America gets a lot of great electronics, but we certainly don't get everything. From cell phones to DVR boxes, here are some of the juiciest gadgets you can't easily find here.
Motorola's Ming smartphone offers nearly every feature a business user would want. A built-in business card reader and Chinese handwriting recognition helps you keep track of your contacts on every continent, and a transparent flip cover helps keep the bright 2.4-inch QVGA touch screen smear-free. You can actually get an unlocked Ming from certain online sites, but American phone service providers still don't offer it.
2 of 10 CNET Asia
The Windows Mobile 6 PDA phone from Taiwan-based electronics maker Asus features a built-in GPS module and two cameras: a 3-megapixel camera in the back for snapshots and business card scans, and a VGA camera in the front for video conferencing.
3 of 10 CNET UK
Simple budget phones tend to look bulky and ugly compared to their more expensive, feature-laden brethren. Sagem bucks the trend with the stylish my150X. This barebones pay-as-you-go handset doesn't have a camera or even a color screen, but its sleek, ultrathin design makes it a budget phone you won't be ashamed to take out.
4 of 10 Panasonic
This beefy HD recorder/DVR box sports a Blu-ray burner and a 1TB hard drive. No, that's not a typo; the DMR-BW900 has a full terrabyte (1,000 gigabytes) of storage. Of course, that much space can be handy when you're recording 1080p high-def video at 24 frames per second. Don't expect to see this on American shelves any time soon; the DMR-BW900 starts hitting Japanese stores on November 1.
5 of 10 CNET UK
If you want a lot of digital television choices and DVR, you usually have to sign up with a cable or satellite company and pay through the nose. Not so in Britain, where Freeview pipes dozens of digital channels over the air for free. A Freeview-compatible device like the Humax PVR-9200 is all you need to watch Sky, Dave, the Beeb, and other wacky-sounding channels. The PVR-9200 features two tuners and a 160GB hard drive, so you can watch Manchester United on one channel while you record Arsenal on another.
6 of 10 CNET Asia
The strangely named O2 XDA Atom Life packs a surprising punch for a handheld device. Its 624Mhz processor and 1GB of memory let you get work done fast. A handy media manager lets you organize your movies and music through the XDA's 2.7-inch touch screen.
7 of 10 Ricoh
The 8-megapixel Ricoh GR Digital packs some impressive, professional features into a point-and-shoot body. Its 28mm-equivalent f/2.4 lens is one of the nicest you can find on a compact camera, and its myriad options and accessories make it a great secondary camera for when you don't want to lug around an SLR.
8 of 10 CNET Asia
LG's touch screen phone includes several clever pieces of software, including a well-designed Web browser that can read full Web pages like the iPhone, a surprisingly good-looking photo viewer, and even picture editing software. Don't worry about wasting those features on tiny VGA snapshots, though; the Viewty's camera boasts a 5-megapixel sensor and a xenon flash unit.
9 of 10 Famitsu
Aside from the occasional color remix, we don't get many special edition DS Lites. Japan, on the other hand, seems to get a new one every time Square-Enix releases a new game. This little number is for the upcoming DS title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. It might seem strange to get a DS Lite focused on just one game, but it's hard to deny the great art.
10 of 10 GameSpot
Earthbound (Mother 2 in Japan) was one of the best Super Nintendo games out there. Its crazy, hilarious story, cartoonish style, and fun gameplay made it an all-around blast. Mother 3 came out in Japan nearly a year ago, but we haven't heard a peep about it coming out here. Until that happens, though, you'll be able to play Lucas, Mother 3's main character, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii when it comes out next year.
