Tiny New Sanyo Cell Phone Hits Japan

If all you've ever wanted is a tampon that accrues roaming charges, look no further than Sanyo's new ultra-stripped down cell phone. The yet-to-be-named Cupertino white cylinder was created as a prototype for use on Japanese service provider Willcom's PHS network, according to Japan Today, and it sheds all the accoutrements we've come to demand in cell phones for the sake of smallness.

The voice-only phone runs on a single AA battery, specifically Sanyo's own rechargeable NiMH Eneloops. It has no 3G, SMS, camera, MP3 player or LCD screen, but Sanyo promises five hours of talktime and an impressive 250 hours of standby.

Sanyo's new ultra-scaled down cell phone prototype, with its own rechargeable AA battery alongside.

Unfortunately, the U.S. market won't be seeing these babies anytime soon, according to a Sanyo USA spokesperson.

"It's unlikely. There are usually pretty separate designs for Japan and the U.S. As far as I know, this isn't in the plans for 2008," she told ChannelWeb.

Which might not be such a bad thing, considering that the array of tiny buttons appears to be so tightly spaced that an undersized jockey would have trouble operating the device.