Doraemon Exilim camera smiles, makes you do it too

Collaborations between manufacturers and pop culture in Japan have a been a hit as of late, especially with electronics. Sure, Doraemon might be for kids, but Japan’s “Anime Ambassador” is popular across age groups (not to Hello Kitty levels of course). This new Exilim camera from Casio mixes smile detection technology with Dora-chan to create a new experience for snapshot taking.

In this case, Dora-chan’s face is used to give visual cues as to how the picture is going to turn out. If the picture is out of focus, Doraemon’s face isn’t happy, but smiles ear to ear once there’s good focus and your subject is smiling “properly”. Say what you will about being forced to smile by Doraemon, but the concept is unique.

While the body, case, and strap are also physically branded, the camera includes built in animations and menus based around the character. The result is an experience Doraemon and the camera simultaneously, adding value to both. Such collaborations are often hard to pull off without it seeming cheap, but the unique Japanese penchant for characters makes it work well here.

Pre-orders are already being taken for the camera, which will be officially released in December for about $350.

Tags: anime, Cameras, Collaborations, Electronics
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Olympus offers chance to photograph solar eclipse

Olympus Imaging has launched an inventive marketing campaign: a chance to win an all expenses paid trip to the remote southern island of Tanegashima for the purpose of photographing a total solar eclipse under the guidance of a professional.

Customers who spend over ¥500,000 ($4,750) will be entered into the lottery for a chance to win one of 30 spots on the three day, two night trip. Considering that the eclipse, the first total one visible in Japan in 46 years, doesn’t take place until July 22 of next year, Olympus is giving itself plenty of time to rack up big spending customers.

¥500,000 is conveniently the price for the top Olympus E-System DSLR kit, including lens and flash. The E-System line includes pro and high-end consumer models. An additional 15 customers whose bills total ¥300,000 ($2,850) to ¥500,000 and 5 who spend ¥150,000 ($1,425) to ¥300,000 will also be invited to join, though obviously the odds aren’t as good.

This literally once in a lifetime opportunity is a tempting incentive for the legions of serious photography hobbyists who might be considering one of several brands for an equipment upgrade in the coming year. In case you are wondering if Olympus can sell enough of these expensive cameras to cover the cost of the extravagant prize, remember that they don’t call the country’s major all-purpose electronics chains Yodabashi Camera and Bic Camera for nothing.

Tags: Cameras, Hobby
Category: Marketing & Ad Trends
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

BBF blackbird, fly TLR camera from Superheadz

In the last few years, the Lomography movement has gained a lot of traction in Japan. First beginning in novelty shops like Village Vanguard, we started seeing pinholes, Holgas, Horizons, LCAs, and other unique cameras popping up in bookstores, cafes, and even major retailers like Yodobashi Camera. Film has become fashionable now that digital cameras have freed up cheap film cameras to be used for fun and experimenting with different films, techniques, and developing methods.

Coming soon from the film lovers at Japan’s Superheadz, the blackbird, fly is a twin-lens reflex camera that fits right into the retro film trend and has great design that would fit right in at a trendy lifestyle store in Tokyo.

Priced at less than $100 Priced at ￥12,600, these limited edition Rolleiflex lookalikes shoot square images on 35mm rather than 120 (medium format) film, making development costs (and cheap scanning at home) less of an issue.

For those interested, Japan Trend Shop now carries the Blackbird, fly camera since it’s unavailable outside of Japan.

Tags: Cameras, Film, LOMO, Retro
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends, Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends

Spiegel features Wonderful Shot dog camera

On December 10th in its “Gaga-Gadgets” column, major German magazine Spiegel highlighted the Wonderful Shot dog camera from Tomy, including our unpaid model dog Sakura (soon to be suing us).

Don’t worry Sakura, a case of Happy Lager is on the way…

Tags: Cameras, pets, Press, Press coverage
Category: Uncategorized
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

CAM-007 Tokyo test run via Honda Monkey

I have a little Honda Monkey that I use for getting around the neighborhood and cruising around Tokyo while looking as cool as one can possibly be on a tiny motorbike with a custom 72cc engine. Not an easy task.

To test out the CAM-007 we discussed before, I taped it to the headlight and took a ride from Kichijoji to our designer friend Hiroshi’s cafe, Chubby.

