TECHNOLOGY'S DAY; UK FIRM MAY HURT SONY'S WATCHMAN: [FIRST EDITION] Ronald Rosenberg Globe Staff Copyright Boston Globe Newspaper Jun 8, 1982 The Sony Corp.'s Watchman, a flat pocket-sized battery-operated television set, may attract crowds here at the Consumer Electronics Show, but its competitors question whether it will ever be as popular as the firm's Walkman, a portable audio cassette player. Watchman, first announced earlier this month, is a complete black and white television set with a two-inch screen that runs on penlight batteries. The unit, which has been selling in Japan since February, will retail here for $280 starting in November. Already its competitor, Sinclair Research Ltd. of Cambridge, England, plans to enter the field in December or January with a $99 unit that includes an FM radio. Pocket-sized television has been talked about for 20 years but Sony and Sinclair are expected to be the first to market them as consumer products. Proponents of the tiny sets claim they will transform television from a shelf appliance to a personal product the way radio and tape cassette players are today. Besides television, the units could also be used with personal computers to display information. What distinguishes the Watchman from other portable television sets is its compactness. It is one-and-one-quarter- inch-thick. The slim design is due to the positioning of the electron gun. This "neck" on most TV sets is behind and perpendicular to the screen. In the Sony device, it is underneath the screen and parallel to it, which gives the set its thinness. The Watchman, which also comes with a tiny loudspeaker and earphone, will operate for 2.5 hours on penlight batteries, and 12 hours if the screen is turned off. "I think the $280 price is too high in these recessionary times," said Jay Yancy, national marketing manager for video products at Toshiba America Inc. "The technology is really nothing new. It is just placing part of the picture tube and other electronics differently. Besides, many people want color and will wait." Toshiba and several other firms, notably Sanyo, Matsushita, Hitachi and Seiko, are working on televisions using liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Best known as the electro-optic material found in watches, calculators and hand- held games, LCD technology could make television almost as slim as a credit card. "The kind of flat-screen television using a new technology, not the kind Sony is showing, is still five years away," claims Teruaki Suwa, vice president of Sanyo Electronic Inc., a large Japanese consumer electronics firm. "We will wait and see how well Sony does. I don't think portable television is a novelty anymore." Still, Sanyo is working on an LCD portable television. The problem with this new technology is one of clarity or resolution and picture brightness. Some people question the potential market for flat-screen television, especially since 99 percent of American households have at least one set. But others expect it to be as successful as Walkman, which has attracted a slew of imitators and brought the price down from around $200 to about $40. And some claim television reception in a moving train, plane or car is usually poor. Even at the Consumer Electronics Show, the set on display flickered as people hovered around it. That problem will not stop Sinclair Research, which expects to produce one million sets starting next year in Dundee, Scotland. Another Sony innovation, the MAVICA camera system, a video 35mm camera that uses a magnetic disc for instant still pictures instead of roll film, was not demonstrated. Sources claim the camera system, which can display pictures on a television set or be printed in a special video printer, lacks the clarity the American market expects. Company officials declined to demonstrate the system until later this month to a group of engineers here in Chicago. Instead, the company is showing a mock-up of the system and photographs that were made with the traditional videotape camera used by television news- gathering groups. One official said the company is having second thoughts about releasing the MAVICA as a complete product until the question of its quality can be improved.
