Continue reading Panasonic debuts UT-PB1 e-reader tablet, spices it with Android flavor (video)

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Panasonic Establishes 3D Innovation Center in Japan
Osaka, June 3, 2010 – (JCN Newswire) – Panasonic Corporation announced it establishes a Panasonic 3D Innovation Center in Japan today to accelerate the development of its 3D business, a technology that is expected to create a whole new video culture and industry.
Read more on Japan Corporate News

Carson highlights M investment
Lawrence U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., was joined Friday by Martha Johnson, the General Services Agency administrator, at the Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center to highlight a nearly million investment to create new jobs and generate savings through clean energy technology.
Read more on The Indianapolis Star

Tech Beat: Gadgets for the visually impaired
Affordable tech devices for the visually impaired were recently presented at Baruch College. Technology reporter Adam Balkin filed the following report.
Read more on YNN Rochester

Back in January, LG and Panasonic were the first companies to announce that they would build a Skype function into their future TVs, making it possible to video chat in HD quality without a computer. And today Panasonic in Japan unveiled the TY-CC10W [JP], a web camera that can be used to skype on some of the company’s VIERA TVs.

Panasonic says users just need to plug the camera into the USB 2.0 port of their web-enabled VIERA (which must have the latest firmware installed) and are then able to video chat in 1,280×720 (at 22fps) with their usual Skype account. The camera features a 1/4 CMOS sensor and four microphones. It’s sized at 210×43×76mm and weighs 200g.

Panasonic will start selling the TY-CC10W in Japan on June 11 (price: $190). The company hasn’t said anything yet regarding international sales plans.

Panasonic may have a penchant for plasma TVs, but that doesn’t mean they’ll abandon the production of LCD TVs anytime soon. The company announced [JP] a total of six new LCDs today, all of which are part of the new VIERA D2 series. According to Panasonic, the main selling points of these models are the design and the LED backlights.

Three of the new VIERAS will have a newly developed IPSα panel, namely the TH-L42D2 (42 inches, $2,400/pictured below), the TH-L37D2 (37 inches, $2,000) and the TH-L22D2 (32 inches, $1,800). The first two are full HD, while the 32-incher just features 1,366×768 resolution. All three offer Ethernet, three HDMI interfaces, two USB ports, an SD/SDXC slot, 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and VIERA link.

The other three models just come with a regular IPS panel. Panasonic will offer the TH-L26D2 (26 inches, $1,500), the TH-L22D2 (22 inches, $900) and the TH-L19D2 (19 inches, $750). These smaller LCDs features 1,366×768 resolution, two HDMI ports (three in the case of the 26-incher), two USB ports, VIERA link and an SD/SDXC slot.

Panasonic plans to start selling all new VIERAs on the Japanese market on April 23 (except for the biggest model, which will be released on June 11). The company hasn’t said anything about international sales plans yet, but expect these TVs to be rolled out outside Japan soon, too.

We’ve covered plenty of electric bicycles from Japan in the past, but let’s be honest: Most of them are really ugly, for example these (technically interesting) models Sanyo introduced three weeks ago. But this new Panasonic e-bike, the BE-ENV [JP], looks rather cool and is something I could see the younger (and male) population actually using, too.

Based on the titanium frame, Panasonic is marketing the BE-ENV as a “high-class” electric bike. This new model is extremely light (15.7kg) and absorbs vibrations better than other e-bikes, according to the company. Panasonic says they especially focused on the general design and the lithium-ion battery to make the BE-ENV stand out of the crowd.

Buyers will be able to choose between three different driving modes, including an eco-mode, directly from an LCD monitor (see picture below), which can also be used to keep track of one’s average speed, distance travelled etc. Depending on which battery you choose, the eco-mode makes it possible to achieve a travel distance of up to 69km.

The BE-ENV is already available in Japan for $6,600 to $8,000 (build-to-order). There are no plans to sell the bike outside Japan at this point.

Panasonic in Japan has announced [JP] a new stereo system today, the D-Dock SC-HC40. The device is just 69mm thick at the thinnest part but integrates a speaker plus digital amplifier (20W×2ch(6Ω)), a CD player, an AM/FM tuner, an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot, and a “sliding door” (Panasonic).

Open the “door” to find a dock in which you can put your iPhone or iPod, which you can then control remotely (Panasonic calls this “Direct Docking”). You can also take your Apple player into your hand, choose what you want to hear and listen to the music through the D-Dock speaker. The device supports the iPhone 3G and 3GS plus the iPod, iPod classic, touch, nano, and mini (various generations).

The SC-HC40 features Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and needless to say, comes with a remote control. Play music (or videos) from your Apple devices from your couch or choose tracks directly from your SD cards (in AAC, WMA, MP3 formats). It’s also possible to copy music from the radio or your CD player onto SD cards without a computer (this won’t work with music stored on your iPhone/iPod).

Panasonic plans to start selling the D-Dock SC-HC40 in Japan on March 12 for $420. I don’t think this pretty neat system will ever find its way out of Japan though.