Singapore-based tech blog e27 is holding Echelon 2012 on June 11-12, a startup event the site calls the biggest of its kind in Asia. As in previous years, Echelon will take place in Singapore (the first one was organized back in 2010), and the main event is preceded by a number of lead-up events in… Continue reading Event: Echelon 2012 Japan Satellite In Tokyo This Friday (April 27)
Author: Serkan Toto
Three Of Japan’s Top Telcos Standardize Display Of Email Emoticons
Three of Japan’s four biggest mobile carriers, namely NTT Docomo, KDDI au, and eAccess, are about to make it easier for their combined subscriber base of roughly 90 million people to exchange emails with other. The plan is to standardize the display of emoticons, or emoji in Japanese, across handsets offered by the three networks. As… Continue reading Three Of Japan’s Top Telcos Standardize Display Of Email Emoticons
Jeff Bezos Wants Amazon Japan’s Sales To Grow 30%, Bring Kindle Over This Year
There can be no doubt that with a US$15 billion market cap, 75 million user accounts in Japan alone, and over 10,000 employees worldwide, the 800-pound gorilla in Japan’s e-commerce sector is Rakuten. Amazon Japan however, launched as early as 2000 (3 years later than Rakuten) continues to be a formidable opponent for the country’s… Continue reading Jeff Bezos Wants Amazon Japan’s Sales To Grow 30%, Bring Kindle Over This Year
FxCamera: Tokyo-Based Bitcellar Buys Popular Android Photo App
Tokyo-based photo storage service startup Bitcellar today announced it has acquired FxCamera, the biggest camera app on Android phones at the moment: according to the company, FxCamera currently boasts 15 million registered users around the world. Details of the deal weren’t disclosed. Morifumi Yamashita, who single-handedly developed the app, has joined Bitcellar’s board and plans… Continue reading FxCamera: Tokyo-Based Bitcellar Buys Popular Android Photo App
Photozou: Zynga Japan Sells Photo Sharing Site To Digital Garage
Back in 2010, when Zynga acquired Tokyo-based Unoh (and turned the company into its Japan HQ), the main targets of the Americans were game-related assets and the team. But Zynga also acquired a pretty successful photo sharing service that was developed by Unoh: Photozou,which went live in 2005 and can probably be best described as… Continue reading Photozou: Zynga Japan Sells Photo Sharing Site To Digital Garage
Presentation: DeNA And GREE – A Perspective On Japanese Social Games Going Global
We have covered the Japanese social game industry to some extent on Asiajin over the last years, and I myself do so in more detail on my personal site. In recent months, the two biggest companies in this space, DeNA and GREE, have invested hundreds of millions of US dollars in bringing the concept of… Continue reading Presentation: DeNA And GREE – A Perspective On Japanese Social Games Going Global
NHN Japan’s LINE App Hits 20 Million Users – After Just 8 Months
20 million – that’s the amazing number of users that LINE, a communication app made by NHN Japan, just hit. The free voice call/messenger app for iOS and Android just took eight months to reach this milestone (it was released in June last year). LINE makes it possible for users to call or text each… Continue reading NHN Japan’s LINE App Hits 20 Million Users – After Just 8 Months
GREE Shares Down 6.15%, After Users Discover Glitch In Their Top Social Game
Shares in Japan’s top social gaming company GREE (current market cap: US$6.5 billion) dipped 6.15% today, following reports of users exploiting a glitch in the platform’s top social game. The title in question is “Tanken doliland”, a social card battle game mixed with RPG elements. As we reported yesterday, a bug in the game makes… Continue reading GREE Shares Down 6.15%, After Users Discover Glitch In Their Top Social Game
Yahoo Hoshou: Yahoo Japan Starts “Safety” Service For Online Shoppers
Yahoo Japan, the country’s biggest website, is a major force in the domestic e-commerce sector. The transaction value for their auction service “Yahoo Auction” (by far the biggest in Japan) and “Yahoo Japan Shopping” reached a staggering 950 billion yen (US$12 billion) last fiscal. Reason enough for the company to announce a new service for… Continue reading Yahoo Hoshou: Yahoo Japan Starts “Safety” Service For Online Shoppers
NOTTV: Japan Gets Smartphone-Only TV Channel (Video)
NOTTV – that’s the name of a new mobile TV channel that could one day replace 1Seg, the current TV and broadcasting standard for Japanese cell phones. Japan’s biggest mobile carrier NTT Docomo, the country’s biggest ad agency Dentsu, and a handful of private-sector broadcasters are planning to launch NOTTV on April 1 this year.… Continue reading NOTTV: Japan Gets Smartphone-Only TV Channel (Video)