which is intended to maximize the sound performance by offering...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 24, 2010
Retro-looking dongle ups the sound; Sony slims down new Vaio
Back to the past: The word "retro" is inadequate to describe the appearance of the X-Tube AS301DTS. The USB dongle looks like a refugee from a museum. The gadget is intended to provide a decent impression of DTS surround sound on laptop computers. Using a VIA VT1610 chip set, the dongle plugs into a...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 17, 2010
3-D TV provides solo viewing fun; Canon camera hits at Nikon
Gotta wear shades: As 3-D entertainment conjures up images of goofy glasses from the 1950s, Panasonic hopes to remedy the style with its 3-D TV sets. It is touting its upcoming Viera VT2 series as the world's first full high-definition sets with 3-D ability. The series is expected to consist of a set...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 10, 2010
Fujisoft provides some robotic tenderness
Need a friend?: Artificial intelligence may remain stuck on the computer screen, but aritifical companionship seems to be rolling ahead.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 3, 2010
Sony forges on with Transfer Jet; Planex device tries to do it all
Easy access: Big things have small beginnings, or at least Sony hopes. The company has launched the much- anticipated Transfer Jet system with a wafer of plastic at a miniscule 2 grams, and it comes out this month. The principle behind Transfer Jet is that the technology can transfer data at high speeds,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 27, 2010
Toshiba Blu-ray recorders, mCube90 make life more compact
Blu-ray recording: If you can't beat them, don't join them — just copy their ideas and improve them. Toshiba is endeavoring to do just that having abandoned its HD-DVD format and instead opted to craft versions of Sony's brainchild, Blu-ray. Nobody can accuse Toshiba of not doing a wholehearted about...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 20, 2010
Buffalo dock serves dual purpose; Panasonic's compact cam
Dock 'n' lock: Innovation and iPods go hand in hand, but the creativity rarely extends to iPod docks. Buffalo bucks that trend in the form of its unusual HDD Dualie. In essence, this is a standard docking station paired with a 500-gigabyte hard disk. Unlike run-of- the-mill iPod docks, the Dualie does...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 13, 2010
Kindle upgrades, but DX e-reader is just the start of a boom
E-inking a deal: Ghosts of U.S. TV makers past would find it amusing. Sony produced the world's first e-ink device for reading books, some six years ago. While Sony is still in the e-ink reader game, U.S. giant Amazon now leads the global market. Amazon is set to land a second blow against Sony in the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 30, 2009
CJK recruits Android for new Camangi Webstation tablet
Going tablet: Android is Google's shot at hitting Microsoft where it hurts — mobile devices. Windows might still dominate PC operating systems, but it has never duplicated this overwhelming presence on the small screens of mobile phones, PDAs and the like. So far, Android has shaken things up by becoming...
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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