Aug 23rd - Sharp introduced three new AQUOS Blu-Ray recorders with enhanced Wireless connectivity

Sharp announced yesterday three new AQUOS Blu-Ray recorder with the 2TB BD-W2000, 1TB BD-W1000 and 500GB BD-W500. While each models comes with basic features found on such products, they however integrate for the first time in these models, a SKYPerfectTV! Tuner, as well as the usual Digital ones, Wireless and DLNA connectivity as well as being now featuring Sharp’s “Wi-Fi Connection” that will allow to get direct access to all your recorded program from any Wired or Wireless compatible Sharp AQUOS TVs but also directly from your Sharp AQUOS Smartphone.
Working only within your home network this service could be a real killer if Sharp would at least let people stream contents on their tablets or phone on the go.

Aug 22nd - Sharp update its Android Clamshell Smartphone

Introduced early this may in Japan, the AQUOS Phone "The Hybrid 007SH"  an Android 2.3 Clamshell phone that comes with everything you could think of! An IPX5/IPX7 Waterproof body, a 16.10Mpix sensor, a 3.4” WVGA 3D New Mobile ASV touchscreen, 720p video recording mode, 3D Photo and Video Mode, AQUOS TV connector Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, has now be announced in with a new design featuring the most famous Japanese cat : Hello Kitty!

Sold under the name 007SH KT, this Hello Kitty version of the Hybrid 007SH features the same basic specification as the standard model with however a nice Hello Kitty paint job and UI.

Aug 12th - Sharp new LED Ceiling Light Is The World’s Most Efficient

Sharp announced the latest in their series of energy efficient LED lights, a square ceiling light. Available in three models for small, medium, and large sized rooms, the light is 1.6 times more energy efficient than previous LED ceiling lights, making it the most efficient in the industry. Sharp has achieved this by combining direct illumination with the kind of highly efficient LEDs used in LCD televisions.

“The main feature of this LED ceiling light is that it’s the top performer in terms of energy efficiency. In particular, the model for small-sized rooms has a luminous efficiency of 81.3 lumens per watt, which is an industry-leading performance. Another feature of this light is that it utilizes the characteristics of LEDs to enable its brightness and color tone to be adjusted. So you can vary the brightness and the color tone in 10 steps. Even when it’s used as a night light, this light can be adjusted in three steps. So it offers 103 variations in brightness and color tone.”

The light also features an insect repellant structure, which makes it hard for bugs and dust to get inside. There is also a Favorite Setting button on the remote control, which remembers the preferred brightness and color tone. As an environmentally friendly feature, the light also has a Sleep Button, which can gradually fade the light to a low output night-light level or switch off completely.

“We plan to release this ceiling light on August 27. We expect it will retail at around 55,000 yen for the large room model, 45,000 yen for the medium room model, and 35,000 yen for the small room model. Lots of current lighting hasn’t yet been switched to LEDs or efficient light-bulbs, so we’d like to work on achieving a quick changeover to high energy efficiency.”