In this current era of smartphones, tablets, and wearable tech, it’s easy to forget a time when PDA’s and other similar pocket devices were still a thing. However in Japan, electronic dictionaries have not only withstood time, but this iconic gadget has even evolved to a point that they are now generally considered as mini-notebook PC’s.

But why? How in the world does this otherwise antiquated gadget still manage to retain a considerable level of popularity in the country? Even netbooks met its rather early demise due to the prevalence of tablets in the years following the release of the first iPad. So really, what’s the reason? Well, let’s first see why it became so popular in Japan in the first place.

An essential aide

Electronic dictionaries have been around since the late 1970’s, at a time when the historical Apple-1 was just around a few years old. Sharp (TYO: 6753) was the very first company that developed and released the electronic dictionary in the form that we know today. The company’s first model, the IQ-3000, featured definitions and search options for at least 5,000 Japanese words and about 2,800 foreign words. While its specifications are relatively miniscule compared to electronic dictionaries today, its release was phenomenal, and it became immensely popular for students taking entrance exams and Japanese travelers overseas.

Over time, electronic dictionaries evolved to have more and more options suited for its very wide student user base. Sanyo (TYO: 8011) introduced digital Kanji letters with its cheaper 1987 model Denjirin, while Sony’s (TYO: 6758) 1990 model DD-1 was designed to be compatible with the time period’s external media. By the time the third generation models came out during the last years of the 20th century, the electronic dictionary already gained the status of a pocket computer. It became a common investment for students, who needed something that can function as a computer but at a significantly lowered cost, and with the convenience of portability. In essence, it became the netbook of Japan’s consumer electronics market.

In general electronic dictionaries have three basic advantages, which are: Easy and fast word searching, specific keyword searching, data storage equivalent to a large number of books.

Does any of these functions sound familiar? It should be, because the same functions can be found in most mobile devices today. But the funny thing is you’d still see electronic dictionaries being sold in Japan, even having their own section in certain local tech shops. Does this mean electronic dictionaries are still massively popular in Japan today?

Stranger in a smartphone land

One thing that needs to be clarified first is that electronic dictionaries are technically outdated, and it is indeed generally going out of vogue with some due to the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets.

However, even as we end the first month of 2015 some of the better known electronic dictionary developers in Japan today, such as Seiko Instruments, are still planning to launch newer line ups which further gives evidence that the electronic dictionary still has a following.

So, what makes the Japanese electronic dictionary market so resilient? Largely the industry has a captive market in students. This means that electronic dictionaries serve the most important straightforward need of providing education, much like a standard issue textbook. Remember: the electronic dictionary evolved with Japan’s education system, which technically means it is completely optimized to be used efficiently in study, as opposed to tablets which can more or less do just a mix of different things without specialization.

Also, as mentioned earlier, electronic dictionaries serve the important role of a communication tool. This is especially true for overseas Japanese businessmen as early as during the IQ-3000 era, which coincided with the peak of the ‘Japanese miracle’ as the rising sun of Japan’s big corporations expanded abroad to the United States. Call it, perhaps, an old habit.

There is also the issue of accuracy. Electronic dictionaries already have its dictionary software and lexical database built in, which is backed up and confirmed by approved academic institutions. Some Japanese believe that using a tablet might not be as effective or as efficient as using an electronic dictionary for the same purpose, especially considering that it is more than just a look-up-and-see device. Oh, and we also haven’t mentioned the simple fact that electronic dictionaries are a number of times cheaper than tablets (of the same size and specs of course).

In fact, ask around a few ex-pats in Japan about the electronic dictionary, and they would pretty much tell the same story of convenience that Japanese students would probably tell you. What’s more is that electronic dictionaries today have even evolved to provide the same functions as netbooks a few years back, with some models even using the Android OS, and providing capacitive touch input.

In a few more years, we might finally see the electronic dictionary hit the first wave of its obsolescence. However, as of this moment, the electronic dictionary is still the iconic pocket education device for students in Japan, more than tablets, and probably a bit more than smartphones. It has basically transcended its normal status as a mobile device, evolving into cultural tech icon. One might even say that the electronic dictionary is a symbol of the country’s ever busy society.

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Toshiba (TYO: 6502) has announced the launch its newest IC, which is designed to be capable of efficiently charging mobile devices wirelessly. The new wireless power receiver controller offers vast improvements in charging capacity, allowing for newer wireless charging systems to charge smartphones, tablets and other similar mobile devices at a rate that is comparable to wired charging.

The TC7765WBG wireless power receiver controller IC is claimed to be capable of effectively charging devices quickly, or at least as fast as traditional wired charging. It demonstrates its 12-watt power transfer capability, a requirement for efficient tablet device charging, as well as its Qi low-power specification version 1.1 compatibility. The new chip is expected to enable fast wireless charging for new upcoming tablets, smartphones and even for newer wearable devices.

According to Toshiba, the new IC was built with its “mixed-signal process using a high-performance MOSFET design that maximizes power efficiency and thermal performance”. With its size specifications at 2.4mm x 3.67mm x 0.5mm, it has the same general design as the previous TC7763WBG 5W wireless power receiver controller. Using the same form factor, the new IC not only vastly improved its overall efficiency, but also made it backwards compatible with other lower-power receiver ICs.

