(Credit:
Inventor Spot)
Those who are familiar with Japan's Strapya will undoubtedly remember any number of its bizarre products, which usually come in the form of some misguided cell phone accessory. But there's actually a more serious side to the company, believe it or not, one that involves environmentally friendly products.
Earlier this year, for instance, Strapya came out with a solar charger small enough to fit on a keychain. And now it has released the "Zero," a mobile phone case made from recycled tires.
Inventor Spot speculates that these cases may reflect a new green awareness among younger generations in Japan. That would make sense, because previous generations might have a very different association with the brand name.
A Hose Tree from Argentina
(Credit: Strapya-World)Craver Kent German gave us an excellent tour last week through the bizarre and sometimes disturbing universe of phone straps and dangles that is Strapya-World, but it's not done yet: Its latest offering is going green.
The "Babytree Cell Phone Strap" features tiny capsules containing an assortment of equally tiny trees from various parts or the world from which you can choose, Tokyomango says. The trees--from Argentina, South Africa, Mexico, and the United States--are alive and, according to the Web site, will stay that way for six months as long as they're watered once or twice a month.
Think of it as a plant version of the Tamagotchi--which certainly beats that USB "Dream Chick" we saw a few months back. That's just silly.
(Credit:
Strapya)
Long ago Crave made a plea for for solar chargers that wouldn't induce hernias and, thankfully, more than a few manufacturers have answered that call. But now Strapya, which offers a keychain-size version of its own, is going in the other direction with a 22-pound beast called the "Sola Unagi Solar Generator."
(Credit:
Strapya)
Developed by Fuji Technologies (PDF), this mega-charger that can purportedly power as many as 20 mobile phones at a time, according to Red Ferret. It would be the perfect accessory for the kind of phone junkies who are so addicted that they embed microphones in their teeth.
We're not sure about the name, however, as unagi means freshwater eel in Japanese. Maybe it has something to do with electric eels instead.
(Credit:
Strapya)
This is a switch. Usually the products from Japan's Strapya fall squarely under the category of novelty items, ranging from the silly to the, er, exotic. But it's finally come up with something practical: a mobile phone strap with a solar charger.
The solar cell can be charged up to 500 times, according to Tokyomango, and can use an AC adapter as a backup battery. It doesn't hold a candle to the drunken salaryman dangle, of course, but nothing really can.
(Credit:
Strapya)
It must be a running bet among some bored developers, a game to see who can come up with the weirdest musical instument that can be folded away. That's the only way we would even attempt to guess how something like a canned piano was created.
This invention of the absurd has its limits, unable to play sharps or flats, but Japan's Strapya has priced it right at only $8.90, according to Plastic Bamboo. We've encountered other roll-up keyboards and have seen the concept applied to other instruments, including virtual drums. But a can? With a picture of a duck on it?
Come to think of it, maybe there's a more plausable explanation after all.
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