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 model hit the shelves Friday and costs ¥29,800. For more information, visit www.toshiba.co.jp

Energy cycle: The typical electric bicycle is a standard commuter number with baskets front and back; its motorized assistance is the sole feature distinguishing it among the lines of bicycles outside the local train station. Now, Panasonic, a leading maker of the traditional-style electric bikes, is pushing a racy new variety with sleek looks to match. Its new Titanium Flat Road EB is at heart a racing bike. The electric motor allows its rider to cover 10 km in about 30 minutes, with a top speed of 24 kph. Panasonic has included its SLIM (Smart Lithium-Ion Integrated Management) system with the titanium-framed bike, a small computer that keeps the rider informed of the battery level and the distance that can be traveled before the next recharge is due. Easy riding with style sounds good, but at ¥585,000, it doesn't come cheap.

Never enough width: Camera users are just ordinary people: like most, we aim to get slimmer. But we hold our cameras to a different standard — we want them as wide-angled as possible. This desire is particularly present among owners of "bridge" cameras, which fall between the lightweight compacts and the serious digital single-lens reflex beasts. Olympus' new SP-570UZ model has a lens that boasts a quite amazing 20x optical zoom — going from 26 mm to 520 mm, in 35mm terms. At 26 mm the lens offers decent wide-angle results, while at 520mm it offers prodigious telephoto ability. The camera has a 10-megapixel sensor, image stabilization, weighs in at 445 gm and runs on four AA batteries. True, specialist wide-angle lenses would provide better pictures at that end of the zoom range, and dedicated telephotos will do a better job of getting you close to the action. But the SP-570UZ offers great photographic diversity without the usual bag full of lenses. The new camera comes out March 6 and will cost ¥59,800. More information is online at www.olympus.co.jp