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kohjinsha posts

Kohjinsha PA series tablet ships in November, value not guaranteed

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 26th 2009 at 9:27AM

Kohjinsha had a slew of portables on display at CEATEC earlier this month, including the classification-bending PA. Its design fits in somewhere between a MID and a tablet netbook, with its 4.8-inch, 1024 x 600 touchscreen and 1.33GHz Atom processor, but now we're learning that it's price roughly equates to a netbook and a MID. The device hits Japan early next month for ¥69,800, about $770. That's certainly not cheap, but if you need one elsewhere you're probably going to need to go through an importer, and their prices are ¥79,800 and up. That's about $870. Yikes.

Kohjinsha PA and PM series hands-on (video)

by Ross Miller posted Oct 7th 2009 at 10:58AM

Dual-panel netbooks weren't the only takeaway from Kohjinsha's CEATEC booth, as the company also had on hand a pair of sleek MIDs. Both lightweight, Windows XP-powered touchscreen portables, the PA boasted a 4.8-inch swivel display with 1024 x 600 resolution, a 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 with 512MB RAM, a 32GB SSD , and a sleek industrial design. The PM is actually a bit old hat now, living a double life as the mbook M1. Still, both had very responsive screens and decent front-mount cameras, and although we still can't get the hang of the tiny keyboards, it's par for the course in the field of MIDs. Brief video hands-on after the break.

Gallery: Kohjinsha PA and PM series hands-on

Continue reading Kohjinsha PA and PM series hands-on (video)

Kohjinsha dual-screen swivel netbook prototype hands-on (video)

by Ross Miller posted Oct 6th 2009 at 6:13AM

Sure, gScreen is slowly mastering the art of grainy video teasers with its dual-panel portable, but here at its CEATEC booth, Kohjinsha's got quite a looker of its own, on display in a very clear and well-lit case. We're looking at two 10.1-inch LCDs each capable of outputting at either 1024 x 600 or 1366 x 768 resolution, and if one is all you need, it's a sliding mechanism to hide the other monitor. What's more, the base of it swivels, although we didn't get to see it twist behind 15 degrees so we're not sure the extent of its flexibility. Powering the DirectX 10-compatible little guy is an AMD Athlon MV-40, along with a 2.5-inch SATA HDD, up to 4GB DDR2 memory, and Windows 7 Home Premium, all for a hair under four pounds. There is a bit of bulk in its height, about 1.7 inches at its tallest and 0.75 inches at its shortest, but that's something we're willing to live with considering the value we're getting with the screens. The rep we spoke with says it's still in prototype phase at this point with no price or release date on the books, unfortunately, and the battery life is something of a mystery -- we can't imagine powering two bright displays is doing its energy reserves any favor. Video after the break.

Gallery: Kohjinsha dual panel netbook prototype hands-on

Continue reading Kohjinsha dual-screen swivel netbook prototype hands-on (video)

Kohjinsha rebrands mbook M1, calls it the PM series UMPC

by Darren Murph posted Sep 10th 2009 at 3:05AM

Hey, remember that cute little mbook M1 that was all the rage earlier this year? Yeah, you're looking at it again, only this time it's sporting a cleaner look and a Kohjinsha badge. The rebranded UMPC gets powered by a 1.1GHz Atom N510 CPU and also features 512MB of RAM, a 16GB SSD, 4.8-inch LCD (1,024 x 600), 1.3 megapixel camera, USB 2.0, a microSDHC expansion slot, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and a headphone jack. It doesn't appear to tout any sort of inbuilt WWAN, though the included battery should last for right around seven hours before petering out. The only problem? That Texas-sized ¥59,800 ($647) price tag, which should do a commendable job of hindering widespread adoption.

[Via Pocketables]

Kohjinsha's 11.6-inch EX6 convertible tablet says XP, means Windows 7

by Thomas Ricker posted Aug 20th 2009 at 3:36AM

With Windows 7 on the horizon, multi-touch support in tow, people are suddenly interested in tablets all over again; a form factor that didn't quite revolutionize portable computing as envisioned by an enthusiastic Bill Gates showing that first prototype way back in 2001. And with an Apple event just weeks away (presumably), fanboys of both persuasions seem convinced that tablets are once more the future of mobile computing. Manufacturers are certainly on board. Case in point: Kohjinsha, that just announced its EX6 convertible tablet with 1366x768 pixels slathered across a 11.6-inch LED-backlit ~~capacitive~~ resistive touchscreen. Inside you'll find a 1.6GHz Atom N270 and 945GSE chipset, up to 2GB of memory and 160GB of disk, 802.11n WiFi, gigabit Ethernet, a pair of front and back-facing cameras, 2600mAh battery, 2x USB, and slots for SDHC/microSDHC, ExpressCard 34 cards, and even DVDs. Unfortunately, it'll be shipped with XP when it hits retail at the end of this month for ¥59,800 (about $635) -- something we expect you'll rectify on October 22nd. As to whether it'll support multi-touch under Win7, well, anybody see the appropriate sticker?

