NEC's New Cell Phone

[SuperDeadite]

BUT, the 3DS looks 10x better than your Woo 3D phone. The technics behind is quite ancient, the realization quite different.

@goban: it's hard to get a phone in Japan w/o a tv-tuner built-in. the norm here is called 1-seg, a digital broadocast system and free to use without any concession needed. even my walkman has one built-in.

Well the tech is the same.  Just the 3ds uses a higher resolution (I'd assume) since this type of tech basically divides the resolution in half.  My point is simply that the "amazing 3ds tech" is nothing new, just rarely used.

[guyjin]

There is a long history of products like this and from what I've seen the reason why the ultra portable, ultra thin, etc stuff is Japan-only is because

Japan's cellular telephone system requires much less power than GSM or CDMA. So they can use smaller batteries.

[Necromancer]

My point is simply that the "amazing 3ds tech" is nothing new, just rarely used.

Indeed - Sharp sold 3D laptops and monitors ten years ago or so.

[Tatsujin]

BUT, the 3DS looks 10x better than your Woo 3D phone. The technics behind is quite ancient, the realization quite different.

@goban: it's hard to get a phone in Japan w/o a tv-tuner built-in. the norm here is called 1-seg, a digital broadocast system and free to use without any concession needed. even my walkman has one built-in.

Well the tech is the same.  Just the 3ds uses a higher resolution (I'd assume) since this type of tech basically divides the resolution in half.  My point is simply that the "amazing 3ds tech" is nothing new, just rarely used.

Yeah as I said, the tech is quite ancient and well known for many years. They always struggled with the resolution and right angle and stuff. I have seen 3D LCD TVs many years back at fairs. They were horrible, but they just wanted to show that it is possible and that it will be looking nice one day.
Seems the 3DS is the first commercial device which brings an acceptable solution into men hands.

[SignOfZeta]

There is a long history of products like this and from what I've seen the reason why the ultra portable, ultra thin, etc stuff is Japan-only is because

Japan's cellular telephone system requires much less power than GSM or CDMA. So they can use smaller batteries.

Yeah, but they've always done this. The ultra-portable Sony Vaios in the 90s, the 10th/15th/20th anniversary Walkmans (damn they were rad) and a bunch of other stuff.

Even if they require a battery that was 1200mAh, and they could only fit one that was 950mAh they would just sell it anyway because there are about 4000 people in three cities in Japan that will buy the thing no matter what and not care. This has been going on since at least the mid 1980s. These are the people that bought the PC Engine CDROM2 back when it was $800 or whatever. Same with the Duo monitor, the LT, the first portable DVD players, etc.

Here in the US you can drop your iPhone and sue Apple because it broke. In Japan they can be just as stupid in the opposite direction as long as its a cool gadget. This phone is probably very fragile and probably has shit for battery life. Its target customer doesn't care.

Did I want a Sony Qualia 017? f*ck yeah.



Would I pay $1900 for this special order-only, ultra high-end MD player with proprietary built-in battery? f*ck no.

[blueraven]

Christ if this thing had the same quality control as the 5 Vaios I've had, which have all had motherboard failures, I'd be better off with an Edison phonograph.

The one good thing about MiniDisc despite being a dead format is that for Radio-Promo, (and I mean if you're a DJ for a radio station) is that it has finally replaced the 8-Track as the standard format for commercials and promo carts.

Did I want a Sony Qualia 017? f*ck yeah.

[SignOfZeta]

I'm pretty sure most commercial radio stations now don't use any kind of disc other than hard disk. DJs rarely actually touch any kind of disc anymore, they just click on MP3s they never actually listen to between the ads for mortgages and clit piercings.

My favorite local student radio station has an MD deck, but they still play mostly vinyl...and even they have all their PSAs in iTunes.

My 11 year old Sony MZ-R90 isn't as convenient for listening to music on as the new stuff, but it still has recording and editing capability that crushes any iPod.

[blueraven]

I'm pretty sure most commercial radio stations now don't use any kind of disc other than hard disk. DJs rarely actually touch any kind of disc anymore, they just click on MP3s they never actually listen to between the ads for mortgages and clit piercings.

This is sometimes true, but many Stations still have hard-media policy or specification on the books for PSA's and commercials. This will eventually be phased out, I'm sure. Your point about the edit-ability of the MD is why most stations that I have worked for/with use them as an exclusive medium.

[grahf]

I got the new "glasses-less" 3D Galapagos, and it's 3D is also kinda lame. The effect is awesome, but you have to hold it at a perfect angle.


edit:  holy shit, I just replied to a post from page 1

[ceti alpha]

There is a long history of products like this and from what I've seen the reason why the ultra portable, ultra thin, etc stuff is Japan-only is because only Japan would put up with such ultra expensive ultra fragile, bleeding edge stuff. Think: PCE LT.

