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I'm not going to try too hard to counter the fanboyism. I hope I am not feeding the trolls.

Apple were far from the first to invent the tablet, but what they did do was turn a niche market into a mass consumer product through a combination of producing up to date hardware running an OS and application suite that was widely accepted and popular. I could denigrate it to say it was simply an iPod/iPhone maxi, but the new form did allow it to be so much more.

Here's a couple of examples of tablets, I didn't look too hard, these are just from casual memory.
Fujitsu had a sequence of Stylistic tablets, for example one came out in 2004, here's a review http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/fujitsu-stylistic-st5022d-tablet/1707-3121_7-31252752.html

Sony had a couple too, the U50 and U71 http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGN-U50/

It's a bit surprising to find out that some relatively unknown experimenters may have actually stumbled on tunnel-diode-like technology in the early days of radio over 80 years ago. I think they were officially invented by Sony in 1957, although most that I've seen in the U.S. came from G.E.
http://www.sony.co.jp/Products/SC-HP/outline/overview/history.html

Perhaps some here have experimented with a homemade cat-whisker diode for a crystal radio.
As it turns out, making a little oscillator with a homemade metal-metal tunnel diode is easy enough that many here could do it. (a couple of variations using other materials are linked from the page below)

http://home.earthlink.net/~lenyr/ntype-nr.htm

I wish the story had made it clear just what sort of diode properties besides "cheaper" they were going for. It doesn't seem like they'd merge into current I.C. designs being of a much different process. The energy conversion thing is interesting, but that's much different than fast efficient diodes for switching power supplies or tunnel diodes for oscillators and high-frequency or pulse/trigger circuits. And it's a little hard to tell exactly how it ties in with LCD technology as that's pretty low frequency. Most digital I.C.s don't need or contain many diodes. They don't say anything about this helping to make better transistors. Normal diodes, even fast and cheap ones, usually can't replace transistors. And more unusual diodes with the negative-resistance effects of tunnel-diodes would certainly would not be a simple transplant into logic circuits. They've been well suited to a small niche of applications in the past.

I guess it is time to dig up the old Trek episode where Spock was on old Earth building electronics with a bunch of vacuum tubes...

Wow. I should have caught this post sooner. Major slashdot emergency.

Here is Japan Airlines:
http://www.jal.co.jp/

So here is American Airlines:
http://www.aa.com/

Jp Gov site:
http://www.stat.go.jp/

US Gov site:
http://www.uspto.gov/

Ugly Jp Consulting site:
http://www.e-netten.ne.jp/

Horrible US Consulting site:
http://www.bryantwebconsulting.com/

Now for some better pages:
http://www.au.kddi.com/
http://www.sony.co.jp/
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/
http://bape.com/ (you cannot see the JP site from the US)
http://www.capcom.co.jp/sf4/

This got world attention:
http://www.uniqlo.com/calendar/

And a typical web site gallery site will quickly help you find more:
http://www.webdesignclip.com/

So all of you who just argued for what Japanese is and what American is, you might want to give this blogger a tweet and call him out for making you think hard about the offensive stereotypes you just helped uphold.

Seriously people, if these sites look complex, its because you can't read Kanji.

Wow. I should have caught this post sooner. Major slashdot emergency.

Here is Japan Airlines:
http://www.jal.co.jp/

So here is American Airlines:
http://www.aa.com/

Jp Gov site:
http://www.stat.go.jp/

US Gov site:
http://www.uspto.gov/

Ugly Jp Consulting site:
http://www.e-netten.ne.jp/

Horrible US Consulting site:
http://www.bryantwebconsulting.com/

Now for some better pages:
http://www.au.kddi.com/
http://www.sony.co.jp/
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/
http://bape.com/ (you cannot see the JP site from the US)
http://www.capcom.co.jp/sf4/

This got world attention:
http://www.uniqlo.com/calendar/

And a typical web site gallery site will quickly help you find more:
http://www.webdesignclip.com/

So all of you who just argued for what Japanese is and what American is, you might want to give this blogger a tweet and call him out for making you think hard about the offensive stereotypes you just helped uphold.

