Japanese AR pop star comes to smartphones to sell cars

Want your very own blue-haired virtual popstar in your pocket? We're sure you do. And Toyota is apparently convinced of the same thing, releasing an augmented reality application for your smartphone that will put Hatsune Miku right in the palm of your hand - or anywhere else you care to put the card.

Hatsune Miku, of course, is the main attraction in the Project Diva series of rhythm games, and a star in her own right, playing packed out stadium concerts in Japan, and gathering a very impressively-sized audience for her concert in Los Angeles in June.

But I digress. Miku is making her move into the United States, as the official voice of the 2011 Toyota Corolla - hence her App-ification. She now appears in the (free) Toyota Shopping Tool app located in the iTunes App Store and Android Market, and printing out the special AR card will make the diva (and her shiny new car) pop up wherever you'd like her to.

Miku herself is a vocaloid - her voice created entirely by computer, which makes her capable of all sorts of notes and vocal gymnastics us poor mortals can only dream of.

Kotaku (where else?) has some more details on what's in store for Miku - which explains the partnership with Corolla as representing the same ideals: "Big dreams and small packages." That's what she said.