Hello Kitty V@mp Music Player

Here kitty, kitty. The Sanrio Hello Kitty Bearbrick special version Apple iPod is hardly cold on Sanrio store shelves when here comes another audio player full of Hello Kitty’s megabrand of marketable goodness: NHJ’s digital audio player helps cool cats customize a meow mix of music via 256 megas of built-in flash memory boosted by SD memory cards (up to 512 MB). Compared to the iPods mini’s fat, 1,000-song capacity, this is just kibble at a mere 192 songs a shot. But this unit targets those who buy Hello Kitty rice cookers, toaster ovens, computer monitors and tissue box covers, not hard-core mobile audiophiles.

No, the V@mp is less about technology than lifestyle with The Cat. V@mp includes a built-in FM tuner and synchs with PCs to download MP3 files; it also links with CDROM drives or other audio players to rip tracks. Five interchangeable snap-on panels let users customized the display face and it runs around 12 hours on a single charge. A password function lets owners lock out USB access to others, plus the unit also works as a voice recorder with a built-in microphone. Sanrio will market the Hello Kitty V@mp through their retail outlets nationwide; the price is not fixed yet but should start at around 13,000 yen.

– Gail Nakada