Filed under: Digital Cameras, Wireless

If you’re still in disbelief that wireless HD is finally catching on, here’s yet another demonstration that just may sway you into being a believer. Hitachi demonstrated a wireless HD camcorder setup at CEATEC in Japan, which saw a hacked up handycam get fitted with a protruding wireless card and stream high-def content to a nearby TV via DLNA (got all that?). Obviously, there’s no telling when or if the company will clean the application up and bring it to retail, but in all seriousness, we have our doubts about the value proposition here.

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Hitachi drug its oh-so-sexy 1.5-inch plasma to Japan after showing it off in Denver earlier this month, but what we didn’t see at CEDIA was this: a 15-millimeter thin 37-inch LCD TV. The “reference” set packed a 1,920 x 1,080 panel and a fittingly designed stand, though it won’t see mass production until “2009 or later.” Ugh, even 1-inch just seems so bloated now.

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

We actually had to dust off our spectacles to make sure this wasn’t some sort of misunderstanding, but clearly, Hitachi is pulling a Toshiba. Generally, we wouldn’t make such a claim, but given that Tosh also calls its wizard-like upconverting technology Super Resolution, we’d say the likeness requires such a comparison. Reportedly, Hitachi has been toiling day and night on its own “super resolution technology,” which will theoretically take SD images and scale them to near-1080p. Amazingly, we’re told that it can also “convert HDTV images, such as digital terrestrial broadcasts, into images with even higher (what, SHV?) definition.” The tech is executed on a frame-by-frame basis and should be exhibited at the upcoming CEATEC trade show in Japan; as for a release, Hitachi’s currently aiming to get this into LCDs and plasmas “after 2010.”

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Hitachi’s 1.5-inch thick 50-inch plasma wasn’t exactly front and center like we had imagined, but it was there garnering stares nonetheless. Donning a glossy white finish and displaying nothing but floral arrangements, the set looked pretty good (though not great) in terms of visual quality. The design, however, was simply stunning. And just as promised, we did include the obligatory iPhone comparison, though you’ll have to account for the Belkin skin when drawing your conclusions. Give it a peek in the gallery below.

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Filed under: Household

We won’t even pretend to act like we’re fluent in Japanese, but based on our best understanding of machine translation, Hitachi has a few new refrigerators that will actually spritz your food with antioxidants and vitamins to keep things exceptionally fresh and clean (clean). The R-Y6000 and R-Y5400 will evidently sense what types of foods are stored in what compartments, after which a specified amount of nutrients will be emitted in order to keep things from spoiling too soon. We aren’t too keen on a robotic fridge having the power to douse our grub with whatever chemical it pleases, but so long as it uses FDA-approved vitamins, minerals, HGH and anabolic steroids, we suppose we’ll live.

[Thanks, Penny]

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Filed under: Storage

Most folks up in Madison are readying their face paint and stocking up on tailgating supplies, but the geeks among us (bless ‘em!) are focusing their attention on something much more relevant to your future RAID array. A team from UW-Madison (along with partners from Hitachi) is getting set to publish a report that details a patterning technology that could offer performance gains over current methods while reducing time and cost of manufacturing. The process builds on existing approaches by “combining the lithography techniques traditionally used to pattern microelectronics with novel self-assembling materials called block copolymers.” So, what does all this technobabble mean for you? Huge gains in density on patterned media, or if that’s still not straightforward enough, ginormous HDDs in the near future.

[Via Protein OS]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Far from being the first Blu-ray hybrid camcorder from Hitachi, the DZ-BD10HA ups the ante even further by tossing in a third format. Yep, this Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) camcorder can record to BD, SDHC or the 30GB hard drive. Additionally, you’ll find a 7-megapixel CMOS sensor, push-of-a-button dubbing from HDD / SDHC to Blu-ray, a host of editing functions, a transcoding feature to transfer HD videos to vanilla DVDs, face detection and optical image stabilization for good measure. The pain? $999 when it lands in North America next month.

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Filed under: Cellphones

For those still thinking that flexible displays are far from being widely accessible, think again. E Ink has just announced that its Vizplex Imaging Film-based displays will be used in handsets by Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications. For starters, the Hitachi W61H (already available) boasts a 2.7-inch E Ink display that can scroll through 96 different images whenever a call is received or the clamshell is cracked open; the Casio G’zOne (shown after the jump) will feature the same technology on its secondary “silhouette display.” Details beyond that are pretty scant, but the real news here is that these displays are finally making their way into reasonably affordable handsets. Open up the flood gates, we say.

[Via SlashPhone]

Continue reading E Ink fits Vizplex displays into Casio, Hitachi handsets

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Filed under: Storage

Hitachi sure does love some perpendicular recording, and in between making trippy videos about the tech, it seems like it’s busy improving it — the company just announced that it’s increased the max storage density of magnetic recording to 610Gb per square inch. That’s far denser than current techniques, and it could lead to a 2.5x increase in capacity for hard drives — and what’s more, Hitachi says it shows that hard drive capacities have the ability to increase at a rate of 40 percent annually for the foreseeable future. Looks like the Tera Era might actually be here, eh?

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Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets

Continue reading Hitachi Starboard FX 77 Duo white board gets demoed on video

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

We’re not saying it can’t be done, but you should have some considerable trouble managing to run out of room for your expertly-shot, highly-narrative vacation antics with Hitachi’s new DZ-BD10H camcorder, which records 1080p HD video to Blu-ray discs or to its built-in 30GB hard drive. There’s even an SD slot, which we aren’t positive you can record video to, but it’s a fair guess. Other specs include a 2.7-inch LCD and a 10x optical zoom. Price should be around $1,500 when it hits Japan on August 9, but no solid word on a US berth just yet.

