Nico Nico Douga Introduces Its iPhone/iPod App

Niwango[J], the owner of Japan’s most popular video sharing site “Nico Nico Douga[J]“, released its iPhone/iPod appon Monday. The app is for free and available only at Japanese AppStore. With 3G or WiFi connectivity, the app allows you to search/play videos and leave your comment on Nico Nico Douga, however it does not cover the… Continue reading Nico Nico Douga Introduces Its iPhone/iPod App

Major Publishers Co-launch Non-UGC Encyclopedia Site

Asahi Newspaper, the Internet portal company EC Navi[J] and major publishers like Kodansha and Shogakukan jointly launched Thursday an online encyclopedia containing 430,000 words, which is called “Kotobank[J]“.   The service is provided for free, and the joint venture expects to earn USD1M in FY2009 from Overture[J] ads appeared on the result pages of Kotobank. The… Continue reading Major Publishers Co-launch Non-UGC Encyclopedia Site

Amateur Paparazzis Livecast A Pop Star Under Arrest For Indecent Exposure

As you might hear from the news, the Japanese pop star Tsuyoshi Kusanagi(草彅剛, a.k.a. 초난 강 or Chonan Gang in South Korea), a member of popular group SMAP[J], was arrested Thursday for public indecency after being found drunk and naked at a park near Roppongi, Tokyo. On the popular video sharing site Nico Nico Douga[J],… Continue reading Amateur Paparazzis Livecast A Pop Star Under Arrest For Indecent Exposure

Another Way To Have Mobile Broadband, It’s Neither WiMax Nor HSDPA

Japan’s only PHS operator Willcom announced today it would start trial of new high-speed mobile data service next week, which is called XGP and enables logically 20Mbps Internet access not only in downstream but also in upstream. Starting on April 27th, the trial will be in operation until the end of coming September, and the… Continue reading Another Way To Have Mobile Broadband, It’s Neither WiMax Nor HSDPA

NHK Broadcasts Lunch Time TV Program For Cellphone

1-seg (one-seg) is a mobile terrestrial digital audio/video and data broadcasting service in Japan.   Usually it airs the same programs simultaneously with the land-based TV channels do. In March, Japan’s state-run TV/radio broadcaster NHK started broadcasting the 1-seg programs in weekday’s lunch time, specifically designed for office workers having their lunch break.   The programming is… Continue reading NHK Broadcasts Lunch Time TV Program For Cellphone

Tezuka Manga Works Come To Your Palm Every Week

Tokyo-based mobile app developer Yappa started distributing the manga works of Tezuka Osamu, with a content distribution technology that the company also used to develop the Sankei Newspaper’s iPhone/iPod app also uses (I mentioned the app a bit in this article). The company publishes a new issue online every week, and each issue takes a… Continue reading Tezuka Manga Works Come To Your Palm Every Week

Japanese Mobile Design Showcase

Mobile Design Archive is a new blog where over 400 Japanese cellphone websites screenshot are collected. Because of historical and security reasons, many mobile websites are not accessible from PCs in Japan, some are blocked by browser IP address, others are referring cellphone unique id. So taking screenshots of mobile sites are not easy as… Continue reading Japanese Mobile Design Showcase

Your Cellphone Helps Inducing A Coincidental Meet To Dating

The Tokyo-based mobile app start-up YouMind[J] launched last Friday the free mobile service called Hitomebo[J], which allows you to record where and when you have seen cute girls or handsome boys and fallen in love, just only with a GPS-compatible mobile phone. One of the the company’s directors experienced to see a cute girl in… Continue reading Your Cellphone Helps Inducing A Coincidental Meet To Dating

April Fools’ Day Jokes On Japanese Websphere

On the day when all we are permitted to wag the dog, many companies devoted themselves to create attractive pranks on their websites.    I wrapped up what had happened on Japanese web scene. For pursuing the journalist’s perspective to be honest on the facts, we Asiajin report no prank nor joke, but do the fact… Continue reading April Fools’ Day Jokes On Japanese Websphere

Will Mobile Medical Services Save Japan From The Global Economic Downturn?

Economists point out that expanding domestic demand and encouraging consumption are the highest priorities in getting us out of this economic downturn. IT Strategic Headquarters, the arm of Japan’s Cabinet which oversees which IT platforms will most benefit the country in the future, has suggested a three-year stimulus package including further deployment of broadband applications… Continue reading Will Mobile Medical Services Save Japan From The Global Economic Downturn?