Those WiFi-enabled iPod touches sure are cool, what with the music and the YouTube and all that. But the 8GB model costs JPY27,800. What to do?

Osaka-based importer Hallods Corp. suggests you save a bunch of that money by getting its Italian-designed, JPY12,000 PASEN-F13 audio/video player instead. It's only got a 3-inch, 400x240 screen, compared to the touch's 3.5-inch, 480x320 display. There's none of that touch-panel stuff in the Pasen screen. The Pasen shouts about YouTube playback... though on closer inspection, there's no WiFi, just the ability to natively play back YouTube vids you've downloaded and transferred via PC. Memory is only 4GB. Audio playback time is 16 hours, compared to the touch's claimed 36. And you can expect to find many more little iPod niceties missing from the Pasen.

But on the positive side, there's a MicroSD/SDHC expansion slot to boost memory, an FM radio, a voice recorder, and a big selection of file formats covered, including FLV (YouTube native format)AVI, DIVX, RM, DAT, MP4, WMV, MPG, MP3, WMA, FLAC, AAC, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG, and TXT-format e-books. At 66 grams, it's lighter than the 115-gram touch. And it's cheap. Available in Japan from October 25.

More info (Japanese):
http://hal6334-hp.hp1.allin1.jp/1221628579795/

Compact digital cameras ("kondeji") have long graduated from a two-way choice of colors (silver or black). With a wide palette of colors available, what hues do Japanese buyers prefer?

Business Computing News ran that question through its database of retail data, looking at all available manufacturers' kondeji sales data for the year ending in September. Not surprisingly, silver and black still rule the roost, at about 41% and 19% of units, respectively. But those colors may be coasting on tradition; BCN found that pink and gold, heavily marketed toward females, rose steeply over the year to a respective 14% and 7% of unit sales.  

Models like the Panasonic DMC-FX37-P, Casio EX-Z300PK, and Olympus mu 1060(PNK) snap up big portions of the pink market, while products like the Casio EX-Z100GD, Canon IXYD920IS(GL), and Casio EX-Z200GD grab the gold. For the silver, the Olympus FE-320, Canon IXYD25IS(sL), and Olympus mu 1060(SLV) sell the most units. The Canon IXYD25IS(BK), Canon IXYD910IS, and Fujifilm FX-F100FDDB were the favorites of black-camera traditionalists.

Popular for fall 2008, though not yet making the charts, are cameras in natural tones like plum, raspberry, wine red, and brown. Ask BCN next year whether those earthy hues have taken another chunk out of black and silver.

For another look at color preferences, BCN turned its attention to the brightly-hued 4th-generation iPod nanos. From a palette of silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and pink, what's grabbing Japanese buyers' yen?

Surveying JPY17,800 8GB models and leaving out the special direct-sales "(PRODUCT) RED" model, BCN again hands the crown to black and silver, followed in order by pink, blue, purple, orange, green, and yellow. (Sorry, percentage breakdowns aren't available.) BCN expressed surprise at the win by black, given the iPod's strong association with white. But the lack of a white nano and a love of matte black by male buyers put the non-color on top, says BCN, which also surmises that silver scores high as a surrogate for white and as a match for the look of Apple's computers.

Pink was introduced in the previous generation of nanos, and, ranking high with female buyers then, has been carried over to the new line. Blue does well with color aficionados of both genders. Purple wins among the remaining new colors. Orange does very well at some retailers, not so well at others, says BCN; green shows hope with its "eco" associations; and yellow, while bringing up the rear, still ranked a very impressive #33 among 684 audio player models tracked by BCN.

Speaking of other audio players (and going off the color topic), one often hears the meme overseas that Japan's electronics market is a near-impenetrable fortress from the viewpoint of foreign manufacturers, who are lucky to sell even a few scant units in Japan. The iPod is one of many examples showing that to be untrue. In BCN's tracking of retail audio player sales during the week of October 13-19, individual iPod models (broken down by color and memory size) took the top 14 sales ranks, with the Toshiba Gigabeat T401S Black finally breaking the i-monotony at #15. Then it's mostly more iPods again for a while. The same for the month of September: iPods on top, that Toshiba at #12, and then another run of iPods.

Don't listen to the naysayers, foreign manufacturers: bring a good product, and the Japanese electronics market can be yours.

