In hopes of jump-starting the popularity of its suite of rechargeable battery products for the holidays, Sanyo has applied the "cute Japan" treatment to its Eneloop line. The latest offering is actually a battery checker called the eneloopy and is shaped like a dog bearing a striking resemblance to the Peanuts character Snoopy.

When you place your eneloop batteries into the device the dog's nose will light up: green for fully charged, orange for partially charged, red means your battery needs charging and no light means you have a dead battery on your hands. Scheduled for release on November 14th, the package will be followed by a new multi-colored eneloop rechargeable battery on December 1st, just in time for Christmas, called eneloop tones (pricing for both products has yet to be announced).

Via Sanyo