The Japanese probably don't know much about rugby, but they do know a lot about a good healthy digital lifestyle. For instance, look at this Planex WAN/LAN router/photo frame/web browser/mp3 player. Why it has the shape of a rugby ball, we will never know, but we do know that is one versatile ball. It is called the MZK-WDPR all-in-one Touchscreen Router and can do a lot of stuff for under $300 dollars.

It is only available in Japan, but let us look at some of the many things that this router can do. Firstly, it is a networking device, so it does LAN and WAN like a traditional router, meaning it has IEEE 802.11n/b/g capabilities, which will practically connect it via wireless with any non-wired device you can imagine. It also offers an ADSL connection, dynamic DNS and is IPv6 compatible.

On the other hand, it is a 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen that can render your photos while acting as a digital photo frame (320 x 240 resolution). It will even play music like a normal MP3 player and has an internal memory of 2 GB. Data transferring can be done via either one of the two USB slots, the normal 2.0 and the mini USB, to be precise.

Planex outdid themselves when they added the Framchannel interface that allows Japanese folk to stay connected with everybody through easy access to YouTube, Twitter, Flickr or Picasa.

It even has FM radio. Of course, if you also use it as an internet device, you can connect to internet radios and listen to your favorite stations there. I am not going to mention the other tiny gimmicks like calendar alarm clock or calculator. A Japanese rugby player's dream, this gadget is affordable as well, costing $290 USD.


We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is .