Back when we were students, the only things our dictionaries could do were weigh down our backpacks and act as a home base during kickball. It’s no secret that, like everything else, the Japanese have had better study aid options. Now not one, but three manufacturers announced new additions to their respective mega-dictionary handhelds: Seiko in conjunction with Franklin, and Canon. First up is Seiko’s and Franklin’s SII by Franklin DB-J990 which defies category conventions and opts for a slider design reminiscent of the Vaio UX rather than the usual clamshell. In addition to MP3 audio playback and support for common eBook formats, RSS, Word, and Powerpoint, it contains ten dictionaries, including The Princeton Review’s “Cracking the TOEIC” test preparation, and boasts full PC connectivity, allowing users to access and manipulate all the information on their handheld from their computer (for instance, annotating words you’re having difficulty with). Not to be outdone, Canon is offering a pair of dictionaries which also have MP3 playback: the Wordtank V300 ($471) and the Wordtank M300 ($386). Both devices have 38 reference guides in five subject areas, some with text-to-speech ensuring proper pronunciations. There is also a built-in voice recorder, so you can compare your articulation against the device’s. The only differing factor between the two Wordtanks are in screen size and battery life: the V300 donning a 4.9-inch screen with 80 hours to the charge, versus the M300′s 3.78-inch screen and 107 hours of life. Both Wordtanks should be available in Japan come February 2, and the DB-J990, which will retail for $295, will also be available in next month. For those not turned off by the usual not-for-the-U.S. disclaimer, you can peep pics of Canon’s devices are after the break.

Read – SII by Franklin DB-J990
Read – Canon Wordtank M300
Read – Canon Wordtank V300

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Prepare to kick your pathetic, 3x optical zoomer to the curb kids. Olympus just announced what they are calling the world’s first, wide 18x optical zoom on a compact digital camera. The SP-550 UZ features a smokin’ 28-504mm (35mm camera equivalent) focal length with “Dual-Image stabilization” (high 6,400 ISO value combined with CCD-based mechanical image stabilizer) to protect against blurring. The 7.1 megapixel CCD is joined on the feature list by a 2.5-inch 230,000 pixel LCD, 15fps high-burst rate in 1.2 megapixel resolution, BrightCapture low light shooting technology, a super macro mode for taking shots as close as 1-cm, and xD-Picture Cards support with 4x AA batteries providing the juice. Available February 2007 for an estimated street price of $500.

Gallery: Olympus SP-550 UZ: a compact monster with 18x optical zoom

   

[Thanks, David]
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Hitachi’s Wooo DZ-HS503 hyrbid camcorder just busted out a can of Wooopass (har!) on the competition. Yeah, “hybrid” as in it records to both an internal 30GB hard disk drive and 8-centimeter DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, and DVD+RW discs. It will even record direct from that HDD to DVDs for 2x PC-less dubbing action. It appears to be the Japanese version of the DZ-HS500A mentioned in passing by Hitachi at CES. Inside you’ll find a 3.31 megapixel CCD (suitable for 2.18 megapixel video or 3.05 megapixel stills), a lesser 10x optical zoom instead of 30x since the Japanese tend to be less creepy than Americans (ok, maybe not), a 2.7-inch 120,000 pixel TFT LCD, and even an SD slot for photographs. Expect the HS503 to hit for retail at about Â¥140,000 or right around $1,162 — beaucoup bucks for convenience over the quality of a 3CCD system. Also loosed are the Japanese equivs of the 8GB HDD / DVD hybrid DZ-HS301 and DZ-HS303 camcorders which shall hail by the names DZ-HS403 and DZ-HS401 in the land of the rising sun. Those will pop a bit sooner in February for Â¥120,000 ($996) and Â¥100,000 ($830), respectively.

[Via Impress]
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