The new keyboard is rechargeable by a small solar panel right above the numeric keypad, that can be charged from indoor light also.

In addition, it’s maker promises that you can use it for up to 10 meters away from your computer. You can also find the usual additional keys like volume and video player controls. It’s weight is 840g excluding 2 AA batteries needed for operation.

Unfortunately, Buffalo, the maker of the keyboard doesn’t say for how long it can work without recharge. The price is $123 and it currently sells only in Japan.

[Product Page] (Japanese) via [AkihabaraNews]

Sharp Electronics has introduced a new LCD TV which is powered by solar panels. Sharp claims that the 26-inch screen consumes only a quarter of a energy compared with a similar size CRT.

The new LCD is actually a very low power consumption LCD screen, that is paired with a new thin solar panel from the company. Sharp suggest that this can be used in remote areas which are off the grid. But these poor people may have better things to worry about then seeing American Idol at night.

No word on pricing, availability or production yet.

Via [TechRadar]

More from Sharp [Sharp]

USB Necktie

This is an improved model of last year necktie. In the necktie you can find a small fan that gets you fresh air while sitting in the office. It may look exciting, but think what will happen if you get up and forget that you are chained to your laptop with a USB cable. And we don’t want to even start thinking what your peers will think of you. And that cute receptionist? Don’t count on a date tonight. All of this for the price of only 27 dollars. [Product Page]

Lazy Chair

In the summer you may also want to relax with your laptop a bit. Just spreading out in the floor is not a good idea. Your hands get numb, and your back might hurt. The Japanese solution? The lazy chair. The chair allows you to lie down comfortably and work on your notebook. You also get five positions for the angle of this “chair”, and you can always use it as a head rest, in case you want to read the newspaper. The price: 74 dollars. [Product Page]

Cooling Chair

We know that Japanese food might get your stomach to work differently than usual, with the related consequence. But we thought that these problems are limited to only westerns that are not accustomed to Japanese food – not to the nice and sterile Japanese girls.

Anyway, it seems to affect them too, otherwise we see no purpose to this cooling chair. The chair blows up cool air straight to your behind, and if you have to work long hours, that’s certainly going to get you some boost. We just hope that you don’t find yourself hovering above your chair in the process.Price starts at $45 without car accessories. [Product Page]

Dogs Jacuzzi

Why not to take care of your beloved friend also? It’s gets hot in the summer and your dog will rather prefer sitting in the Jacuzzi, than just getting a cold shower. IDEC Corporation invented a bubble bath that can help you wash your dog. The company calls the Jacuzzi “Wan Love Yu” or “Dog Loves Bath”.

The appliance generates 600,000 bubbles/cm³ in the size of 0.02 millimeters (these are really tiny bubbles!). The company promises that with these bubbles you can really get rid of dirt from the dog, in a way a normal shower can’t. You’ll still have to persuade your dog to get into this bubble bath. The price is between $6,000 and $7,000, and the appliance is targeted at pet hospitals and pet shops. [IDEC] (Japanese) and more on [TechOn]

One of the great frustrations of men around the world is that they cannot hear their wife while they drive. Women have the great habit of giving you good advices on the road, and you always want to listen carefully to them. “You should have taken the right turn, honey”, “Why are you driving so fast?” or “what have you got from bypassing this old woman that drives so slowly?” And such great questions.

It is frustrating when you buy a new car and what to hear your wife’s comments clearly inside the car. We know that your enjoyment from the car will not be complete without these useful comments.

Well Toyota introduced a new hybrid car in Japan called Crown Hybrid, which allows you to hear everything you need while driving. The car is offering a new noise cancellation system that makes the interior silent as an aquarium.

Inside the car Toyota has placed tiny speakers that generate a “counter noise”: an exact duplication of the engine noise only in reverse. Without getting too much into acoustics terminology, these sound waves counter the waves produced by the engine and eliminate them.

No word on pricing or availability, while the car and the noise cancellation system is still in developmental stage. But as soon as it gets to the US will let you know, so you can drive and hear your wife talking – without losing a single word. Now that’s good news, isn’t it?