Bandai RilakKuma netbook suffers from serious supercuteitis

by Vladislav Savov posted Jul 13th 2009 at 8:55AM

The RilakKuma is what's known in the business as a money-printing device. It might have the same spec -- Atom N270, 1GB memory and 160GB storage -- as every netbook since the time of Moses, but its killer feature is a set of eyes and whiskers painted on the lid. Having once already cashed in on popular children's characters, Bandai is clearly not shy about exploiting its intellectual assets in peddling outdated 8.9-inch 1024x600 displays to the undemanding youth. Only 500 units will be produced, making this a pretty exclusive item and the price is unsurprisingly steep: ¥79,800 ($862). Integrated WiFi and a 1Seg tuner go some way toward rationalizing the cost, but let's be frank, rationality doesn't play a huge role in a purchase like this.

Kohjinsha SK3 convertible UMPC adds Windows 7 support, excitement, and danger

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jun 22nd 2009 at 12:23PM

We know what you're thinking: sure, lime green netbooks are fun, but when is Kohjinsha going to revisit that dapper little SC3 convertible UMPC that won our hearts way back in the summer of '08? You're so predictable -- and you're in luck! According to the cats at a little UMPC portal we like to call UMPC Portal, the newly re-jiggered Kohjinsha SK3 sports subtle design differences (including a new WiFi module that brings 802.11n to the table), but otherwise the same ol' 1.3GHz Menlow processor, GPS, SD card slot, VGA out, and LAN of its predecessor. If that weren't enough, this device contains two cameras and Windows 7 support. No word yet on price or a release date on this beauty -- or whether or not it will sport a HDD or SSD drive. But we do have one more lovely promo shot for you after the break.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Kohjinsha SK3 convertible UMPC adds Windows 7 support, excitement, and danger

Kohjinsha offers up colorful line of ML6 netbooks

by Darren Murph posted Mar 27th 2009 at 7:08AM

You could guess the specifications with your eyes closed -- a 1.6GHz Intel Atom, 1,024 x 600 resolution panel, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, WiFi, Windows XP and a battery good for around 4.7 hours -- but at least Kohjinsha busted out the paint gun on its ML6 netbook. The 8.9-inch Japanese rig is available in a whole slew of colors including black, white, gold, blue, pink and a few other hues that only Crayola experts could explain, and the inclusion of audio in / out sockets and an ExpressCard slot adds just a wee bit of personality. Of course, we're none too impressed with the ¥38,900 ($393) price tag, but we guess that's the premium you pay for such a wide variety of color options.

[Via Pocketables]

Kohjinsha livens up netbook game with shockingly green Gachapin edition

by Darren Murph posted Feb 8th 2009 at 9:03PM

Generally speaking, Kohjinsha is better known for its dabbling in the UMPC / convertible tablet arenas than netbooks, but there's nothing like a retina-searing lime green shell to bring attention to your latest. Reportedly, the outfit has teamed up with famed toy maker Bandai in order to create a Gachapin and Mukku netbook aimed at kids with no sense of style and a simple desire to smile at all times during the day. As for specs, everything's pretty much par for the course, with a 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, 160GB HDD, 8.9-inch display (1,024 x 600 resolution), WiFi, a 3-in-1 card reader, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and 1GB of RAM. We must say, the inclusion of a 1Seg digital TV tuner is a nice touch, and one we're sure your TV-loving youngsters will greatly appreciate. The bad news is that this rig is selling for a whopping ¥79,800 ($866), so you can be certain those fuzzy cartoon characters are getting some serious royalties.

