Filed under: Household

Has Panasonic become the upscale SolidAlliance of Japanese electronics? Wait, hear us out. First they dropped the EY3002 computerized mattress onto our sallow souls, now this, the exer-bronco. Although classified as fitness, not fetish gear, the mechanicals do list stirrups and handles as optional equipment. And get this, you can even kit the rig out with an oxygen tank just in case you get a little breathless from “working out.” Er, isn’t that the point? Prices for that hot, buckin’ action exceed ¥300,000 (more than $2500) which might be worth if only for a bit of Wii integration. Help us Bud and Sissy, you’re their only hope.

[Thanks, ScooerJP]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Those Lumix FX-07s are surely fast sellers, but apparently Panny had no problem goosing sales a little with some limited edition versions of the compact shooter. Manufactured in 100 piece lots, these FX-07s come in five unique finishes, and are packaged in paulownia wood boxes for the tidy sum of ¥59,800 (about $515). Our pan-Pacific pals can get one of the 500 pieces being produced come December 12th.

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: GPS, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Transportation

With Sharp throwing down a svelte in-car LCD ready to display nearly any automotive statistic (or roadtrip route) you’d ever need, and Chrysler planning to offer the MyGIG do-it-all device on upcoming vehicles, Panasonic is tossing in its own rendition to keep the competition on their heels. The Strada CN-NVD905U is an in-car navigation / head unit that boasts a 7-inch touchscreen, 30GB hard drive, built-in DVD / CD player, NAVTEQ mapping software, and support for Bluetooth handsfree operations. The trilingual GUI also touts automatic rerouting, and if you’re not already tuned into XM Radio, you can access Sirius’ real-time traffic data to avoid those crowded freeways on your commute back home. Additionally, it sports “iPod video connectivity” for rear seat and front passenger entertainment, but we’re sure all those snazzy movie functions are kept under wraps until you throw it in park. While there’s no telling how much dealers will end up charging for this in-dash machine, the Strada CN-NVD905U should start making noise (and keeping us on track) next Spring.

[Via Slashphone]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Laptops

While all those little pansy laptops have been getting busy with Core 2 Duo for quite a while, Panasonic is just now dropping a Core Duo processor into their flagship ToughBooks, but they’re still looking pretty dang Tough, so we’ll go easy on the teasing. Both laptops sport “record breaking” brightness, with 550 nits in the CF-19 and 1,000 nits in the CF-30, supposedly the brightest LCD ever to be stuffed into a laptop, so neither laptop should be much trouble to read outdoors. The new CF-19 (pictured) follows up the Pentium M CF-18 with a 1.06GHz U2400 Core Duo processor, 80GB HDD, 512MB of RAM (with room for a handy 4GB total), a 10.4-inch XGA touchscreen in regular or Tablet PC configuration, EV-DO or HSDPA WWAN, Bluetooth 2.0, a/b/g WiFi and an optional GPS and fingerprint scanner. They’ve stuck with the same form factor, which measures 1.9-inches thick and weighs 5 pounds, though the standard battery life has been bumped up to 7 hours. The CF-30 (pictured after the break) matches its swivel-screen sibling quite well, though the luxury of a 13.3-inch XGA touchscreen, 1.66GHz L2400 Core Duo processor and slot for extra battery or disc drive will really cost you in the size department: the laptop measures 2.8-inches thick and weighs 8.2 pounds, while “only” managing 6 hours of battery. Of course, the main point of these things is their magnesium alloy cases, sealed keyboards and ports, and shock mounted screens and hard drives which makes them quite drop-kick ready, and jacks the price to $4,700 for the CF-30 and $4,200 for the CF-20. Both laptops should be out this December.

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

The Panasonic DMP-BD10 is the second standalone Blu-ray player to become available, not quite making its expected September launch but sneaking onto store shelves near you this month. Was it worth the wait and/or the $1,300 price tag? Compared to the Samsung BD-P1000 player, reviewers note a slightly better picture quality and load times, plus excellent audio output. It doesn’t support next-gen lossless audio codecs like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD out of the box but, those are promised for a future firmware update. Negatives include a clunky remote and lack of BD-Live connectivity that will be present in the PlayStation 3. This player appears to do the same 1080p to 1080i to 1080p conversion present in the Samsung, so if 1080p/24 output is a must, it’s a pass. Still, with EZ-SYNC HDMI control to matching SA-XR700 receiver and flat panel HDTV, if you must have the best Blu-ray hardware available — at least until Sony and Pioneer’s offerings hit the street — the DMP-BD10 is ready to give it to you.