Seriously people, if these sites look complex, its because you can't read Kanji.

Interesting comparison. In addition to the color scheme choice you mention, the image usage is certainly different between the two versions and alludes to a difference in what English-speaking customers and Japanese-speaking customers perceive as a big business's formal/consumer website. To me, it looks like the English version has a significant "corporate" feel (no people in main image; if there were any, most of those people would be in business casual), whereas the Japanese version has emphasis on a personable feel (people in generally typical, common clothing). Of course, the target audience probably has a lot to do with how the sites are designed: JP - primary customer base and your everyday customer, EN - probably mostly corporations as customer.

Here is an example I found:

- Sony Japan homepage: http://www.sony.co.jp/
- Sony USA homepage: http://www.sony.com/

Sony USA presents an overall Flash-based primary website, complete with an intro/splash page, whereas Sony Japan appears to use Flash only for their interactive content on their own primary website. While Sony USA directs your attention to the product (and, for example, points out how you can save money if you're a student), Sony Japan has images that conjure up uses for products and interactivity with customers (e.g., Sony Japan's alternating banner at the top of site: camera for destination photos, Sony science program, 3D TV, Football fandom).

With these examples, I wonder if the Japanese style of website design isn't really to insist on cluttering, but instead on making their site as welcoming and personable as possible to their viewer. Perhaps this aim (if plausible) may explain the incorporation of emoticons and pastels and people in the website designs. And, if this is the case, I also wonder if this is based on the Japanese culture where politeness and respect is tantamount.*

* Not Japanese, never been to Japan. (Yet, anyway. I want to go!) Just presenting what I know from what I've deduced from Japanese dramas, and travel shows and books on Japan.

Does Sony make desktop computers? I'm just asking, I've never seen any.

Yes: http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/RM6/

Already being sold in Japan, you can get a Raid 0 SSD laptop for about 4000 dollars. That is 2 SSD disks in a slick laptop for 4000 dollars, out of the box and ready to go. And the thing only weighs about 1.4kg (3lbs), has an LCD that does 1600x900, HDMI port (finally), and an NVIDIA GeForce 9300M.

photos:
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Z1/gallery_window.html?phtNum=2&phtMax=14&phtSizeX=750&phtSizeY=500

product page:
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Z1/

Already being sold in Japan, you can get a Raid 0 SSD laptop for about 4000 dollars. That is 2 SSD disks in a slick laptop for 4000 dollars, out of the box and ready to go. And the thing only weighs about 1.4kg (3lbs), has an LCD that does 1600x900, HDMI port (finally), and an NVIDIA GeForce 9300M.

photos:
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Z1/gallery_window.html?phtNum=2&phtMax=14&phtSizeX=750&phtSizeY=500

product page:
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Z1/

I understand its place in the Apple product line, but in general there have been smaller and lighter notebooks on the market for a long time. For its weight, Air doesn't even have an internal DVD drive.

Here is a notebook from 2004 that is only 0.07 inches thicker than MacBook Air, and that is only at the hinge. The rest of the notebook is only 0.39 inches thick:
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/PCG-X505CP/parts.html

These guys are kicking themselves in the head right now... If only they flattened the hinge!! (I am sure they could've)

Because if they had a blockbuster product they wouldn't be gaining slowly. A large company will gain market share simply based on it size and the amount of marketing money they can throw at it. Microsoft has a lot of money to throw. I'll consider Zune a success when there is significant demand for it and the division makes a healthy profit.

You're setting the bar pretty low. MS themselves are just as guilty of lowering expectations.

The fact is people have been saying the iPod was going to get knocked off its perch any day now for probably the last 5 years. Every year, analysts say the demand *must* have been satisfied by now, while at the same time arguing that there's a larger market out there that hasn't been tapped yet and that competitors could swoop in and take. (Somehow they fail to see the contradiction there.)

And every year, the iPod maintains its ~70% overall market share, while sales continue to climb.

