Asiajin

Seal Cutting(篆刻) is a Chinese traditional art. You cut a stone block to make a stamp with, usually, Chinese letters like name, poet, etc.

Blogger Masayuki GT tried to combine this Song Dynasty originated stone art with the latest technology, QR Code, Japanese 2D barcode now widely used with cellphone camera to guide mobile website URL-s.

I am sure that cutting stone consumes much time.

Soak with ink.

Then stamp it.

Of course, it is readable from your cellphone.

You can read whole process of seal cutting with different size of QR Codes on Masayuki GT’s blog. [J]

Tags: Japan, Joke by Akky Akimoto
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I Love Maker (English version) is a new Flash based generator for “I ♥ NY” style logo.

You can customize texts, texts-size and mark (heart or others).

For various users, different sizes are provided for typical cellularphone background image size (can be set by using QR Code), Mixi profile image size and three other sizes.

Satoru YANO, the creator, is known his series of web services, including Jimaku.in (English version subtitle.in), comments overlaying video community service (similar to Niconico Douga, slightly later appeared), and recently Yokoku.in, a mashup site which collects sentences including “kill” and related words from several BBS to report police, raising a huge controversy among Japanese internet users.

[Update 2008-08-09] They seem to make the English version of I-love-maker and that links to us!

See Also:

Satoru YANO – Wikipedia [J]

Tags: Japan, New Service by Akky Akimoto
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iPhone 3G provided by Softbank on coming 11th July will be the first iPhone in Japan. Since Jobs’ announcement, there are bunch of Japanese medias and blogs have been discussing if iPhone 3G is worth buying.

To clarify how iPhone and the latest Japanese cellphones spec are different, Asiajin called for comments on what functionalities they have/want/use, to potential Japanese iPhone buyers on Comparison Chart site Narabe. Here is the result,

This was originally asked in Japanese on Japanese version Narabete. Then, I copied the result of votes to the English version.

I initially set “All” and “Some” but “All” can have rare exceptional case, for example special model phones for kids or eldery. Most of “Yes”/”No” look correct but as it is “by polling” so some could be inaccurate.

If you have any features you cannot understand what they mean, please ask by comment.

[Disclosure] Narabe is run by Akky AKIMOTO.

[Update 2008.09.17] Thanks for digging this up. There are no “iTunes” and “Safari” on Japanese cellular phones, but of course those counterparts exist so with all cariiers you can enjoy music/movie download purchase and PC viewable browsers (“Full Browser”).

Tags: Cellular Phone, Japan by Akky Akimoto
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With the continual proliferation of QR Codes around the world (Robert Scoble recently wore a QR Code t-shirt at the NextWeb conference in Amsterdam), Japan continues to lead the way in the innovative ways of not only using the codes, but in creating them as well.

Recently, Cross Borders Inc. in Japan came up with the idea of QR-Code bots. This cute little service simply requests you to enter any URL and an army of tiny little bots will file unto the screen and assemble little squares neatly until they perfectly form themselves into a QR Code. Wow! The prepared code is ready to scan! Then, with a wave of the mouse, the bots scatter, only to be called again for their next assembly assignment. Cute! Cute! Cute!

Like most of the online novelty items from Japan, the cute factor is hypnotically entertaining as the bots “jump” into place like little perfectly ordered fleas.

On a more mature scale, the final QR Code created does actually work. If you take your QR Encoded camera and point it to the screen, your phone browser will in fact be directed to whatever URL you placed into the bot.

While highly entertaining, the reality is IF you have a QR Code enabled mobile phone (like most do in Japan) the browser will direct you to where you set it to go. If you don’t have a QR Code enabled phone (which includes most phones OUTSIDE of Japan), you’re out of luck.

While Scoble and others are trying to bring recognition to the QR Code standard on a global scale, the decision really does sit with the vendors such as Nokia, Motorola and Blackberry as to whether this should be brought to the forefront for consumers. Until that “aha!” moment happens, QR codes will remain “one of those things they do over there in Japan”. Sad.

Also, have a look at http://www.winksite.com if you are thinking of implementing your own mobile strategy to compliment your website. It allows you to not only create the QR Code, but the whole mobile site to be properly viewed on any mobile device. Most English computer websites and blogs DO NOT translate well onto mobile devices.

See Also:

Mobile barcodes:Huge success in Japan so far.

2D barcode tombstone

Tags: Japan, Joke, New Service by Robert Sanzalone
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In Japan, mobile barcodes(QR Codes:local version of the 2D barcodes) has been widespread and acquired a stable position as one of the familiar media to provide a direct access to customers these days. They are mainly targeting mobile-savvy group of twenties to mid-thirties leading them to sales promotion sites for products such as snacks and beverages.

In Real Life of Japanese mobile user and Internet

69.23 million Japanese out of its 120 million population access Internet via mobile phones. It is about the same number of 66.01 million internet users via computers(According to the data of 2005). And almost all of the mobile phones in the market now have equipped with a barcode scanner by default.

http://journal.mycom.co.jp/news/2006/05/19/009.html
http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2005/kihon1/00/01.htm

Popular usage of mobile barcodes

• product site for mobile
• sales promotion site
• personal contact info(Email and phone number)
• others
  • job recruting
  • online survey
  • online request for brochure
  • downloading standby image
  • downloading free ring-tone

Near-at-hand Barcode

More on jp.girl@flickr.

• Staff/Crew Recruiting Ad from MacDonald’s
  http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/recruit/crew/
  
• Sales Promotion Site of Jagariko(Japanese popular snack)
  http://www.calbee.co.jp/newsrelease/071130.php
  

Mobile barcdes do move people closer to Internet/products

Internet and mobile phone have given great impacts on modern communication technology globally. Barcodes may become a smarter and quicker way to open a new door leading consumers to Internet in the next future as it is in Japan currently. In fact, with barcodes, lots of Japanese who don’t own a computer at home access Internet via mobile phone. In addition, even those who own a computer are using Internet from mobile phone for its handiness. The same idea can be applied in the U.S. and other regions.

If I point out the current bottleneck of barcodes service, it tends to become ad-hoc content service and does not provide further path to stimulate the consumers. Of course the service providers need to come up with an exciting idea to continue users attracted, however, at the same time, it is necessary to explore and improve UIs and others on mobile phone.

Tags: Japan, Technology by Satoko Hibi
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