In Jakarta: First BOOST Conference To Take Place On January 17-18, 2012

Indonesia is just getting started on the Internet, but interest is rapidly growing in this massive market of 240 million people. The country is on the map especially in the tech industry in Japan and (to a lesser extent) Silicon Valley, which is why a new conference called BOOST is trying to connect these three… Continue reading In Jakarta: First BOOST Conference To Take Place On January 17-18, 2012

Decopic: Kawaii Photo Sharing App Gets 500,000 Users In 2 Weeks

Decopic, a “kawaii” photo editing and sharing app Tokyo-based startup Community Factory developed for iOS and Android, has hit the 500,000 user milestone – in just 2 weeks. According to the company, the app was released on October 19 and reached that user base on November 2. Community Factory says they followed a multi-platform, multi-language… Continue reading Decopic: Kawaii Photo Sharing App Gets 500,000 Users In 2 Weeks

Register For The Next Startup Weekend In Japan: November 18, Kyoto Research Park

Startup Weekend is in the process of establishing itself as a “brand” and regular event in Japan’s web and startup world, and following Tokyo in August, it’s now time hold a Startup Weekend in Kyoto. The so-called Startup Weekend X Kyoto Research Park event (Facebook page) will take place: November 18 (Friday), from 6.30pm – November… Continue reading Register For The Next Startup Weekend In Japan: November 18, Kyoto Research Park

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)

NTT Solmare To Sell E-Comics From China In Japan, Asia And The US

NTT, or rather NTT West subsidiary NTT Solmare, is planning to sell 100 e-comics from China in its home market of Japan, Asia and the US. NTT Solmare partnered up with Zhejiang Publishing United Group and will initially offer two e-comics each in Japan and the US by the end of this year. In 2012,… Continue reading NTT Solmare To Sell E-Comics From China In Japan, Asia And The US

iichi: Marketplace For Handmade Goods From Japan (In English)

If you live outside Japan and were ever interested in getting handmade goods from this country, here’s your chance: a service called iichi, which launched in Japanese in July this year, just opened a site in English. The idea is similar to Etsy‘s : all products offered on the marketplace must be handmade. iichi is… Continue reading iichi: Marketplace For Handmade Goods From Japan (In English)

Yahoo Box: Yahoo Japan Starts Online Storage Service

Yahoo Japan, the country’s biggest website, has launched a new service dubbed Yahoo Box today. Yahoo Box is an online storage service with three plans: 5GB are given for free to any user with a Yahoo Japan ID 50GB is the maximum space premium members get for free (a Yahoo Japan premium membership costs US$4.50… Continue reading Yahoo Box: Yahoo Japan Starts Online Storage Service

KDDI (And SoftBank) To Accept iPhone 4S Pre-Orders From October 7

The iPhone 4S is coming to Japan: both SoftBank Mobile and new provider KDDI au, the No. 3 and 2 mobile carriers in this country, will start accepting pre-orders from Friday October 7, as shown on Apple Japan’s website. The iPhone 4S will then become available exactly one week later, on October 14 (as in… Continue reading KDDI (And SoftBank) To Accept iPhone 4S Pre-Orders From October 7

7th Mashup Awards “Ninja Challenge” To Take Place In Palo Alto October 19 (Call For Presentations Ends October 12)

The so-called Mashup Awards have a relatively long history in Japan’s web world, with the 7th event scheduled to be held in Japan next month (here‘s Asiajin’s report on the last event from December 2010). It has been organized in Japan every year so far, but now the Mashup Awards 7 (MA7) event is coming… Continue reading 7th Mashup Awards “Ninja Challenge” To Take Place In Palo Alto October 19 (Call For Presentations Ends October 12)