Meanwhile, MS - the largest tech company in the world, with 95% market share in operating systems - can't manage to crack 5% of the market in media players. They say, however, that this is a "success" - they never expected anything more! Bullshit. MS throws $2 billion at a device for 5% market share? I've got a bridge to sell you if you believe that.

The Zune is and continues to be an utter failure. The fact that it's "slowly gaining" market share means nothing, because a) you're talking about the difference between about 2% and 5% of the overall market, hardly earth-shattering news for a product redesign, and b) it's coming at the expense of Apple's other competitors, not at the expense of Apple. In other words, the number of iPod haters is the same as it ever was, they're just consolidating.

With its current strategy, MS has essentially zero chance of ever making a dent in Apple's dominance. I agree with the original article in that they seem to be about 2 years behind Apple and not catching up. When Apple had an 80GB iPod, MS had a 30GB Zune that was bigger and fatter. Now that Apple has a 120GB iPod, the iPhone and the iPod Touch with touch screens, MS has... an 80GB Zune. Yay. And I still don't think Zunes can be used out of the box as portable hard drives, which is the main reason a lot of people buy the "big" iPods. (Few people have music collections that hit 120GB in size.)

The only competitor that really has a chance at catching Apple worldwide is Sony. Sony's built their market share in Japan up to around 40% with some interesting Walkman models and some good old-fashioned celebrity-based marketing. They've also got a series of popular phone models with the Walkman branding. We'll see if they ever try to make a real push in the US again - their last few attempts didn't go too well, but then that was before they found the right formula in Japan either. Now that they've got their home market going their way, they may try to transfer some of what they've learned there to the US.

But forget about the Zune unless MS completely changes course and either does something significantly different than the iPod or gives up trying to play catchup and leapfrogs Apple on specs and design (don't hold your breath there).

Because if they had a blockbuster product they wouldn't be gaining slowly. A large company will gain market share simply based on it size and the amount of marketing money they can throw at it. Microsoft has a lot of money to throw. I'll consider Zune a success when there is significant demand for it and the division makes a healthy profit.

You're setting the bar pretty low. MS themselves are just as guilty of lowering expectations.

The fact is people have been saying the iPod was going to get knocked off its perch any day now for probably the last 5 years. Every year, analysts say the demand *must* have been satisfied by now, while at the same time arguing that there's a larger market out there that hasn't been tapped yet and that competitors could swoop in and take. (Somehow they fail to see the contradiction there.)

And every year, the iPod maintains its ~70% overall market share, while sales continue to climb.

Meanwhile, MS - the largest tech company in the world, with 95% market share in operating systems - can't manage to crack 5% of the market in media players. They say, however, that this is a "success" - they never expected anything more! Bullshit. MS throws $2 billion at a device for 5% market share? I've got a bridge to sell you if you believe that.

The Zune is and continues to be an utter failure. The fact that it's "slowly gaining" market share means nothing, because a) you're talking about the difference between about 2% and 5% of the overall market, hardly earth-shattering news for a product redesign, and b) it's coming at the expense of Apple's other competitors, not at the expense of Apple. In other words, the number of iPod haters is the same as it ever was, they're just consolidating.

With its current strategy, MS has essentially zero chance of ever making a dent in Apple's dominance. I agree with the original article in that they seem to be about 2 years behind Apple and not catching up. When Apple had an 80GB iPod, MS had a 30GB Zune that was bigger and fatter. Now that Apple has a 120GB iPod, the iPhone and the iPod Touch with touch screens, MS has... an 80GB Zune. Yay. And I still don't think Zunes can be used out of the box as portable hard drives, which is the main reason a lot of people buy the "big" iPods. (Few people have music collections that hit 120GB in size.)

The only competitor that really has a chance at catching Apple worldwide is Sony. Sony's built their market share in Japan up to around 40% with some interesting Walkman models and some good old-fashioned celebrity-based marketing. They've also got a series of popular phone models with the Walkman branding. We'll see if they ever try to make a real push in the US again - their last few attempts didn't go too well, but then that was before they found the right formula in Japan either. Now that they've got their home market going their way, they may try to transfer some of what they've learned there to the US.