More info (Japanese):
http://bcnranking.jp/news/0810/081020_12140.html
http://bcnranking.jp/news/0810/081015_12142.html

Name: Nikon Media Port UP300x
Category: portable AV player
Price: JPY69,800
Release date in Japan: Mid December, 2008

Sorry for the odd article title, but this one's not easy to describe. Out of nowhere, staid Nikon suddenly announces a "multimedia playback headset device" dubbed the Media Port UP, or UP for short. (Pronounce that as individual letters, not as "up". As always, there's English-language imagery behind the name: Nikon offers a half-dozen derivations, including "universal port", "ubiquitous player", and "U (your) pleasure".)

In Nikon's words, "This innovative product, which incorporates display, headphones, mobile A/V player, Wi-Fi capability, high-capacity memory, and power source in a single compact unit is the first of its type. The UP allows users to easily enjoy high-quality images, videos, and music anywhere."

In short, the UP takes the media player out of your hands and puts it all on your head. It's a set of full-ear padded headphones with a tiny arm-mounted video screen that sits in front of one eye, like something from a sci-fi flick. Nikon says that despite the tiny 0.44-inch, 640x480-pixel size, the 16-million color backlit LCD display offers the experience of viewing a 50-inch screen at a 3-meter distance. (Viewed with one eye only, that is, an experience that sounds decidedly odd.) Nikon is serious about the hands-free aspect, too: an internal motion sensor lets you control volume and other features with head movements alone.

Media is transfered via USB and stored on internal 8GB flash memory; 802.11b/g WiFi allows downloads of new media, with Nikon promising a content download service ("UPLINK") and video sharing site ("UPLAB") in the near future. (There's even a web browser available in that eyepiece; no word yet on how you'd actually use it.) Formats handled include WMV9, MPEG-1, and MPEG-2 movies, and MP3, AAC, and WMA9 audio files. An AV input jack lets you enjoy media played back from other devices.

It's certainly interesting, but is it useful? The internal memory holds less than 3 hours of MPEG-2 video, so you could take along, say, a single "Lord of the Rings" installment on a flight - but be prepared to swap AA batteries after only 2 hours. And will you actually enjoy watching video in one-eyed, military heads-up-display style?

Maybe, if you're a male aged 25-35; that's the target Nikon is gunning for. To help Nikon reach its sales goal of 3 million units by 2013, head to http://www.upstore.jp/ and get UP. (Japan only, for now.) If you're short JPY10,000, there's the cheaper UP300 model: only 4GB memory, no motion sensor controls, and no AV jack.

More info (English):
http://www.nikon.com/about/news/2008/1007_up300_01.htm

Desktop PC speakers don't have to be cheap little plastic things. Sanwa Supply's new MM-SPWD5 is a pair of 2-channel, 3-inch 14W speakers in 18-cm high wood cabinets. In front are a headphone jack, microphone jack, and separate controls for tweaking high- and low-frequency output. In back is a stereo mini plug input, letting you play sound from an external device (like audio player) while staying connected to your PC's audio output. The power unit is contained inside, so there's no huge AC adapter to litter the floor. JPY8820 from late September.
More info (Japanese):
http://www.sanwa.co.jp/news/200809/mm-spwd5/index.html

Name: Kenwood Media Keg MG-E504
Category: portable audio player
Price: About JPY15,000
Release date in Japan: September, 2008

Among the catalog of non-iPod audio players (a.k.a. Audio Players You've Never Heard Of) lies the Media Keg series from Tokyo-based audio specialists Kenwood Corporation. The Media Keg stable houses a handful of flash memory-based and hard drive-based models; its newest entry, the MG-E504, competes with the iPod nano in form and price. Let's jump right to a direct comparison:

Although a tad pricier at JPY17,800, the iPod offers 8GB of flash memory (vs the MG-E504's 4GB), a 2-inch screen (vs 1.5-inch), video playback (vs none), better interface and controls (including click wheel and accelerometer), and a body that's a skosh smaller and lighter than the MG-E504's. (Most users would count iTunes media management software as a plus as well, though it has its detractors.)

The MG-E504, on the other hand, allows additional memory via a micro SD slot, so you can match or surpass the iPod's storage; a 16GB card would take up to an impressive 20GB. The gadget also claims 54-hour audio playback time (vs the Pod's 24 hours). A quick-charge ability promises to supply 3.5 hours of playback on a 10-minute recharge.

