Consumers' desire for lower-cost computing affects software marketing as well. Following up on a couple news items presented earlier:

In September, JustSystems began offering its JPY8000 ATOK Japanese input system for PCs as a JPY300/month software service. The company reports that the low monthly cost is already a hit. Or so JustSystems says; no actual numbers have been announced yet, other than a goal of 30,000 users by September 2009. However, early data does show that 70% of the new service's users are new to ATOK, and are younger than the packaged verson's user base as well, suggesting that software-as-service taps into a young base that's put off by the high price of packaged software.
More info (Japanese): http://www.justsystems.com/jp/products/atok_teigaku/
English: http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/09/atok

Next up, SourceNext's switch from CD-ROMs to USB drives to deliver packaged software is also a hit. The company expected to move 1 million units of its "U-Memo" series of consumer titles on USB drives within the first year. The results so far? 650,000 packages - after only one month! SourceNext attributes the popularity to the rapid growth of mini notebook computers, which typically don't have CD-ROM drives. Needless to say, the company is rushing to place more games, utilities, and other titles into the U-Memo lineup.
U-Memo info (Japanese): http://www.sourcenext.com/titles/usb/?i=img_usb
English:
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/09/sourcenext
Netbooks in Japan (English):
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/10/netbooks

Another oddball USB gadget from Thanko: to complement its fan-equipped mouse and keyboard for cooling your hands, Thanko also has a fan-equipped seat for cooling your... er, seat. The "USB Cooler Cushion" straps onto your work chair and, taking power from a USB cable to your computer, sends cooling air upward through pores in the cushion. With a USB adapter for your car's cigarette lighter, it'll keep you comfy on the road too. Says the company's English page: "No more sweaty nasty seat for me!!" JPY4800 (JPY5280 with car USB adapter).
More info (Japanese):
http://thanko.jp/usbseatair/
(English):
http://www.raremonoshop.com/us/product-information/usb-cooler-cushion.html
USB Cooler mouse and keyboard (English):
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/07/usb_cooler_mouse
http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/08/usb_cooler_keyboard

Name: Thanko USB Nandemo Charger 2
Category: battery charger
Price: JPY1480
Release date in Japan: September 5, 2008

Thanko's "USB Nandemo [Anything] Charger 2" offers to consolidate your gadget charging needs - mobile phones, digital cameras, and PDAs - into one USB-powered unit. Not via a hydra-like nest of power connectors to fit any device, but via a universal charger that morphs to fit a variety of device batteries.

It's actually pretty simple. The Charger draws power from a USB cable connected to your PC. The base is essentially a big plastic clip, with two metal contacts whose distance is adjustable. Take out your device's battery, place it on the base, adjust the contacts so they touch the battery's points of contact, and let the clip hold things in place while for a 5V recharge.

It's a nifty idea, though with drawbacks. The device has to be one with a removable battery (so no iPhones/iPods), and the battery has to have two side-by-side metal contact points (generally, that means the flat batteries in mobile phones, and some cameras, PDAs, and game machines). Removing your phone's battery for a recharge is a bit more of a hassle than using its regular recharger. Further, you need to have a PC handy to supply power, or a wall outlet-to-USB connector. All in all, unless you really have the need to power a variety of battery types, it may be easier to just make sure you take your gadgets' normal rechargers with you on travels.

Still, it can be handy at times to have an extra means of charging on hand. For those wearing down the phone battery often, the following may be even better: the USB Nandemo Charger mini. It's similar to the above but plugs itself directly into a USB port without a cable (like a USB drive), and is intended only for 3.6/3.7V batteries (generally phone batteries). The upside: it's a tiny keychain, easy to always have on hand. Cheaper, too, at JPY980.

More info (Japanese):
http://thanko.jp/usbcharger2/

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