But forget about the Zune unless MS completely changes course and either does something significantly different than the iPod or gives up trying to play catchup and leapfrogs Apple on specs and design (don't hold your breath there).

According to the Sony Japan website the affected models are the:
DSC-F88, DSC-M1, DSC-T1, DSC-T11, DSC-T3, DSC-T33, DSC-U40 and DSC-U50

It looks like it's just another installment of the ongoing Sony CCD assembly problems that affected a large number of manufacturers a year or so back though.

Or perhaps those little handheld devices that have exploded in popularity in the past 5 years? What are they again? Oh yeah, cell phones. Or as I see 'em, the future "Remotes for the world." If you haven't realized this then you need not worry as you're probably 80 years of age and don't care much for the immediate future as all it contains is your demise. However for the tech-savvy rest of us it's quite clear. Cell phones have already turned into cameras, personal schedules, calenders, and note takers, CHAT TEXTERS (which is a whole different story, and evil), even audio recorders. The list goes on and the technology is only getting more and more improved. Eventually this little handheld device will replace all the other little handheld devices into one nice little handheld device to control all the larger, NON-handheld devices that are inevitably going to be implimented in our homes, cars, and just about everything else with an circuit inside of it. If you don't belive me, check out Mr. Rekimoto and his little invention that's going to REPLACE YOUR FREAKIN' WALLS!

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/datatile /

RFID's : Vaudeville :: Cellphones in 20 years : Shadowrun

I saw the Exploratorium thing myself, and it was REALLY cool. I still want one. In fact, I've since built a rearscreen device that uses infrared reflection to accomplish multi-point interaction using a modified version of some of the techniques used in the Holowall.

Also working on a new version due to make an appearance in an art show in March. -- Sync

...but it was presumably written by someone only familiar with Sony Korea, as Sony (the Japanese parent company) has already released the same model in Japan.

at least something very similar to it, and patented by Sony: www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/smartskin BTW one of the developers of smartskin is the author of effectv.sf.net i'd rather add that slashdot news are getting lousier every day, please keep it up.

The PSX was released well after the PS2. It was/is a PS2 with a hard drive and television tuner built in. Recent models also have DVD writers.

http://www.psx.sony.co.jp/

Perhaps you were refering to the original PlayStation, (now called the PS One) and not the PSX?

I wasn't at the event but I have listened to the audio recording.

Basically it is just a technology demonstrator from BBC R&D. Maybe someone is indeed using it to assess possible market interest but I can't see the BBC making it.

Allowing the selection of what to watch by browing/searching the EPG is also nothing particularly special.

If TV-Anytime really gets going - then the MetaData broadcast with the programmes would allow much more elaborate selection of what to watch and automatic selection of what to delete.

Didn't Sony announce something like this a year ago some ago - their Type X with up to 7 TV cards?
Announced in May 2004 and I htikn shipped in November 2004
(in Japanese)
http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/Style-a/Product/X/
and
http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGX-X90P/

and English write up here:
http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/179/sony_monster _vaio

OK - so it wasn't to record an entire digital multiplex 24*7 - but Linux distributions with Digital TV support can take 6 cards.

If the splitting of the entire mux into the channels or even programmes is being done in real-time (it might not be) then they could easily discard certain channels (kids, music etc).

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGN-U50/

Of course it is not a fully fledged PC of 2005 but it beats a lot of the things you could buy, let's say, five years ago.

Is it noise cancelling? It seems that it just adds sampled sound to mask conversations.

"sound processor and several speakers that multiply and scramble voices that come within its range"

Horrible article. No details on how the product works or what it does.

And for the map thingy... It's been done some time ago (2002).
Here's a movie (25 MB) from Sony research (Jun Rekimoto, SmartSkin: An Infrastructure for Freehand Manipulation on Interactive Surfaces):

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/movies/c hi02-2-mp2.mpg

Use VLC to view the movie.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Movie taken from
http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/smartski n/

Is it noise cancelling? It seems that it just adds sampled sound to mask conversations.

