June 30th, 2011

Sanyo's XX Eneloop Rechargeable AAs Are Clearly XXtreme

xx-rechargeable

Rechargeable batteries aren’t exactly headline news these days, but Sanyo seems so excited about their new XX line of NiMH AAs that it would be cruel of me not to post them. The XX series stores 2500mAh per battery and maintains a smooth, stable voltage all the way down to the end of the charge. They’ll cost $25 for four. → Read More

January 5th, 2011

Sanyo Shipped 150 Million Eneloop Batteries

Sanyo today announced it has sold 150 million eneloop-branded batteries at the end of December 2010. The company introduced its “green” sub-brand in 2005, and the eneloop product line-up was one of the main reasons Panasonic acquired Sanyo as a whole in December 2009 for $4.6 billion. → Read More

January 3rd, 2011

Sha-Miel: Sanyo's Mobile Magnifying Camera

Have you ever needed to project the display of a cell phone or portable gadget on a TV or big screen? If yes, you know that this is often a pain (for example, during a presentation) – but Sanyo’s Sha-Miel [JP] might do the trick for you. It’s essentially a flexible magnifying camera for displays of mobile devices. → Read More

December 7th, 2010

Japan's Top Gadget Of The Moment: Rice-To-Bread Maker Gopan (Video)

It’s no 3D product, electric bike or smartphone: the one gadget the Japanese really want at the moment is a rice bread maker, namely Sanyo’s Gopan. The device can make bread after milling the rice that most Japanese households already have on hand anyway. → Read More

December 3rd, 2010

Sanyo To Mass-Produce World's Most Efficient Solar Cells

Yesterday, we reported that Sharp is ready to invest $180 million in a new plant near Osaka to mass-produce solar cells. And now, just 24 hours later, we have yet another positive news item from the green energy front: Sanyo today announced it will start mass-producing a new type of solar cell, too. → Read More

December 1st, 2010

For Guitarists: Sanyo's Pedal Juice Battery Pack

Sanyo keeps on adding products to its eneloop brand of eco-friendly, rechargeable batteries. Today the company announced the so-called KBC-9V3U Pedal Juice for the US and other markets, a 9V lithium-ion battery unit designed for charging multiple guitar effects pedals at the same time (it features two 9V outputs and can power multi-effect units and portable recorders, too). → Read More

October 26th, 2010

Sanyo Celebrates eneloop's 5th Anniversary With Glitter Batteries

Can you imagine Sanyo without eneloop? Sanyo’s “green” sub brand is now 5 years old, and to commemorate the anniversary, Sanyo plans to roll out special batteries. They even issued an English press release to announce the so-called “eneloop tones glitter” battery pack. → Read More

September 9th, 2010

Sanyo Releases A New Tiny Camcorder, The VPC-GH4

Sanyo knows what they’re doing when it comes to camcorders, but this one looks like a misfire to me. The simple design, 5x zoom, and easy operation may be appealing to those looking at a $200 price point, but those people also want simplicity in their video, and 1080i is no longer an easy format to use. Looking for a cheap camcorder? Grab an H30 or Playsport. → Read More

September 8th, 2010

Sanyo Announces Rechargeable Waist Warmer And Neck Warmer

Sanyo Japan has rolled out a number of eneloop-branded warmers in the past, for example for the hand or the whole body (in blanket form). And today the company unveiled rechargeable waist and neck warmers [press release in English]. → Read More

August 31st, 2010

Sanyo's Outs New Mobile Chargers For Your Portable Gadgets

Do you own an iPad, iPhone, iPod, Sony Xperia, a Nintendo DS, or other mobile devices? Do you need a power source when you use these gadgets on the go? If yes, then the mobile chargers Sanyo announced today might do the trick for you.