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Filed under: Storage

We’re not too sure how the advertising director that green lit Hitachi’s bizarro perpendicular recording video is still on staff, but sure enough, he / she has been cut loose again as evidenced by the latest spot. We knew the outfit was pushing this whole “Dawn of the Tera Era” slogan with the introduction of its Deskstar 7K1000.B, but this is just taking things entirely too far. Fair warning: the video hosted after the jump contains cartoon scenes that could easily be used by D.A.R.E. officials looking to keep kids from trying drugs, but somehow we get the impression its just a plug for having lots of (Hitachi-branded) storage space. Hmmph.

[Thanks, Frederick]

Continue reading Hitachi promotional video highlights Tera Era, effects of hallucinogens

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless

Be still, our hearts! After watching the wireless HD / HDMI sector fumble along for years on end, a team of mega-corps have finally agreed to push their self-interests aside and collaborate on a standard. WHDI creator AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form “a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity” utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug. Nevertheless, the overriding goal here is to “enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, AV receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top-boxes, game consoles and PCs.” A tall order, sure, but one we’re elated to see taken on. Full release after the break.

Continue reading AMIMON, Motorola, Sony, et al. join hands on wireless HD standard

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Filed under: Storage

Remember the day you drooled all over your keyboard when Hitachi introduced a 1TB internal hard drive? Yeah, like a year and a half ago? The outfit’s most recent HDD announcement isn’t likely to have nearly the same effect, but those who skipped the first-gen version in order to get a more refined product the second go ’round will surely be delighted. Today marks the debut of the 1TB Deskstar 7K1000.B, which goes down as “the world’s most energy-efficient 7,200RPM one-terabyte hard drive.” Said drive features a new three-disk design which improves idle power consumption up to 43% over its 1TB predecessor, but unfortunately, there’s no telling how long you’ll have to wait to actually buy this currently unpriced overlord of storage.

[Via PCLaunches]

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Filed under: Household

While the rest of the world goes off to win the hearts of environmentalists (and laypeople, too) with LED light bulbs, Hitachi Lighting and Seiyu are taking the road (way) less traveled. Reportedly, the duo has collaborated in order to pop out a “bulb-shaped fluorescent lamp that can be separated into a lighting circuit unit and an arc tube unit.” What this means is that the lighting circuit can be used repeatedly (up to 30,000 hours) while the arc tube simply gets replaced every 10,000 hours. The pair is hoping that the bulbs will take the place of traditional 60-watt incandescents, and considering that these only draw around 13-watts each, it’s fairly easy to see how Mother Earth would just love you for making the switch. As for pricing, we’re hearing that these will sell for around ¥1,500 ($14) apiece when they launch this October in Japan, so don’t plan on recouping your investment in energy savings right away or anything.

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Filed under: Storage

Just when solid-state drives were about to catch up to the spinners, Hitachi has gone and announced that it is working on a 5TB hard drive. It says the drive should be available by 2010 in a 3.5-inch format and will use perpendicular CPP-GMR tech to achieve some serious density. Just to show off, Hitachi’s Yoshiro Shiroishi pointed out that the human brain has been estimated at (only?) around 10TB. So there we have it — we’re halfway to intellectual obsolescence. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

[Via TechDigest]

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Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment

Although the flood has calmed to a trickle, we’re still seeing a few more new projectors light up at InfoComm. The latest of which is Hitachi’s CP-WX625, a WXGA (1,366 x 768) beamer packing an HDMI socket, 4,000 ANSI lumens, integrated speaker, side-mounted hybrid filter, a lamp good for 3,000 hours or so of PowerPoint projecting and a handful of other inputs more likely to be found in the boardroom / classroom. Mum’s the word on a price or availability, but after one look at Samsung’s SP-A800B, it’s hard to really worry over units like this.

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Filed under: Displays

Look out — here’s comes a couple more snoozers from Hitachi. Sure, the CP-X206 and CP-X306 3LCD projectors will find their place in the wild, wild world, but with a 1,024 x 768 native resolution, that place isn’t apt to be your home theater. Respectively, you’ll find 2,200 and 2,600 lumens, while they both offer up a 500:1 contrast ratio, built-in 7-watt speaker and 29 dB noise rating in Whisper Mode. Clearly designed with classrooms and offices in mind, Hitachi threw in some swank anti-theft functionality, remote monitoring / management and a 2,000-hour hybrid filter. We’ve all been left out of the loop in regard to pricing, but it’s not like this thing just rocketed up your list of must-have gizmos, right?

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Filed under: Peripherals, Portable Video

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

You heard it right — Hitachi’s UltraThin 1.5 family that caused such a stir at CES is finally available for US consumers. Available in 32-, 37-, 42- and 47-inch sizes, the lot has been broken down into two distinct clans: the Director’s Series (X) and Ultra Vision (V) models. Each member of the former comes with a 2-year warranty and a sticker ranging from $1,999 to $4,699, while the latter gets a 1-year warranty and price tags between $1,799 and $4,499. Curiously enough, it seems that several sets (the UT47X902, UT47V702, UT32A302/W, UT32V502/W, UT42V702 and UT37V702) may actually not yet be ready for shipping judging by their July to September availability dates, but we’ll leave it to you to sort out the contradictions in Hitachi’s press release with your dealer. Hit the read link for more details, and hop on over to Engadget HD for a gallery of press shots.

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