"sound processor and several speakers that multiply and scramble voices that come within its range"

Horrible article. No details on how the product works or what it does.

And for the map thingy... It's been done some time ago (2002).
Here's a movie (25 MB) from Sony research (Jun Rekimoto, SmartSkin: An Infrastructure for Freehand Manipulation on Interactive Surfaces):

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/movies/c hi02-2-mp2.mpg

Use VLC to view the movie.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Movie taken from
http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/smartski n/

The first PlayStation had the unoffical PSX, then they named the PlayStation media center PSX,.

http://www.psx.sony.co.jp/

So the PS3 will be just, PS3.

This is really cool from a UI perspective, but not entirely new. A couple years ago people were doing interesting things with tilt sensors for Palm devices. Also see: Nintendo's new WarioWare game for GameBoy advance, which has a rotational sensor built-in to the cartridge. Also, Sony has done research in this area as well.

~jeff

Let's hope the aliens don't try to intercept Japanese websites with browsers that don't have Japanese language support. They'll think we're a very one confused people.

An accelometer wouldn't sensibly be used to replace the input style / use context of keypads. (Except perhaps in case of accessibility issues and people with disabilities.)

Instead, novel input techniques have been researched for quite a while. Check out these few example publications:

http://sandbox.parc.com/want/papers/mui-cacm-2000. pdf

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/gwrist/

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/tilt/

http://tangible.media.mit.edu/papers/Graspable_Dis plays_CHI97/Graspable_Displays_CHI97.html

http://research.compaq.com/wrl/projects/RocknScrol l/RocknS.html

An accelometer wouldn't sensibly be used to replace the input style / use context of keypads. (Except perhaps in case of accessibility issues and people with disabilities.)

Instead, novel input techniques have been researched for quite a while. Check out these few example publications:

http://sandbox.parc.com/want/papers/mui-cacm-2000. pdf

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/gwrist/

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/tilt/

http://tangible.media.mit.edu/papers/Graspable_Dis plays_CHI97/Graspable_Displays_CHI97.html

http://research.compaq.com/wrl/projects/RocknScrol l/RocknS.html

I agree. That thing looks really ugly.

What I don't get is why Sony doesn't get more press on Slashdot, except for their robots and PS2. Among the PC manufacturers, they are the most stylish, and are probobly the most innovative in terms of design. They also are closer to achieving the "digital hub" than Apple, to boot. Too bad their best stuff is relased only in Japan.

Check out some of their kickass designs:

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGX-X90P/ - The Type X models, a PC media server with P4/3.6 Ghz, 1920x1080 TV display, 6 simultanious channel TV tuner, 1TB storage (127 hours of high-quality Mpegs), remote control, DVD recorder, network video server, and remote control.

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGC-M50B/ - Type M model, a PC that can be used as a TV or a standalone stereo with its keyboard folded.

Couple of nice notebook designs:
http://www.dynamism.com/x505/main.shtml
http://www.dynamism.com/u101/main.shtml

I agree. That thing looks really ugly.

What I don't get is why Sony doesn't get more press on Slashdot, except for their robots and PS2. Among the PC manufacturers, they are the most stylish, and are probobly the most innovative in terms of design. They also are closer to achieving the "digital hub" than Apple, to boot. Too bad their best stuff is relased only in Japan.

Check out some of their kickass designs:

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGX-X90P/ - The Type X models, a PC media server with P4/3.6 Ghz, 1920x1080 TV display, 6 simultanious channel TV tuner, 1TB storage (127 hours of high-quality Mpegs), remote control, DVD recorder, network video server, and remote control.

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGC-M50B/ - Type M model, a PC that can be used as a TV or a standalone stereo with its keyboard folded.

Couple of nice notebook designs:
http://www.dynamism.com/x505/main.shtml
http://www.dynamism.com/u101/main.shtml

I have these in white and they go rather nicely with the ipod. I've also found the MDR-EX71SL to be comfortable, but as far as I can tell, the white version is not sold in the States.

The X505 1GHz PentiumM motherboard the Japanese vaio site

Yep, thats a minidisc!

