Tokyo-based Internet-enabled consumer electronics developer Cerevo[J], who is known for having introduced a series of Ustream encoder products for streamcasters, fundraised approximately USD3M (=JPY250M) by allocating new shares to Enova[J], Inspire Corporation and Neostella Capital. Enova is a venture fund founded by several semiconductor manufacturers/retailers, Inspire is a VC-firm owned by Mr. Makoto Naruke who is the former president of Microsoft Japan, and Neostella is also a VC firm co-founded by Japanese three major life insurance companies. Cerevo keeps USD1.5M (=JPY125M) as a reserve capital and became worth about USD2.5M (=JPY204.6M).
Mr. Takuma Iwasa, the CEO and founder of the company, says, it intends to accelerate the development of new products and international marketing by using the fundraised money.
Tokyo-based Internet-enabled consumer electronics developer Cerevo[J] introduced an encoder box for livecasting on Ustream, and it was started on sale last weekend. The first lot will be shipped in early November.
The new encoder box is named Cerevo Livebox and can be purchased on their website[J] for 50,000 yen each. (It equals to approx. USD610 and includes consumption tax. S&H charges may apply.) Cerevo Livebox weighs 117 grams (4.1 oz), gains Internet access via Ethernet connection or WiFi, and has a rechargeable battery with its lifetime of two hours and two pin jacks for s-video & composite video inputs. You’re required to set up a profile for your programming on Cerevo’s web-based service control panel called Cerevo Life[J] before you start livecasting.
As for Cerevo’s this new product, Ustream Asia CEO Mr. Tomotaka Nakagawa gave them a favorable comment that it was expected to be used in many scenes of daily life, such as broadcasting from live music clubs.
In order to give you an opportunity to find out how the quality is, the company has a Ustream channel bringing you live pictures from Akihabara. (This channel seems to be in service 24/7, but it’s temporarily unavailable as of this writing.)
A Twitter analysis tool by UserLocal, who provides web traffic analysis services (Nakanohito for PC, Ugokuhito for Japanese feature phone and UserInsight for enterprise). (from fan’s vote)
The first and only Japanese CSS3 Webfonts service supports over 250 fonts. All IE/Firefox/Chrome/Safari are available. Freemium model (you will be asked to pay for multiple websites)
A social translation service supports 47 languages by Anydoor (Asiajin). Your requesting texts will be translated by three different users to keep the quality.
A library websites aggregation and search service. Most Japanese libraries (over 5,000) are covered. Alerting when your wishing books are available at libraries you listed.
A recording server to save all teresttrial TV channels for 24 hours over for one month. All recorded programs are tagged by using sub data and you may search and watch them remotely on iPhone/iPad/PC/Android.
A Twitter-based content aggregation site. Many users listed, edited and emphasized public discussion threads from Twitter. About 5 million page views per month. (from fan’s vote)
A community site on where shoppers voice will be reflected to the next products bags and accessaries an online shop for self-designed PC bags and cases
A Possible Foursquare’s Japanese rival by Livedoor. Oriented to non-verbal social communication. Began with iPhone. Just released Japanese feature phones (3 carriers) and Android.
Sponsor’s session – PFU ScanSnap
ScanSnap is a commercial version of their world’s No.1 share enterprise scanner.
Recently many Japanese geeks scan their paper books/mangas, most case their report uses ScanSnap.
@kohmi’s Concert
A popular singer-songwriter Kohmi Hirose, @kohmi, who difinitely spread Twitter to non-geek people since her beginning Twitter last year, came to sing two of her songs for 550 attendees.
Awards
Prizes from contestant judge
AMN Awards – Garapon TV
Open Network Labs Awards – Orihime
TechWave Awards – Togetter
TechCrunch Japan Awards – Conyac
Impress Watch Awards – Cacoo
Mainichi.jp Awards – Paboo
Asahi.com Awards – Calil
Nikkei Digital Version Awards – Cerevo’s new gadget
The WISH 2010 Grand Prix
And the winner is… Paboo!
Gree CEO Tanaka commented that Paboo can be a platform service like Nico Nico Douga, which he values highly, and (of course) Gree.
Cerevo[J], the Akihabara-based tech start-up and manufacturer of the Internet-enabled home appliances, started the sales of the spin-off version of the company’s hot-selling camera CEREVO CAM yesterday. The version is called Cerevot, and it has an embedded speech synthesizer that can make it speak something when you release the shutter or turn the flash on. Available at the company’s online store for 22,222 yen, which is equaled to USD240.
There are two options of black or white as the version. The white one lets you hear the voice of “Iizu Share” performed by voice actress Haruka Tomatsu[J], and the black one is ‘”Ageru Oto” performed by Norio Wakamoto[J]. The company’s president Takuma Iwasa says, “People who love gadgets and home appliances are very close to anime fans in terms of their tastes. This trial personifying our product by using characters is intended for hooking their interest.”
White type: Iizu Share performed by Haruka Tomatsu
Tokyo-based start-up company Cerevo[J] will begin accepting orders for the company’s first product Cerevo Cam next Tuesday. It’s an Internet-enabled digital camera that automatically uploads your pictures to photo sharing services such as Flickr when it’s at WiFi locations, without ejecting a memory card nor using a USB cable. Therefore, if you’d like to share a snapshot with someone whom you have posed with at a party or a meet-up, you just need to bring the camera back home. You don’t need pick it out from your suitcase, and that will process complicated mess afterward. Just you’ll be notified via a cellphone e-mail when the camera battery is low-level and requires another charging.
Preparing for the product release, the company’s website has changed its appearance to attract Internet geeks more than ever. A cute promotional girl duo explains how the product works and what are significantly different from the cameras which have been ever introduced by the other companies.
As far as we see the blogosphere trends on the new product, the geeks are interested in the duo’s identity rather than technical specs of the product. Well-known Japanese A-list blogger Masaki Ishitani (@masakiishitani[J]) praised their charm and noted on his blog that he was eager to join their live performance event if they would have.
In order to enjoy the duo’s flash video presentation, visit Cerevo’s website at http://cerevo.com and click the Play icon in the center of the top page.
