Filed under: Cellphones

Braille phones in and of themselves aren’t all that unique, but a former professor (who just so happens to be completely blind) from Tsukuba University of Technology has crafted a variant that jumps and jives. Dubbed the world’s first vibrating Braille cellphone, the device is programmed to emit pulses depending on which key is pressed; more specifically, a pair of terminals attached to the handset “vibrate at a specific rate to create a message.” Those currently involved with the project are now toiling to make the keypad-to-vibration converters smaller, but there’s no word just yet on whether the technology will be picked up commercially.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

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Filed under: Desktops

Another day, another round of PCs exquisitely built from woods farmed halfway across the globe. On the docket today, however, are a number of particularly drool-worthy rigs from Universal Roaming. The Ryou collection consists of a half dozen models constructed from Japanese Judas trees and accented with lacquer, silver / gold powders and other culturally-inspired designs. Each diminutive unit houses a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 CPU, up to 2GB of RAM, an 80GB HDD, dual-layer DVD burner, WiFi adapter, 3-in-1 multicard reader and Windows Vista, but there’s no telling how much you’ll be asked to lay down in exchange for such elegance.

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Filed under: Wearables

Considering that some digicams are emerging with built-in smile detection, we’d say whipping that grin of yours into shape might not be a half bad idea. Granted, Patakara’s latest certainly isn’t the first, but rather than just shaping your smile, this thing actually exercises the muscles around your mouth — presumably to help you cheese more intensely for even longer periods of time (you superstar, you). Heck, there’s even three models with different resistance levels for those totally committed. But let’s be honest, you won’t even give those fancy Body Trainer headphones a second glance — are you really going to dedicate time each day for this? You are? Well, then by all means, hand over your ¥5,250 ($52) and get to chompin’.

[Via popgadget]

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Filed under: Wearables

Oh sure, we’ve seen gadgets used as motivational tools before, but Sega Toys is apparently banking on you not being a hothead. Otherwise, you just might fling its Body Trainer headset from your dome as soon as you hear “please exercise a little bit harder” over your incessant panting. Nevertheless, those with oodles of self-control may actually benefit from having a personal trainer (of sorts) in their ear while working out, and by monitoring the wearer’s heartbeat via a sensor, it can blurt out messages at the appropriate time to help users through their session(s). Reportedly, this nifty exercise buddy is set to launch in Japan this April for ¥5,775 ($54), and while we’ve no idea if this thing is destined for US soil, we can definitely see it being used more so for its musical abilities and less for its steadfast encouragement.

[Via CNET]

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Filed under: Gaming

For all you Devil May Cry fanatics out there (wait — are there Devil May Cry fanatics out there?) you’re about to get a super-special, unicorn explosion from Microsoft. That’s right, babies, it’s the Devil May Cry special edition Xbox 360. Actually, it’s more like a bundle of the boring, old, non-special (though HDMI equipped) Xbox 360, coupled with the brand-spaking-new Devil May Cry 4, where the Devil, crying, and the possibility of crying meet for a fourth — but probably not final — time. Right now it’s looking like a Japanese-only deal, but you never know when something this gooey will drip over to these shores. Available January 31st for ¥37,800 (or about $330).

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Filed under: Transportation

So here’s the good news: Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tokai) has announced its intentions to construct a swank maglev railway in Japan. The bad news? It’s not expected to open until 2025. Reportedly, JR Tokai will be coughing up around ¥5.1 trillion ($44 billion, give or take a few mil) of its own change to build the system that will stretch between the “Tokyo metropolitan area and the Chukyo region, with Nagoya at the center.” Of course, we’re all going to be cruising around in personal flying saucers in a decade anyway, so we wouldn’t be too worried about the wait.

[Image courtesy of FYS]

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Filed under: Cellphones

We’ve already seen the idea of data-to-voice translation passed around, but NEC’s latest software is far beyond the drawing board. Reportedly, the firm has developed a system that can understand around 50,000 Japanese words and translate them to English text on the mobile’s display in just a second or two. The software was made compact enough to “operate on a small microchip mounted in a cellphone,” and was designed especially to help users convert common travel phrases. Notably, it would be technically possible to make the English translation vocal, but according to NEC spokesman Mitsumasa Fukumoto, the firm isn’t looking into that possibility at the moment. No word on when we’d see this technology hit the masses, nor if any other language combinations were in the works, but this would certainly make touring English-speaking locales a lot less strenuous for Japanese speakers.

[Via Physorg]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Denon cares about you, movie-buff, and you need only look at the company’s two latest Blu-ray player offerings to realize that. Enter the DVD-3800BD and DVD-2500BT, the former supports 1080p, 12-bit DAC at 297MHz, the exciting acronyms of D.D.S.C-HD (or Dynamic Discrete Surround Circuit-HD), and D.P.I.C. (Denon Pixel Image Correction), plus HDMI, RCA / BNC, and RS-232C connectivity. The latter is a slightly more stripped-down version which axes some of the capital-letter feature flourishes. Both players will be available in Japan in January of 2008, priced at ¥336,000 for the DVD-3800BD, and ¥231,000 for the DVD-2500BT.

[Via Akihabara News]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Are you a Japanese Windows user? Did you just buy an iPod touch? If you answered yes to both of those questions, you may find yourself in a boiling rage in a matter of moments. Apparently, you are unable to unlock your new WiFi-device / media player if you’re using Japanese Windows — the player just remains in the holding pattern of a “connect to PC” prompt when you hook it up to your computer. According to reports, Apple Japan has yet to issue a statement or updates to solve the problem, which is causing a number of Japanese buyers to take matters into their own hands. Word on the street is that lines have been forming outside of Apple stores, where new buyers are taking their useless touches to be brought magically to life by the in-store Macs. First the screen problems and now this? Come on Apple — get it together.

Update: The crack team at Engadget Japan has learned from Apple that an update coming later this week will fix the problem, though they have yet to make an official announcement. Also, it sounds like other foreign Windows users may be experiencing similar problems. If you’re having trouble — let us know.

[Via Impress]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!