CEATEC electronics show opens, 3-D exhibits prove popular

CHIBA, Japan, Oct. 5 Kyodo -
Japan's major information technology and electronics fair CEATEC opened
Tuesday, with a wide lineup of products using 3-D technologies proving popular,
while next-generation ''smart grid'' power transmission networks are also on
display.
Cutting-edge handheld devices such as smartphones and multifunction tablets, to
be released later this year, are also among top exhibits ahead of the year-end
shopping season.
A total of 616 companies and groups, including 196 from overseas, have
registered to exhibit their products and technologies in 2,255 booths at the
five-day CEATEC Japan 2010 fair at the Makuhari Messe convention center in
Chiba, east of Tokyo, organizers said.
One of the highlights of the show is a 3-D theater where the audience can
experience a simulation of a near-future city. The city features an IT-driven
smart grid that optimizes the balance between electricity supply and demand to
realize a low-carbon society.
Smart grids are efficient power transmission networks that are also expected to
encourage the use of renewable energy such as solar and wind power because they
provide stability to the output of electricity supplied by such fluctuating
natural power sources.
In the presentation, the audience can see a future city where electric vehicles
can be charged without contacting an energy supply using a ''Solar Tree''
device, which stores solar power.
Nissan Motor Co., which developed the presentation, is also exhibiting its Leaf
electric vehicle to be released in December.
''Smart grids are the ultimate way of monitoring and providing services to
customers,'' said Nissan Executive Vice President Mitsuhiko Yamashita.
By finding out how people are using their utilities it becomes possible to
provide electricity, water and gas more wisely, he said in a speech.
Among the presentations of products using 3-D technologies, Toshiba Corp. is
showcasing 3-D televisions that can be viewed without special glasses. The
company plans to sell the TVs in Japan in late December and will be the first
company in the world to release such a product.
Toshiba unveiled 12- and 20-inch liquid crystal display 3-D REGZA TVs, while a
similar 56-inch model is also on display. Reflecting the interest in the
''glass-less'' TVs, visitors had to wait up to two hours to see them.
Among other high-profile exhibits, Hitachi Displays Ltd. is demonstrating a new
type of energy-saving compact display it has developed jointly with Pixtronix
Inc. of the United States.
The display, intended for portable devices such as smartphones and tablets,
consumes only around half of the electricity used by LCDs, allowing people to
read electronic books longer without recharging batteries, the Hitachi Ltd.
group company said. Hitachi Displays plans to begin mass-producing the new
display possibly in late 2011.
Sharp Corp. is showcasing its new multifunction touch-screen tablet computers,
which it plans to release in December. The new products, dubbed GALAPAGOS, will
enable users to subscribe to newspapers and magazines, and purchase e-books.
The products ''can be applied to various fields in the future such as
education, e-commerce and medical care,'' Sharp President Mikio Katayama told
reporters.
The organizers of the trade show will also open a space for
business-to-business communications from Wednesday to Friday aimed at
increasing business opportunities for vendors and users, they said.
CEATEC, which stands for Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, has been
held every year since 2000 as a venue for business professionals and consumers
to see the latest developments in the electronics industry ahead of the
year-end shopping season.
The organizers said they expect the fair to draw around 200,000 visitors,
compared with last year's 150,302.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Communications and Information Network
Association of Japan, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology
Industries Association, and the Computer Software Association of Japan.
==Kyodo