Japan’s Index Corp. To Launch (Apparently Gigantic) Virtual Mall In China

Tokyo-based (and JASDAQ-listed) Index Corp. has decided to shake hands with Chinese retail giant Hualian to launch and run a large virtual shopping mall. Somehow surprisingly, Index, a leading mobile contents provider, will develop the site for China’s fixed web and not the country’s rapidly growing mobile web. The main idea is to offer an… Continue reading Japan’s Index Corp. To Launch (Apparently Gigantic) Virtual Mall In China

China’s Best-known Mobile Portal Founder Launches New Search Start-up

Beijing-based serial entrepreneur Nick Yang (杨宁, see this ChineseSavvy.com article for more about him) got his third start-up Wukong Search (唔箜搜索) [C, mobile] go live in Mainland China. In prior to the third start-up, he founded the popular web portal ChinaRen[C] for the younger generation in China, and succeeded to sell it to one of… Continue reading China’s Best-known Mobile Portal Founder Launches New Search Start-up

New Japanese IME Has Come From The Origin Of Chinese Characters

Following Google’s Japanese IME (input method editor) newly introduced in the beginning of this month, the Japanese subsidiary of China’s largest website search portal Baidu[C] also introduced a new one for our language, which is named Baidu Type[J] (in beta). By referring to the Japanese input method which has been adopted for cellphone handsets, Baidu… Continue reading New Japanese IME Has Come From The Origin Of Chinese Characters

Chinese Domain Name Authority Closes 699 Accounts In 4 Days; No More Individual Registration

On Monday, CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center) suspended 699 .cn domain names which seemed to be inappropriately used for porn websites just in four days since they had set up a hot line to receive anonymous reports about the malicious use of domain names. And then, the authority suspended to accept new .cn domain… Continue reading Chinese Domain Name Authority Closes 699 Accounts In 4 Days; No More Individual Registration

Yahoo China Closes Online Photo Album, Users Are Ready To Sue Against It

Yahoo! China[C] shut down its online photo album service last Thursday, and it hit tens of thousands of Chinese people using the service.    The users are blaming and demanding to get their photos back to their hands, Beijing Daily[C] reports. The service was believed to be provided permanently for free, but it was closed… Continue reading Yahoo China Closes Online Photo Album, Users Are Ready To Sue Against It

ESPer2009: Exploratory IT Engineers And Developers Wrap-up This Year’s Japanese Tech Scene

Since 2000, IPA, a Japanese governmental arm in charge of promoting IT industry, has been running an annual contest to find young computer engineers who have developed services and technologies that we’ve never experienced, which is titled the Exploratory IT human resources project a.k.a. MITOH. There was an year-end alumni meet-up where the entrepreneurs who… Continue reading ESPer2009: Exploratory IT Engineers And Developers Wrap-up This Year’s Japanese Tech Scene

Taxi-pooling Service Meets The Best Known LBS iPhone App And Map Portal

Probably it’s common in any city around the world that not more female geeks are appeared than males at tech industry scenes.   Except some activities that encourage more females to join this exciting community, such as U.S.-based “Girls in Tech” and Tokyo Girl Geeks[J], it is mere that we see a female entrepreneur who runs… Continue reading Taxi-pooling Service Meets The Best Known LBS iPhone App And Map Portal

Japan’s CyberAgent Sets Up $22.7 Million Fund For Startups In East Asia

The more you talk with Japanese VCs and entrepreneurs these days, the more you hear “China” as the next target for investing money or establishing a subsidiary. Now Japanese web behemoth CyberAgent (listed at the Tokyo Stock Exchange) says it has set up a fund exclusively focused on web startups in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan… Continue reading Japan’s CyberAgent Sets Up $22.7 Million Fund For Startups In East Asia

Hatena Bookmark for iPhone: Simply Rotate Yours To Share Your Favorites

Kyoto-based tech start-up running Japan’s largest social bookmarking service Hatena[J] (meaning a question mark in Japanese) set up a new entrance specifically designed for the iPhone/iPod touch[J] today. Hatena Bookmark has a Digg-like feature allowing you to record the links of the websites that you have browsed and to share them with the other users.  … Continue reading Hatena Bookmark for iPhone: Simply Rotate Yours To Share Your Favorites

CyberAgent Launches Twitter Clone Called “Ameba Now!”

Shibuya-based social media service company Cyber Agent launched a Twitter-like micro message service called “Ameba Now[J]” today.   As a Japanese Internet slang, “now” is frequently used in a Twitter message telling other Twitterers where you are, such as “Shibuya Now!” and “Akihabara Now!”.   That company’s new service name comes from it. As Serkan Toto mentioned… Continue reading CyberAgent Launches Twitter Clone Called “Ameba Now!”