G-Spot: The latest tech.

Aiwa HP-SN51

Aiwa has just announced a bunch of new headphones. The funkiest of them has to be the one that is designed, according to the company (Sony), to look like a "virtual neckband." The HP-SN51 has sound output of 105dB/mW, a frequency response range of 10Hz to 25kHz and impedance of 16 ohms. The headphones come in silver or black, weigh 12g and also include a gold-plated stereo mini-jack input. Only thing is, we have absolutely no idea how they fit. They look as though they fit in your ears and then hang down your back. Is that cool?

More Info: www.jp.aiwa.com/products/accessories/hp/HP-SN51.html

iRiver iMP-550

iRiver have just made available a Beta firmware upgrade for any gadgetholics smart enough to have bought one of the company's iMP-550 portable audio players (which is the world's slimmest, at 13.7mm). Already capable of playing MP3 and WMA, and with an integral FM tuner, once you download and install the firmware upgrade, the iMP-550 CD player will also be able to cope with the new audio compression format, Ogg Vorbis. The guys who run Vorbis claim that it "sounds better than MP3." So with the iMP-550, you get the best of both worlds. All worlds, sorry.

More Info: www.iriver.co.jp/product/index.php?p_name=iMP-550

JR Tsubame Mouse

JR Kyushu has decided to release a computer mouse in the shape of the JR Kyushu Tsubame 800 series Shinkansen. For just over 4,000 of your Japanese yen, the "Tsubame Mouse" is yours, sporting the company's vanguard 800 series Shinkansen logo. The mouse is of the two-button-plus-wheel optical variety, scans at 800dpi and comes with a 1.5m cable. Serious Shinkansen fans can change their old Windows cursor/pointer to a cool Tsubame motif. Best of all: The headlights of the Shinkansen come on when you move the mouse and blink when you get mail.

More Info: www.jrkyushu.co.jp

Matsushita DMW-WT1

The DMW-WT1 is a wireless transmission adapter for the Lumix FX5 and FX1 line of digital still cameras. Sit the camera on top of the adapter, fiddle with a few screws and ... presto! Allied with an SD-slot mobile phone, such as the PHS AH-S101S from DDI Pocket, your smart new camera and adapter combo can then transmit photos of up to 4 megapixels over the ether in less than a minute. Quite why this would appeal to your average technophile is another matter. Just buy one of the new megapixel-camera-toting mobile phones in the first place.

More Info: http://panasonic.jp

Sony NW-MS77DR

We're going to make this one quick. But these gorgeously designed players from Sony are always difficult to ignore. The MS77DR replaces the MS70D, released about a year ago now, and the biggest difference, according to Sony, is that this one comes with a USB cradle. That's it. Thank you and goodnight.

More Info: www.walkman.sony.co.jp/

Sony PEG-TH55

Sony has announced a new Clie with built-in wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b) and a camera as standard. The PEG-TH55 has a 320x480-dot TFT display and runs Palm OS 5.21 via the company's 123MHz "Handheld Engine" CPU, but the best part is that it has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (802.11b) built in. Shipping with 32MB of RAM, the TH55 also takes a Memory Stick PRO, if you need more space. The camera is a 310,000-pixel CMOS image sensor with adjustable white balance (on a PDA!) and has a 2-times digital zoom. These things are great, aren't they?

More Info: www.sony.co.jp/clie