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Peter Crookes
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 28, 2008
Earthlings just can't resist the connection
Bluetooth as Big Brother: Humans are naturally gregarious, which is just as well since it seems that the intent of modern communications is to keep us all connected 24/7 — whether we want it or not.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 21, 2008
Frame your memories in slideshow fashion
Kodak moments: One key advantage of digital photography over the traditional film and chemical approach is how you display your results. While you can print out your digital photos and then stick them up on your fridge or up on your mantle, just like in the old days of film, you can also do something...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 14, 2008
Chubby checker: the machine that measures your fat
Assessing the battle: Is the humble bathroom scale destined, like the manual typewriter, for the halls of obsolescence? Amid the fret over metabolic syndrome and other health issues, just measuring your weight, even down to the gram, doesn't get the job done anymore.
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 30, 2008
Say it with a picture, then share it wirelessly
Durable digital Ricoh has a habit of coming up with its own smart ideas as to what a camera should offer. Its latest bit of creativity is the G600, which intends to make its name for being water- and dust-resistant, not to mention possessing exceptional toughness.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 23, 2008
Tech to get people talking
Say what you want: Why use a tiny keypad to communicate when the human voice can do the job? NTT DoCoMo last week launched a new mobile phone from Fujitsu, the F884i, that will put the joy back into talking to your e-mail contacts. Employing the new FOMA Raku Raku Phone Premium system, users enter their...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 16, 2008
You'll never have to miss a shot or a show
Mini movie maker: Panasonic knows the virtue of small cameras. Its latest contribution to the cause is the SDR-S7, a digital camcorder that fits in your palm and weighs a mere 160 grams, including the rechargeable battery. About the same height and width as a small can of coffee, the SDR-S7 includes...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 9, 2008
A renaissance of hand-held power
Crank up the music: Giving electronic devices mobility is the easy part. Empowering them to function for any length of time before you have to recharge them is quite another challenge. Local gadget whiz Thanko is helping out with its functionally titled Cranking MP3 Player, a new digital- music player...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 2, 2008
Revisit the pleasure of penmanship
The writing is on the electron: Writing by hand is a human endeavor that technology has not yet spelled the end of, but it is working at it. Ever since the humble typewriter changed the office, the art of penmanship has been in retreat. In recent times, a slew of gadgets have tried to turn the rivals...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 26, 2008
Phone imitates MP3 imitates phone
Lighter than Air: Anorexic models might no longer be PC on the catwalks, but laptop computer makers believe that consumers just can't keep their hands off them. As usual, Apple is seen as the trendsetter, thanks to its ultrathin MacBook Air model, which is trumpeted as the thinnest laptop of them all...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 19, 2008
Burst into song anytime with pocket karaoke
Diving directors: Everything about jumping out of an aircraft is a memorable experience, so filming the experience is a must. Skydivers have new opportunities to express their creativity thanks to Elmo Japan and its new SUV-Cam Professional, out March 26. The unit consists of a distinctly small camcorder...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 12, 2008
Cell phones get more playful
Easy listings: Everything about television is changing fast. One old standard for the living room TV set was that you kept a TV listings magazine close by with a listing of programs. These days, even that is changing. Nintendo is helping the process with its new software for the Wii game console the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Mar 5, 2008
Easy-to-listen-to hits, soccer memories
Proven brand: Picking genuine designer goods from increasingly sophisticated ripoffs is tough. So Hitachi and printing maestro Toppan next month bring to Japan a high-tech method for seeing beyond the label. The IC Hologram is an RFID (radio-frequency identification) tag with a special hologram etched...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 27, 2008
Excercise machines stride into the future, Sony reels into the retro past and Thanko's latest product sucks
Give exercise the finger:
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 20, 2008
Toshiba unveils its new Gigabeat MP3 player; and 'Phoenix' hits the DS
Striking a chord: Toshiba has upgraded its Gigabeat T401 MP3 player, giving it wireless network connectivity and rebadging it as the T802. It also has 8 gigabytes of flash memory, up from the 4 gigabytes of the T401, and its battery is good for 16 hours of music playback or five hours of video. The new...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 13, 2008
Casio unveils its speediest camera; and every home gets its very own fireplace
Snappier snaps: A good-quality digital camera can take perhaps four or five photos a second, but Casio has left the competition in its wake with its just-announced Exilim Pro EX-F1, which boasts a staggering pace of 60 6-megapixel photos a second. It can also record video at an equally outlandish rate...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 6, 2008
A digital SLR camera for every trigger finger
Snap-happy: Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes. With their interchangeable lenses and reasonable prices, entry-level digital SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras are a halfway house between a cheap pocket-size point-and-click camera and a full-on pro shooter. The best-selling of the entry-level...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 30, 2008
Hitachi gives its HD camcorders even more memory; and cars look us in the eye
Going HD: As television sets get more advanced, so too do video camcorders, and that means going high-definition. Hitachi's recent DZ-BD7H camcorder records onto Blu-ray discs alongside its 30-gigabyte hard disk. But Hitachi has upped the stakes with its new DZ-BD9H, out in February and keeping the Blu-ray...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 23, 2008
PC games invade the PlayStation 3
PS3 levels up: StreamMyGame.com has released, for free, its Linux Player, which allows any game created for use on a PC to be played on a PlayStation 3 running the Linux system. You need to have Linux installed on a PS3 (versions such as Ubuntu and Yellow Dog Linux will do the trick). It works by feeding...
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 9, 2008
A microphone you put in your ear, and a video recorder kids can take anywhere
Silence is golden: Sanyo and NS-ELEX have unveiled their new earphone microphone, e-Mimi-kun. Using bone-conduction audio technology, it is designed to cut out background noise, the bane of modern life, and boost the quality of your sound transmission. If you are talking on your cell phone, for example,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Dec 19, 2007
The Nintendo DS levels up, and phones make kids safer
Double vision: Nintendo's two-screened DS is set to become even more of a must-have product thanks to the DSVision, which will allow users to watch videos and read e-books and manga on the portable console. Users simply download the media to their computer, transfer the content to a microSD card, and...
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.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
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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