A digital clock to track your pet's age

A totally pointless gadget, but hey, pet owners are usually suckers for anything that's labelled "gear for your pet". I should know, having been one. First off, most pet owners would already know how old their pooch or kitty kat is. And yes, that's in both human and animal years. But back to that bit about suckers, this Sega Toys Pet Care Clock (4,200 yen, US$40) is designed to track time as experienced by our pets (and not much else). All that's needed is to input your sweetie's size and age, and voila. Now here comes the irresistible deal-breaker: It'll sing happy birthday every year right on your pet's human age birthday. Awww.

Via Impress

Unicycle-riding girlbot hits the road

Bicycle-riding robot Murata Boy has a cute new cousin--and she's so one-upping him by getting around on a unicycle.

Murata Girl, a.k.a. Seiko-chan, can ride forward and backward at 2 inches per second--or idle in place. Tiny sensors tell the bot when it's about to bump into something, and gyroscopes on her back, plus a spinning disc embedded in her stomach, help her stay balanced.

Murata Electronics, an electrical components maker based in Japan, uses Murata Boy to promote science education and advertise its brand. It describes Murata Girl as "active but shy" (she occasionally blushes) and from central Japan, noting that she's programmed to follow her cousin around (no doubt taunting him endlessly for only being able to manage on two wheels). Users can control Seiko-chan via Bluetooth.
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The smart cell key phone

In the latest move by convergence, your car keys are about to be swallowed up by your cell phone. The big goal of convergence seems to involve emptying our pockets, not of cash, although that is a side-effect, but of things. The fully equipped tech nerd used to carry a cell phone, PDA, MP3 player, and digital camera. Cell phones took over all those functions, so convergence went rummaging through your pockets looking for something else to subsume. And it found your car keys, which, thanks to new smart keys, can easily be converged into the cell phone.

This latest effort is being spearheaded by Nissan, Sharp, and Japanese phone company NTT Docomo. Nissan has been offering smart keys in its cars since 2002, and we've gotten so used to them that we don't bother mentioning it in our reviews any more. Sharp designed a phone that would, we assume, work on NTT Docomo's service, and include the functionality of a smart key for a Nissan car.
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Yamanote Line Watch for some trainspotting

It takes a true Japanophile or fashion dork to love this watch and wear it. Made by Japan's Seahope, this timepiece screams "tourist souvenir" and "geek alert", and not in a very flattering way, either. Let's just say kawaii isn't the first thing that comes to mind. However, if you've ever been on the Yamanote Line during rush hour and can't get enough of the sights, sounds and body crush at Tokyo's busiest underground rail, the Yamanote Line Watch offers four choices. These replicate the electronic bulletin boards at Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Ebisu and Shinagawa stations.

Note the key word "replicate". That reads fake mini bulletin board that can't, and won't, transmit real-time train timetables. The only differentiation between the versions appears to be some text and the station number. Other than that, this is as vanilla as watchpieces come, with time and date. All for a cutthroat tourist price of 25,200 yen (US$240).

Via Akihabara News

Tough times ahead for tech?

The credit crunch is spreading from banks to Wall Street and industries beyond--and Silicon Valley may not be immune.

Troubles at two major Wall Street securities firms will have ripple effects that could stifle mergers and acquisitions in the technology industry and further dampen the market for initial public offerings. Or so say financial pundits who are examining the potential fallout of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy, the US$50 billion sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America, and the US$85 billion loan to insurance giant American International Group in order to avoid its own financial crisis.

Venture capital and finance experts compared the news to the late 1990s, when the Big Eight accounting firms shrunk to the Big Four. Consolidation and financial uncertainty at the nation's largest securities firms will close some doors to tech companies aiming to go public, slow the process for M&A deals, and generally add more worry lines to tech investing.
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