Tokyo-based package software seller SOURCENEXT is leaving disks behind for its line of consumer software titles. From September, its core postcard-printing, homepage creator, and utility software titles will ship on your choice of frumpy CD-ROMs or trendier USB drives, with 30 titles making the move to thumb drive by the end of the year. The sales strategy, dubbed "U-Memo", recognizes that mobile PCs are moving away from optical drives, and that USB drives have become a commodity storage media. Prices will stay the same as CD-ROM versions, and space not taken up by software on the 1-GB "U-Memo" drives can be used for general data storage. That means "U-Memo" offers buyers that same software as the CD-ROM versions, with a thumb drive tossed in. Together with downloads, this looks like a sure end for CD-ROMs as a software delivery method.
http://www.sourcenext.com/titles/usb/?i=img_usb (Japanese)

One feature you won't find on a Macintosh computer is a television tuner. The fairly recent Apple TV peripheral, for all its capabilities, still doesn't bring in actual television. Hence a variety of third-party peripherals for TV-loving Mac users, including the upcoming GV-MACTV from Kanazawa-based I-O DATA. An update of the earlier GV-MVP/H for Windows, the small, slim white box will connect to a Mac's USB port to pull in Hi-Vision-quality terrestrial digital TV for viewing and recording to hard drive or DVD. The unit will hold the B-CAS cards used in Japan to decode digital broadcasts, and will ship with TV management software that will work with an Apple Remote. Available by the end of the year; no price yet. (The Windows device is JPY15,700.)

Press release: http://www.iodata.jp/news/2008/08/08_pr014.htm (Japanese)
GV-MVP/H for Windows: http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/07/io_data_tuner_s_record_multip... (English)

Name: Solid Alliance "...of the world" series USB drive  
Category: USB memory drive
Price: JPY3200
Release date in Japan: July 25, 2008

Tokyo-based Solid Alliance, fine purveyors of USB drives shaped like ducks and sushi, now has a USB drive with your name on it - if that happens to be Satou, that is. Which, fortunately for the company, is pretty often the case in Japan.

The 19-million-strong members of clan Satou often find themselves mistaken for "that other Satou", and some have been known to wish for a more distinctive last name. But listen up, "sekai no Satou" ("Satous of the world")! It's time to display clan pride, says Solid Alliance. The company's new 1GB drive takes the shape of the two characters making up Japan's most common family name: "sa" plugs into your PC, while "tou" is the cap. Curvy Edo-era "yose" script adds to its visual impact. Solid Alliance adds a loop for a chain or strap, so you can openly display to the world your membership in this most inclusive of clubs.

(You're paying for your branding here, though, Satou-san. A generic 1GB USB drive is easy to find for less than JPY1000; even a 4GB drive should cost less than this model.)

Solid Alliance also adds a fervent wish for any and all athlete Satous to bring home gold from Beijing, along with the hope that "all of Japan's Satous win gold medals in the Olympics called life".

And if you're not a Satou? Solid Alliance is accepting votes online for the next name in the series. "Yamadas of the world"? "Fujiwaras of the world"? Perhaps one day, electronics shops will display racks of USB drives in hundreds of names, just as ready-made "hanko" name stamps are sold in stationery shops. So go ahead and vote for your lineage (though if you're not a Tanaka, Suzuki, Yamamoto, or Takahashi, you've got some waiting ahead of you).

More info: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/sastore/c/0000000336/ (Japanese)
Vote for the next name: http://www.solidalliance.com/cgi-bin/oftheworld/vote.cgi

Sanwa Supply's "TRACKBAR Emotion" is a USB computer input aid that sits in front of your computer keyboard. The unit puts thick palmrests under your hands and numerous controls - left and right click buttons, browser forward/back buttons, a scroll wheel, and a four-way, double-clickable "pointer control bar" - between your hands. Sanwa claims advanced ergonomic design to make computing faster and more comfortable, without the need to shift a hand to a mouse. For Mac and PC. JPY14,980.
http://direct.sanwa.co.jp/ItemPage/400-MA009

BUFFALO and Bandai have released two models in the new "SWATTEARS" line of character-shaped USB memory: classic hero Ultraman, and Evangelion heroine Rei Ayanami. Bend the characters' legs into "sitting" position to reveal the USB memory stick for plugging into your computer. Or use the included USB cable, which has a "sofa" on the end to seat the character. (The "SWATTEARS" moniker apparently comes from "suwatte iru" or "sitting".) Don't you sit still, though, character fans: only 3000 units each will be made. JPY2980.
http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/flash/swattears/

Name: BUFFALO VH-MU01
Category: USB Skype phone
Price: JPY5320
Release date in Japan: Early June, 2008

Many people reading this will be fans of Skype, the popular service that enables free computer-to-computer and low-cost computer-to-land-line voice calling. Typical Skype setups involve fiddling with your computer's microphone and speakers/headphones, or a USB-powered "Skype phone" hardware add-on, which may still entail some mousing around to use.

BUFFALO Inc.'s new VH-MU01 isn't the first Skype phone handset, but promises to transform your Windows PC-based Skyping into a more phone-like experience. The white or black handset is generously described as "stylish", and in fact isn't too bad looking. It plugs into a USB port, and will require some initial setup - but after that, you'll be using it like a good old-fashioned phone. All the buttons you need to make and receive calls, including Skype software controls and extra niceties like volume control, are on the unit; no need to mess with the PC.

That alone will let you talk for free to other Skype users anywhere on the globe. For more fun, sign up for FUSION Communications' new "FUSION de Skype" service, which grants your Skype phone a regular FUSION IP-phone 050 number and lets you call regular land lines or mobile phones via the FUSION IP-Phone network (free if you call a FUSION IP-Phone 050 number). Early sign-ups for the service save about JPY2300 on various fees.

More info: http://buffalo.jp/products/new/2008/000705.html (Japanese)
FUSION de Skype: http://www.fusioncom.co.jp/fusion_skype/ (Japanese)

Name: Buffalo DH-KONE4G/U2DS
Category: 1-seg tuner
Price: JPY15,700
Release date in Japan: Late April, 2008

It's twice the price of the Corega CG-1SGT appearing at the same time, but Buffalo's USB tuner adds 4GB of built-in memory, and works with Mac OS X as well as Windows. You can record up to 20 hours of programming onto those 4GB, says Buffalo; the "PCast TV fro 1-Seg" playback software is inside, so just carry the dongle with you to play back the recorded shows on whatever PC is handy. Better yet, move the recorded files to a microSD or MemoryStick card via the PC, and watch the recorded content on your mobile phone, PlayStation 3, or PSP. Naturally, the device will also function as generic USB memory for storing whatever you like.

A long list of additional features includes long and short antennas, USB extension cable with dock, EPG/iEPG, digital radio (play and record), digital playback enhancements for smooth motion and clear text, scene search, color correction, "timeshift playback", forward-skip, and screen shots. Finally, with two of the units plugged into your PC, you can watch/record two programs at once, switching freely between main and sub screens.

More info: http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/multimedia/dh-kone4g_u2ds/ (Japanese)