Hello Kitty phones

Yes, we're overdue for some Kitty lurve here at Gadget Buzz. So here're some handsets for the fans, courtesy of blog site Popgadget and manufactured by Taiwan firm OKWAP. Surprisingly, these pack a wallop in features, despite the tendency to pooh-pooh the phones as Sanrio collectors' dribble. The A268Kitty may appeal more to the sweet 16 crowd, but it reportedly comes with dual color screens, an onboard camera and bilingual dictionary. The A236Kitty, on the other hand, slides out to reveal a keypad, touchscreen and stylus. Not bad for something that looks like a toy. Also spotted was the A279Kitty which, despite its "don't' take me seriously" façade, is seriously featured with a pedometer, bilingual dictionary, MP3 player, camera, FM tuner, 100MB onboard memory, and a strip of LED lights on the front panel which acts like Scientific Oregon's projection clocks. This one lets you type a short message where waving your phone will activate the Wave Messaging feature and display your text in the air. How cool is that? And what would the celebrity feline be without matching phone charms, pouches and wallpapers bundled with the phones? Comes pretty in pink, naturally.

Click to see A279Kitty | A279Kitty accessories | A268Kitty | A268Kitty open | A268Kitty accessories | A236Kitty

Price: N.A.
Availability: China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, though you might strike lucky with various online stores
Device: Mobile phones
Specs: N.A.

Smeg fridges

Despite the industrial-sounding marque, these Smeg chillers look downright groovy. Loads of colors to choose from to dress up your kitchen, though the one-tone fridges are a mite too reminiscent of Ikea play cupboards from the kids section. Our favs, naturally, are the ones that toss on the retro spunk, such as the cheerily rainbow-striped edition and Union Jack. These ones are certainly licensed to chill. Alternatively, if you're more inclined toward the bovine, you could beef up Gary Larson-style with Cowstickers to add some cool moo-ves to your icebox.

See single hues | fun designs

Via Crave

Price: N.A.
Availability: More info at Smeg
Device: Fun refrigerators
Basic specs: N.A.

Ironman

Want a man you can get all steamed up over? Meet Ironman. And he'll take it lying down, either dressed up or dressed down. This quirky ironing board actually makes perfect sense. After all, his broad expanse of chest provides a greater ironing surface area. And when it comes to pressing trousers, you can now slip each leg onto the Ironman for crease-free pants everytime. There's even a handy hole in Ironman's head to keep those pesky cords neatly contained or to hang him, er, with during storage. It's not quite Chippendales, but this is one sailor you can dress up in whatever you fancy, from Fireman Red to Sailor Blue, to the Stars & Stripes, with nary a complaint out of him. Not half as fun as the peekaboo Fun Iron Board Covers, but at least this takes the wrinkle out of housework. So what are you waiting for? Strike while the iron is hot!

Click for larger image | different cover options

Price: 99.99 pounds (US$190.50)
Availability: At I Want One Of Those or check out the Ironman Web site

Device: Red cover, separate navy cover can be purchased, felt mat 139 x 51 x 0.7cm, cover 139 x 51 x 0.7cm

USB Eye Warmer

Here's another USB gewgaw you never realized you needed until now. Thanks to Thanko's new international distribution store Rare Mono Shop, the USB Eye Warmer is coming soon to a port near you. When your eyes get fatigued from staring at that computer screen all day, here's where this eye warmer comes in handy, soothing those tired optics with some healing heat balm. A power on/off switch controls the temperature, so you don't end up cooking your eyeballs. All in favor of some ER (eye relief), say "eye".

Price: N.A
Availability: Coming soon to Rare Mono Shop (Thanko)
Device: USB accessory
Specs: N.A.

Kap!On shoes

Can't say we're terrible excited about these. Bad enough there're heelies and squeakies, now our local TV station is offering music-playing sneakers in a contest, to complement the awesome lung power of those terrible tiny totes. These footwear can apparently play the wearer's favorite tunes, thanks to a High Density Flash Memory. The shoes also have enough onboard smarts to keep count of the number of movements that the owner is making. We've no idea, though, what's powering this, how you transfer songs into the flash memory, or why the heck it's even called Kap!On when it's more of a Shoe!In. Go figure.

Price: N.A.
Availability: Contest at Mediacorp
Device: MP3-playing shoes
Specs: N.A.

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