Japan is crazy about Twitter, and today local toy maker Takara Tomy has announced Twimal (short for “Twitter Animal”) [JP], a super-cute toy “pet” that can reads out tweets loud for you. The white version does this with a female voice, while the blue Twimal uses a male voice.
Takara Tomy says that once connected via USB to a computer (Windows XP/Vista/7 only), the Twimal is able to track and read your own tweets, replies, up to three hash tags, tweets coming from users on lists, tweets coming from specific users etc.
It’s also possible to operate two Twimals at the same time and change the way their voices sound. Promo video (in Japanese):
http://player.ooyala.com/player.swf?embedCode=FoMzZjMjoPqDk6S53uaa6unagUDJwCHY&version=2
The Twimal will be available in Japan starting March 31 (price: $31) – if you’re interested ask specialized online stores like Rinkya or Geek Stuff 4 U (I am not sure how good the Twimal is in reading tweets in English though).