I can't for my life remember any emoticon beyond a smiley, frowny and tongue sticking out. With so much useless USB junk out there, I can't decide whether or not this emoticon keypad is part of that category or is truly revolutionary.

Produced by Lavatelli, the emoticon keypad concept is a supplement to your QWERTY keyboard. But wait, why are there no letters or numbers on this keypad? Instead, there are 16 buttons, each with its own emoticon.

With the emoticon keypad, you'll never have to type out a ":) :( :O :P :X :S :D" manually ever again. Simply press which mood you're in and tada, that's that. According to Geek, each emoticon button can be customized with different glow options to help make that Tweet about your mood much more spontaneous.

Pricing and release dates are TBA. Finally, someone like my computer illiterate grandma can join the age of IM with a little :) or an >:) without having to learn how to type properly.

UPDATE: It appears that this product is not a concept and is available from BAJCA for about $40 and comes in three colors.

Via Geek