takara

TOKYO--If you're in love with your iPhone, Bandai's Smartpet lets it really walk all over you.

Shown off at the 2012 International Tokyo Toy Show, which opened to the public yesterday, Smartpet turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a robotic canine companion.

The pooch can walk around (top speed: three steps per second), sit up, and wag its tail. The app shows a variety of cartoon faces on the touch screen, or whatever face you want to give it. … Read more

Here at Crave, we've covered a number of toy cameras such as the Fun Nature FDC01 and the Yashica EZ F521. Now, Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy is dishing out a similar offering, but with 3D capabilities.

The 3D Shot Cam (PDF) is styled after the FDC01. However, like the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D W3, this petite camera has two lenses coupled with 0.3-megapixel image sensors. The 3D Shot Cam churns out stereoscopic images, which require users to employ the supplied 3D viewers to view results.

The camera will cost $70 when it launches in Japan next year, … Read more

Behold the Mitsuoka Orochi. It's powered by a 3.3-liter, 230 horsepower Toyota Camry V-6; has a power-to-weight ratio somewhere between that of the Honda Civic and a Mini Cooper S; and carries the distinction of being the ugliest supercar ever built. Ever. And if you want the distinction of owning one, it'll cost you about $95,000 and the price of a plane ticket to Japan, or, for about $60, you could pick up a much smaller version that transforms into a robot.

User kenji on the Transformers enthusiast forum HK-TF has posted preview photos of the … Read more

Are you shy about people hearing your, um, noises in a public restroom? Well, take heart because you're not alone. A mobile version of Otohime, a Japanese toilet function that reproduces the sound of running water to mask bodily sounds, is selling out.

Japanese loos are famous for their high-tech features. Electronic toilets with functions that play the sound of running water are common in public facilities like offices. Otohime means "sound princess," and it's exclusively found in ladies' restrooms.

Last year, toymaker Takara Tomy Arts teamed up with toilet giant Toto to create Keitai Otohime, … Read more

As if incessant infomercials and volume-blasting deodorant ads aren't enough, now there's a handheld TV from Japan that will talk to us all on its own. An unholy alliance of toy giant Takara Tomy and a company called E-Revolutiona has produced a pocket TV dubbed "Segnity" that has some mysterious "talking abilities" along with its 2.7-inch QVGA screen and 1Seg TV tuner.

Akihabara News speculates that it will say something like "Are you leaving already?" when it's being turned off, but that could be only the beginning. If U.S. … Read more

There are a fair number of gadgets on the market that are aimed at controlling dogs, perhaps owing to that best friend's reputation for occasional unruliness. Yet there are relatively few technologies designed specifically for their feline counterparts (with one notable exception, of course),

In an effort to rectify that disparity, Japan's Takara Tomy has developed what it calls a "Meowlingual Cat Translation Device," which, as its name implies, is designed to decipher what kitty is trying to convey when destroying the living room furniture. It sounds too kooky to be true, but Inventor Spot says … Read more