Read - Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-ray Disc Player - Canada Hifi
Read - Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-Ray Player - Home Theater Forum

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Laptops

Hooray, Lenovo has joined the battery recall party! For those of you keeping score at home, that brings the number of manufacturers to five, including Apple, Panasonic, Toshiba and Dell. The recall, anounced today, affects nearly 170,000 batteries in the US, and over 350,000 additionally worldwide, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. The USCPSC also says that the recall was triggered by Lenovo’s confirmation of the battery that exploded at LAX a few weeks ago and that this latest battery recall affects the following ThinkPad notebook computers “sold between February 2005 and September 2006: T Series (T43, T43p, T60); R Series (R51e, R52, R60, R60e); and X Series (X60, X60s).” Furthermore, Lenovo has put out a press release stating: “Additionally, since these batteries can also be used with ThinkPad T4x Series or ThinkPad R5x Series systems, customers who ordered an extra battery or received a replacement battery for any ThinkPad T4x or ThinkPad R5x Series notebook PC between February 2005 and September 2006 may also have a battery subject to recall.” Now, Alan Cox’s exploded ThinkPad 600 isn’t part of the list, which leads us to believe that this isn’t the last we’ve heard about Sony’s exploding battery fiasco.

Read - US Consumer Product Safety Commission

[Thanks, JJL]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Household

Here you go folks, a computerized mattress for your computer bed from none other than that Japanese consumer electronics powerhouse, Panasonic. While it’s the not the strangest thing to come from Japan, it ranks. To protect your nightly crash, the EU3002 delivers eight programable airbags which change in size and shape as you snooze through the different phases of sleep. The airbags around your waist and shoulders begin to inflate when it’s time to awake, hopefully before you slide out the other end like a flacid burrito expulsion. And yeah, the mattress can be heated at the feet or along its entirety if that’s your issue. Still, for $2,200, you’d think they could integrate a wireless remote, right? Then again, maybe that top-center graphic is a clue to the value-add. Dropping 10th October in fulfillment of all your sick inflatable fantasies.

[Via The Raw Feed]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Laptops, Wireless

These three new Toughbooks from Panasonic, the CF-W5, CF-T5 and CF-Y5, aren’t quite the type of laptop you can leave out in the rain or dropkick across the room, but they should handle a bump or three just fine with their magnesium-alloy bodies and shock-mounted hard drives. To start things off, the 12.1-inch CF-W5 sports a 60GB HDD, Core Solo processor and a purported 8 hours of battery. The 1.8-inch thickness isn’t revolutionary, but the 3.1 pound weight isn’t bad at all. Next up, the CF-T5 has a the same specs except for a touch sensitive screen, 3.5 pound weight, and a crazy-silly-fresh 10 hour battery. Finally, the CF-Y5 (pictured) hits up a 14.1-inch display, Bluetooth and a DVD/CD-RW drive, while still managing to weigh a mere 3.5 pounds. All three of the new Toughbooks have options for EV-DO or UMTS/HSDPA wireless modems, but sadly RAM is capped at 512MB for the WF and T5, though the Y5 can scale up to 1.5GB. The two 12-inchers should be dropping in October for $1,899, while the CF-Y5 is coming in December for $2,199.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Features

It wasn’t but several weeks ago that we first posted about the new Panasonic DMC-LX2 and we told you then that they’d be arriving in September. Well, here we are after Labor Day, so behold what the stork brought us today. As you probably know, this DMC-LX2, the upgrade to the LX1 sports 10.2 megapixels, ISO 3200 and a 4x optical zoom. Click ahead for more snaps.

Ah, the moment of glory awaits.

Yep, that’s a Lumix all right. You can tell because it says so right there on the box in all caps.

There she is! We can’t wait to take ‘er for a spin!

We’re real glad that it comes with a lens cap, because when your camera doesn’t have one, it sucks.

We missed the aspect ratio settings on the lens at first glance, but there they are. The cam overall feels light and the lens and LCD take up a good portion of the whole body of the camera. For someone with big hands, it might be tough to grip. The LX2 of course sports 10.2 megapixel, ISO 3200 (not a full res, sadly) and has got ‘dem intelligent smarts in the ISO control to adjust for sudden jerkiness. Also, there’s the 4x zoom dial up top.

That’s a swank 2.8-inch screen you’re looking at, with our paltry Fuji Finepix S3100 staring back atcha. The rear panel has a mini-joystick button below the button labeled “AF/AE LOCK” up top, which serves as a manual selector, plus the standard five button flower arrangement below it.

The DMC-LX2 comes with a USB cable, A/V cables, proprietary battery charger and case, CD, and an instruction book. We can’t figure out why they keep printing these manuals. Seriously, when was the last time anyone actually read one of these things? Couldn’t they just leave a PDF of it online?

For size comparison to a Treo 650.