Here you can see how the system is built (click to enlarge):

Via [TechOn]

In Japan you can see many weird and bizarre signs in public spaces. This is one the most strange we have ever seen.

The sign can be seen near the town of Karuizawa, which is in the Nagano prefecture (much like a large district). It was set up there by a local volunteer group to warn drivers from hitting frogs on the road. The nonprofit animal protection group Picchio, hopes it will cause the drivers to pay attention and drive slower during this time of the year which is the mating season for the frogs.

Let’s all wish that every frog will find it’s soul mate this season!

Source (Japanese): [Mainichi]

Four out of ten people in Tokyo, the highest rate in the survey, told that they “don’t want to sacrifice a convenient lifestyle to prevent global warming”. The poll was held in other rich cities like New York, Paris, London, Milan, Moscow, Toronto and Frankfurt. The average was 29.7% among the 2,600 citizens of this fancy cities.

The Japanese weren’t so happy to consider eco-friendly activities like taking short showers or buying green products. What’s more surprising is that 90% of the people in Tokyo are worried from the effects of global warming. How they think it can be fixed if they don’t help a little – by recycling false teeth?

More: [Yahoo Green] Photo:

A TV crew has managed to capture the longest recorded flight of a flying fish. The animal flow at about 20mph (30km/hour) for about 45 seconds. It seems that there are about 40 species  of fish known as flying fish around the globe. They are not actually flying, but gliding.

If you’re tired than hearing the robots playing jazz, why not get a quiet Japanese fish instead?

Source: [BBC]

Japanese people are love new technologies and gadgets. Even if the gadgets are a bit weird. Take the new laundry dehydrator for example, it looks weird but it’s pretty cool.

Most clothes dryers use heat to dry the clothes. The problem with such dryers is that they use lot of electricity, and sometime even ruin delicate clothes because of the intense heat.

The fast laundry dehydrator uses dehumidification to extract the water out of the clothes within 3-5 minutes. Leaving them dry and without any damage. The only problem is that you have to hold the cloth while doing that, which may require several hours if you aren’t’ doing laundry each day.

According to the manufacturer this process also saves energy, which is good for both your electricity bill and planet earth. The dehydrator from Somela will cost $173 (18,000 yen).

This isn’t the first time Japanese scientists try to re-invent the laundry machine. Back in August, Toshiba introduced a new washing machine that is also a dryer and an air-conditioner. While will someone want this weird washing machine? We have no clue. But Toshiba thinks you’ll pay about $2,949 dollars (310,000 Yen) in order to have this kind of washing machine at home – models not included.

Product age (Japanese): [Rakuten], Translated [Rakuten]

Toshiba Washing machine (Japanese): [Watch Impress]

After recycling used false teeth for gold, the new trend in Japan is “Urban Mining”- or getting precious metals out of used gadgets and electronic products.

The high rise in the price of precious metals, such as gold and silver, makes this new habit quite profitable. The gold can be sold to jewelers and the other metals can be used for new electronic products.

If you get a ton of ore from a gold mine, you only get 5 grams (0.18 ounces) of pure gold. If you have a ton of used cell phones well you are rich. You can get up to 150 grams (5.3 ounce) of gold.

But it seems that only 10-20 percent of the cell phones ever reach recycling, causing the recycling companies to import used electronics from Singapore and Indonesia. Maybe it’s time to recycle some useless robots instead?

Source: [Yahoo News]

If you thought that recycling garbage, paper, plastics and electronics covers about everything – well, prepared to be surprised.

The Fukuoka municipal government in Japan decided to recycle used dentures (false teeth) . Around the city will be designated boxes where people can throw away their old dentures. If you think that with this new recycling effort you will be able to get dentures for cheap – you are out of luck. The teeth will be send to recycling factories where precious metals can be extracted from the used teeth. You can find metals like gold and platinum in false teeth and dentures and that’s mean money.

The project administration estimates that each set of teeth can be worth $30 of precious metals. Consider the natural habit of the Japanese to recycle, and you’ve got a gold mine in your hands. But this time it’s for a good cause: The money collected from recycling the teeth will be donated to UNICEF.

What’s next on Japan weird recycling list? Let us know if you’ve got any ideas.

More in [Mainichi]