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Sanyo's latest Xacti Sound Recorder turns FM into MP3, won't critique your AT 40 addiction
Sanyo's latest Xacti, the charmingly titled Sound Recorder ICR-XRS120MF, is about the nicest looking voice recorder we've ever seen. It features stereo microphones on top to turn any sound into MP3 or Linear PCM and offers a suite of recording modes that will comprehensively capture anything from the sweet nothings of a lover to the sour blathering of a corporate meeting. When in its docking station (shown after the break) it can also capture audio over line-in and even record AM/FM programs with a built-in scheduler, meaning you'll never miss Seacrest's latest charming witticism. Sanyo hasn't listed a price yet, but is expecting to ship these to Japan before the end of the month.
Sanyo Xacti GH2, CG102, CG20 preview: full-HD cams for less than $230
We caught up with Sanyo and its recently announced, sub-$230 GH2, CG102 and CG20 high-def camcorders this morning, and have to say the company has done it again. While we didn't have enough time to test the video quality, for less than 300 bucks you sure can get a compact and solid feeling cam, regardless of which model your big heart desires. We're especially taken with the CG102 and GH2, which are virtually the same, only housed in two different form factors. Both record full HD 1080i60 videos, have 14 megapixel still cams and Sanyo's 12x "double-range zoom," which lets you switch between a wide-angle and telephoto zoom when shooting vids. Cleverly, the horizontally-built GH2 -- which can be ordered with an expansion lens -- now has two sets of record / stop controls for those that tend to hold the cam in different ways; one set is on the top and the other on the inside of the LCD pane. Those that don't want to shell out the extra $30 for the vertical CG102 can grab the $199 CG20, but keep in mind that it drops you down to 10 megapixels and nixes the dual zoom function. We're looking forward to thoroughly testing one of the $229 units in due time, but for now you can check out their sleek bods and buttons in the hands-on gallery below. %Gallery-88953%
Sanyo surrounds Tokyo with Eneloop charging stations and bikes to match
Renting a bike in most urban areas of the US is a difficult proposition. In Japan not only can you easily rent a bike, you can now rent an electric bike -- a solar powered electric bike to boot. Sanyo has dropped Eneloop stations on three locations around the Setagaya ward of Tokyo, each having 100 of the company's electric rides on offer for passers by to borrow (for a sadly undisclosed fee). When the bikes aren't being pedaled around town they'll sit in the station, being recharged by 46 square meters of solar panels that not only juice up batteries but also provide LED lighting for the station itself. While Sanyo does offer some solar stations for Eneloop owners, these look to be for renters only, meaning those who've bought their own will have to take themselves and their little baskets somewhere else. Update: Commenter camcavers managed to find this article that lists the price for a 12 hour rental (7am until 7pm) is 300 yen, or about $3.50, plus a 3500 yen deposit. That's a good deal for borrowing any bike, never mind one as expensive as these!
Sanyo Eneloop lite Ni-MH rechargeable batteries are cheap, less filling
If you're a gadget fan (and let's face it: you are) then there's simply no excuse for using disposable batteries. Environmental concerns aside, rechargeables have advanced such that it just makes economic sense to switch. We've been unapologetic fans of Sanyo's Eneloop series of Ni-MH batteries for years. Hell, we like any modern rechargeable that's sold fully charged and is capable of maintaining that state even after years inside the family junk drawer. Today, Sanyo is announcing its Eneloop lite series scheduled for a June 22nd launch in Japan with a global release set for sometime later. These cells are meant to tempt you by their relatively low, up-front purchase price of ¥780 (about $8.64) for a pair of 1.2V 950mAh AAs or ¥640 ($7.09) for a pair of 1.2V 550mAh AAAs -- each capable of about 2,000 recharges saving you at least $1,000 over their lifetime. They're not going to power your hotshoe flash but they will handle the relatively low to medium power requirements of all the remote controls in your life. Do it.