MG-E504-supported audio formats are MP3, WMA, AAC, and WAV, vs MP3, AAC, Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV for the iPod. Comparisons of overall sound quality, including quality of the supplied headphones, is a debate we'll have to leave to the audiophiles. Neither device includes radio.

So there's the breakdown: if you value the expandable memory, the longer battery life, and WMA file playback, and can overlook the smaller screen, clunky mobile phone-like interface, and lack of video, the Media Keg MG-E504 is an iPod nano alternative that'll save you a couple thousand yen to boot. (Also available from October: the MG-E502 with 2GB internal memory, for JPY13,000. Either model comes in white, black, or pink.)

More info (Japanese):
http://www.kenwood.co.jp/j/products/home_audio/personal/mg_e504_502/

Name: Sony Walkman S730F Series
Category: portable audio player
Price: About JPY27,000 (16GB)
Release date in Japan: October 11, 2008

Everyone on the planet knows Sony's fabled "Walkman" portable casette player that revolutionized music appreciation in 1979. There are those, though, who don't realize that the Walkman name still lives, in a growing line of music player products. These include the MD (MiniDisk) Walkman, the CD Walkman, and yes, even cassette Walkman models, should you still be hanging on to your 80s mix tapes.

As you'd expect, though, the primary Walkman format for the past five years has been digital audio players with hard disks or flash memory. Like all other portable music players, this form of Walkman (technically dubbed the Network Walkman) has had its lunch thoroughly nabbed and devoured by the iPod, with no sign yet of a respite. But it soldiers on, keeping the Walkman name on its feet and offering maverick audiophiles a few features that the iPod doesn't.

Sony recently announced several new configurations in the S Series of Walkmans, including the S730F. The player carries forth the S700 series' key feature, noise cancellation (which requires use of the included headphones). Hit a switch at the bottom of the unit, and the Walkman will digitally filter out 3/4 of the surrounding noise, letting you play your music at a comfortably modest volume even in noisy environments. (Or just use the feature without music, to reduce noise during study or sleep.) A nice added ability: you can use noise cancellation while an external sound source plays through the Walkman via its audio input. Sony suggests it's a good way to enjoy a standard in-flight video system, with the Walkman cutting out engine noise.

The Walkman's iPod-like aluminum body is only 7.5-mm thick - the thinnest in Walkman history, says Sony. (That's still over a millimeter thicker than the new iPod nano, and at 46 grams, almost 10 grams heavier.) The vertically-oriented, two-inch 320x240 screen is similar to the nano's. Video playback (MPEG-4, H.264 AVC, WMV) is a decent 30 fps, and uses the screen held sideways.

Supported audio formats include MP3, WMA, AAC, HE-AAC, and Sony's own ATRAC. The Walkman wants to add some automation to your music selection: it analyzes music tracks and automatically creates "channels" such as Active, Relax, Slow Ballad, Sofa Lounge, and Extreme, to match your listening mood. Sony says it's the first such intelligent channel creation in a portable device - though Apple just undid that claim, if its new iPods' "Genius" playlist feature counts as the same thing.

Still, the Walkman gets to boast of its noise cancellation, and a few more capabilities that surpass the iPod: FM radio, the ability to record music directly from MD or CD, the ability to record video directly from TV or camera (requires separate docking station), the ability to snag video from BluRay disc recorders (BDZ-A70/X95/X100 models), and 40-hour playback time for MP3 audio, 10 hours for video.

Available colors are red, gold, black, or pink. Expected prices are JPY27,000 for 16GB memory (NW-S739F), 21,000 for 8GB (NW-S738F), and JPY17,000 for 4GB (NW-S736F).

More info (Japanese):
http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/walkman/product.cfm?PD=32350&KM=NW-S739F

Sony announced that it's opening up the device's proprietary WM-PORT connector to third-party hardware developers via a "Designed for Walkman" licensing program, similar to Apple's existing "Made for Pod" program. Expect to see add-ons soon, beginning with speakers, microphones, and GM transmitters from Logitec in October.
More info (Japanese):
http://www.sony.co.jp/SonyInfo/News/Press/200809/08-118/index.html