In addition, the Qi specifications of the chip allow it to prevent metal objects within the path of the wirelessly charged device to heat up. This could significantly mitigate concerns about certain accidents that may be inherently caused by wireless charging systems.

The market for mobile devices is expected to grow even more exponentially as more and more people use tablets, smartphones, and wearable technologies. Toshiba predicts that this continued growth would drive the market for batteries and chargers, which in turn would increase the demand for wireless power technologies. This would then open new opportunities for the company to develop more wireless charging solutions, and to further extend its already established business base within the same market.

The TC7765WBG IC will be demonstrated sometime during the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Samples are to be available at the end of the month, and mass production is scheduled to begin sometime during mid-2015.

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VAIO, in cooperation with mobile virtual network operator firm Japan Communications (TYO: 9424), had just confirmed its plans to release its own smartphone model. The upcoming model is slated for an early New Year launch this January 2015, and it will be introduced as a mid-range model within Japan’s local smartphone market.

The spun off company had already previously announced a few months ago its plans to release a high-end hybrid tablet/notebook model, with the intent of releasing it as a productivity unit. The decision to release its own smartphone model this time is yet again part of VAIO’s original plan to extend the brand beyond notebooks. The company’s expansion to the mobile device realm is expected to further re-establish its business model to cater to a wider consumer base, as well as promoting the brand as a separate competitive business entity.

No announcements yet about specifications, availability and price. However, as mentioned earlier, the company did announce that it will be a mid-level model, aimed at striking a wedge between some of the major players of the Japanese smartphone market. General costs are also estimated to be set between major telecom operators and current competitors within the low-cost market. In addition, the smartphones are to be optimized for design, keeping the original concept of the VAIO brand.

Earlier January 2014, before VAIO became a separate company, there have been speculations as to whether Sony (TYO: 6758) had any plans to release a Windows Phone smartphone. Despite the circulation of rumors across the web, there are still no confirmed reports of this for the moment. On the flip side though, while Sony’s Xperia line of smartphone models are obviously in no way related to VAIO’s upcoming smartphone, there is a considerable possibility that it will be Windows Phone-based, at least based on how the brand is currently marketed today.

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Touchscreens may soon bid farewell to standard notebook PCs.

A recent report from Digitimes — which has often questionable accuracy — has just detailed what seems to be a recent decision by major notebook PC vendors to do away with touchscreens for notebook PCs in the near future. According to the information presented, demand for touchscreen notebooks overall wasn’t as high as expected, and thus affected companies are now planning to adjust accordingly. Following this assessment, the report also states that touchscreen notebook PC vendors will be ceasing production of touchscreen notebooks for the final quarter of the current year.

One of the most cited reasons for the low demand of touchscreen notebook PCs is that users still mostly prefer the traditional mouse and keyboard access method for these devices. Smartphones and tablets have already generally contributed to the lowered average PC sales over the last couple of years, and this gave impetus for the development of touchscreen notebook PCs. However, touchscreen notebooks often suffered from an identity crisis, as users generally opt for a standard notebook PC for general productivity work, while a separate tablet unit is used for touchscreen-based tasks.

Furthermore, adding touchscreens to notebooks usually require extra production costs, and thus such notebook models would have to be introduced to the market at a considerably increased price. This may have further widened the gap, making a touchscreen notebook PC look far less of an option to most typical users.

The hype for (capacitive) touchscreens was evidently made by the emergence of the smartphone and tablet market a few years ago. Touchscreens then eventually became a standard staple to many devices, not only to notebooks, but even to game consoles, such as the Nintendo 3DS, Playstation Vita and Wii U. However, despite its innovative features, touchscreens can sometimes be more of an intrusion than of a convenience. This is especially true when a mouse, keyboard or any other tangible/physical peripheral can provide better and faster access to a specific gadget or device.

Despite the impending obsolescence of touchscreens on notebook PCs in the near future, touchscreens will still be a staple feature of hybrid “2-in-1″ mobile devices, such as the Microsoft Surface as well as notebooks categorized as ultrabooks. Only standard notebooks and gaming notebooks would be mostly likely be affected by this announcement.

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Vaio may have shown its determination to get back into the tech market in Japan, but we haven’t really heard anything about any international plans or announcements by the company. Until now it seems, as the company might just have a surprise in store for everyone next month.

Vaio gave an indirect, but not-so-cryptic announcement recently of its participation as a sponsor in the upcoming Adobe Max 2014 next month. Within the description of the company at the official event website, it announced that it “will showcase a prototype tablet PC designed by and designed for creative professionals”. The announcement did not just hint, but clearly stated that the company will introduce a new tablet PC at the event, one that would presumably be aimed at the event’s proper attendees.

