Sanyo's got a new duo of projectors hitting the Japanese market today, the LP-XC55 and LP-XC50. Both beamers boast white motifs, a boisterous 7-watt internal speaker, 1,024 x 768 resolution, a security bar enabling extra thick cabling to hold it in place and the Active Maintenance Filter system for easy maintenance. Essentially, the latter enables the filter to last longer between changes and "automatically senses when airflow is obstructed by dust, and advances the cartridge to the new filter." The only notable difference between the two is the 3,100 ANSI lumens (XC55) / 2,600 ANSI lumens (XC50), and of course, the ¥365,400 ($3,529) / ¥312,900 ($3,022) price tags.

[Via AboutProjectors]

Details are fuzzy right now -- and what details there are have been officially denied -- but the Japanese press is having a bit of a field day over the possibility of a Sanyo selloff to Matsushita / Panasonic. Apparently Goldman Sachs, Sumitomo, and Daiwa own some 67% of Sanyo's equity, and as Japanese paper Yomiuri reports, are looking at the possibility of transferring said equity to or otherwise forming a partnership with Matsushita. Again, both Matsu and Sanyo are denying the report as of now, so it's all still up in the air as the salarymen figure out whether to combine both companies to make a corporate entity larger than even Hitachi (which currently sits at the top of Japan's heap).

Update: Panasonic (aka, Matsushita Electric Industrial) just issued the following statement: "These reports are not based on any official announcement by MEI, and there is no fact that MEI is considering on the alliance." Not exactly a denial is it?

[Via Engadget Japanese, thanks Theirry]

Presumably ensuring that no one views Sanyo as hypocritical, the company's Superbright PLC-ET30L actually can throw up a fairly recognizable image even in a well-lit room. Featuring an SXGA+ (1,400 x 1,050) resolution, a 1,300:1 contrast ratio and a remarkably high 4,200 ANSI lumen rating, this PJ was undoubtedly designed to function in classrooms and boardrooms (or living rooms) that just can't avoid ambient light. Additionally, Sanyo's introducing the lower-spec'd PLC-XT21/L, which offers up an XGA (1,024 x 768) resolution, 1:000:1 contrast ratio and 4,000 ANSI lumens. Both newcomers to the T series line support wired networking and emit just 35dB of fan noise, but being priced at $6,495 and $4,995 (respectively), the duo is most definitely cut out for the corporate card and not your own.

Fresh out of the FCC's lair comes a new pair of QChat-enabled mobiles ready to launch on Sprint: Sanyo's Pro-200 and Pro-700. Unsurprisingly getting official at CTIA, the pair of Nextel Direct Connect devices can handle all the hot PTT action you could ask for, and while the Pro-200 (shown above) checks in with Bluetooth, messaging capabilities and mobile e-mail, the beefier brother (pictured after the jump) touts a ruggedized shell "certified to military standards for dust, shock and vibration." Curiously, the duo is only expected to go on sale in "limited markets" this month, with availability popping up elsewhere in due time; those eager to get their chirp on can plan on dropping $49.99 / $69.99 on contract, respectively.

[Thanks, Colton]

Though not quite as posh as the Xacti HD2, Sanyo's DMX-CG9 is still apt to satisfy those in no hurry to make the leap to high-def. The handheld camcorder arrives in white, black, silver and pink motifs and features a 2.5-inch flip-out LCD, 5x optical zoom lens and a 9.1-megapixel CMOS sensor that captures stills when not logging clips (640 x 480 at 60fps maximum) of everyday life in MPEG-4 AVC / H.264. You'll also find a digital image stabilizer, wind noise reduction and PictBridge compatibility, and you can load in any spare SD / SDHC card in order to stockpile footage. No word on a price just yet for this entry-level unit, but those shacked up in Japan can look for it to land in late April.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

With all these projectors running around claiming to be the world's smallest, it's hard to say who's really being truthful anymore. Nevertheless, Sharp seems pretty confident that its 55- x 264- x 188-millimeter LP-XW60 LCD projector is in fact the most compact in its class. Whatever the case, there's no denying that thing is mighty small, and features wise, you find a 1,024 x 768 resolution, 400:1 contrast ratio, built-in one-watt speaker, 2,000 lumens, audio in / out and a VGA video output for good measure. We've no idea if this one will ever make it outside of Japan, but for those shacked up over there, get ready to grab one in late April for a staggeringly high ¥207,900 ($2,028).

