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according to zdnet japan (sorry link in japanese), DoCoMo added Linux as an option for manufacturers to choose from, by setting standardized specs for Linux on 3G. apparently DoCoMo doesn't want to limit choices of OS on 3G. The article says that they have specs (requirement) for Symbian OS available also.

As Japan's largest provider, DoCoMo's relaxed stance on choice of OS may benefit manufacturers and consumers in a long run. Obviously people at DoCoMo can't care less about the OS that will soon be running inside of every car .

Freedom of choice is a blessing these days...

mirror =)

Seems this page and this one have more info and piccies on this technology. In Japanese, but readable with babelfish.

Seems this page and this one have more info and piccies on this technology. In Japanese, but readable with babelfish.

the Sony PSP?

Sure, the specs posted at ZDNet (Japanese) say that the graphics core is rendering 24-bit RGBA, but there's no mention of the TFT's colour depth.

Sony's official media releases (Japanese)/(English) on the PSP are understandably light on specs. Even they skip over the specs of the graphics core chips.

Unless someone's got a better Sony URL for specs, I'm expecting that the PSP will be released with a 16-bit or 18-bit TFT to keep the costs down.

What an awful link in the article! I don't even mean it's awful because it's a Japanese link posted on the English slashdot site. It's awful because 99 percent of the gaming public would find it unintelligable (regardless of the language it's written in OR the primary language of the reader).

Honestly--I have an engineering degree and a fair bit of electronics knowledge under my belt and the stats made MY eyes glaze over. Dual MIPS4000 cores? 660nm laser diode to read a 60mm dual layer 1.8GB media disc? Hardware tesselator and surface mapper? Reconfigrable multi-channel sound DSP? Jeeeeezus who the hell cares (or even understands) besides the most hardcore geeks and hardware engineers in the videogame industry?

While all that is front and centre, why didn't the editors (of either ZDNet or Slashdot) include specs "real" people find important. What are the overall physical dimensions (not just screen size--and including the weight), amount of playing time from fully charged? How long can you play on a full charge? Can you toss in AA cells or does it use an expensive, cellphone-like battery pack? Are the discs enclosed in protective sleeves a-la 3.5" disks (being it will be used in a portable environment)? Can you connect it to an external monitor or television (I presume with "7.1" sound you could hitch it to your stereo being that 7-channel headphones or 7 tiny little speakers jammed in there would be silly)? How many and what games will be initially released?

Hell--there isn't even a picture of the damn thing! Even the folks making that "phantom" game box at least put a computer-generated mock-up out there! Is it going have a notebook-like "clamshell" design like Nintendo has moved to?

Until it's FULLY announced I consider this concept- or vapour-ware (ie. specs subject to change without notice--yes, even if it is from a big, rich outfit like Sony). I have my doubts about a product stuffed with so many processors, a mini laser disc player, USB, memory stick etc being practical from a price or portability standpoint.

I guess we'll see what chance it has when we REALLY get to see it at E3--it could be a great hit or it could merely be just small enough to slide into that shelf full of Betamax tapes that have been collecting dust for the past 15-20 years...

I have no idea about the user numbers for Winny/WinMX. But there have been arrests made related to WinMX and (the now defunct) file rouge.

This is just a mockup, but this one actually works. According to this article (in Japanese), the latter weighs 2kg and runs for 5 hours on 300ml of 10% methanol.

This is just a mockup, but this one actually works. According to this article (in Japanese), the latter weighs 2kg and runs for 5 hours on 300ml of 10% methanol.

This is just a mockup, but this one actually works. According to this article (in Japanese), the latter weighs 2kg and runs for 5 hours on 300ml of 10% methanol.

Here are some pictures of the PSX's main menu screen taken from a news
segment that Fuji television in Japan aired (Quiter
and ZDnet).

The images show how you will be able to navigate content stored on your
HDD, DVD, as well as content offered from online places like Sony Music.
The menu offers 3D "Jog-style" navigation. The article also has a quote from
Sony executives saying that the PSX will be the "Home Server" for it's consumers
and be a global product (with releases scheduled in the US and Europe).

Rumor nothing. The stripped-down version of the Pentium M, called the Mobile Celeron 600A, is used in the Sony U101 subnotebook. See here or here (use babelfish or just check out the screenshot) for some info on the CPU. And you can order one in the US from Dynamism or Japan Rush.

Is seems they plan on distrubuting content through kiosks and the internet, as well as selling smartcards with content already on it.

They plan on selling music, videos, comics, e-books, and photographs.
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20030204/ am3_13.htm

The product's price seems resonable at 2800yen ($28.46US) for the device. The 32MB Smartcard will be 2,000yen ($16.75), and individual content will cost 200yen ($1.68).

