Dominic K. Gallello

Cityville Launches in Japan as Facebook Continues Steady Growth

The world’s biggest social game Cityville just launched in Japanese, available exclusively to the Facebook platform. This is the first time a localized version of a US Zynga game has been launched in Japan since their entry into the Japanese market. Zynga is currently rolling out their biggest IP around the world, with their recent… Continue reading Cityville Launches in Japan as Facebook Continues Steady Growth

Microsoft Dives Into Japan’s Booming Smartphone Market With World’s First Mango Smartphone And Other Key Partnerships

In a joint press conference held this morning, Microsoft, Fujitsu-Toshiba and KDDI unveiled [J] the Fujitsu-Toshiba IS12T smartphone, the world’s very first Windows Phone Mango handset hitting Japan this September only on the KDDI AU mobile network. The phone features a 3.7″ LED display, 1 Ghz Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU, 32GB internal memory, 13.2 Megapixel Camera and is both… Continue reading Microsoft Dives Into Japan’s Booming Smartphone Market With World’s First Mango Smartphone And Other Key Partnerships

DeNA Recruits Legendary Japanese Game Designers Into “Super Creators” Initiative

In a press conference yesterday, DeNA announced [J] the formation of the “Super Creators” initiative, an all-star team of five veteran game designers from the traditional Japanese games industry who will create social smartphone games for Mobage. All games will be published by AQ Interactive. The veteran game designers include: Keiji Inafune: Legendary game designer formerly employed… Continue reading DeNA Recruits Legendary Japanese Game Designers Into “Super Creators” Initiative

Dentsu Gets Exclusive Rights To Display Ads On Skype

Dentsu has struck another exclusivity deal, this time with Skype. The deal is intended to generate 1 billion of revenue (12.4 million USD) through exclusive display space on the Skype start up screen. Banner / video ads will cover roughly 1/3 of the screen as the program boots and will be cycled through daily .… Continue reading Dentsu Gets Exclusive Rights To Display Ads On Skype

30 Months in Prison for Livedoor Founder Horiemon

The Japanese business world lit abuzz yesterday as it was announced that the former head Livedoor, Takafumi Horie, had his appeal rejected by the Japanese Supreme Court, thereby finalizing his conviction for accounting fraud issued 4 years ago. Takafumi Horie, or Horiemon as he is popularly known for his resemblance to the manga character Doraemon,… Continue reading 30 Months in Prison for Livedoor Founder Horiemon

Using Your Smartphone Camera To Count Calories

We’ve come across a service by NTT Communications tentatively called “Health Enhancement Assist Service” [J], which unlike its name, is an incredibly interesting little innovation in the world of health management apps and web services. The smartphone app / web service allows people to keep track of their daily diet via their smartphone cameras, an extremely relevant… Continue reading Using Your Smartphone Camera To Count Calories

Dentsu Becomes Official Sales & Marketing Representative for Facebook Japan

Dentsu and Facebook Japan have announced today a major deal to appoint Dentsu as the official sales and marketing support representative in Japan. As outlined in their press release, Dentsu will offer services to include effective fan page creation and maintenance, exclusive access to Facebook Premium Advertising, and offer strategies that will integrate Facebook ads into Dentu’s… Continue reading Dentsu Becomes Official Sales & Marketing Representative for Facebook Japan