Last Saturday, Japan launched digital broadcasts for mobile phones equipped with special receivers. Unlike Sprint Vision and Verizon VCast streaming services in the United States, thie programming is not broadcast via an Internet connection, but TV towers. Mass adoption is predicted, because the service is free, and the image quality is very good. Masao Nakamura, CEO of Japan’s top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo, says he expects the service to spawn an entirely new genre of programming.

Most mobile phone screens are rather small, so I could see mass adoption of digital video eyewear, which replicate a “big screen” home theater experience in a device that connects the A/V port of a mobile phone and can fit in your pocket. The Icuiti DV920 digital eyewear device retails for $549.

[Update 5-3-06: The Sharper Image today announced that it will the first U.S. retailer of the Icuiti DV920.]

[thanks, Gary]

Airtrax has commercially developed a patented, revolutionary omni-directional wheel system, which was jointly developed with the US Navy. The technology can be applied to any vehicle that requires super navigational capabilities for tight spaces and finite control.

Click here to see a video demonstration.

[thanks, Signal vs. Noise]

I met Peter Roizen, the intriguing inventor of WildWords, at Kepler’s Bookstore in Menlo Park. WildWords is a great example of adding an innovative twist to a classic product. It’s incredibly more fun than Scrabble, because a dozen wild asterisk tiles and any tile played on one of 20 Turn-To-Wild squares can be used to represent any series of one or more letters, so you can completely bluff. Dramatic comebacks are possible, and your ability to bluff, or to call a bluff, add a compelling element of gamesmanship.

WildWords is available at select independent stores, or online for $29.95 plus $7 for shipping.