Pasorama SR-G9001 Electronic Dictionary

Now we’re making some progress with electronic dictionaries! Since I’ve come to Japan, we’ve moved from very basic dictionaries that still made me grab actual books for looking up kanji characters, to more advanced models that have touchscreens for writing the characters. The new Pasorama SR-G9001 from SII ups the game some more by making your PC dictionary life easy as well.

Using an included dock and software you can use the SR-G9001 from your desktop whenever you need a good dictionary, and without having to use the smaller screen and more limited navigation. Cut and paste is also a revolutionary feature in this case. When you’re done, simply disconnect and have the dictionary on-the-go as well!

Via Impress

Tags: Electronics, Language
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Bandai RPG Pedometers animate your steps

Bandai will soon be releasing two new hybrid pedometer games to keep you entertained while racking up the miles as you go about your life. With two versions based on the classic anime Space Cruiser Yamato (Star Blazers) and 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, the idea is to set personal goals of exercise and achieve them in a fun way.

The journey is supposed to be completed in about 90 days, and more steps bring the walker to daily goals which, once achieved, display icons and events along with the storyline.

To increase the interaction, users also create accounts for online access where they can keep track of body weight, health stats, and get free health advice. It’s also possible to track the storyline online while the journey is still in progress.

With a target market of thirty-somethings, the Bandai pedometers are set to be released in December for about $45 and are expected to sell 300,000 units each by March 2009.

Tags: Bandai, Electronics, Games, health, Pedometers, Wellness
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends, Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends

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

Russian-Japanese electronic dictionary, new typfaces show changing communication needs

That communication must evolve to meet the changing needs of the Japanese population is a given, how it does so with technology is the interesting part.

On August 26, the popular Casio series of Ex-word electronic dictionaries will be the first of its kind to offer a Russian-Japanese dictionary, the Ex-word XD-SP7700. (Available HERE)

In Japan, owning an English-Japanese electronic dictionary is like owning a calculator, an occasionally useful relic from one’s school days or a crucial business tool. Throw in the extra usage of overseas travel and you can imagine that most households have one of these lying around.

Of course English is not the only useful foreign language (even if it is the most studied one) and new languages are added to the line up of electronic dictionaries to reflect the growing interest in travel or business to a particular country. The Ex-word is already available in Chinese, Korean, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

We aren’t sure whether the perceived demand for the new language is indicative of the growth of Japanese-Russian business relations, but, needless to say, the dictionary makes use of all the latest features, like handwriting and touch screen panels and native pronunciation recordings of 10,000 words and 2,100 conversational phrases. There is also a Russian-English dictionary included.

On a different note, but still on the “changing communication needs” theme, Dai Nippon Printing has developed a new typeface that promises to be easier on the eyes of the growing elderly population. Shueiyokobuto Mincho, based on Dai Nippon’s original Shuetai Mincho typeface, will feature thicker horizontal lines while promising the maintain the flavor of the Ming-style font.

Dai Nippon intends the new typeface to be used for headlines and large-type books, and has 9,000 kanji characters already with 20,000 planned by the end of the year.

Tags: Aging Society, Electronics, Language, Travel
Category: Fashion & Lifestyle Trends, Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends

Baby Climo minus ion air purifier from Takara Tomy

Air purifiers and humidifiers (also with aroma) are big wintertime sellers in Japan, but they certainly aren’t the big clunky things I had in my childhood. We’ll have more as humidifier season falls upon us, but the last couple of years have shown us models with great design and functionality that are sleek and silent enough to look great in a modern living room…

…or nursery. The Baby Kurimo Climo (Clean Mobile) is an upcoming air purifier from Takara Tomy that is made especially for babies. The design is simple and kid-safe, and (importantly) cute as hell. Minus ions are dispersed into the air as your child sleeps or plays, and can include aroma as well.