There will be two versions: one, the so-called “eneloop stick booster” (pictured above) comes with adapters (licensed by Nintendo) to power your DS and the other… → Read More

August 27th, 2010

Solarve: Sanyo Shows World's First Solar Cell-Equipped Bus

Sanyo in Japan today announced [JP] what it says is the world’s first solar-cell-equipped public bus, the Solarve (which stands for Solar Vehicle). The bus was unveiled to commemorate the 100th anniversary of a Japanese transportation and logistics company called Ryobi [JP]. The Solarve is essentially a city bus with solar cells on top that generate power for its interior LED lights. → Read More

August 19th, 2010

New Sanyo PD2 Pocketcam Brings 1080p And 3x Zoom For $170

The pocketcam wars are hotting up. If you’re a consumer that doesn’t particularly care about image quality or lots of options, you have a ton of great choices. Sanyo makes a great compact camcorder (I use their pistol grip CG10 for tons of stuff), and they’ve just released a pocketcam that looks pretty solid. → Read More

August 12th, 2010

Apple Repackaging Sanyo Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries, Charging a Premium

Didn’t you notice it, Brick? Didn’t you notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room? While it was my understanding that Steve Jobs owns a number of nickel mines and brings up tons of ore himself to stay in shape, pounding each core into a delicately wrought battery and then selling the produce of his labor as Apple’s rechargeable battery offering, it seems that… → Read More

August 5th, 2010

Go Swimming With The Sanyo Underwater HD Xacti Camcorder

Normally camcorders and swimming don’t go hand-in-hand, but Sanyo’s latest in the Xacti line is something different. The waterproof cam should have no issues taking 1080i@60 videos at depths under 10 feet. Combined with the 5x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD, and rechargeable battery, it’s not a bad kit for only $350. The VPC-CA102YL should hit retailers sometime this month. → Read More

July 29th, 2010

Panasonic Buying Out Solar Tech and Rechargeable Battery Makers

Panasonic announced today that it will buy out two of its subsidiaries, Sanyo and Panasonic Electric Works, for $9.4 billion.

Sanyo is the largest lithium-ion rechargeable battery producer and 11th-largest solar cell producer in the world with a quickly-growing solar panel manufacturing arm according to company statements. → Read More

June 9th, 2010

Sanyo's new 2K projector boasts industry-high 10,000 lumens brightness

If you thought the Sanyo 3D projector we’ve shown you a couple of days ago was impressive, think again: today the company announced [JP] the LP-HF1000L, a projector for “professional use” that not only boasts 2K (2,048×1,080) resolution but also produces 10,000 lumens brightness. According to Sanyo, no other projector in the industry can keep up with that number (via AC 100V, at least). → Read More

June 1st, 2010

Sanyo Xacti DMX-CA100: World's first waterproof full HD camcorder in action (video)

Sanyo last week announced the DMX-CA100 for the Japanese market, the world’s first waterproof full HD camcorder “for consumer use with optical zoom lenses” (Kodak has released a simpler model just recently). And now we can (courtesy of DigInfonews Tokyo) give you a video that shows the device in action. → Read More

May 24th, 2010

Electric car runs over 1,000 km without recharge, shatters previous record

One of the biggest problems that stands between electric vehicles and becoming mainstream is limited battery life. But there has been some progress in that area lately: the Japan Electric Vehicle Club [JP], a civic group based in Tokyo, announced today a Mira EV customized by the group traveled exactly 1,003.184 kilometers without a recharge. → Read More

May 18th, 2010

Sanyo debuts world's shortest-focus (and 3D-ready) projector

We’re about to get yet another 3D-enabled piece of hardware, and this time, it’s a projector. Sanyo’s PDG-DWL2500J, announced today in Japan (press release in English), is not only “3D ready”, but it also boasts the world’s shortest projection distance (just 32cm to project images that are 80 inches in size) for projectors weighing less than 9kg. → Read More

April 21st, 2010

Guinness World Record: Sanyo battery lets e-car travel 555.6 km without recharging

One of the biggest obstacles that prevents electric cars and other vehicles from becoming mainstream is the insufficient battery life. In most cases, potential buyers of those green vehicles are scared off by the fact that there still aren’t enough charging stations out there or that the travel distance (on a single charge) is just too short.

