CBS Interactive, which is the parent company of CNET, and Asahi Newspaper announced the two companies had agreed that the ownership of CNET Networks Japan[J] would be completely handed over to Asahi Newspaper on September 1st. CNET Networks Japan owns and runs several Japan-based tech websites including CNET Japan[J], ZDNet Japan[J], GameSpot Japan[J] and Tetsudo.com[J]… Continue reading CNET Japan To Be A Part Of Asahi Newspaper
Year: 2009
GREE’s market cap soars past $1.6 billion, now higher than DeNA’s and nearly twice as high as Mixi’s
It seems that GREE‘s [JP] success story won’t come to an end too anytime soon. The performance of the 99% mobile social network/gaming platform is becoming scary, as in bubble-type scary. Stocks are rising and rising since the company went IPO in December last year and the financial situation keeps on improving, too. And as… Continue reading GREE’s market cap soars past $1.6 billion, now higher than DeNA’s and nearly twice as high as Mixi’s
SMG and Alibaba: SoftBank strengthens ties with major Chinese web players
SoftBank seems to be pretty bullish about the growing Chinese web market, which is no wonder as there are about 300 million web users in that country (China has the biggest Internet population in the world). The Japanese technology behemoth formed two strategic alliances with high-profile Chinese partners in the last few days. Alliance with… Continue reading SMG and Alibaba: SoftBank strengthens ties with major Chinese web players
Do Animated Tourist Guides Boost Local Economy?
Tokyo-based animation studio FanWorks[J], which is well known for a famous title “Yawaraka Sensha ” or “Soft Wartank”, tied up with animators and TV broadcasters in Toyama (a Honshu island’s prefecture facing the Sea of Japan), and launched a project to promote the prefecture’s sightseeing business by creating original animation titles[J/E/F/C/K] which are intended for… Continue reading Do Animated Tourist Guides Boost Local Economy?
Monetize Hacks #3 Report (part 2)
(Following to the part 1) 5. Livedoor (Asiajin articles) Tomo Tsubota, Livedoor Blog [J] Business Department, opened and shared their user demographics and billing method. Livedoor Blog started in 2003 and became black ink in Sep. 2007. 30% of sales come from premium service, which is used by 17% of active users. (60% revenue is… Continue reading Monetize Hacks #3 Report (part 2)
Brain Controlled Wheelchair Demo-ed by Toyota and Riken
The BSI-TOYOTA Collaboration Center (BTCC), which was established in 2007 by RIKEN as a collaborative project with Toyota Motor Corporation , Toyota Central R&D Labs, Inc., and Genesis Research Institute, Inc. made a demonstration of their developing wheelchair which you can manoeuvre just by brain wave, i.e. thinking. The demonstrator showed when he imaged a… Continue reading Brain Controlled Wheelchair Demo-ed by Toyota and Riken
“Social illustration” network Pixiv now has 1 million members
Pixiv [JP], a Japanese-only “social illustration” network (Asiajin articles), today welcomed its one millionth member. The site boasts a healthy growth rate, as the user base stood at 100,000 in March 2008. Pixiv claims the site sees 720 million page views monthly and that users submit 15,000 illustrations daily. It’s not hard to believe. Look… Continue reading “Social illustration” network Pixiv now has 1 million members
Twitter Events Maelstorm Hitting Tokyo
Although the growth is not high as in English, twitter has been beloved by Japanese users even before its localization, and probably approaching to the critical mas. Many twitter related events (some are with Tumblr) have been and will be held recently in Tokyo. Even though Tokyo is the one of the most dense and… Continue reading Twitter Events Maelstorm Hitting Tokyo
Masayoshi Son Retrospects A Meeting With Steve Jobs About Cellphone iPod Idea
At the iPhone 3GS launch event in Omotesando, Tokyo, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son told a story about when he talked an idea of combining iPod and cellphone to Steve Jobs. According to Son, he had a meeting with jobs in 4,5 years ago, which is before he bought the Japan’s third biggest cellphone company from… Continue reading Masayoshi Son Retrospects A Meeting With Steve Jobs About Cellphone iPod Idea
Monetize Hacks #3 Report (part 1)
24th night at Roppongi Hills, the third Monetize Hacks meeting was held by some web directors from Livedoor and Hatena by welcoming 120 web directors and entrepreneurs in and around Tokyo. The first monetize Hacks [J] was called for web directors greeting and exchanging ideas around 15 people, the second one [J] was a group… Continue reading Monetize Hacks #3 Report (part 1)