Just what this “prototype tablet PC” would look like? What are the specs? And what exactly could it do? Most of the important details are of course still largely unknown, but the description alone already gives us an important clue that may lead us to what the Vaio company has in store for the international tech market. It might be more than just “creating a balance between quality and user experience” that the company has been pledging so far.As for what we can confirm about the upcoming tablet PC’s capabilities, the description says that it “offers desktop class performance in a portable form factor”, indicating a considerable probability that it would be installed with a fanless Intel Core M processor. Of course, this is just pure speculation, but we could at least expect that its innards would perform at more or less the same level, and that’s not yet considering the exclusive apps and other perks that it might have.

Regardless, everything that we should need to know about this new tablet PC will soon be revealed next month, or at least to those who are going to visit Vaio’s booth at the event.

This post originally appeared on Bright Side of News*.

The post Vaio To Unveil New Tablet PC? appeared first on VR World.

Vaio may have shown its determination to get back into the tech market in Japan, but we haven’t really heard anything about any international plans or announcements by the company. Until now it seems, as the company might just have a surprise in store for everyone next month.

Vaio gave an indirect, but not-so-cryptic announcement recently of its participation as a sponsor in the upcoming Adobe Max 2014 next month. Within the description of the company at the official event website, it announced that it “will showcase a prototype tablet PC designed by and designed for creative professionals”. The announcement did not just hint, but clearly stated that the company will introduce a new tablet PC at the event, one that would presumably be aimed at the event’s proper attendees.

Just what this “prototype tablet PC” would look like? What are the specs? And what exactly could it do? Most of the important details are of course still largely unknown, but the description alone already gives us an important clue that may lead us to what the Vaio company has in store for the international tech market. It might be more than just “creating a balance between quality and user experience” that the company has been pledging so far.As for what we can confirm about the upcoming tablet PC’s capabilities, the description says that it “offers desktop class performance in a portable form factor”, indicating a considerable probability that it would be installed with a fanless Intel Core M processor. Of course, this is just pure speculation, but we could at least expect that its innards would perform at more or less the same level, and that’s not yet considering the exclusive apps and other perks that it might have.

Regardless, everything that we should need to know about this new tablet PC will soon be revealed next month, or at least to those who are going to visit Vaio’s booth at the event.

The post Vaio To Unveil New Tablet PC? appeared first on VR World.

SD cards are getting more data jam packed every few months, and SanDisk is ready to extend the limits of SD cards yet again, as it launches the world’s very first 512GB SD card.

The Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I is designated as a rugged, standard use SD card, but don’t let its appearance fool you. With a whopping 512GB storage space, it beats out most of the latest and recently released standard SD cards by at least twice or even four times as much. As SanDisk advertises it, the new SD card will be perfect for saving lots of high resolution media, the type data that families and friends would probably want tons on memorable events and occasions.

But it’s not just heavy duty storage we’re talking about in this new SD card, because it also boasts heavy duty physical protection. SanDisk claims that aside from its shock resistance, it is also adequately protected against electromagnetic radiation (x-rays to be specific), and is sufficiently waterproof.

Speed spec-wise, the Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I has an optimal write speed of 90MB/sec and read speed of 95MB/sec. It also has a UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) standard, and will be available in smaller capacities of 256GB and 128GB.

If you’re interested in picking up the hefty 512GB version of the Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I, then be prepared, because it comes at an equally hefty price of $800.00. Well, at least you get to enjoy the raw, direct laptop-level storage capacity of this gargantuan SD card on your tablet or smartphone.

On an added note, it is quite interesting to consider that the release year of SanDisk’s very first 512MB SD card was during 2003, at least a decade before the Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I. A thousand times more storage capacity in about eleven years, “yet maintains the same size footprint“.

This post originally appeared on Bright Side of News, VR World’s sister publication.

The post SanDisk Rolls Out World’s First 512GB SD Card appeared first on VR World.

SD cards are getting more data jam packed every few months, and SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) is ready to extend the limits of SD cards yet again, as it launches the world’s very first 512GB SD card.

The Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I is designated as a rugged, standard use SD card, but don’t let its appearance fool you. With a whopping 512GB storage space, it beats out most of the latest and recently released standard SD cards by at least twice or even four times as much. As SanDisk advertises it, the new SD card will be perfect for saving lots of high resolution media, the type data that families and friends would probably want tons on memorable events and occasions.

But it’s not just heavy duty storage we’re talking about in this new SD card, because it also boasts heavy duty physical protection. SanDisk claims that aside from its shock resistance, it is also adequately protected against electromagnetic radiation (x-rays to be specific), and is sufficiently waterproof.

Speed spec-wise, the Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I has an optimal write speed of 90MB/sec and read speed of 95MB/sec. It also has a UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) standard, and will be available in smaller capacities of 256GB and 128GB.

If you’re interested in picking up the hefty 512GB version of the Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I, then be prepared, because it comes at an equally hefty price of $800.00. Well, at least you get to enjoy the raw, direct laptop-level storage capacity of this gargantuan SD card on your tablet or smartphone.

On an added note, it is quite interesting to consider that the release year of SanDisk’s very first 512MB SD card was during 2003, at least a decade before the Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I. A thousand times more storage capacity in about eleven years, “yet maintains the same size footprint“.

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