[Via FarEastGizmos]

Sanyo just made official what's been rumored since August: the sale of its troubled cellphone division to Kyocera. The deal is set for completion on April 1st at a value of about $350 million. The deal involves about 2,000 employees moving from Sanyo's mobile phone operation to Kyocera where they can reminisce with ex-Qualcommers about the good ol' days.

Make no mistake, the whole "only 3-inches needed for a 80-inch image" bit got us pretty jazzed up, so we couldn't skip the opportunity to take a look at the PLC-XL50 all setup and proving itself at CES. Sure, crawling all up under the table to get a closer look was heavily frowned upon, but it was totally worth it. Peep the pics below!

Sure, Sanyo's PLC-XL50 only features a 1,024 x 768 resolution, 2,000 lumens and a 4:3 aspect ratio, but all of that matters quite a bit less once you realize that it can beam out an 80-inch image with just 3-inches of space. You heard right kiddos, this thing only needs three tiny inches to totally take over your wall, and subsequently, the mounting options here are nearly endless. Additionally, it sports a built-in mono speaker, VGA input / output, audio in / out and a price tag of $3,295. Quite the premium for the short-throw goodness, eh?

[Via VisualApex]

Yes, she's likely small, just not that small. Instead, you're looking at a new 9,000 lumen commercial projector from Sanyo -- the world's brightest dual-lamp LCD for business use. Measuring 20.8 x 29.8 x 10.6-inches and 61-pounds, the 1,024 x 768 resolution LP-XF70 boasts the world's first two-lamp, three-mirror, photosynthesis technology and Active Maintenance Filter system said to minimize maintenance. It offers a 37% decrease in power use when compared to Sanyo's existing business model while increasing light efficiency by 160%. Better yet, the projector can achieve its 330W output from plain ol' 100V AC -- no need to run a special 200V circuit just for the projector. A widescreen-XGA LP-WF20 projector capable of just 6,000 lumens was also announced. The ￥3,675,000 (about $33k) XF70 will be available in Japan on January 11th while the WF20 hits on January 21st for ￥2,625,000 (about $23,500).

[Via Fareastgizmos]

For a couple seconds there we couldn't quite figure out what we'd do with a waterproof portable TV to call our very own, since jogging through the rain while watching our favorite shows on 1seg seems a little bit melodramatic, but Sanyo says its aiming this LVT-WD40 thing at bathroom and kitchen usage, which makes a bit more sense. Features are pretty standard, the 4-inch LCD sports a 480 x 272 resolution, and Sanyo claims about six hours of battery life. Unfortunately, while the player can be used anywhere -- including being fully submerged in a bathtub -- its media capabilities seems to be more limited, since there's no media compatibility to speak of beyond the standard 1seg TV access. This one's selling on the 21st in Japan for 50,000 yen ($453 US).

[Via Impress Watch]

Sanyo's line of Xacti camcorders have traditionally looked mighty fine on paper, but for one reason or another, expectations haven't exactly been met on the previous iterations. The firm's latest pistol-grip device yet again looked superb at a glance, but TrustedReviews found that the VPC-HD1000 still wasn't able to live up to its claims. On the upside, reviewers found the design to be "much improved," and the Full HD recording abilities were drooled over as well. Still, the crew couldn't help but be disappointed in the paltry four-megapixel CMOS sensor, and while it did perform "better than its predecessors" as a camcorder, the optical zoom was tagged as "slow," colors seemed slightly oversaturated and you'll still need "plenty of light" in order to get halfway decent results. Furthermore, it was noted that quick changes in scenery caused noticeable pixilation, and shooting in low-light introduced "a lot" of grain. Overall, the HD1000 wasn't totally slammed nor lifted up on a pedestal, but we'd probably hold off on this unless you're cool with a "jack of two trades, but master of neither."

This certainly won't go down as the first underfloor robot we've heard about, but apparently, Sanyo's aiming to use all these fantastic ideas to actually bring a product to market. The fairly attractive bot is designed to cruise underneath apartment buildings, offices and essentially any other place of residence to check for structural damage, and it boasts integrated sensors that enable it to avoid obstacles while on duty. Apparently, the creation -- which can scoot about for just over two hours on a full charge -- can beam back live video of what it sees, and landlords can zoom in on curious spots to find out if there are indeed any problems that need attention. Unfortunately, we're hearing that it won't be on sale till next year, but it shouldn't cost much more than ¥1,000,000 ($8,736) when it finally arrives -- which, by our estimation, is a small price to pay to avoid months of back problems and terrifying encounters with all sorts of rodents.

[Via AkihabaraNews]