Radio Kaikan, an Akihabara’s landmark which was closed in August 2011 and waiting to be deconstructed, got a fallen satellite today. It is a promotion around an Sci-Fi game STEINS;GATE which set in Akihabara. The construction has been reported [J] by many Twitter users. The Radio Kaikan and Steins; Gate collaboration event is held from… Continue reading Satellite Hits An Akihabara Building
Month: October 2011
Spain Joins Vocaloid Fever
Probably you know about Vocaloid, one of the most advanced voice synthesizers apps. Hatsune Miku, a huge successful Japanese virtual idol, was created using this software. What you may not know is the Vocaloid software itself, which is a Yamaha Corporation trademark, was developed in a joint research with the Pompeu Fabra University of Spain. Maybe… Continue reading Spain Joins Vocaloid Fever
Final Fantasy To Hit Mobage, Teaser Site Opens
Square Enix, who has been publishing nation’s two most popular role-playing game series, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest on several console for more than decade, has launched a teaser site telling their flagship Final Fantasy will come on Japan’s large social gaming network Mobage. The launch date is just written “This winter”. The social Final… Continue reading Final Fantasy To Hit Mobage, Teaser Site Opens
Personal Assistant Siri Personified In Drawings As Well
iPhone’s new voice interface Siri is getting kind of artificial personality with human voice and many prepared witty answers. If so, such “virtual person in machine” is of course the Japanese anime/manga people’s favorite theme as seen on human voice synthesizer Hatsune Miku and her Vocaloid buddies are followed by a lot of illustrations, comics,… Continue reading Personal Assistant Siri Personified In Drawings As Well
Tokyo Architecture Navigator – Visit Tokyo’s 1000 Notable Buildings With iPhone
“Tokyo Kenchiku Navi/Tokyo Architecture Navigator” is a new English/Japanese bilingual iOS app by real-estate information website R-Store, which covers about 1,000 Tokyo buildings designed by architects like Tadao Ando, Arata Isozaki, Kazuyo Sejima, etc. The app contains around 3,000 photos of the buildings, information of each building such like the designer’s name, address, year established,… Continue reading Tokyo Architecture Navigator – Visit Tokyo’s 1000 Notable Buildings With iPhone
CyberAgent Ventures Invests In Startup Company “Qrunch”
CyberAgent’s [J] consolidated subsidiary for developing investment and venture capital operations, CyberAgent Ventures, [J] on the date of October 7th, 2011 made an investment into Qrunch Co., [J] developers of “Qrunch,” [J] a social Q&A service which allows you to lightheartedly ask questions to friends. This company became the chosen enterprise for the business plan… Continue reading CyberAgent Ventures Invests In Startup Company “Qrunch”
October 2011 Japan IT Links (Part 2)
Continued from (Part 1). Middle part of October news which we did not write as a dedicated article. Continued to (Part 3) Referred pages are all in Japanese, unless otherwise stated. Kagawa Pref. Declares To Rename To Udon (Japanese wheat noodle) Prefecture – Kagawa is known by enthusiastic udon lovers. Official runs extreme tourism promotion… Continue reading October 2011 Japan IT Links (Part 2)
Kayac Releases Location-based Social Fighting Game “The King of Fighters Encounter”
Kayac Inc. [J] has released “THE KING OF FIGHTERS ENCOUNTER,” an iPhone social game application working with location information, which allows you to have battles with characters of people who pass by on the street in real life. Download is free. “THE KING OF FIGHTERS ENCOUNTER” is a game app based on the popular title… Continue reading Kayac Releases Location-based Social Fighting Game “The King of Fighters Encounter”
Video: Mobile Train Information Service “Yamanote Train Net”
Mitsubishi Electric has developed a prototype app for iPhone and Android phones that could make life for the millions of commuters living in Tokyo a bit easier. The so-called “Yamanote Train Net” [JP] app is currently being tested in one train on the famous Yamanote line that circles the center of Tokyo. Users can expect… Continue reading Video: Mobile Train Information Service “Yamanote Train Net”
Presentation: Innovation, Imitation & Hyper-Localization (Sparxup 2011, Indonesia)
Last Friday, I was invited to Jakarta to give a keynote presentation at the Sparxup Awards 2011 event for Indonesian startups. The presentation’s topic was “Innovation, Imitation & Hyper-Localization In Asia”, and assuming some readers might be interested, I embedded it below. Here are the slides (direct link): Keynote Presentation: Sparxup 2011 Indonesia View more… Continue reading Presentation: Innovation, Imitation & Hyper-Localization (Sparxup 2011, Indonesia)