Early Friday morning, the Japanese web site of Apple Computer briefly hosted pages depicting an previously unannounced iPod peripheral called “iPotty” (JPY 104,970, approx. $1000), a beige-and-white electric toilet seat featuring an integrated iPod dock on its right side.
Presumably intended only for the domestic Japanese marketplace, iPotty promises to deliver music playback and an “optional scent eliminator” to drown out embarrassing bathroom sounds and smells. Availability is listed at 1-3 weeks, indicating an imminent release.
The pages, which are no longer available online, described an Apple partnership with Japanese toilet seat manufacturer Toto, maker of Japan’s popular Apricot-badged electric toilet seats. Apricot and other Toto seats include heating elements, bidets, motion sensors for automatic lid opening and closing, and in some cases remote controls and deodorizing systems.