Sanyo's new SPL Eneloop hybrid bike charges on flats to pull you up hills
There comes a time in every bicyclist's life when you come to realize "I really don't want to pedal up that hill." For those riding a Sanyo Eneloop, they don't have to. The series of bikes has been getting more advanced over the years, and the new SPL models are the smartest yet. Whereas previous editions could only regeneratively charge themselves on downhills or when the brakes were applied, this new series can juice up while the rider is pedaling along on the flats. This presumably increases the rolling resistance somewhat but the new "Eco Charge Mode" is said to boost range by 53 percent. More importantly, a new chrome basket shows that this ride means business. It won't come cheap, though, shipping to Japanese pedalers on April 21 for ¥157,290, or about $1,800. For that kind of money we'll stick with our fleet of Huffy 10-speeds. %Gallery-86878%
Sanyo's ICR-PS605RM Xacti stereo recorder features six mics... for recording lots of stuff
Sure, you can have your little voice recorders if you like, but when you're ready to seriously up your game you have to talk to Sanyo. Indeed, the kids from Osaka have really gone and done it this time with their ICR-PS605RM Xacti stereo recorder. This bad boy features six microphones in a W-XY configuration, including an omni-directional stereo pair, an XY directional pair, and two directional mics for recording frequencies higher than 20,000Hz. Between this and its support for up to 96kHz / 24bit / 40,000Hz PCM sound files, we think that we can safely say that your extensive field recordings of Appalachian folksingers will sound better than ever (or, if you'd rather record MP3s, they have that covered as well). Also on tap is 4GB internal memory and a microSDHC slot. No word on a price, but you can look forward to seeing this one make its debut in Japan come April. Get a closer look at the break.
Sanyo rolls out GH2, CG102, CG20 1080i camcorders in the US
Sanyo just announced a trio of 1080i camcorders for Japan last week, and its now gotten official with some ever so slightly different model for the US, which look to just be the beginning of a new wave of Sanyo camcorders rolling out in the coming weeks and months. As you can see, these ones a bit more subdued than their brightly colored Japanese counterparts, and Sanyo has naturally changed the model names to keep everyone on their toes (they're now the VPC-GH2, VPC-CG102, and VPC-CG20). You'll still get the same 1080i video and either 14- or 10-megapixel still images as before, along with a somewhat unique 12x "double-range zoom" on the GH2 and CG102, which apparently lets you switch between a wide-angle and telephoto zoom for videos. Sure, full 1080p would have been nice, but it's hard to complain too much with prices of $229 and $199.
Sanyo bungs 23x optical zoom into Xacti DMX-SH11, Full HD into DMX-CG110
Ever tried operating a handheld cam at 20x optical zoom? Without a tripod, your recordings tend to look like they were taken in the middle of an earthquake, so quite frankly, we ain't so wildly impressed with Sanyo's 23x-rated SH11 camcorder -- okay, we are, but we thought we'd inform you that that silly large number comes with limited use scenarios. Freshly announced, carrying 16GB of internal storage, and coming to Japan in late April, this is part of Sanyo's Dual Camera series, as its CMOS sensor is capable of 4 megapixel stills as well as 1080i / 30fps video in MPEG-4 format. It'll be joined there by the pistol grip-shaped CG110, which improves on the previous CGs by moving up to Full HD recording, adding 16GB of built-in storage, and even supporting SDXC cards. Check the source links for more.%Gallery-83987%
Boost gets back into CDMA game in a big way
In the "press releases we missed while going out of our gourds on the show floor at CES" department, Sprint's Boost Mobile is getting back into CDMA in a big way this month. It wasn't long ago that Boost swore off its CDMA tendencies as iDEN started to heat up again against all odds -- thanks largely to the release of hot (well, hot by iDEN standards, anyway) devices like the Stature -- but CDMA makes a lot more sense now that the parent company has scooped up Virgin and smartly has no interest in running two separate, unrelated prepaid divisions. Anyhow, the gist of the announcement is that Boost will be reinvesting heavily in its $50 monthly unlimited plan for CDMA devices and has brought on three inaugural handsets to help kick it off: the Mirro and Incognito (pictured) from Sanyo alongside the venerable BlackBerry Curve 8330. The Mirro features a slick, mirrored finish (hence the name, we suspect) along with a 1.3 megapixel cam; it clocks in at $99.99. The Incognito steps up to $149.99 with a hidden set of external controls, a 2 megapixel cam, a full QWERTY keyboard inside -- it's got social network integration, to boot, and users can add 3G data to their plan for another $10 a month. Same goes for the 8330, which retails for $249.99; all three prices seem high until you remember that Boost doesn't do contracts. All three handsets are available now.
