New waterproof Viera mini-TVs from Japan

Serkan Toto

Dr. Serkan Toto is an independent consultant and advisor focusing on Japan’s web, mobile and social gaming industries. Based in Tokyo, he works together with financial institutions and startups worldwide. Serkan has been the Japan contributor for TechCrunch.com since 2008. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. → Learn More

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Today Panasonic Japan [JP] unveiled a new mini TV specifically aimed at Japanese women in their 20s and 30s. A marketing research company conducted a large-scale survey asking this target group what they would like to do while taking a bath (Japan has a unique bathing culture). 64% responded with “listening to music”, while 51.5% said they want to watch TV while sitting in their bath tub.

From June 20th, those J-girls can do both with the mini Viera TV SV-ME75 (165×90.2×14.3mm). The device will be available in white, black and – of course – pink.

The SV-ME75 is waterproof (up to 1 meter for 30 minutes), compatible to One-Seg digital TV and also comes with a recording function (on SD memory). The 5 inch screen boasts a resolution of 480×272. The device also supports audio files in MP3, AAA and WMA format. JPEGs can also be displayed.

The price is expected to be around $450 (Japan-only). Panasonic will also offer a trimmed-down version (SV-ME70), which comes without a recording function, for $380.

blog comments powered by Disqus