[Via PortableMonkey]

Kohjinsha SX3 gets reviewed on video

by Paul Miller posted Aug 8th 2008 at 12:10PM

The WOW-POW folks gave us our first taste of the Kohjinsha SC3 on video, and now they're back with the SX3KP06MA convertible "UMPC" (SX3 for short) in a full video review. We'll let you watch the 10 minute review at your leisure, but in summary they found the computer faster than its SC3 sibling, despite identical Atom chipsets, and are of course general fans of the DVD-RW drive, 1280 x 768 glossy screen and pretty much all things Kohjinsha. Video is... wait for it... after the break.

[Thanks, Larry]

Continue reading Kohjinsha SX3 gets reviewed on video

Kohjinsha SC3 convertible UMPC hits the test bench

by Darren Murph posted Jul 19th 2008 at 8:50PM

Shortly after the Kohjinsha SC3 was removed from the comfy confines of its packaging and exposed for all to see, said UMPC has managed to get reviewed. Initially, impressions were quite positive, as the reviewer noted that build quality was "superb," the size was adorably small and the display satisfied all expectations. As for sheer performance, the Menlow-based rig excelled as it churned through applications with no huge lag issues; however, all that computing made the unit exceptionally warm, though it did remain quiet even when breaking a sweat. Battery life was shorter than advertised (only 2.5 hours), but aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot to gripe about. Think it's too good to be true? Head on down to the read link for videos, benchmarks and impressions.

Kohjinsha SC3 convertible UMPC gets unboxed on video

by Donald Melanson posted Jul 10th 2008 at 12:32PM

It's getting to be a bit hard to keep track of Kohjinsha's various UMPCs and UMPC-like devices these days, but the folks at WOW-POW have gotten their hands on one unit we haven't yet seen, and they've naturally unboxed it before the cameras for your pleasure. From the looks of it, this new SC3 model appears to be a slightly smaller version of the company's SX series of convertible tablets, with this one packing a 7-inch display in place of a 9-incher, along with the same 1.3GHz Atom processor, 60GB hard drive, and 1GB of RAM as its larger counterpart -- no optical drive here though, as you might have guessed. Head on past the break for the video.

Continue reading Kohjinsha SC3 convertible UMPC gets unboxed on video

Kohjinsha SX-series convertible tablet edges out of UMPC territory

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 23rd 2008 at 7:46PM

Kohjinsha's cranked out some interesting convertible UMPCs, but the new SX-series pushes the definition about as far as it can go with its chunky looks and packed feature set -- this bad boy is probably even too loaded / expensive to be properly called a netbook. You're looking at an 8.9-inch convertible tablet running Vista on a 1.33GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, a 60GB drive, built-in dual-layer DVD drive, WiFi, Ethernet, dual cameras, ExpressCard/34 slot, VGA out, 1seg tuner, card reader, and 2 USB ports, with a 4.2-hour battery life (8.2 hours with the extended unit), all in a 2.7-pound unit about an inch thick. Available soon in Japan for €650 ($1,000) to €850 ($1240) depending on options, let's hope it follows some of Kohjinsha's other devices to our fair shores.

[Via jkkmobile]

Kohjinsha's SR8KPO6S UMPC makes room for optical drive

by Darren Murph posted Apr 10th 2008 at 9:52AM

Kohjinsha's UMPCs have remained largely unchanged over the years -- an SSD here, Intel CPU boost here -- but the firm's latest has managed to accomplish something few UMPCs would even dream of. That's right, this 7-incher includes a full-fledged dual-layer DVD writer, which tags along nicely with the 1,024 x 600 resolution LED-backlit panel, 1.3-megapixel camera, 60GB hard drive, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth and 800MHz A110 processor. It's also filled with 1GB of DDR2 RAM, Ethernet, a duo of USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, audio in / out, 3-in-1 multicard reader and a pair of battery options promising 3.5 / 7.2 hours of life. The 2.4-pound machine looks to be available at the end of this month (albeit rebadged as a Vye Mini-V S37) for around $1,500.

[Via Ubergizmo]

Kohjinsha's new L and V-series UMPCs get GPS, higher screen resolutions

by Nilay Patel posted Jan 3rd 2008 at 12:41PM

Kohjinsha's UMPCs might have gotten a little overshadowed by the Eee, but the company is making a renewed push with two new models. The new L series replaces the SA series, retaining the aging AMD Geode chipset but upgrading the keyboard and bumping the touchscreen resolution to 1024x600, while the V series replaces the K series, keeping the Intel A110 chipset but adding GPS and a 7mm optical drive. Both models should be shipping in the middle of the month, but there's no word on pricing -- we'll let you know if we hear any numbers at CES.

[Via jkkmobile]