Another interesting thing is that since Palm uses Arm7 processors and SDs that content will probably be compatible with Palm devices at a later date.

Links: (In Japanese)
Gamspot Japan
http://www.zdnet.co.jp/gamespot/gsnews/0302/04/new s05.html
Watch Impress
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20030204/ am3.htm
Offical Page
http://www.am3.co.jp/

the text on this site is in japanese but there are some images of them herefor those who havn't seen them yet

The mice (not /.ed but in Japanese) are very nice, but Y7500 that's circa 40 GBP or $60 US which is a bit steep even for a designer mouse, no?

Actually, the area calculations aren't quite that simple...

In a circle, if I double the diameter from 3cm to 6cm, you do have a 4x area increase. But optical media, you have to consider the empty spaces left on the inside and outside edges. Increasing to 6cm could potentially more than quadruple the capacity - I esimate about 4.3g per side, 112g for a 12cm version.

What I really want to see is a 6-disc changer made out of a 12-cm CD-style plate - something like they suggest.

Direct links to large version of images.

3 cm discs and cases, CDs show scale. They are tiny!

Close-up of drives.

-

Direct links to large version of images.

3 cm discs and cases, CDs show scale. They are tiny!

Close-up of drives.

-

NTT Docomo foma stuff pics

Then there's J-phone's video sha-mail which is more like animated-gif mail... but hey.

AU/KDDI's A5301T Toshiba brand video yay.

Costs five bajillion gazillion jillion yen... monthly as Dr. Evil-san and those companies know.

Transfer rate of full 4 Megapixel picture = 47 seconds per picture

Transfer rate of vga resolution image = 1.5 seconds per picture

Transfer rate of Thumbnail pictures = 6.5 frame per second

Also, zdnet:
Starting time = 0.9 seconds

shutter time lag = 0.35 seconds

Time between shots = 1.7 seconds

It supports memory stick.

Pictures to give an impression of size near the bottom of this page:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/2002/0311/s ony3.htm

More interesting descriptions...
http://www.zdnet.co.jp/mobile/0203/11/n_vaiou.html

Babel Fish can help you with the Japanese text:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/

~v

As for the screen, I just recently upgraded from a IIIxe to a Clie N610C, and the differece is remarkable. And while color is often not necessary, I find myself echoing the comments I heard when the IIIc came out -- with a color screen, "black and white" is "black and WHITE", not "black and pea-green." It does improve the readability, and with the rechargable battery I can even run with full backlight full time without getting even close to draining it.

However, the real kicker is the high resolution. Now that I have it, I can't stand to look at other Palm devices. It used to be that I couldn't really read the Palm for an hour without getting a slight headache (I should point out that I'm about 18 and have 20/20 vision -- it's not bad eyes, it's a bad screen). Now, the high-res fonts are just so easy to read that I can sit with it for hours, reading ebooks or the New York Times (which I sync to it daily). Worth every penny I paid for it.

As far as I can tell, this looks like it's a working mod. It also appears, that the guy (or gal) might not have a lot of details on how he did this mod, becuase he is selling a book. (look near the bottom).

Also, the Japanese version of Mac Wire has an article about it. (But I have no idea what it says)

I did a search for "Halli Mac" on google. Apparently, the Japanese Mac-enthusiast sites are all over this. But I have no idea what they say either.

Probably just another neat case mod.

There is an article on Japanese ZDNet here with pictures of the robot actually kicking the soccer ball, and then doing the "GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL" pose. But it doesn't drop to its knees and take off its shirt. The CCD can differentiate the colors of the ball, and kick the one you tell it to. Pretty cool.

http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/0010/16/r_viprfi.ht ml
http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/0010/16/r_viprfi2.h tml

http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/0010/16/r_viprfi.ht ml
http://www.zdnet.co.jp/macwire/0010/16/r_viprfi2.h tml

The light source on the back cover is at a differant angle than the silver thing on the top. I give the modeler points for changing the light source on the battery cover, but the picture is clearly the result of a Sony engineer fucking around with Ray-dream studio while drinking one to many Kirins.
What's more, on the pull out wand the light reflection is perfectly paralell along the long axis of the wand. Clearly rendered. Also, the view showing the back of the device shows the memory stick going right through the hinge for the camera, and the volume wheel. Unless the device is as thick as a brick, this is impossible. Oh, and the light reflection on the synch port is straight-on/all-pixel=R240/G250/B140. This doesn't happen naturally.
This is vapor(hard)ware.
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