The once Japanese-only and super-successful video platform Nico Nico Douga goes international. They announced Friday on the company blog that they developed a German and Spanish version of their service (comments and tags are separated from Japanese videos). German version Spanish version The international versions are already online. Nico Nico for people living in Taiwan… Continue reading Nico Nico Douga goes global (almost)
Category: Japan
Cyber-Maid Augmented Reality
Geisha Tokyo Entertainment Inc. announced a new entertainment software title using augmented reality technology named “Dennoh Figure ARis“(Cyber Figure Alice) which will be on sale this autumn (2008). The package will come with two cyber-cubes and two cyber-sticks. You set up your webcam, and by putting the cyber-cube on your desk, a cyber-maid is displayed… Continue reading Cyber-Maid Augmented Reality
Facebook will possibly fail in Japan
Last month I was asked some comments on how Facebook will do in Japanese market by other media. Unfortunately my comments were not taken so I post my answers here. What is the biggest obstacle for Facebook in Japan? The biggest problem is lack of Japanese applications. I agree that Facebook third-party applications are a… Continue reading Facebook will possibly fail in Japan
Tokyo2point0 Event: Twitter Japan and Goo
Another month, another Tokyo2point0 event. Nearly 100 people showed up on July 15th at the Super Deluxe, the new venue to listen to two presentations from the Japanese web world. Goo My friend Masaki Sawamura from the made-in-Japan portal site Goo delivered the first presentation of the evening. Goo, which is run by IT and… Continue reading Tokyo2point0 Event: Twitter Japan and Goo
Joblet: An exemplary online job service made in Japan
I recently visited “The Plant”, a Tokyo-based web development company, which was established in 2005 and now serves a number of big-name clients, such as MTV, Otto, NHK or Diesel. The company also runs Asoboo, Japan’s largest international social network (available in English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Spanish). The Plant’s newest baby is called Joblet… Continue reading Joblet: An exemplary online job service made in Japan
Japanese “MAD movies” movement with Niconico/Idolmaster
Idolm@ster(Idol-master, abbrev. Aimasu in Japanese) is originally an arcade network game, then became a XBox360 game which is sold only in Japan. You will be a producer of a virtual 3D girl band and train them to be popular singers (kind of “Sim People” with a goal?). The game itself is not a big seller,… Continue reading Japanese “MAD movies” movement with Niconico/Idolmaster
News Corp. wakes up, finally enters Japan’s online ad market
U.S. media power house News Corp. finally decided to enter the Japanese online advertising market (the world’s second biggest) in September. The Nikkei says they are already on the prowl for possible candidates for acquisition but it’s not yet clear which Japanese online ad agencies might get bought up. News Corp. has apparently set up… Continue reading News Corp. wakes up, finally enters Japan’s online ad market
iPhone Abacus, old wine in a new bottle
Our iPong article was referred to from all over the globe, and that made us realize how hot a topic the iPhone and its application development is. So, today I introduce another iPhone (non-authorized) app by a Japanese developer, the iPhone Abacus. Sorry for my ignorance, I do not know to what extent abaci are… Continue reading iPhone Abacus, old wine in a new bottle
Netprint turns the nearest convenience store to your printer
Netprint is an Internet priting service which enables users to print their files through Internet to Seven-eleven convenience store’s printer. Fuji Xerox is providing the service nationwide in Japan. You can upload a PDF, Excel, JPEG files to their server. They will give you a number. Then you can get a print by entering a… Continue reading Netprint turns the nearest convenience store to your printer
Face Off: iPhone 3G and Japanese cellphones
iPhone 3G provided by Softbank on coming 11th July will be the first iPhone in Japan. Since Jobs’ announcement, there are bunch of Japanese medias and blogs have been discussing if iPhone 3G is worth buying. To clarify how iPhone and the latest Japanese cellphones spec are different, Asiajin called for comments on what functionalities… Continue reading Face Off: iPhone 3G and Japanese cellphones