Sanyo Xacti VPC-CS1 hands-on: a full 1080p camcorder in your pocket
At first glance, the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CS1 is thin. Really thin. We got to play around with the tiny camcorder, and fell in love with the form factor. It's much thinner than our older Xacti, and we had no problem slipping it into our pocket -- though getting out the door of Sanyo's meeting room with it was another matter altogether. Wait, did we mention it's thin? %Gallery-82323%
Funai, Panasonic, Sanyo, Sharp and Toshiba to launch Netflix-enabled HDTVs or Blu-ray decks
Having Netflix access on your home entertainment device was a luxury in 2009 -- in 2010, it'll be commonplace. We already heard yesterday that Sharp was fixing to integrate the service into its NetCast library, and today the prolific movie rental service has announced that Funai (which distributes Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania and Emerson brands), Panasonic, Sanyo, Sharp and Toshiba will all be introducing Netflix-ready devices this year. That means that each of those outfits will be pushing out Netflix-enabled HDTVs of Blu-ray Disc players in the year 2010, so you can plan on being in quite the pickle here soon if intentionally shopping for one of those two that doesn't have access to your Watch Instantly queue. In fact, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has been quoted as saying that he expects "instant streaming of movies from Netflix to be available on more than one hundred different partner products in 2010," so we're pretty confident that Coby and Hannspree will be joining the fray in short order.
Sanyo's Xacti VPC-CS1 HD camcorder vies for 'world's smallest' title
Working to be an even more pocketable pocket camcorder, Sanyo's shrunk the front of its latest Xacti model to measure just 1.06 inches at its widest point while still recording 1080p video. The VPC-CS1 captures in MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 and is currently undergoing official certification to support iFrame. Images tout 8 megapixels, zoom up to 10x, and storage via SDXC cards. Release date and price? Let's just say February and a penny under $300.
Sanyo Xacti VPC-SH1 full HD camcorder with wide-angle lens announced
Sanyo's just let out details on the Xacti VPC-SH1 ahead of its February launch. This full HD camcorder boasts an "industry's smallest, lightest, and thinnest class body" at just 7.2 ounces in weight and 1.69 inches in thickness. At the same time, you get a 35mm wide-angle effect through the magic of enlarged sensor area -- full HD is only two megapixels while this Xacti uses a 3.5-megapixel area in video mode. You get the usual H.264 goodness here, but Sanyo's taken one step further by applying for iFrame certification to keep the few adventurous users happy. $399.99 isn't bad for this spec and form factor -- the bulkier FH1A from last October cost an extra Benjamin, for instance, but there's no harm in waiting for some sample videos and 10-megapixel photos before smashing our piggy bank.
VUDU coming to Sharp, Toshiba, adds tons of new apps
The folks over at VUDU have been very busy apparently, not only have deals been struck to get VUDU onto new Sharp, Sanyo, and Toshiba HDTVs and Blu-ray players, but there are also 100 new apps for select models -- TV manufactures like LG can decide not to support the Apps even though the VUDU movie streaming is supported. The list is pretty extensive, but many of the names look iffy -- more like show names than apps -- so we'll hold back on judgement until after we've gotten a chance to try them first hand. There are some that piqued our interest though; like Twitter, Facebook and Weather. Check out the entire list for yourself after the break.
