We reported o­n Thanko's MP3 playing headphones some time ago, and they're back.

Updates this time around include movement of a couple different buttons, as well as the addition of a 512MB model. And I guess I didn't notice it last time I wrote about these, but they're pretty damn inexpensive.

MP3 headphones have been offered by a number of companies, but I find Thanko's to be the most... inconspicuous. (Or is it "least conspicuous?")

Thanko's Rare Mono Shop offers up the "NOAX CSV HDD PLAYER," which is basically an external hard drive with a bunch of A/V functionality added. It can play video files, audio files, still images, VOB files, and can even copy files directly to/from digital cameras, MP3 players, USB memory devices, and so forth.

One model includes a hard drive, o­ne doesn't -- the o­ne that doesn't can handle hard drives up to 80GB.

In a bind for some nail care, and o­nly have a laptop handy? Thanko's new product is made for you; dubbed as the first "USB nail care" system, the Rare Mono Shop's "USB Connection Nail Care System" costs under 3,000 yen.

The second item today from the Rare Mono Shop is a USB ashtray, which Thanko themselves has called "somewhat practical."

Sometimes you've got to wonder what the hell is going o­n over there. Do these guys just release their products as a joke, or what? Even SolidAlliance is more serious than Thanko.

I've kept a watchful eye o­n these "headphones with integrated MP3 player" deals, and some of them have been pretty cool. o­ne thing they've always been missing, though, is some sort of display to show you what song it is that you're listening to, and so forth.

But that's not the case anymore. Thanko introduced o­n their "Rare Mono Shop" the "MUBIE JOGGER Sport MP3 Player" today, and it's got an LED display.

On second thought, a screen o­n your headphones might be pretty useless

Instead of just having a boring old USB hub, why not get o­ne with little floating plastic animals inside?

It's USB. It's a flowerpot. It's a speaker. Enough said, really.

Interesting idea; it's a tripod for your camera, but also contains a battery.

As an added bonus, it also converts into a grip.

It’s a pen. No, it’s an mp3 player. No, it’s USB memory. It’s all of the above, actually. Not a completely novel idea (Sony MC-P10), but this certainly has the smallest size and largest capacity (128MB) I’ve seen.

No, it's not the MP3 that's analog, it's the watch that's analog.
One of the main drawbacks with MP3 watches is how a lot of them were gigantic and digital. They had next to no fashion value, so their use was restricted to o­nly the die-hard MP3 listeners.
Not anymore. Thanko Limited is introducing an MP3 watch that, at first glance, is a normal analog watch. If you like to be discrete in your listening habits, this just may be the product for you.