There's a whole lot of interesting Skype products coming out of Japan at the moment, and I'm hoping in a later post to take you through a good few of them. To start with, though, is a truly converged device: The Buffalo Skype keyboard.

Aside from a solid, chunky-looking 109 key keyboard, complete with keys to launch just about anything is a neat fully-functional keyboard with a small phone. If this doesn't fulfil any fantasies you may (or may not) have of being the next Miss Moneypenny, then you should immediately revoke your licence to kill and open a small flower shop in a provincial town. There's a built-in speakerphone as well should you not need the privacy of a handset, and the keyboard connects simply and quickly to the USB on your PC.

Technology adoption in Japan is often seen as a forerunner of global trends, and some of the ways people use technology there is bound to give an idea of how habits will change throughout the world. There's a great article here looking at why more people in Japan access the internet from their cellphone than their PC, something inconceivable in Europe, let alone in the US.

Another interesting Japanese trend is the high usage of mobile and data services by older people, something we're beginning to see in Europe as well. Hey you can even have Japanese lessons via Skype, if you really want to get the inside track on Japanese innovation...!

The BKBU-SKJ109/SV is slated for availability from October, with prices somewhere around the $59 mark. Look out for it, as well as (we suspect) a lot of new products fulfilling needs you probably didn't even realise you had, but once you use them, you realise you could never have done without...!