Colorful menus! We dig blue and green too. That said, it appears that they didn’t reformat the menus for the 16:9 screen, which is sorta lame.

The LX2 ate our headphones.

The LX2 ate our headphones again, vertically this time.

We found the LX2 to be a solid little point-and-shoot camera trapped inside a understated retro-style casing — we felt the urge to become a shutterbug once we unwrapped it. (Some of us here at Engadget, particularly this writer, would appreciate the return of the viewfinder, rather than being forced to use the LCD.) We’d like to see it come with redesigned menu screens, and ideally would like to have the lens fully retract into the body, but we understand that probably would compromise the lens quality and focal length, which gave it the 4x zoom. The images that we took were clean, crisp and quite fast. Furthermore, the 16:9 ratio made us feel like something of a filmmaker at times, with so much extra width. In short, if Panasonic wanted to trade us for that Fuji FinePix S3100 that you saw earlier, we’d gladly accept.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

While the DMC-FZ50 was never intended to be a complete overhaul of the well-regarded DMC-FZ30 it replaces, it seemed that Panasonic was trying to address the gripes on the prior model, as well as toss in a few unexpected niceties to boot. Apparently the upgrade was a success, as the folks at DPReview found a lot to love about the evolutionary camera, especially for the price. Sporting the obligatory 12x zoom, 10.1 megapixels (up from 8), a TTL flash hot shoe, SDHC support, 16:9 movie / still mode, Venus III Engine (upgraded from the Venus II), and an Intelligent ISO that adjusts up to 1600 on the fly, this hybrid megazoom packs an impressive spec list. Reviewers were quick to praise the high-end feature set, and felt that it outpaced the competition in terms of amenities, but did point out that image quality suffered due to the small sensor used to compensate for all those megapixels. The biggest digs came from the added noise and bleeding colors found at any ISO above 100 (like many Panasonics), but these qualms were quickly solved by downsizing the images for normal viewing / storage. Overall, DPReview slapped a “Highly Recommended” tag on the FZ50, and apparently weren’t too dissatisfied with the image hiccups, as they pronounced it “the best equipped, best specified, and best handling bridge camera on the market today.” With a claim like that backing it up, dropping $650 on this shooter doesn’t seem all that painful.

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Oh the rich, they’re so funny! It’s not often we get to link to a Gawker.com Source, but Page Six reports that Mark Cuban, founder of HDNet, and this little sports team called the “Mavericks”, wants to be the first to own a 103-inch Panasonic Plasma. He doesn’t care that he might have to knock down a bedroom wall in his mansion to fit the set. He wants it. He doesn’t care that they’re trying to raffle off the first (of 5000) for charity. He wants it. Cuban was last seen crying and hyperventilating himself into a major league hissy, because he may not get exactly what he want. I hear when the rich don’t get what they want, they Hulk out.

Oh, the 103-incher got named, too: TH-103PZ600U. The “TH” and the “PZ” actually stand for the noises the sales people will make at people who ask how much the $51,000 set costs. If you have to ask, you’re obviously not Mark Cuban, and you can’t afford it.

The Post notes the 103-inch TV is the size of a queen sized mattress, weighs a quarter of a ton, and has over 40-square feet of screen. Really puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? Question: What native resolution is that screen?– Brian Lam
Panasonic 103-inch Plasma [Panasonic]

Filed under: Storage

With Toshiba and Panasonic having already unveiled their respective 4GB SDHC cards, you didn’t really think that industry powerhouse SanDisk would be too far behind, did you? For the uninitiated, SDHC (or SD 2.0, as it’s also known) is a new FAT32-compliant format designed for capacities up to 32GB, with cards that look exactly like regular SD models, but that won’t work in any but the newest of digital devices. SanDisk’s offering — available sometime before the end of the month — is rated as a Class 2 card, meaning that it guarantees a minimum transfer rate of 2MB per second. The $200 pricetag also gets you a “free” MicroMate card reader, which is not only handy but vital to making the most out of your new card, as the SD readers you currently own won’t have any idea what to do with this thing.

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Filed under: Household

Next week, three Atlanta families will begin an eight-week trial put on by the Internet Home Alliance in which they face off against Internet connected washers and dryers in a battle of laziness and sanity. The technology in question comes courtesy of Microsoft, HP, Panasonic, Proctor & Gamble and Whirlpool, whose combined efforts have resulted in appliances that can contact you via your TV, PC, or cellphone -- letting you know when a load is finished, if there's a problem, or if you forgot to turn them on in the first place. Unfortunately, the Alliance seems to have overlooked the much-needed robotic component, which is vital for picking up your dirty laundry and hauling it down to the basement; so, as is often the case around here: no robots, no sale.