The camera is so light I just used a single piece of tape, and it stayed in place with no problems. The video is below, and the quality actually surprised us a bit, considering how tiny the camera really is.

Buy the CAM-007 online

Tags: A/V, Cameras
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
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Hello Kitty automated toilet paper holder + new camera

Hello Kitty toilet? Check.
Hello Kitty toilet paper cover? Check.

Automated Hello Kitty toilet paper holder? Finally….check!

Only using about $1 of power per year to operate, the Hello Kitty toilet paper holder allows you to pre-program up to nine different length settings in 20 centimeter increments. Simply push the button, and Kitty Chan dispenses the right amount, making it easy to make a clean tear.

In addition, the latest edition of the Hello Kitty camera is out, with a perfectly cute Kitty design.

No word on the price of the camera yet, but the toilet paper holder is a hefty ¥24,000 ($220). Add some relaxing sounds from the Hello Kitty Grand Pianist, and you have a high-class bathroom experience in the works.

Pictures via Sanrio

Tags: Cameras, Hello Kitty
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
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CAM-007 the world’s smallest camcorder spycam

UPDATE: Check out our camera test run HERE

Akihabara has a surprising amount of shops dedicated to video/audio surveillance gear, despite Japan being an extremely safe country with a low crime rate. Without dwelling too much on the possible (obvious?) ways to misuse this equipment, it really makes us wonder who is buying this stuff and where it’s going. However, some are more obvious than others, and are pushing the semi-legal status of these devious little pinhole cams.

The CAM-007 is the latest mini spycam, but it’s completely self contained. It charges via USB with an internal Li-ion battery for two hours of recording onto a micro SD card. This includes decent video at 15 fps and audio as well!

Battery power aside, a 1GB card can hold about 19 hours, and the MPEG-4 media can be played back on a 3G mobile phone. As you can see, the size and shape are not coincidental, as the CAM-007 slips into just about anything Bond would have lying around his bachelor pad.

Devious thoughts aside, this is actually a pretty handy little cam. It’s light at 18 grams, extremely compact, and fits right into a pack of Bubblicious.

Buy the CAM-007 in the online shop

Tags: Cameras
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
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Tomy Wonderful Shot dog camera test run

We’ve wanted to get one of these for a long time, and my obsessive nerdiness with cameras finally took hold. The Wonderful Shot dog camera from Tomy fits right onto your dog’s collar and takes pictures from his view, though not entirely accurate since it’s in color.

The camera is 0.35 megapixels, which actually turned out some pretty decent pictures. Even though Sakura and Ibu (my girlfriend’s spoiled dogs) have short legs, you still get a pretty good view from their level. Of course, the pictures aren’t actually taken by the dogs themselves, but are either activated by the remote or by the timer which takes them in various increments.

This means that you can leave your dogs for a while and then check on what they’ve done for the day, or just take a walk together and snap a few. Even more interesting would be to put the Wonderful Shot on a cat and really get a chance to see what those things get into all day.

Here are some random shots around the garden:

The Wonderful Shot has an 8MB internal memory which holds 90 photos, and has a built-in battery which is charged via the included “dog bone” USB. Now I just need to think of more interesting situations to put the dogs in, or send them to Michael Vick’s house as spies.

Click to buy the Wonderful Shot online

Tags: Cameras, pets, Takara Tomy
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07: Japanese Lacquer Version (Limited Edition)

Finally, a Japanese digital camera that looks Japanese! These limited edition models of the stylish DMC-FX07 cameras are finished with a beautiful Japanese wood-lacquer look. They even come in a cool wooden box and with a Japanese-style braided strap to complete the presentation. They’ll be selling from December 12th for JPY 59800, which is about $500. Finishes range from “old wooden dry lacquer” to “jewel beetle”, and are sure to go well with your choice of kimono. The camera itself is 7.2 Megapixels and has an ISO sensor to detect movement and adjust the ISO accordingly. All in all, these are beautiful cameras that scream “Japan!”, and will be tough to get as they’re limited to 100 pieces each at this point.

Japanese marketing has increasingly been leaning toward traditional styling, from plastic green tea bottles with “old Japan” motifs and no English whatsoever to a resurgence of kimono in advertisements for young people. We expect to see much more in this realm.

Tags: Back to Japan, Cameras, Panasonic
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
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