A device that automatically translates other languages instantly still seems like science fiction, even today. But we are getting very close. Check out NEC’s Tele Scouter. It’s a retinal-display that translates what people say to you by displaying the translations as text on your glasses.

It looks pretty bulky still, but even at that size it is impressive. It requires a computer to be hooked up to the glasses to do the bulk of the work. And even then, the translations aren’t good enough yet to make wearing this thing practical. But soon it will be.

We don’t have much info. Just a small image and a few specs at the moment, but it looks like NEC is working on a mobile business tablet PC that looks to be Android based. The touchscreen tablet has a 7- to 8-inch LCD display and NEC is apparently predicting that they’ll eventually ship over 1m of the UMPCs each year. So they seem pretty confident.

We don’t even have a name for the device yet, but it’s set to go on sale in Japan this fall. NEC is boasting that it’s a fast-booting device with heavy use of cloud-storage and cloud-computing “capable as a personal computer”.

Companies big and small are pushing hard to reduce energy consumption inside their offices. The reason is for the environment and to save money on utility bills. NEC unveiled three new LCDs today that are aimed at companies looking to go energy efficient.

The new screens include the 19-inch AS191, 19-inch widescreen AS191WM and 22-inch widescreen AS221WM. The LCDs all have similar features with 1000:1 contrast ratios, VGA and DVI inputs and response times of 5ms.

This has been a week packed full of new projectors. The good news is that many of the new projectors announced this week are lower priced making them affordable replacements for HDTVs in the living room. I think most guys would want the largest image they can get, and a projector delivers that.

NEC has unveiled a pair of new projectors called the NP110 and the NP215. These projectors have up to 2500 lumens of brightness and integrated speakers. The native resolution for the NP110 is 800 x 600 while the native resolution for the NP215 is 1024 x 768. The contrast ratio is 2000:1 and the lamps promise up to 5000 hours of life.

NEC has released its latest LCD monitor, the MultiSync EA231WMi which is aimed at business situations, education, government and other suit wearing types. This high-end monitor has several advanced features, starting with an IPS panel, which enables a great viewing angle and image stability.

It also features: 4-way ergonomic stand (110mm height adjust, pivot, tilt and swivel), Two-step ECO Mode for significant power consumption savings, Three-step ambient light sensor for automatic brightness adjustment, Carbon footprint meter, DisplayPort, VGA and DVI connectivity, EPEAT Gold compliance, Energy Star 5.0 and TCO 5.0, Integrated 4-port USB 2.0 hub, Space-saving, down-firing multimedia speakers with headphone jack, Dynamic Video Mode with five presets for real-time optimization of image quality and Built-in carrying handle.

NEC has a pair of spiffy new LCD displays available in the U.S. today to match a recent release of similar models in Japan. The LCD2490WUXi2 and the LCD2490W2 both feature 24-inch screens and IPS panels. These displays offer a much better image quality than TV or PVA screens and allows them to show 96.7% of the sRGB color space.

Professional graphics editors and photographers are going to love these models. Some other features include auto-brightness, 12-bit color lookup tables, ambient light sensors a 320cd/m2 brightness, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, VGA and DVI inputs.

This curvaceous monitor was first spotted at CES 2009. It’s NEC curved monitor (CRV43), originally named the Ostendo CRVD-42DWX+. It consists of four DLP displays that offer a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, .02ms response time, 200 cd/m2 brightness, and 2880 x 900 resolution.

Crazy huh? The CRV43 will hit shelves next month if you’re interested. Just be sure to bring $7,999 with you. Look, if you want a curved monitor, it’s gonna cost you. Do you have any idea how hard it is for them to curve technology?

In some environments it is imperative that the color you see on screen is the color you get when a finished design in printed. Graphic artists for instance can’t have a deep red coming out looking like pink when a brochure is printed. Photographers also need to be sure that the color they see on the screen is what the printed pictures look like.

NEC has announced a new display made especially for this type of environment. The P221W has an optional NEC SpectraView calibration kit that is available. The LCD covers 96% of the AdobeRGB color gamut and has internal programmable 10-bit lookup tables. I’m not sure what a lookup table is, but it sounds cool.

The sweet spot for LCDs for gaming and general computer use right now is the 19-inch segment. Larger 24-inch LCDs are becoming more affordable and desirable, especially among gamers and multimedia types looking for more screen real estate.

NEC has announced a pair of premium LCDs that fit nicely into both these segments. The 24-inch MultiSync EA241WM and the 19-inch EA191M share many of the same features including a 4-way adjustable stand, cabinet design, four integrated USB ports, down-firing speakers, Dynamic Video Mode, and DVI with HDCP.

There are lots of uses for projectors from home entertainment to business and class room use. Different projectors have different uses and prices can go from the low $600 range up to tens of thousands of dollars.

NEC has announced a pair of reasonably price projectors aimed at the business and education installation markets. The projectors are the NP905 and NP901W with 3000 lumens and 2000 lumens respectively of brightness. Both projectors also use Windows Network Projector functionality from Windows Vista.

This is the most convenient way to see how much “juice” remains in a device. Juice being battery life and in this case battery life being displayed with liquid. We don’t have many details, but this flask phone from NEC looks like it is liquid-powered and touch-screened. This one is so far out there that it must be a prototype.

According to NEC, it’s going to be released sometime in 2008, if you can believe that. It doesn’t get much cooler then being able to watch the liquid inside drain as you’re using the phone, so you can see how much power you have left. (Okay, that’s a lame hobby. But the concept is awesome.) Hopefully it will be available here in the U.S. The colors are obviously very woman friendly.

NEC introduced recently some very secure laptops designed to meet the security needs of small and medium sized businesses. The Versa M370, P570 and S970 should all be available now.

NEC’s new laptops go triple play for security protection - a hardware based security chip, encrypting disk drive and client management software. Specific security technologies include a Seagate 2.5-inch, 5400-rpm hard drive with native government-grade AES encryption and software which focuses on multi-factor authentication, data protection and ID/password management.

Those of you still using Fax machines will love this. NEC introduced a new emailing/Fax/Phone combination unit. The new SP-NA640 model can take any document and send it straight to a computer or cellphone via email as a regular image file (send handwritten text from your home phone to a mobile phone). You can also print emails to your heart’s content. Of course it can still operate as a plain old fax machine if you have not yet joined us in the modern age.

It’s a nice looking unit. Cool upgrade to the old fax. The price is unknown at the moment, but they will be available in Japan later this month. So, if you happen to be in Japan, rush right out and get one to replace that aging Fax machine.

The portability aspect of this half meter wide briefcase is debatable, but what’s inside is what makes it cool, in a CSI kind of way. NEC is calling it the first portable DNA analyser. That’s right, now it’s official. Anybody who has watched even one hour of crime-time television can be their own detective and solve murders.

The briefcase can be used for all 5 stages that make up the DNA analysis process. It is also a real time saver if you only plan on being a part time crime solver, since it can fully analyze DNA within only 25 minutes.

It’s heading for full production in 2008. Ok, so this is mainly marketed to law enforcement, but we all know that in the future regular folks like us will have them too. For now, this could really help law enforcement by providing quick …

NEC today debuted a new line of professional level plasma displays for “corporate installations, including government agencies and digital signage applications.” (we imagine you could use them at home as well) The new PlasmaSync Professional Series is available in 42 to 60-inch models and priced between $2,500 and $6,000 approximately.

The NEC PlasmaSync Professional Series offer resolution up to 1366 x 768 and have an input panel with DVI with HDCP inputs as well as RS-232 input and output control. They also offer VESA standard hole patterns for easier mounting and can convert non-native resolution to the resolution of the display.