Written on November 28, 2008 – 12:49 pm | by Maria Mihale |

I know lots of people who are crazy about the karaoke nights that take place every once in a while in some clubs, here in my hometown. Maybe they are all passionate about singing and they think this is a great way for them to make an old dream come true, or maybe they enjoy a little bit too much the feeling of being up on a stage, with the lights on them, receiving the applause of an enthusiastic audience.

Whatever might be their reasons, these karaoke nights are indeed a tremendous success, there’s no doubt about it. Segatoys, a Japanese company, knows how to make people happy with the products they release, especially those who can easily be called karaoke-obsessed. Therefore, last year, Sega introduced a karaoke service designed for cell phones, which was known under the name of Hitokara (which means “karaoke for one”). This is a free cell phone service that was based, at the beginning, on almost 35,000 free downloadable songs, but that number has increased to 43,000, which is impressive, you have to agree.

But Sega has no intention of behaving itself, so it's now trying to convert, or maybe just to complete somehow the service’s cell phone karaoke label, with a brand new accessory, called the Hitokara for Home.

The device is no more, no less than a karaoke box that comes equipped with a microphone, built-in speakers and a disco mirror ball which is provided with blinking LED lights. The ball spins and shines brightly while you sing along with it your greatest hits. The disadvantage is that the system only connects to special karaoke-enabled mobiles in Japan, so there’s a pretty good chance for you to never see such a thing. Once you’ve downloaded songs from the Hitokara online collection, lyrics will appear on your phone’s display, so that you can get the words right.

The Hitokara Home Karaoke system is expected to retail for approximately $75 in Japan, starting this December.

(Source: Dvice)