Hmmm... that's a little unfair to show the Vaio W series vs. the iMac G5, as the W-series is an old design that's now been discontinued. The new Vaio all-in-ones (V2, 2 generations newer than the W-series) are a bit special, and should give the iMac G5 a run for their money. Take a look for yourself: http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGC-V202/ I run a retail store in the UK, and we are selling both. I have received no iMac G5s, despite placing the first backorder TechData UK (C2K) took. I have a projected shipdate for both the V2 and iMac G5 of the same day, so it'll be interesting to compare. As standard, the (UK version - Japanese is different) Vaio V2 series have a wireless keyboard and mouse, wi-fi built in, TV tuner, Dual-layer DVD-RW, 160GB or larger HD, 512MB RAM. The SRP is higher for the V2 vs. the iMac, but when you compare the specs, the V2 is a good deal -- I started adding all the kit to take the iMac G5 up to close to the V2 and it got pretty expensive quite quickly.

Hmmm,

Have you tried this on a Windows machine?

The reason I'm sceptical is that my Pro3000 uses a SONY ICX098AK CCD. The overview and tech specs would tend me to believe that the device can do VGA without software. Why would Phillips/Logitech fake it?

Sony U3 owner with big battery reporting in.

doh, preview -> submit.

Sony U3 owner with big battery reporting in.

doh, preview -> submit.

Here's the updated screenshot of the updated UI in the PSX. Seems to have a transparent menus over the TV show you're watching, and these screens show the customizable backgrounds for the menus.

Screenshot

Screenshot

PSX Official Site(in Japanese)

"Similarly, teachers can prepare lecture notes (a list of texts and graphic elements) on their PDAs, and attach them one-by-one during their lectures." - From Jun Rekimoto's paper
They're dreaming if they think that schools are going to have the money to replace chalk and whiteboards with touch screens. Furthermore, what's wrong with transparencies or powerpoint presentations? I'd even argue that buying tablet PCs for each teacher would be less expensive than installing big touch screens in each room and purchasing pens and palms for each person.

Check out the paper he submitted at CHI. Also the BBC has a story about this at this address.
In short, the pen doesn't actually store the file, but uses a third server to mark and notify which file should be copied to where...

Now that we have Sony Vaio Type U , I wonder why this OQO took so long to design/produce/whatever!

I have seen Sony Vaio Type U in person. They are sold in shops already. And obviously, the Sony Vaio is more appealing.

BTW, OQO's weight is 14oz (or 397g). Sony Vaio Type U is 550g.

from http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/

Guides "type X" advanced technology as a personal computer in the base, is the product which is advancing development anew the higher-order origin AV video recording/playback function is actualized as a model "of the next generation AV recorder" concept, this time as information of development.

Maximum of 7 TV tuners, it loaded the hard disk drive which exceeds 1 tera- byte, maximum of videotaped channel 7 simultaneously, it saw without being conscious of the presently past to be, choosing program, it can view. Furthermore, it is the schedule which has high-level AV efficiency e.g., with combination with the terrestrial BS 110 degree CS digital broadcast corresponding unit, it corresponds to also the video recording of digital hi-vision broadcast.

favorite quote from that - "it saw without being conscious of the presently past to be, choosing program, it can view."

i don't even know wtf that's supposed to mean, but it makes me laugh.

.. all I'm getting is an error message from their website.

Here's Sony's X page in Japanese.

multiple TV tuners sound like a good idea for primetime.

Also comes with wireless keyboard, mouse.

Seems like a lot of details are still in the design stages.

...but rather a 5x5 button area that allows for 'gesture' type navigation. Check out the animation here. Personally I think this could be quite intuitive yet powerful. (I'm a great fan of mouse gestures in Opera.)

True, doesn't look like a laptop replacement.

Now ... the X505 looks beautiful!

Some general comments after reading the posts, and checking the links...

It looks like the actual WideScreen offering from Sony is the S-series
(Link: http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGN-S70B/), not the E-series as mentioned in the post. Looks cool, but I think the WideScreen to buy if you are going to go ye old Windows or Linux route would be a 64-bit offering, like the current 64-bit AMD laptop from eMachines.

