Engadget Japanese at CEATEC JAPAN 2005

CEATEC JAPAN 2005 is well underway in Tokyo, and as expected, HD DVD and Blu-ray seem to be dominating the entire show. Besides some boring keynotes, Toshiba also conducted a bizarre demonstration of the Cell processor, and NTT DoCoMo was on hand to show off some interesting new cell phone technology such as the "Yubiwa," or "finger phone." We'll try and get up a bit of the hardcore biz soon, but for now peep some of the goings on at the show (or Akihabara's coverage, for that matter).

This colorful character was the subject of a demonstration of the Cell processor over in Toshiba?s booth. Yeah, we?re not too sure either.

KDDI has shelled out more than just a few bucks developing fuel cell technology for use in mobile phones. The above it is a ?fuel cell recharging station,? which we presume isn?t much more than a vat of methanol (if anything at all).

Toshiba has also actively been developing fuel cell technology. The above, even over a year since it was announced, still holds the title for ?world?s smallest fuel cell? in the Guiness Book of World Records.

NTT DoCoMo?s ?Yubiwa,? a play on words because ?Yubiwa? means ?ring? (like a wedding ?ring,? not a phone ?ring?) in Japanese, incorporates the company?s UbiButton technology to be a sort of ?finger phone.? The white thing you see there is the entirety of the phone ? to answer it, you tap your index finger on your thumb in a certain rythm, and the phone will interpret this as an ?answer? command. When you?re done, tap in a different ringer, and it will hang up. How would you go about hearing someone talk to you with a finger in your ear? Bone conduction.

Of course as long as people need to get access to information besides someone?s voice, we?ll probably always need a screen in some capacity. The above is a demonstration of NTT DoCoMo?s new pedestrian navigation technology that implements GPS and satellite data to give you a better physical layout of your surroundings. It sounds strikingly similar to KDDI?s ?EZ Passenger Seat Navi? service, but the primary difference would be the use of satellite imagery.

So is it more expensive than a CompactFlash Beetle of similar capacity?

?do more with Blu? is the tagline for Blu-ray at the convention.

HD DVD didn?t seem to have a tagline of their own.? Maybe they couldn?t find anything to rhyme with HD DVD? ?HD DVD, not enough storage capacity for me!? Oh, wait.

Here?s a prototype unit of the HD DVD drive for laptops from Toshiba Samsung. Don?t think we didn?t try to swipe that disc they had sitting there.

This is Mr. Tsukamoto of Team Tsukamoto, who was walking around at the convention with a wearble computer more subtle than, um, most.