Tinami[J], a fourteen-year-old illustration sharing site for cartoonists and animators, completed the integrations with Ustream and Stickam last week, and it now allows users of the service to broadcast live videos of their drawing processes via the two streaming services and to communicate with their fans.

Furthermore, the site introduced an API[J] for developers who wish to develop mash-up web services or collaboration smartphone apps.   Prior to the introduction, the API is provided to pixViewer[J], an iPhone app for viewing illustrations posted on the services such as Tumbler, PIXA[J] and pixiv[J], those on Tinami became available with the app as well.

As of March 2010, Tinami earns 8.7 million page views per month, engaged 65,000 users and stored 130,000 illustrated items, and it is expecting the API introduction will spur on the movement to invent iPhone, iPad and Xperia[J] (An Android smartphone from Sony Ericsson) apps in collaboration with the site.

The following is a YouTube video introducing pixViewer (for free) as an example using Tinami API.

Tags: Community, Company, Japan by Masaru IKEDA
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Softbank, a Japanese telecom and media company who will take over the next-generation PHS service called XGP[J] from the service’s predecessor Willcom in corporate reorganization proceedings, is reportedly considering to adopt China Mobile‘s TD-LTE standard instead for the service in Japan, several Japanese news sources reported.

If Softbank adopts TD-LTE, Softbank’s subscribers in Japan and China Mobile’s subscribers will be able to use the next-generation high-speed data service both in the two countries.

Some people say, Softbank’s adopting TD-LTE means to stop further development of Japan-made XGP technology.  In order to complete the turnaround, they’ll be forced to persuade Japan’s telecom authority who have issued a radio license for the development.

China Mobile plans test operation of TD-LTE service in three cities in Mainland China in six months from now, and in association with China Mobile, Motorola and Huawei, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology will also run the test service at the site of Shanghai Expo 2010 which starts this weekend.

Meanwhile, Softbank announced consolidated financial results for the month ended March 31, 2010, and it tells us the company’s operating profit has exceeded for the first time that of KDDI who used to be second ranked in Japanese mobile industry.   The new subscriptions of iPhone and other Smartphones highly contributed to the results, Softbank’s CEO Masayoshi Son says.

See Also:

• TD-LTE: The most powerful weapon in the LTE arsenal against WiMAX (from Fierce Broadband Wireless)
• Another Way To Have Mobile Broadband, It’s Neither WiMax Nor HSDPA

Tags: Cellular Phone, China, Company, Japan, News by Masaru IKEDA
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