Buy Baby Climo online

Tags: Electronics, Takara Tomy
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
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KeUpper shocks your hair into submission

We were checking out the local electronics superstores this weekend, and stumbled upon what appeared to be a set of headphones designed to deliver music directly into your brain…

Instead, it turned out to be KeUpper (ケアッパ), which means “hair upper”, a $1000 device designed to stimulate your hair into growing by shocking the living daylights out of your head.

KeUpper is produced by Takigawa, though we can’t find a sign of it on the site. Either they’ve given up on it, or this is one of those “secrets of the stars” that the masses aren’t supposed to know about. Either way, if used properly for seven minutes a day, you can go from mostly bald to almost mostly bald after only 25 weeks!

If true hair growth will come through home appliances, we have no doubt that it will come from Japan, hopefully in time for guys like me.

I demoed the KeUpper myself, and could barely stand the pain of cranial electrocution after a mere five seconds. Whether it works or not I have no idea, but it’s made me far more comfortable accepting my inevitable genetic fate of hairline recession. I guess they don’t make fashionable wigs and fake facial hair for nothing…

Get your own KeUpper from Rakuten (Japanese)

Tags: Electronics, Men
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Japanese products go back to black

According to the Nikkei marketing journal, the last few years have seen a pretty decent resurgence of the color black（黒, pronounced “kuro”）in Japanese products, particularly concerning lifestyle and wellbeing. While often associated with dirt or being “tough” in the Western sense (The color of choice for manly gadgets and furniture), Japan brings a different perspective, associating the color with cleanliness. This is evident in the ubiquity of sumi (charcoal) products, which is used most often for filtration, particularly of water and air. This trend also carries over into lifestyle accessories such as the Iyashi，which is designed to project this feeling. Brands are now taking black, mixing its traditional clean qualities with modern design, and using it in a wide range of products.

Black makes other things easy to see. Products such as black cutting boards make it easier to cut vegetables and avoid cutting yourself, and are promoted especially for those with poor eyesight. Cotton ear cleaners and pore cleaning strips from Biore show everything you just cleaned off of yourself. Everything. How easily can you see the dirt? Well, we’d rather not show you here, so check out these pore-emptying pics at the Japanese blog Zaeega and be transported back to your pimply high school days.

Black looks professional. If you go to a small and trendy restaurant or bar, you’ll most likely see the staff wearing black aprons since white only looks clean when it actually is, and even then it doesn’t look very modern. Now, air conditioners and rice cookers are coming in black, and are appealing to both males and females. In this case, black is sleek, shiny, and modern, as evident in the $900 NJ-WS10 rice cooker from Mitsubishi.

Black is healthy. Products that are made specifically from naturally black material are popular as well, including black rice balls and soaps. Sumigaki charcoal toothpaste from Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals has been a hit since its debut in 2003, despite its dark black color. Most of us tend to like our toothpaste the color of our target tooth color, but Sumigaki takes its rough image and translates it into a feeling of
health, high quality, and efficiency.

Above all, black is simple. It’s useful because of the great contrast it provides, and the traditional role of black in Japan allows it to be embraced by feminine women as well as men.

Pictures via the above links and Yuho

Tags: Black Trends, Electronics
Category: Marketing & Ad Trends
Other categories: Technology & Gadget Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends

Hello Kitty air cleaner - Filters everything but the cuteness

As if it were possible to clean the air by adding sugar to it, Sanrio will be releasing a Hello Kitty air cleaner for your house, car, or Hello Kitty-themed S&M room. She collects dust and (sticking with recent trends) dispenses negative ions to clean the air. She also has an internal fan to help disperse the precious negative ions (whose health benefits at least sound good).

The Hello Kitty air cleaner uses an AC adapter or a cigarette lighter adapter for your car, neither of which are seen in any of the above pictures. Either way, you’ll know the power’s on when her ribbon lights up!

Most importantly, it’s cute, and that’s pretty much what matters. You can get Kitty-chan from March 21st from the Sanrio stores for ¥7140 ($60).

Via +D Lifestyle

Tags: Electronics, Hello Kitty
Category: Technology & Gadget Trends
Other categories: Marketing & Ad Trends, Fashion & Lifestyle Trends