Back in 2002, TakaraTomy released a device called the Bowlingual, which claimed to translate a dog's barking into human dialect you could read from a screen. Now, 7 years later, the company has updated Bowlingual to include vocalization—you know, like a text-to-speech GPS but for an animal discussing the merits of eating one's own feces.

It's a Japan-only toy, so the voice of the American dog movement will continue to go unheard. But do what we do and just assume that your dog is perpetually trying to warn you that the old mill is burning down. Better safe than sorry. [TakaraTomy via technabob via pocket-lint]The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

That's what Takara Tomy says: Their $73 Minutes Gym thingie will give you 100,000,000 different workout exercises, three minutes each. It will also measure your fat and keep track of it over a three month period. I don't know how well this will work—or if it will work at all—but I like the cute graphics:

[Japan Trends via Oh Gizmo!]

Unlike pedometers for humans that can only regulate movement in two legs, the $55 doggy pedometer uses special technology that allows it to monitor movement in all of its four legs. It also has a sensor that can detect whether your dog is actually walking and running as opposed to just shaking, scratching, or even frantically humping your leg. [New Launches via OhGizmo!]

The Transformers Chrono Label will come in two versions: Cybertron Autoceptor and Destron Time Limit. The old-school dot graphic timepiece detaches from the wristband, and with a bit of tugging becomes a tiny little transforming robot.

It can be pre-ordered from NCSX for $290.90 each. Wow, is there anyway we can transform that price into something less ridiculous? And maybe bring back this cute pop-up Transformer watch instead? At least it's got colors. [Geek Alerts]

The Ie Soba costs $139, but beware, as it only comes with Japanese instructions. [Kilian-Nakamura]

The Omnibo2007 i-SOBOT is the smallest 2-legged robot in the world. It's just 96x67x165mm and weighs only 350g. An internal gyro-sensor gives is maximum flexibility while an attached IR remote control has voice command features and pre-programming capabilities. If you clap or play music, the i-SOBOT will dance to the beat. It goes on sale in July from toymaker Takara Tomy.

–Lisa Katayama

News Flash: The World's Smallest 2-Legged Robot [Tokyo Mango]

NEC and Takara Tomy's Secret Fort Type-No1 laptop wins mad props for creativity and nothing for style. It's basically an ordinary laptop disguised as a secret fort for that spy mission that's taking place in that crazy head of yours. It comes with an emergency button, a "glitter" LED screen for flashing urgent messages, a CD-Rom that'll give you secret fort-style wallpapers and icons to match the stickers you can put on the laptop's body to make it look more serious—or ridiculous, depending on how you look at it.

–Lisa Katayama

NEC "Secret Fort" Laptop [TokyoMango]