Japan

iPod Bar Japan: Great Service But The Cocktails Need Work

If you’ve ever fancied sipping on a Steve Jobs Daiquiri or a Jonathan Ives Fuzzy Navel, then Tokyo’s new iPod Bar might just be for you. Or so I thought, as I sauntered up to the counter and demanded “something fruity, something like a Wozniak Colada or a Philip Schiller Fru-Fru,” only to be met…

Tech News Noah R

DoCoMo SA800i Kid Safety Phone

Today NTT DoCoMo announced a new model currently under development — the FOMA SA800i, made especially for children (specifically, elementary school kids). The phone is expected to go on sale in Spring 2006 and features: – GPS, allowing you to check where your child is, either from another mobile phone or from a computer –…

Tech News Noah R

AU Phones: Media Skin, Machina, Hexagon

As part of the ongoing AU Design Project, Japanese communications company AU recently unveiled some promising new concepts for future phones. The AU Design Project is a department of AU responsible for making phones that are, well, just way way sexier than anything else on the market. The AU Design Project gave Japan such coveted…

Tech News Noah R

Retractable iPod Grappling Hook

For those times when you need to transform your iPod into a rudimentary grappling hook, Elecom’s new retractable iPod cables could be exactly the item you are looking for. Available in 31- and 59-inch varieties. Sure, we’ve seen products like this before, but this may be one of the first (of an impending onslaught of)…

Tech News Noah R

Mini PCs Getting Even Mini-er

The CF700 (from the profoundly-named small computer makers “Minipc” in Japan) proudly states that it is smaller than a Mac Mini, and can also double up as some kind of totally awesome tennis ball heating device. Whilst I’m not a fan of the comparing game, I still fail to see how any of these so-called…

Tech News Noah R

Logitec’s Cigarette Lighter FM Transmitter

Sadly, these are not another variety of iPod-powered sex toy, these are Logitec Japan’s colorful new cigarette lighter-powered FM transmitters, to play your DAP-of-choice through your car stereo system. They’re available in 5 colors to ensure a perfect match between your car interior and DAP player, thus making for a greater sense of smug self-satisfaction,…

Tech News Noah R

Time To Decorate The USB Christmas Tree?

Something I came across today assured me that I have not yet found my holy grail of world’s most pointless USB peripheral, but is a clear sign that I am getting closer. This is a USB Christmas Tree, which lights up, blows styrofoam snow around and plays 4 popular Christmas songs, all thanks to the…

Gadgets Noah R

Adidas Xbox 360 Kiosk

With every passing day in Japan I see more eviden that Microsoft might have got it right this time around. There is a fair amount of hype, Microsoft seems more committed to the Japanese market (example: the Xbox Lounge) and they are employing the clever tactic of making as much of a fanfare about the…

Tech News Noah R

Nintendo’s Pay-Per-View Vending Machine

Look out iTunes video store! Nintendo and AM3 are now distributing video content for the GBA Movie Player this winter in Japan. Taking the form of an old-school “Gashapon” (toy capsule) machine, this device allows you to insert your GBA movie player flash memory card, crank a handle and instantly download anime episodes to watch…

Tech News Noah R

Elysium Keyboard: “Piles Up Body”

Whilst I fully agree that the Optimus is one sexy piece of keyboarding equipment, it has the unfortunate trait of not actually being real yet. Call me a fussy heathen but I am of the opinion that things which aren’t real are distinctly more difficult to use in real life than things which are. Sigma…

Tech News Noah R

The Last USB Peripheral You Will Ever Need: iNail, iShaver, iSharpener

Just when you thought that every possible variation of USB-powered peripheral was on the market, another one comes along to fill some tiny, microscopic niche and re-confirm that the world has gone completely bonkers. The iSharpener is a USB-powered pencil sharpener, which in itself is either a clever satire on the rampant USB-ification of otherwise…

Gadgets Noah R

Ultrazoid Keyboard

I have something of a penchant for acting out scenes from ’80s movies in real life. Whether it is using my favourite chat up line, “come with me if you want to live” at bars, instinctively contorting my body into a wobbly “crane” position when faced with impending violence, or coaxing drunken fat friends into…

