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/

If you like keeping up on robot news, Japanese video-sharing site Zoome has brought related videos and news links together on the new "Robo Channel", a specialty portal for user-submitted videos of robots doing everything and anything. The site promises to offer plenty of videos on the goings-on at ROBO Japan 2008 (October 11-13).

Robo Channel (Japanese): http://circle.zoome.jp/robo/
ROBO Japan 2008 (Japanese): http://www.robo-japan.jp/

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

At Photokina in Germany last month, FUJIFILM announced its upcoming "FUJIFILM FinePix Real 3D System", an all-new combination of two-lens 3D camera, 3D photo frame, and even 3D printing, all with no funny glasses required. Both the camera's display and the photo frame share "light direction control module" technology controlling image transmission to the viewer's left and right eyes; the print technology appears to attempt something similar with a "fine pitch lenticular sheet". While we'll have to expect major limitations ("Don't tilt your head!"), it'll be interesting to see what develops from this concept when (or if) planned commercialization transpires in 2009.
Intro movie (Japanese):
http://finepix.com/jp/#/theater/real3dsystem/

Name: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Category: digital SLR camera
Price: About JPY300,000
Release date in Japan: Late November, 2008

With all the light'n'easy digital SLRs  coming out - the Panasonic LUMIX G1, the Canon EOS Kiss F, the Pentax K-m, and more - it's good to see a new release of pro-level heavy iron. "Middle high class" iron, more specifically, to quote Canon's positioning of its newly updated EOS 5D DSLR camera, the Mark II.

The key bragging points are two-fold: a 21-megapixel CMOS sensor, and 30 fps full HD video recording. The former offers about twice the pixels of the recent "light" DSLRs (as you'd expect from a camera in a much higher price range), churning out shots in resolutions up to 5616x3744 pixels. Continuous shooting is 3.9 fps.

The latter feature comes too late to claim "first!" for video in a DSLR; the Nikon D90 brought that to the world in early September. But while the D90's video topped out at HD720p (1280 x 720 resolution), the 5D Mark II leaps to HD1080 (1920x1080). Video is saved to Quicktime 1080p H.264 format. (As with the Nikon, some restrictions apply: HD video shooting is limited to 12 minutes, and auto-focus is disabled.)

The camera's new Canon CMOS sensor handles ISO up to a whopping 25,600, for shooting in light so dim even owls give up and lie down. Shutter speed is as fast as 1/8000 second. There's a 3-inch LCD display, with automatic brightness adjustment and 30 fps Live View mode for composition without use of the viewfinder (useful for shooting from difficult positions). The EOS Integrated Cleaning System repels and removes internal dust. (The only major feature you might expect but won't find is a built-in flash - sorry, the pros don't use those little lights.) Weight without battery is 810 grams.

Expect to see the Mark II turning up soon in the hands of photojournalists, wedding photographers, and other pros (as well as the really serious hobbyists). With the 5D Mark II representing "middle high class", the 5D and 50D "middle class", and the kiss X2 and kiss F "entry class", Canon expresses hope that it'll grab 45% unit share of Japan's DSLR market in the coming year.

More info (Japanese):
http://cweb.canon.jp/camera/eosd/5dmk2/index.html
Panasonic LUMIX G1 (English):
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/09/lumix_g1
Canon EOS Kiss F (English):
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/06/eos_kiss_f
Pentax K-m (English):
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/09/pentax_k_m

Name: GAUDI GHV-DV24SD
Category: digital video/still camera
Price: About JPY12,800
Release date in Japan: Early October, 2008

Tokyo-based GREEN HOUSE introduces the GHV-DV24SD, a new videocam entry in its GAUDI (Green house AUDIovisual) line of AV products. Its sales proposition: acceptable video at a dirt-cheap price, about JPY12,800.

The earlier GAUDI GHV-DV17SDS somehow hit an even lower price, JPY9800. Pretty amazing for a video camera that on the surface looks a lot like a one-hand, vertically-oriented compact camera from a big-name maker. But that cam's generous-sized display panel swung out to reveal a tiny 1.7-inch screen on the other side (smaller than many mobile phone screens), its internal memory was only 16MB, its zoom was 4x digital, and its 30fps video capture maxed out at VGA resolution (640x480) - not too impressive.

For JPY19,800, you could move up to the horizontally-oriented GHV-DV30SDS, which brought 32MB memory, 16x digital zoom, and a nice 3-inch display, but not much else - still the same VGA video.

The new GHV-DV24SD takes the middle ground between the two earlier entries: the 4x digital zoom of the one, the 32MB internal memory of the other, and a display that splits the difference at 2.4 inches. Its raison d'etre is improved video: D1 resolution (720×480), the standard for regular DVD video. The addition of image stabilization further improves video quality.

That's still a far cry from the glorious HD video now the norm in camcorders. The 32MB of memory, shared with the camcorder OS, is next to useless for video; all of the GAUDI camcorders are made to use SD memory cards (up to 2GB) for actual shooting. Further, the cam's digital zoom isn't "real" (optical) zoom. Its focus is fixed (with a single switch for closer macro shooting). Yet not all the basic amenities are missing: there's a microphone/speaker and a voice recording mode, headphone jack, AV input/output, a flash, MP3 playback, and 5-megapixel still snapshots.

Okay, so the tech specs aren't exciting, but this one's all about price. At only JPY12,800 and 136 grams, do you want to be without a camcorder in your walkabout bag?

More info (Japanese): http://www.green-house.co.jp/products/gaudi/digitalvideocamera/dv24sds/i...

Name: Nikon D90
Category: digital still and movie SLR camera
Price: About JPY120,000 (body only)
Release date in Japan: September 9, 2008

It's the norm now that digital still cameras include some sort of video recording feature, and video cameras offer still-shot capability. Nikon's adding a new twist to the combination, with what it calls "the world's first digital SLR movie function that delivers genuinely cinematic results".

The D90 is the latest in Nikon's popular D line of digital SLRs, featuring 12.3-megapixel still shots. Its movie function records video at resolutions of 320 x 216, 640 x 424, or HD720p (1,280 x 720) in motion JPEG format, at 24 frames per second. (Sorry, no higher-resolution HD1080 video.)

What makes that exciting is not just the combination of a great still cam and decent HD video cam in one unit, but the ability to use Nikon's array of interchangeable lenses for video shooting. Fish-eye, wide-angle, telephoto... you'll swap lenses like a Hollywood movie-maker, something you can't do with general consumer video cams.

Aiding the moviemaker is a large DX-format 23.6 x 15.8mm CMOS sensor ("far larger than that in typical camcorders", says Nikon) with a sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 3200. A microphone and built-in speakers handle audio recording and playback. (There's speculation that the D90 will function as an audio player if you load it with MP3s, though Nikon itself doesn't say this.)

Still, this may not be your tool for feature films. When shooting video, you lose both autofocus and the viewfinder (use the LCD panel on back instead, via Live View previews). You can't go beyond 24 fps, which is fast enough for many but not all shooting purposes. Some pros are also wondering about the maximum video scene length before sensor overheating (hastened by Live View) becomes a problem.

In addition to that Live View preview in the 3-inch LCD display, other functions include Nikon Vibration Reduction (when used with compatible lenses), Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus module with 11-point AF system, face recognition, built-in flash, Image Sensor Cleaning, 0.15-second quick start-up time, and comprehensive image editing tools. Body weight 620g.

More info: http://nikon.com/about/news/2008/0827_d90_01.htm (English)