| Hi everyone, it's Takashi from Tokyo. If your partner's unhappy that you bought a game console, try this line: It's still cheaper than a hair dryer. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Google invested in a company making small nuclear reactors
• Microsoft VP Sebastien Bubeck is leaving to join OpenAI
• Nvidia's shares are roaring back after the CEO's reassuring remarks Panasonic Holdings Corp. last month launched its Nanocare Ultimate, a high-end hair dryer for the Japanese market priced at ¥84,150 (about $565), more than double the cost of its previous flagship model. For context, even Dyson Ltd., the UK-born brand known for premium pricing, offers its Supersonic hair dryers for a more reasonable ¥54,800. My curiosity was piqued. Personal care products are a growing segment of the consumer electronics industry, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic prompted people to spend more time in front of a mirror at home. And Japan is a particularly big market for such gadgets. People spend hundreds of dollars on facial steamers, shower heads that produce ultra fine bubbles and rollers that claim to "lift" one's face. Compared to all that, hair dryers are one of the more straightforward investments a consumer can make — and companies are now testing how much shoppers are willing to spend. The Business CaseHair dryers are having a moment — around the world, and especially where I am, as the Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association says the product was the only home appliance it tracks that grew in sales volume last year. Panasonic has been selling them since 1937. Its Nanocare series, launched in 2005, quickly grew into a household name in the country and at one time accounted for 90% of the high-end dryer market, the Osaka-based company said. But Panasonic's share has shrunk to 60% in recent years, thanks to strong competition from Dyson, MTG Co. and Ya-Man. To shake things up, the company ditched its annual release cycle in 2020 and committed its engineers to working on more ambitious long-term projects. The Nanocare Ultimate is the fruit of those labors. It also adds to Panasonic's range of dryers with multiple modes that can handle a greater diversity of users — after its earlier dryers were always designed for the thicker hair common among Asian people. The HardwareAs you might expect with a device this expensive, the Ultimate does not look like a typical hair dryer. It's available in only one somber color — brown — and it has not one, but four vents, plus a small display on the side for scrolling through settings. Somehow, Panasonic managed to design a beauty appliance that looks like a spaceship. Three of those vents on the body are used to spray the user's head with moisture particles and minerals to help prevent over-drying or overheating the hair. While Panasonic has used this approach in previous models, this time it focused on blasting bigger volumes of the particles. Accessories in the box are sparse, with two attachments, including the comb-shaped one that Panasonic said was especially challenging to design.  Attachments for Nanocare Ultimate. Source: Panasonic Similar to Dyson's competing Supersonic dryer, the Ultimate is equipped with sensors to detect distance and adjust the temperature and volume of air accordingly. Panasonic also fine-tunes the output to various types of hair, which is where that screen on the side of the device comes in. Lastly, Panasonic claims that the Ultimate's drying performance is 1.5 times faster than the company's previous flagship model. What WorksAfter testing the Ultimate for two weeks (and sharing it with my wife and daughter), I found my hair was easier to manage thanks to the added moisture. I pay $50 every three weeks to cut my hair, but the Ultimate allows me to go another week between cuts. That alone is a cost saver for me in the long run. My wife has long, dyed hair, and she said the Ultimate reduced the time it takes to dry her hair by about a third. My tween daughter, meanwhile, has very long hair, which gets frizzy in the mornings. The Ultimate solved that — her hair became much more settled, and took less time to manage when styling. I also asked a friend who owns a Dyson Supersonic to test the Panasonic model for a couple of days. She said her hair felt moisturized, looked shinier and was easier to run a hand through. The dryer's skin-care mode to moisturize the face was also a plus, she added. Lastly, for people with little to no hair, scalp mode — which gently dries the head — could be fun, even if it sounds gimmicky. The CaveatsLike other high-end hair dryers, the Ultimate adopts a brushless direct-current motor that's more powerful but also produces an annoying, high-pitched whine. And as much as the various modes are a selling point, it gets tedious diving through menus in the morning when everyone's in a hurry. At least its default "moist" setting suited all members of my family well. We also didn't like the comb-shaped attachment. The dryer gets bulky when that's snapped in, and it's cumbersome to comb your hair with such a gadget. The vents are located at the base of the comb and it takes some skill to use it properly. You can rotate the attachment to adjust, but it gets hot very quickly and you won't want to touch it with your hand when in use. I begged my wife to use it a few times for the purposes of this review. Her conclusion is that you may as well ditch the attachment and run your hand through your hair. Besides, the dryer is more affordable anyway if you forgo the comb attachment: The price drops to ¥59,400 for that slightly pared-down kit.  Nanocare Ultimate Source: Panasonic The TakeawayAfter two weeks with the Ultimate, my family and I can't go back to our conventional dryer. It shortened time spent in front of the mirror and made our hair smooth and shiny while sparing our scalps from overheating. Considering we've used one dryer for a decade and we hope to own the next one for just as long, the price doesn't seem so awful. In short, we bought one in the end. But even Panasonic believes I'm an outlier — the company said it doesn't expect to sell many units. It is, after all, very expensive. But the Ultimate is still valuable as a showcase for Panasonic's top-of-the-line technology. That tech could one day trickle down into more mid-range models. And in the meantime, GfK Japan data suggests that the hair dryer market is growing mostly thanks to sales of pricier models. It's possible, then, that $500 will one day be the going rate for a good dryer, just as it's becoming the case with good consoles.— Takashi Mochizuki Biden administration officials have discussed capping sales of advanced AI chips from Nvidia Corp. and other American companies on a country-specific basis. The new approach would set a ceiling on export licenses for certain destinations in the interest of national security, with the focus on Persian Gulf countries that have a growing appetite for AI data centers and the deep pockets to fund them. Alibaba and Baidu are set to be cornerstone investors in one of Hong Kong's biggest IPOs this year, Horizon Robotics. IBM is investigating allegations about misconduct by its China chief. Crypto custodian Copper has hired former Goldman Sachs managing director Amar Kuchinad as its new CEO. An investment firm backed by Saudi Arabia's PIF plans to develop a so-called special economic zone to boost trade with China. | 
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