Sanyo's Eneloop music booster keeps stage musicians effect-ed
If there's even a faint need for a recharging solution, there's a decent shot that Sanyo will have an Eneloop device to fit the situation. Take the newly announced music booster, for instance, which is designed to sit alongside your Tube Screamer, TU-2 Chromatic Tuner and RV600 Reverb Machine in order to keep the juice flowin' even if a breaker trips mid-solo. Truthfully, the device could be used to energize pretty much anything that taps into a 9V power source, and if you're concerned over noise interference, Sanyo assures us that you shouldn't be. The unit -- which goes on sale in March 2010 -- can be fully regenerated in around 3.5 hours, and depending on the drain of the device(s) it's powering, can keep things going for anywhere between 2 and 50 hours. Rock on, as they say.
Panasonic and new best friend Sanyo plan one week storage battery for the home
One of the big obstacles in alternative energy is that some of its primary gathering mechanisms -- solar, wind, reclaimed heat -- aren't continuously available, so no matter how much of a science lab you have bolted to your roof, you still might run out of TV electricity during a calm night's Curb Your Enthusiasm marathon. Well, Panasonic's recent buy of Sanyo brought with it some choice battery tech, and the newly joined companies think they can be the first to build and ship a storage battery for home use. The plan is to release the lithium-ion cell in 2011, with enough juice in it to power a home for a week (a Japanese home, we presume), and the battery will be paired with a system to allow the user to monitor electricity usage on their TV. Of course, fuel cells have traditionally been looked to as the great home energy storage hope, but we doubt any will be able to compete with the tried-and-true lithium-ion by the time 2011 rolls around.
Panasonic now in control of Sanyo, promises to be nice
It sure took awhile, but Panasonic now has controlling interest of Japan's beleaguered Sanyo Corporation. After shareholders approved the deal last year, the partnership became mired in anti-trust concerns across the globe. That was then -- today the company founded by Konosuke Matsushita is the proud owner of 50.19% of Sanyo for the bargain price of ¥404 billion ($4.6 billion). That gives Panny access to Sanyo's battery (some of which was sold off to appease regulators) and solar technology as well as its unsurpassed ability for making dull and matronly consumer electronics. Everybody wins!
Sanyo's Eneloop Kairo hand warmers just barely beat Old Man Winter to America
Sanyo's Eneloop line of wares have been slowly but surely crossing the Atlantic (or the Pacific, depending on the preferred route of the day) for some time now, but the all-too-enticing Eneloop Kairo has managed to stay far, far away from North America. Until now, of course. As winter sets in across much of the mainland, Sanyo has just started selling the hand warmers to frigid Yanks. The KIR-SE1S is a single-sided, egg-shaped device that ships in white and pink hues, while the double-sided KIR-SL2S (available in silver and pink) is designed to heat those who feel as if they're living life within an icebox. The single-sided version promises up to four hours of warmth on a full charge, while the two-sided model delivers one to three hours depending on what setting you select. Check 'em out soon for $34.99 and $44.99 in order of mention.
Sanyo releases new, Motion Plus-approved, contact-free Eneloop Wiimote charger
If you ran out last year and bought one of Sanyo's Eneloop Wiimote chargers, the first to be officially approved by Nintendo and to allow charging whilst that ludicrously thick rubber cover was still in place, you were probably a bit bummed when it was obsoleted by the Motion Plus. Sanyo has a fix: you can now run out and buy a new charger! Yes, you too can help fuel the economy by tossing a perfectly functional yet now useless accessory into the trash and replacing it with something that does exactly the same thing with a little extra room at the bottom. Like before it's USB-powered and charges via induction, so no contacts are required, though there are now cavities for two Wiimotes rather than just one. No mention of a US release, but it'll be hitting Japan sometime next month for ¥7,400 -- about $80.
Eneloop Stick Booster supplies emergency power to your portable devices
Any time a company both enables our gadget addiction and discourages wanton battery consumption we have to consider it a good thing -- and, indeed, Sanyo's wicked-rechargeable Eneloop batteries already have quite a few fans here at Engadget HQ. But what's a busy gadget hound to do on the go, you ask? Try this one on for size: the Eneloop Stick Booster ships with two AAs and can be used to charge them, via any USB source. From that point the device can be used to power your PMP for roughly 90 minutes. How great is that? To be released in Japan on December 1 for an unspecified price, and worldwide whenever the company sees fit. PR after the break.