SOUNDS WORTH MENTIONING IN '82 Paul Terry Shea Copyright Boston Globe Newspaper Jan 3, 1983 In choosing the 10 most innovative audio products of 1982, we don't mean to suggest that they were necessarily the best components available. What we're saying is that of all the new products introduced during the year, they truly represented a breakthrough - either because of the new technology used or in the creative application of existing technology. Perhaps the best example of the latter type is Jensen's AVS-1500 audio- video receiver ($990), the most versatile of the lot. The AVS- 1500 is essentially two components in one: a 50-watt-per-channel audio receiver and a 133- channel TV tuner. As the heart of an audio-video system, the AVS-1500 allows the user to select from among the usual complement of audio inputs - AM, FM, phono and tape - plus broadcast TV, cable TV and two additional video inputs, which could be a videocassette recorder or a videodisc player. The receiver also features simultaneous operations of the audio and video tuners for simulcast broadcasts, as well as a separate headphone amp and switching circuitry that enables one person to listen to audio through headphones while another enjoys a video program. Another forward-looking component comes from Carver. The company's M-1.5 power amplifier uses a magnetic- field principle that permits high power to be squeezed out of a small, light-weight package - and at a lower cost per watt than is possible with conventional amplifiers. Because power is stored in a magnetic-field coil - eliminating the need for large-supply capacitors and bulky, expensive power transformers - Carver has succeeded in building a 350-watt-per- channel amp ($799) that weighs a mere 16 pounds and stands only 3 1/ 2 inches high. What's more, the amp is capable of delivering 600 watts per channel or more when musical peaks demand it, which means it's able to handle even the most demanding digitally recorded program material. The latest refinement in turntables come from Nakamichi, whose TX- 1000 computing turntable conquers a problem that has plagued hi-fi since the invention of the record: off-center and out-of-tolerance spindle holes that degrade wow and flutter performance. The TX-1000 is expensive - $7000, and you provide the tone arm - but its technology should eventually filter down to lower-priced models. Polk's goal for its new SDA-1 (Stereo/Dimensional Array) loudspeaker was to improve stereo imaging by opening up the sound and eliminating the speaker as the obvious source of the music. Polk accomplished this by designing a new crossover network that, in conjunction with a special driver configuration, minimizes interaural crosstalk - a form of distortion that occurs when your right ear hears the left speaker and your left ear the right speaker. The net effect is a sound so open that it's difficult to believe it is coming from two boxes. The SDA-1 speakers carry a suggested retail price of $850 each, but again, its likely that the technology will eventually find its way into lower- priced Polk speakers. The Beocord 9000 cassette deck ($1800) by Bang &Olufsen (B&O) is unique not only for its appearance but because it's one of the few decks available with Dolby HX Professional circuitry. This B&O developed circuit compensates for the effect varying bias levels have on frequency response and allows you to record high frequencies at higher volume levels. It also features a computer-controlled tape- calibration system that within nine seconds measures - and adjusts for - tape distortion, recording bias and equalization, and tape sensitivity. In addition, there's Dolby B and C noise reduction and four memory positions for storing calibrated tape settings for each bias type. Sony also offers a deck that automatically calibrates tape bias and recording levels. The TC-FX1010 ($650) is a three-head deck with a unique microprocessor-controlled self-monitoring system. During recording, this system continually compares the signal going onto the tape with the source signal. When the circuit senses distortion caused by excessive input, Sony's Audio Signal Processor IC (integrated circuit) automatically lowers the recording level. Last fall, Nakamichi introduced what it calls a Super-Tuned Edition of its ZX-7 cassette deck, the ZX-9. The two decks are almost identical, but the ZX-9 employs a newly developed direct- drive transport based upon the motor orginally developed for the TX- 1000 turntable. At a suggested retail price of $1550, the ZX-9 costs $300 more than the ZX-7. What that additional money buys is a transport system that substantially reduces wow and flutter and offers improved electronics. Two other breakthroughs in tape recording - the WM-D6 (Walkman Professional) and the PCM-F1 digital audio processor come from Sony, and both are classic cases of creative use of existing technology. There's nothing new about quartz-locked tape-speed control, Dolby B noise reduction, recording-level controls with LED meters, or selectable record and playback bias and equalization, but Sony was the first to package these features into a compact portable tape recorder that rivals most midpriced home decks in performance. At $349.95, the WM-D6 is, in fact, a professional field recorder capable of making