Tech News Noah R

DoCoMo F902i Fingerprint Phone

A new addition to DoCoMo’s 902i series went on sale today in Japan — the F902i, by Fujitsu. With this generation of phones DoCoMo is really pushing security — not because of any kind of recent increase in crime (I mean this is Japan, people are so polite they ask before stealing something) — but…

Tech News Noah R

Majestouch: Pimp Keyboard

The keyboard is one of the most overlooked parts of our computers. A good keyboard can make the difference between the effortless, precise typing of shakespearian-quality prose, or the jarred, repeated-bashing-of-sticky-key OOPS PUT CAPS LOCK ON AGAIN ROFL!!1 drunkenly-typed ramblings of a person with anvils for hands. The keyboard is also the portal to your…

Tech News Noah R

Kabuto: Metal Insect Toys

Fans of meccano might enjoy this — a series of aluminium insect model kits to create your very own army of terror with which to send out and conquer the planet whilst you sit back stroking a luxurious cigar and smoking a fine white cat. Alas, these model kits don t feature motorised parts, but…

Gadgets Noah R

Jellyfish Cocktail: Japanese Pet

For all of you who sit at your desks thinking, ‘You know what this desk needs? Some goddamn jellyfish, that’s what,’ comes Japanese company Banpresto with some goddamn jellyfish thing. Banpresto’s “Sea Cocktail” (great name for a product which you should under no circumstances drink) takes the form of a 11.7-inch tall monolith-like fish tank,…

Gadgets Noah R

No More Smoking For Japanese Schoolgirls

I’m actually surprised to see this massive push in Japan to prevent underage smoking, considering even the dogs tend to have a pack of cigarettes tucked away somewhere. But I guess they’ve finally decided to join the rest of the world in cutting down. And in an even bigger move than any we’ve seen here…

Gadgets Tgrumet

Knapsack Phone Fights Japanese Crime

As the name intimates, the new Knapsack Phone comes, surprise integrated with a knapsack. Perfect for children, the handset’s real atrributes include a GPS function to locate your kids anywhere they may be (and many times it’s really, really not where they should be) as well as a “crime prevention buzzer” to alert anyone to…

Tech News Tgrumet

Gizmodo Japan: Auto door

Cleanliness, efficiency, compactness, cool-factor… for a variety of reasons, automatic doors have become a standard feature of Japanese shops. While the typical sliding star-trek style design has proven itself, the tanaka auto door aims to improve upon a good concept. This new design entails strips equipped with infrared sensors that open to the approximate shape…

Gadgets Jmanzone

Gizmodo Japan: Homo Sausage

Lost in translation, or intentionally provocative? There’s got to be a good story behind the name “Homo Sausage.” If you’re wondering, like I did, if “homo” has the same meaning in Japanese… it does. -JM Homo Sausage: full image Maruzen Fish & Ham Sausages Video of Homo Sausage in action [Maruzen Fun Club]

Tech News Jmanzone

iPod Bar Japan: Great Service But The Cocktails Need Work

DoCoMo SA800i Kid Safety Phone

AU Phones: Media Skin, Machina, Hexagon

Retractable iPod Grappling Hook

Mini PCs Getting Even Mini-er

Logitec’s Cigarette Lighter FM Transmitter

Time To Decorate The USB Christmas Tree?

Adidas Xbox 360 Kiosk

Nintendo’s Pay-Per-View Vending Machine

Elysium Keyboard: “Piles Up Body”

The Last USB Peripheral You Will Ever Need: iNail, iShaver, iSharpener

Ultrazoid Keyboard

DoCoMo F902i Fingerprint Phone

Majestouch: Pimp Keyboard

Kabuto: Metal Insect Toys

Jellyfish Cocktail: Japanese Pet

No More Smoking For Japanese Schoolgirls

Knapsack Phone Fights Japanese Crime

Gizmodo Japan: Auto door

Gizmodo Japan: Homo Sausage

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