Gadget mavens Firebox has finally made available the Tengu USB desktop toy which is guaranteed to add a whole lot of excitement to your world. Perfect for folks who have very few or no friends at all, Tengu will be able to keep you company at the office by making different faces according to its mood. In addition, he isn’t as tone deaf as you might think despite the lack of biological ears - Tengu is smart enough (or at least he was programmed to be) to lip sync according to the music that is played, making it look as though he is singing his heart out with you as the only sad audience!

There are several innovative ways to interact with Tengu - you can choose to blow on his face to rouse him from his slumber, play your favorite tunes and see him join in on the fun, or even blow on the microphone to change his facial expression. I guess I’d wake up from my sweet dreams too if somebody was daft enough to blow on my face, but I sure as heck won’t be as forgiving as Tengu who lacks the limbs to retaliate after leaving some spittle on his face. I guess this highly interactive toy won’t make your bosses too happy, since it will most probably lower your productivity as you spend more and more time with it instead of churning out those numbers on a spreadsheet as required by the upper management.

I suppose for £19.95, there really isn’t much to ask from Tengu. So what if he can’t bring in the paper, transfer files from a memory card to your computer or speed up the time so that you can clock out and hit the local tavern for some winding down drinks. At least Tengu shares your musical preference without ending up being a critic like those nasty colleagues of yours, and best of all is you will be able to share your deepest, darkest secrets with him without having him ask you to shut up or charge you by the hour. Of course, should the situation actually whittle down to that, I’d strongly recommend you make an appointment with the nearest qualified shrink. Pronto.