“Kujira-san no Game”(Whale Game) [J] is a tiny Flash shooting game, which takes Twitter and its notorious Failing Whale as motifs, made by a Kansai-based game hobbyist group Daiojyo [J]. You may be requires to unlock your browser’s pop-up blocker. Control your bird by mouse, and shoot by left-click. There will be a power-up item… Continue reading Game To Defeat the Twitter’s Fail Whale
Month: July 2010
Japan’s Mobile Web Market Now Worth $17 billion. Virtual Items: $500 million.
Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications published an interesting report [PDF] about the country’s market for mobile content and services this week. According to the ministry, that market grew by 12% to hit 1.52 trillion yen ($17.3 billion) last year, including mobile advertising. The $17.3 billion breaks down into mobile commerce, which was worth… Continue reading Japan’s Mobile Web Market Now Worth $17 billion. Virtual Items: $500 million.
Japan’s First Daily Deal Service Piku Raises USD7.3M VC Round
Japan’s first start-up operating deal-of-the-day website Piku Media[J] announced today that they completed the allocation of new shares worth USD7.3M to Germany-based VC fund Rebate Networks GmbH (co-founded by the owners of Germany’s largest social network service studi.vz[G]), Global Venture Capital, DIT Partners and an undisclosed investor. This fundraising was arranged by Tokyo-based tech start-up… Continue reading Japan’s First Daily Deal Service Piku Raises USD7.3M VC Round
“Tweets Begging” Is A Key To Accelerate E-Commerce Industry By Using Social Media
Tokyo-based zakka and hardware store chain Tokyu Hands[J] is now running a campaign which gives you additional reward points by tweeting begging for something you want. The store chain is known for working very much on developing social marketing services including “Korekamo-Net[J]” that allows you to search their inventory of the item you wish to… Continue reading “Tweets Begging” Is A Key To Accelerate E-Commerce Industry By Using Social Media
GREE’s operating profit jumps 130% to $222 million in last fiscal
Japan’s mobile social gaming giant GREE is becoming so successful, it’s scary. According to Japanese daily The Nikkei, the Tokyo-based company’s operating profit ballooned to 19.5 billion yen ($222 million) in the fiscal year that ended in June. That’s $17 million more than the company expected and a whopping 130% more than in the year… Continue reading GREE’s operating profit jumps 130% to $222 million in last fiscal
Jsdo.it – Shared HTML5/JavaScript Playground For Geeks
Jsdo.it is a new web developers’ community on which HTML5/JavaScript/CSS programmers can play, share and collaborate with others. On the site, user can edit HTML/JavaScript/CSS on the left pane, and run them on the right pane. Your code are publicized with your designating license, and others can “fork” it and make his/her branched version. Popular… Continue reading Jsdo.it – Shared HTML5/JavaScript Playground For Geeks
Japan Sec Dealers’ Assc Postpones Banning Individual Investments On Pre-IPO Start-ups
Japan Security Dealers Association proposed banning IPO of companies who have been fundraised by individual investors except the companies’ employees and founder’s family, and that news caused a sensation in this country’s tech start-up community. The association aimed at preventing fraud over unlisted shares, but the banning would make start-ups harder to go IPO if… Continue reading Japan Sec Dealers’ Assc Postpones Banning Individual Investments On Pre-IPO Start-ups
Package Delivery Only By Twitter Name Begins In Japan
Softbank Group’s Meru-Ado Takuhaibin (means “Email Address Door-to-Door Delivery”), which we reported last December, lets people send parcels only by e-mail address, i.e. without knowing the recipients’ real address, now start supporting emerging messaging endpoint, Twitter. When a sender shows their intention to send a package to another Twitter user, this service asks to the… Continue reading Package Delivery Only By Twitter Name Begins In Japan
June 2010 Japan IT Links (Part 2)
Continued from (Part 1) Referred pages are all in Japanese, unless otherwise stated. Gree Employee Got Support 90% of Smartphone Purchase Cost Tweetmeme Adds Japanese Localization [En] – awful Japanese though Fujitsu-Toshiba Cellphone Alliance Officially Acknowledged Writers and editors jointly to release an e-book without publisher and dealer. Sakura Internet To Open Stadium Sized Data… Continue reading June 2010 Japan IT Links (Part 2)
Japan’s First Banana Vending Machine Debuts In Shibuya
The Japanese local subsidiary of international leading banana distributor Dole put the country’s first banana vending machine at an underground shopping mall in Shibuya last week, which draws people’s attention. The vending machine has a fridge and maintains stored bananas at 13 degrees Celsius (=55.4 degrees Fahrenheit) which is the best temperature to keep them… Continue reading Japan’s First Banana Vending Machine Debuts In Shibuya