If only Pitman's typing training courses provided its pupils with one of these puppies: a Japanese-made USB lamp that shines with varying intensity and hue... according to how fast your fingers are cruising over your keys.

Related stories

• Take pot luck with the USB Greenhouse
• USB market sprouts wooden Flash drive
• Star Wars laptops - for the Jedi in you
• Ion mixes it up with second-gen USB turntables
• His 'n' Hers USB kits to end battle of the sexes?
• Intel, MS eye Japanese housewives in mobile PC push
• Holux says balls to GPS
• Philips parades gem-like gadgets for luxury loving ladies
• Shake those pinkies with the USB Dance Mat game
• Japanese offered USB bum-cooling cushion

A slow typist (left) and a faster typist (right)

The USB Typing Measurement Lamp weighs 58g, and is Windows 2000 and XP compatible. Supplied software detects how fast you're typing and shines at five levels of brightness according. So if you're something of a hopeless case when it comes to QWERTY, don't expect this gizmo to give out too much light.

The lamp is available here now, priced at ¥1980 (£7/€11/$16), but no light has yet been shed upon a European release date or price.

More comments…