Wansegu
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Sharp intros teeny, tiny digital TV tuner
Everyone wants digital OTA TV on their cell phones, right? We sure do and are glad to see Sharp making that dream come true for at least part of the world. Their latest creation crams all the goods into a tiny 1.3x1.3x1.25 mm chip which only uses 85mW of power. Unfortunately, this little guy isn't headed to the States though, thanks to our ATSC digital standard - the VA3A5JZ912 only works with Japanese "Wansegu broadcasts." In other words, this OneSeg or ISDB-T tuner simply will not work over here due to our type of digital broadcasts. ATSC tuners are getting smaller by the press release, so hopefully sometime soon we too can watch TV on our cell phones without paying a provider. Just because you can watch TV on your cell phone though, doesn't mean anything good is going to be on.[Via I4U]
Toshiba Gigabeat V30T: a Portable Media Center with mobile TV
While we've been patiently waiting for the US launch of the Gigabeat S (set for release today tomorrow according to Amazon), Toshiba has been quietly prepping their new Gigabeat V series of Windows Portable Media Centers. Sure, the V30T player looks nothing like its sleeker sib, but that's due to the fact that this portable flaunts a new Wansegu (AKA, OneSeg) ISDB-T tuner for viewing the Japanese-flavor of mobile digital television launched last month -- in other words, the T-DMB / DVB-H / MediaFLO of Japan. Now on top of extracting that sweet TV from the ether, the V30T features a 3.5-inch, 320 x 240 display, support for WMV/WMA/MP3/WAV/JPEG and PlaysForSure WMA formats, and a brawny battery capable of up to 7/9/25 hours of TV/video/music playback, respectively, while keeping it all less than an inch thick. But this is all about the TeeVee Jack, so the V30T packs in a 30GB drive which, when combined with the EPG, allows you to record broadcasts up to 24 hours in advance for a maximum of about 130 hours of recorded, portable video. Expect the V30T to drop late June for about $450 in green.[Via Impress Watch]