live stereo recordings when used with an external stereo microphone. Similar in concept but a generation ahead in technology is Sony's PCM-F1, the smallest, lightest, least expensive digital audio processor available. At $1900, it costs half the price of earlier models. It can be used with any videocassette recorder (using half- inch video-tape to record a digital audios signal only, no video). And when it's used with Sony's compact SL-2000 portable Beta- format VCR, you get a compact and portable digital audio-recording system for little more than $3000. Its low distortion and dynamic range make the PCM-F1 ideal for live recording. And it's perfect for musicians looking for the ultimate home- recording system. Somewhat more mundane in purpose but no less exicting is The Radio by Proton, a table radio that is to other table radios what your component system is to your father's console. The Radio is an AM-FM unit with a built-in bi- amplified two-way speaker system - 20 watts for the 4 1/2 -inch woofer and five watts for the 1 3/4 -inch tweeter. Best of all, the unit incorporates the Scholtz Variable- Bandwidth PLL Detector, a tuner circuit that eliminates multipath interference, enabling The Radio to lock tightly onto the desired station and reject interfering echoes frequently caused by surrounding buildings. The circuit also improves FM sensitivity and selectivtereo with the simple addition of the Powered Speaker (with another 25 watts of its own power). Each Powered Speaker adds $150 to the $280 that The Radio costs; up to 10 pairs of these speakers can be connected. Finally, for those who like to choose their own tunes, there are recording and playback connections for a tape deck. There's no holding down sound technology. Tuners, radios, videocassette recorders, videodisc players, phonographs, turntables, loudspeakers - all took giant steps forward in 1982. Whether you're in the market today or just browsing for the future, this overview of the major products on the market, including prices, will guide you through the complex audio marketplace. The top 10 selections and their basic suggested retail price: - The Jensen AVS-1500 audio-video receiver ($990). - Carver's M-1.5 power amplifier ($799). - The Nakamichi TX-1000 computing turntable ($7000). - Polk's SDA-1 loudspeaker ($850). - The Beocord 9000 casette deck ($1800). - The Sony TC-FX1010 tape deck ($650). - The Nakamichi ZX-9 cassette deck ($1550). - The Sony WM-D6 portable tape recorder ($349.95). - The Sony PCM-F1 digital audio processor ($1900). - Proton's The Radio ($280).
WHERE TO FIND IT; Fixing Electronic Items. Date: Nov. 3, 1988 From: The New York Times By DARYLN BREWER I HAVE a customer with a tiny little Sony that he bought about 30 years ago, and he is crazy about this radio,'' said Mirta Robert, manager of the Japanese American Transistor Service. ''I tell him, 'Listen, how many times have we fixed this?' He doesn't care. He's attached to this radio like he's attached to anything. We have a lot of customers like him.'' For 30 years, Japanese American has accepted those old electronic objects with sentimental value, items that most repair shops won't touch. It will even fix small Walkman-type radios, which have parts so tiny and require labor so intensive that most shops flatly refuse them. An authorized service center for Toshiba, Emerson, Sanyo, Samsung and other manufacturers, the service also fixes stereos, television sets, video cassette recorders, answering machines, tape recorders, walkie- talkies and compact disk players. Repair costs for a portable stereo or cassette player start at $30; estimates cost from $20 to $35, which is applied to the cost of repair. Repairs for VCR's start at $75, answering machines at $30, compact disk players at $59 and television sets at $60. Japanese American Transistor Service is at 147 West 42d Street, on the lower level. 212-997-1576. Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Friday, 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. ''A lot of places are not accepting small appliances anymore,'' said Constantine Ioannidis, who has owned Empire Electronics for 37 years. ''A lot of people want to make a dollar and forget the customer.'' Empire fixes portable stereo and cassette players, antique radios (if parts are available), television sets, VCR's, stereos, video cameras and more. It is an authorized service center for Zenith, RCA and General Electric. Estimates are free. Repair costs reflect the amount of labor required; there is no minimum charge for repairs. The address is 1184 Madison Avenue, near 87th Street. 212-289-9555. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. Pyramid Electronics Limited will fix portable radios and cassette players made by Sony, AIWA and JVC; it is an authorized service center for 22 manufacturers. An estimate costs $20, which is applied to the cost of repair. The minimum repair charge is $43.75. Pyramid, which also fixes television sets, VCR's, stereos and more, is at 353 East 76th Street. 212-628-6500. Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.; Saturday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
Somebody did a graduate paper on the Walkman... https://digital.library.adelaide.ed.../a599af30-04a0-464f-9e7b-c765e3e6546c/content