My iPhone 4 is 1.6 mm thicker, I'll suffer.

Then you have the MacBook Air and the Samsung answer to that. Oh lookey! It fits into an envelope! Seriously though, the MacBook Air sells and Samsung wouldn't have followed suit if that wasn't the case. It may not be to the same extent, but even here in North America people can get horny about ultra-thin devices - "I'd rather have an ultra thin iPad than a USB port.", seems to be a common thread. But yeah, the fingernail sized phones are pretty ridiculous, though I don't think this phone has crossed over into the realm of ridiculous. Your iPhone is only 1.6mm thicker.

It is funny how people get worked up about how thin their laptops and phones are and then slap uberstinkt cases on them, completely taking away from the form factor. I'm not into the ultra-thin craze; my Galaxy S is more than thin enough. I actually prefer the HTC build/form factor of a lot of their phones. They don't feel like they'll shatter into pieces if you drop them from more than a height of .5 metres.

[esteban]

If I had the money, I would buy all the gadgets I could get my hands on.


On topic: the desire for electronic devices to be THIN....

Here's something I would love you guys to find for me:

An 80's Aiwa Walkman (sold in the USA) where the AM/FM tuner was IN THE SHAPE OF A CASSETTE TAPE and to listen to the radio, you inserted the special AM/FM tuner like a cassette tape. To change channels, you *might* have had to remove the tuner, turn the dial, and re-insert.

Apparently, this impractical design allowed the cassette player itself to be thinner? I never thought AM/FM tuner took up much space (and could have been built-into the main housing), but... perhaps it shaved a few millimeters off the form factor?

I received this Aiwa as a hand-me-down in the mid- to late- eighties, but it was broken and I never, ever had a chance to actually use it.

Up until a few years ago, I had the AM/FM tuner cassette thing. I fear I may have tossed it during one of my moves... IT WAS PURPLE in color, with gray dials, if I recall correctly.

[Necromancer]

An 80's Aiwa Walkman (sold in the USA) where the AM/FM tuner was IN THE SHAPE OF A CASSETTE TAPE and to listen to the radio, you inserted the special AM/FM tuner like a cassette tape. To change channels, you *might* have had to remove the tuner, turn the dial, and re-insert.
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Up until a few years ago, I had the AM/FM tuner cassette thing. I fear I may have tossed it during one of my moves... IT WAS PURPLE in color, with gray dials, if I recall correctly.

Are you certain it was Aiwa and not Akai?  That sounds a bit like a PM-01.


** edit **

Looks like 'tuner modules' were kinda common.  Check out this neato site for tons of cool old 'walkman' radios.

[ceti alpha]

If I had the money, I would buy all the gadgets I could get my hands on.

I hear ya. My dream office is a wall of computers: Mac/PC/Linux. A wall of various laptops that I can just pick up and toy with, and then a wall of all the various tablets and phones. Somewhere in that room would be a desk and chair. lol.

[esteban]

An 80's Aiwa Walkman (sold in the USA) where the AM/FM tuner was IN THE SHAPE OF A CASSETTE TAPE and to listen to the radio, you inserted the special AM/FM tuner like a cassette tape. To change channels, you *might* have had to remove the tuner, turn the dial, and re-insert.
.
.
.
Up until a few years ago, I had the AM/FM tuner cassette thing. I fear I may have tossed it during one of my moves... IT WAS PURPLE in color, with gray dials, if I recall correctly.

Are you certain it was Aiwa and not Akai?  That sounds a bit like a PM-01.


** edit **

Looks like 'tuner modules' were kinda common.  Check out this neato site for tons of cool old 'walkman' radios.

You f*ckin' rock! That site was absolutely perfect. It brought back a lot of memories

This was the tuner card I had (but it is TOSHIBA, not Aiwa...):



It was FM only, though, so I must have also had an Aiwa tuner card, too. The thing is, it was the TOSHIBA card, pictured above, that I have always wanted to use. So now I know where to begin my quest. Also, none of the Tohsiba models are as SLIM and minimalistic as the one I remember. I'm talking the ENTIRE front face of the player was the door for the cassette. Yes, the player was barely larger than a cassette. It was amazing. Myabe it wasn't a TOSHIBA model, maybe it was an Aiwa model, after all, that was super slim.

Now I have to figure out which Aiwa model(s) I used during the 80's. I looked at all the Aiwa models listed on that site and though they are familiar, they are not exactly the same.

Word up

[MotherGunner]

I remember years ago there was a device you could take on an Airline.  It looked like a giant Turbo Express and played some mini VHS type movie cassettes.  I have been searching for the make and model of this device for years to no avail.  They used be sold through the skymall catalogs.