[Via Slashdot]

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Filed under: HDTV

Panasonic just slipped a couple more LCD panels into their Viera line-up of televisions. Both the 32-inch TH-32LX65 and 26-inch TH-26LX65 feature a 1366×768 pixel resolution, 178-degree visibility, and a single HDMI-in on top of a slathering of Japanese D4, composite, S-Video, digital optical and Ethernet connections. And yeah, it integrates seamlessly with Panny’s Viera Link HDMI remote for universal control over your HDMI-equipped home entertainment center. Both the 32 and 26-inchers will begin shipping in Japan on September 1st for ¥250,000 (about $2,193) and ¥210,000 (about $1,843), respectively.

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Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Others, Panasonic, NEC, Sharp, NTT DoCoMo, UMTS

NTT DoCoMo – in an apparent bid to not just out-do, but humiliate the rest of the world’s carriers – has dropped yet another six 3G flips on its home crowd.  The new handsets are part of NTT’s “7 Series” of fashion-oriented phones, and include entries from Mitsubishi, Panasonic, NEC, Motorola, and Sharp. Moto has actually contributed two models here, one in the V3x vein and the other apparently a let’s-see-how-long-we-can-milk-this port of the original V3. All six of the phones support the typical i-mode goodness, FOMA, video calling, and an array of functions that sound like science fiction to the non-Japanese among us.

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Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Peripherals, Storage

So we finally got some solid release deets on BenQ's anticipated BW1000 3-in-1 Blu-ray burner (also known as the "Trio): it'll be coming out in late August, and set you back 799 euros, or a little over $1,000. As you'll recall, that grand is buying you an internal drive that writes to BD-R discs at 2x speed, to DVDs between 4x and 12x, and to CDs at 32x speed, while obviously playing back Blu-ray content at full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution as well. You're also getting the usual suite of features designed to dampen vibration and ensure data integrity, which will come in especially handy for folks who can't afford to be wasting those initially-expensive next-gen discs. Keep in mind, though, that this model won't be the only option available to you by the time it hits stores, so make sure to check out the supported formats and features on competing units from Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and Philips before you lay down all that cash.

[Via Yahoo]

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Filed under: Laptops, Wireless

It’s a rough world out there, and no one should be without 3G nowadays — especially not anyone whose job requires them to carry a Panasonic CF-18, one of their iron-clad ToughBook class laptops strong enough to take a bullet (ok, maybe not really). Looks like Panny landed a deal with Cingular to incorporate HSDPA into the CF-18 by way of a Novatel Wireless Expedite EU730 UMTS / HSDPA card, presumably a Mini PCI add-on. Nope, it’s not the first shot the ToughBook has had at having 3G in its lifetime — and we assume it won’t be the last — but this does add Panasonic to the short list of HSDPA laptop makers, as well as to the growing list of companies offering help in the way of laptop-internal 3G while remaining relatively (though never entirely) carrier agnostic.

[Via The Wireless Report]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

That didn't take long. Hot on the heals of their SDHC card announcement, Panasonic brings us their SDR-S200 3CCD video camera capable of recording MPEG-2 video directly to their new 4GB SDHC cards. And that trio of 1/6-inch CCDs will shoot 3.1 megapixel stills to boot. This followup to the SDR-S100, features the same 10x optical zoom, optical image stabilization, and 2.8-inch LCD, but measures in just a touch heavier and hair bigger - still tiny though by camcorder standards. So all you're really getting is a doubling (for now) of recording capacity --  up to 3.5 hours or a scant 50 minutes if you're after the cams top quality. Still with higher capacity SDHC cards on the horizon (up to 32GB theoretically), at least the S200 won't suffer that 2GB capacity cap like the S100.

[Via Impress]

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Filed under: Storage

We kind of hoped they'd just go away, but after Maxell announced their SDHC card reader yesterday, well, those SDHC memory cards were bound to get real soon enough. Now right on queue, Panasonic just went public with a July 26 global release date for their new 4GB SDHC (SD 2.0) cards. The cards feature a 5MB/s maximum transfer rate and are expected to pull about  ¥30,000 (or around $265) once on the shelves. No doubt, Panny will drop a few devices soon enough that take advantage of the cards (besides the DMC-L1) since they'll only work in SDHC-compliant slots.

[Via Impress]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, HDTV, Storage

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Filed under: Transportation

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If you're in the world of broadcasting, Panasonic has a slew of goodies on offer for you, in its line-up of P2 HD family. Starting with the 2/3" AJ-HPC2000, a shoulder-mount camcorder (currently available), it offers an affordable HD camcorder....

The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ1 digital camera has been awarded the TIPA photo & imaging award 2006. TIPA (Technical Image Press Association), the European 'Oscars' of the Photo & Imaging Industry, today awarded the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ1 as the Best Super...