The Latest in Motion-Sensitive Cell Phones, High-Def Recorders, and Camcorders

Why does Asia get all the cool toys? New this month: a Sharp HDTV recorder and a tiny Sony VAIO laptop with a flash-based drive.

Martyn Williams, IDG News Service

TOKYO -- May begins each year in Japan with Golden Week, a nice chunk of time off for most people here thanks to four public holidays, three of which are bunched together. It's a great chance to relax or get out of the city, and it's the first big holiday of the year after the New Year.

It's also the first decent chance we get to see some upcoming hot new electronics products, such as NTT DoCoMo's motion-sensitive cell phones. Digital video--both consumer-generated and recorded from the TV--also continues to be a big theme, and something that many of Japan's consumer electronics companies are now pushing heavily in the hope consumers will embrace it.

NTT DoCoMo Motion-Sensitive Cell Phones

Mix the Nintendo Wii and a cell phone, and what do you get? Something like NTT DoCoMo's new line of motion-sensitive cell phones. In a boxing game users can throw punches or duck, and the phone's camera picks up their movements. In another game the user can tilt the phone in different directions to guide an on-screen ball through a maze.

To be sure, the cell phones aren't nearly as reactive as the Nintendo Wii remote and console: After you make a motion, such as a punch, you must wait a second for the punch to register on the phone screen. But it's a start! The handsets come from Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic, and Sharp, and will be available in Japan only in May or June. Prices vary with incentives.

Sony Memory Stick Camcorder

Meet the HDR-CX7, Sony's smallest high-definition camcorder to date. The camera, which is due to go on sale in the United States in June, records 1080i high-definition video directly to a Memory Stick Pro Duo card. Until now, the company's camcorders have relied on MiniDV tape, DVD discs, or hard drives to store video; in the new model the memory card slot and associated electronics take up less space, resulting in a smaller, lighter camera. The new design doesn't come without disadvantages, however. Memory cards are quite expensive, and users will be able to store only about 30 minutes of video on a 4GB card in the camera's highest quality mode. Behind the lens is a 3-megapixel image sensor, and the camera can also capture 6-megapixel still images, Sony says. Other features include a 10X optical zoom lens and a 2.7-inch wide-screen, touch-sensitive LCD. The CX7 weighs about a pound and measures 2.7 by 2.6 by 5 inches. It will cost about $1200.

Sharp HDTV Recorder

As consumers continue to snap up high-definition TVs, Sharp continues to push out HD-capable hard-disk recorders. The latest, the DV-AVC52, combines a DVD drive and VHS deck with a 250GB hard-disk recorder. The machine will copy your old VHS tapes onto DVD, so you can finally dump another relic of the 20th century. You'll also be able to get up to 31 hours of HDTV on the device--as with almost all hard-disk recorders, however, your HD content will remain stuck there. Pretty much the only way to store HD content is on Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD, but since this device doesn't support either disc format, you'll have to keep content on the hard disk (and thus lose some recording space) or transfer it to DVD at standard definition and lose the high-definition picture. The DV-AVC52 will be available only in Japan.

Toshiba Expandable Hard-Disk Recorder TV Set

Toshiba's new H3000 series of flat-screen LCD televisions go one better than typical hard-disk video recorders by offering the user room to expand the storage space. Usually you're stuck with the drive that ships with the TV (or recorder), but the H3000 sets each sport an eSATA (external Serial ATA) connector on the back for plugging in an external drive.

The H3000 series of LCD TV sets sport an eSATA (external Serial ATA) connector on the back for plugging in an external drive.Each set ships with an internal 300GB drive; the expansion socket should work with any eSATA drive. The TV sets are available now in sizes from 32 inches to 52 inches. The 32-inch model costs around $1331, and is available only in Japan.

Samsung Symbian Smart Phone

The latest Symbian OS-based smart phone from South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the SGH-i400, will hit Europe in July. With its uncluttered face, it doesn't look like a traditional all-buttons-and-switches smart phone--but thanks to its Symbian base, the user can load it up with applications and make it just as powerful. A full Web browser comes preinstalled, and the device also has Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera, and stereo speakers. The GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) triband phone has a 2.3-inch display. The price will depend on operator incentives. It will be available first in Russia and then throughout Europe. Launch dates for other markets have not been decided.

Sony VAIO Type-G With Flash

Sony is adding a flash disk to the options available for its lightweight VAIO Type-G laptop. Customers will see the price of a Type G jump by $540 when they choose a 32GB flash drive over a 40GB hard drive. What's the benefit? The flash disk is quieter and uses less power--both good things for laptops--and it makes the Type G even lighter, too. The machine already holds the crown as the lightest 12-inch-class laptop on the market at 2 pounds, and the flash-disk options shave 1.3 ounces off that. The system is available now for ordering from Sony online in Japan. A machine based on an Intel Celeron M 443 (1.20-GHz) processor with the flash drive will cost $1909. The company has no current plans to offer it overseas.

Coming Soon: Samsung Dual-Format HD Disc Player

Samsung plans to release an optical disc player this year that will play both Blu-ray Disc and the rival HD DVD format. After putting its support behind Blu-ray Disc, and thus contributing to the format war that has left consumers confused, the company now wants to be the public's best friend. "Our main concern is with the consumer and not a particular technology," Samsung said in announcing the player. The BD-UP5000 should be available before the end of 2007 in the United States and could be available in Europe even earlier. No precise launch dates or pricing were announced.