Name: Hello Kitty Face-Shaped DVD Player
Category: DVD player
Price: JPY31,500
Release date in Japan: October 16, 2008

No gadget category stands untouched for long before Kitty muscles in on the action. This time, her famed head forms the screen of the 7-inch portable "Hello Kitty Face-Shaped DVD Player", an entry in the "Original Kaden" (orginal appliances) series from Sanrio. Switch it on, and Kitty and her twin sister Mimmy entertain you on the screen until it's time to view DVDs, at which time Kitty's good to go with most DVD media including CPRM-protected discs.

Kitty offers 2.5 hours of play after a 3.5-hour recharge, ships with a remote control, and weighs 890 grams. She'll only take Region 2 discs (drat those finicky cats!), so stock up on local DVDs when you pick up Kitty at a department store or Sanrio shop in Japan.

More info (Japanese): http://www.sanrio.co.jp/goods/200810/kt_dvdplayer/index.html
Other recent DVD players (English):
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/09/trio_dvd

Stunning video, pristine audio - and the luxurious feel of leather. Now that's multimedia! To celebrate domestic sales of over 500 million DVD media disks, Hitachi Maxell is set to release DVD-R/-RW media whose label side is coated with a leather-like material. (A blank stripe running through the faux cowhide provides space to write disk information.) A box of 10 disks (in five colors) will run JPY1200 from October 25.
More info (Japanese):
http://www.maxell.co.jp/jpn/news/2008/news080918.html

Kitty is moving up in the world of floor-cleaning devices! Previously, she appeared in a special edition of the RoboMop, a low-cost, low-tech cleaning "robot" (essentially a randomly-rolling ball topped by a floor-dusting "hat"). Now she's hitting the big time, gracing none other than the famed Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. Based on the standard Roomba 530, the "Hello Kitty model" is offered by American manufacturer iRobot and Japanese distributor Sales On Demand Corp. The first Roomba to sport a character theme, the model shows Kitty holding an apple against a red background. 500 units go on sale September 30. JPY84,500.
More info (Japanese):
http://www.irobot-jp.com/kitty/index.html
Hello Kitty RoboMop (English):
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/03/robomop

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

Introducing the HELLO KITTY Digital Broadcast Hi-Vision LCD TV, also known as the TL19TX1 over at Uniden. ("HELLO TL19TX1!" Naw, that's not working.) It's a 19-inch (1440x810) all-digital (no analog receiver) TV with HDMI interface, Electronic Program Guide, lots of image/sound-enhancing technologies with fancy names, and Kitty silhouettes gracing the front grille. In black/red or (of course) white/pink. Yours for JPY69,800 (and stop pretending you don't want it).
http://www.uniden-direct.jp/product/lcd_kitty.html

Name: Chinshu Hakken!? Mugen Edamame
Category: novelty / toy
Price: JPY630
Release date in Japan: June 28, 2008

Remember the "Mugen Edamame" keychain/mobile phone fob from BANDAI, released barely over two months ago? (You should; it's for some reason the most-viewed gadget on this site.) The maker now has new varieties in stores: "Chinshu Hakken!? (Rare Breed Discovered!?) Mugen Edamame". It seems, says BANDAI, that the original green Mugen Edamame have married with other fruits and vegetables, producing "new breeds" in bright colors that reflect their heritage: Lemon Edamame, Sweet Potato Edamame, Carrot Edamame, and Mint Edamame (a rich blue).

This time around, BANDAI has six new faces readied for the beans, plus one "secret design". The "gadget" still does the same thing as the original: nothing. Give it a squeeze, and a little bean face pops out – a wee diversion for the stressed-out or the really easily amused. (It is cute, though, and oddly addictive, say owners.)

If the toy doesn't interest your serious sensibilities, the numbers might: BANDAI says it's reaching its 1 million unit sales goal for the Mugen Edamame in only two months, and with the help of the new "rare breeds'", expects to sell a total 1.5 million by September. At JPY630 a pop, that's JPY945 million – almost US$10 million – for a keychain! (BANDAI also reports that the beans' predecessor, a popping fake bubble wrap novelty called "Mugen Puchi-Puchi", has sold 2.5 million units at JPY819 each.)

More info: http://www.bandai.co.jp/releases/J2008062401.html
http://www.asovision.com/edamame/chinshu.html
Original Mugen Edamame:
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/04/mugen_edamame_provides_bean_p...
http://www.asovision.com/edamame/
Be sure to catch the movie too: http://www.asovision.com/edamame/movie.html

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/