Glad to see that Sony lowered the resolution on the U-series. The older U1/U3/U101 model had XGA resolution on a 6.4 screen. I saw a U3 at trade show...beautiful screen, but talk about turning you cross-eyed. It was almost necessary to use the magnifier tool on every screen. 800x600 just makes more sense on a screen this small.

Any finally, that new VAIO Pocket player looks more like RCA Lyra Audio/Video jukebox then it does the iPod. I believe the Lyra lasted less than a year for RCA (they don't sell it from their web site anymore). I'd say Sony's will most likely follow that same fate. Most consumers I know want more storage in a smaller size, not larger.

My Japanese is not that good, but my vision is... for now

Some general comments after reading the posts, and checking the links...

It looks like the actual WideScreen offering from Sony is the S-series
(Link: http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGN-S70B/), not the E-series as mentioned in the post. Looks cool, but I think the WideScreen to buy if you are going to go ye old Windows or Linux route would be a 64-bit offering, like the current 64-bit AMD laptop from eMachines.

Glad to see that Sony lowered the resolution on the U-series. The older U1/U3/U101 model had XGA resolution on a 6.4 screen. I saw a U3 at trade show...beautiful screen, but talk about turning you cross-eyed. It was almost necessary to use the magnifier tool on every screen. 800x600 just makes more sense on a screen this small.

Any finally, that new VAIO Pocket player looks more like RCA Lyra Audio/Video jukebox then it does the iPod. I believe the Lyra lasted less than a year for RCA (they don't sell it from their web site anymore). I'd say Sony's will most likely follow that same fate. Most consumers I know want more storage in a smaller size, not larger.

My Japanese is not that good, but my vision is... for now

The VAIO Pocket Interface (play movie to view in action) does not seem very good to me.

For those who won't watch the above link, there is a grid of 5x5 'buttons' you run your finger up and down, left to right to simulate scrolling and navigating menu levels. The problem is, what if you want to go down more and you run out of buttons because you initially positioned your finger wrong? Maybe you can just pick your finger up, but I would think it easier to use the touchpad a la notebooks (and what Apple derived for the iPod) that we have been used to using for years.

There is also a rather large color screen whcih looks like a nice power drain to me, especailly when the thing is playing in my pocket, displaying a color albumn cover.

Check out the VGC-RAxx desktops... pretty slick looking. Looks like there is some crazy cooling scheme going on too, with air intake slots in the middle of the chassis and a heatpipe CPU cooler; check out these pics.

This has far too much button to feel as ergonomical as its white^WSnow^Wmulticolor counterpart.

In 1999 I got a Sony Vaio Picturebook - a paperback book sized sub-notebook that has a VGA camera in the top edge of the screen/lid.

One of the features of the Picturebooks was an app called Cybercode. Cybercode is a barcode generator (not a "2D barcode" - all barcodes are 2D, they have height and width) that generates a code that the PC can see with the Motion Eye camera. The codes have applications, animations or other programs associated with them, and I could run different playlists, for example, just by showing a card to the PC.

The guys at Sony Computer Science Labs built a superb demo of this technology here. I recommend the video at the bottom of the page -- a superb demo of what is possible.

I now have two Picturebooks and still use the newest one regularly. I tried different methods of using Cybercodes, and was able to give presentations at college where I ran the VAIO though a laptop and had Cybercode finder running. As I talked about different topics in the lecture, I showed the back of my note cards to the Motion Eye, and the VAIO ran video clips on command.

I'd say, highly unlikely given the main QRIO site spells it in romaji.

But, just to indulge curiosity.
wwwjdic's only hit for kyu ri o is...
curiosity

Hey! That's what they named the bot after. Shocking. :)

Funny, small but cute characters don't seem to be a problem in Japan.

Quit taking such a US-centric view of the market. Given the realities of the declining economy, and the increasing trend towards humanization of technology interfaces, perhaps a penguin is the right move after all.