Virtual world Ameba Pico (Ameba Pigu in Japan) is a success story. The service was launched by Tokyo-based web powerhouse CyberAgent in February 2009 and went on attracting four million members [PDF] in Japan. CyberAgent announced an English version in November 2009, which went online in March 2010. And if The Nikkei, Japan’s biggest business daily,… Continue reading Mochi Media “Scores” Hit Virtual World Ameba Pico From Japan’s CyberAgent
Author: Serkan Toto
Mixi Goes Facebook (II): “Mixi Check In” Is “Facebook Places”
With “Check”, Mixi copied Facebook’s “Like” function today, and while they were at it, Japan’s biggest social network copied Facebook’s location-based function, “Places”, as well. It’s just that on Mixi, “Places” is called “Check In”. So historically speaking, it took Mixi two years to follow Facebook’s Apps platform, half a year for “Like” and now… Continue reading Mixi Goes Facebook (II): “Mixi Check In” Is “Facebook Places”
Mixi Goes Facebook (I): “Mixi Check” Is Facebook’s “Like”
Facebook announced (and rolled it out) earlier this year, and now Japan’s biggest social network, Mixi, announced it, too: A function to share what you “like” on external sites with your friends. On Mixi, that function is called “Check”. As you can see on the screenshot of my Mixi profile below, Mixi Check is now… Continue reading Mixi Goes Facebook (I): “Mixi Check” Is Facebook’s “Like”
Japanese Social Marketplace Flutterscape Gets $300,000 Seed Money
A Japanese Internet startup that not only has international ambitions but that’s also able to receive a substantial amount of seed money is a very, very rare beast. But today, we can report that such a beast has been sighted. Singaporean tech blog e27 just broke the news that Tokyo-based Flutterscape, a cross-border social marketplace… Continue reading Japanese Social Marketplace Flutterscape Gets $300,000 Seed Money
Augmented Reality App Sekai Camera Now Available On The Web
Japan’s Augmented Reality poster company Tonchidot has brought its hit app Sekai Camera to the web. It’s now the fourth platform the app is available on, following versions for the iPhone, Android, and the iPad. Dubbed Sekai Camera Web, the online version is pretty simplistic (which is not too surprising for an alpha version). It… Continue reading Augmented Reality App Sekai Camera Now Available On The Web
Groupon To Buy Majority Stake In Japanese Clone Qpod
Everyone in Japan’s startup scene has been guessing which of the about 20 local clones Chicago-based Groupon would buy for about 3 months now. And today it came to light that the Americans have chosen to go for Qpod, which offered its first daily deal on May 28. And they are not losing time with… Continue reading Groupon To Buy Majority Stake In Japanese Clone Qpod
Yahoo Japan Buys Location-Based Mobile Advertising Company Cirius
Something pretty rare happened today in Japan’s web industry: a big Internet company acquired a smaller one. In this case, Yahoo Japan (the nation’s biggest website) snatched up all shares of location-based mobile advertising company Cirius Technologies. Cirius is headquartered in Tokyo and also operates Cirius Technologies, Inc. in San Francisco (more info on the… Continue reading Yahoo Japan Buys Location-Based Mobile Advertising Company Cirius
What Are Japan’s Top 5 Social Services? Here’s A Quick Overview.
Following yesterday’s news that Japan’s mobile social gaming giant GREE now hit 21.25 million users, our very own Akky Akimoto has done some research and created the graph you can see above for his Japanese blog. And as you can see, in Japan’s “social services” realm, Mixi (“Japan’s Facebook”), GREE and Mobage-town (another huge mobile… Continue reading What Are Japan’s Top 5 Social Services? Here’s A Quick Overview.
BREAKING: GREE’s Financial Report Suggests It’s Japan’s Biggest Social Network Now
Japan’s mobile gaming giant GREE just released [PDF] their financial report for the April-June quarter, and it seems the company is running from one record to the next. Year-on-year, all relevant financial numbers have gone up, as did the number of page views and, more importantly, registered members. Here’s a summary of GREE’s financial report,… Continue reading BREAKING: GREE’s Financial Report Suggests It’s Japan’s Biggest Social Network Now
[Update 2] First Offline, Now Unstable: Japan’s No. 1 Social Network Mixi In Trouble
Update: August 12, 11.30am: Mixi just issued a press release saying the service is back up. Apparently, Mixi had serious Memcached server trouble. Update: Mixi seems to have serious problems. As of August 11, 7.15pm Japanese time, the site is still down after it was accessible again for a few hours (as reported below). Here’s… Continue reading [Update 2] First Offline, Now Unstable: Japan’s No. 1 Social Network Mixi In Trouble