But many companies are working on the battery problem… → Read More

April 9th, 2010

Sanyo outs two new full HD Xacti "dual cameras"

Sanyo announced two new “dual cameras” (camcorder and digital camera in one) for the Japanese market yesterday, the Xacti DMX-CG100 (that’s the pistol-grip model) and the Xacti DMX-GH1. Both feature an extra-compact body and the ability to record video in full HD and take 14MP pictures. → Read More

March 2nd, 2010

Sanyo's electric bicycle charges battery on both flat ground and downhill slopes

We have reported about electric bicycles multiple times in the past, but today Sanyo in Japan announced [press release in English] the “eneloop Hybrid Bicycle” whose battery riders can actively charge while pedaling on flat roads. Previous models, for example this one Sanyo released in 2008, mainly harness energy from braking when the bike goes downhill (“Loop Charge Mode”). → Read More

February 4th, 2010

Sanyo is bringing latest XACTI cams stateside

Sanyo announced a couple of tasty XACTI camcorders a few weeks ago for the Japanese market. We praised the cams for shooting 1080p video and 14.4MP stills, but questioned whether or not they will ever reach the States. Well, good news. They’re on the way and should hit retailers sometime next month. → Read More

January 28th, 2010

Sanyo promises 4,000 hours of maintenance-free use for new projector

Sanyo Japan announced [press release in English] the LP-WL2500 today, an ultra short-focus projector whose newly developed filter and lamp makes it possible to use the device for long periods without maintenance. To be more specific, Sanyo says they boosted lamp life by 30% (when compared to the previous model) to 4,000 hours. The hybrid filter has the main lifespan, which was 20 times lower… → Read More

January 27th, 2010

Sanyo releases the 1080p, 14.4MP XACTI CG110 camcorder

Sanyo just released it’s latest camcorder in the the long-running XACTI line. This model keeps with the familiar design but features 1080p video recording and 14.4MP stills that can both record to a SDHC/SDXC card or the internal 16GB memory. That’s a lot of camera. → Read More

January 13th, 2010

Panasonic ready to pump $1.1 billion into solar energy business

There’s a reason why Panasonic paid $4.4 billion in this economic downturn to acquire former rival Sanyo, and the reason is that Panasonic wants to go as “green” as possible in the future. Sanyo isn’t only the world’s leading maker of lithium ion batteries, but also the (now former) company behind the eneloop brand, which consists of a range of eco-friendly solar products.

But buying Sanyo wasn’t… → Read More

January 9th, 2010

Feet on with Sanyo's eneloop electric-assist bike

So if you’re living anywhere outside the US, you’re sitting on an electric bike right now. It seems we’re the only country in which electric-assist bikes like this haven’t caught on. Maybe it’s because of our obsession with gigantic, gas-guzzling SUVs we never use for their intended purpose. But I digress. The fact is that other countries have found electric bikes practical in pretty good volume… → Read More

January 8th, 2010

GREEN SLIM: Casio announces pretty, eco-friendly friendly projectors

One of the few product announcements by a major electronics maker that’s not been made at the CES: Casio has unveiled the XJ-A series, which consists of nine projectors that are not only pretty cool-looking but also eco-friendly. The company says the devices are the first to be completely mercury-free. Casio also claims their so-called GREEN SLIM projectors are the world’s first devices of their… → Read More

January 6th, 2010

Sanyo's CES press conference yields impressive camcorders

Sanyo officially joined the Panasonic group as of December 21st, 2009. This decision was “due to the rapid decline of the global economy,” according to Sanyo North America president Masami Murata. “This alliance will maximize and optimize Sanyo’s corporate value and will open the way for our company to realize further business development.” Sanyo will maintain its listing of common… → Read More

December 28th, 2009

eneloop music booster: Sanyo's battery charger for music devices

Even though it’s now a Panasonic subsidiary, Sanyo lives on as its own brand. And one of the major reasons Panasonic bought the company is its “green” image, mainly achieved through selling products under the “eneloop” sub-brand. The latest of these products, the so-called eneloop music booster, was announced today. It’s a rechargeable DC 9V battery unit specifically designed for music devices. → Read More