Another case of Amazon envy from Rakuten, Japan’s biggest online shopping “mall”? It seems so. According to various reports, Rakuten is currently pondering the development of a barcode scanner. One of the reason for Rakuten to get into the hardware business – according to a company representative quoted by The Nikkei (“Japan’s Wall Street Journal”)… Continue reading Amazon Envy II: Rakuten now wants to produce hardware (a barcode scanner)
Category: Japan
Soldering Cafe To Be Opened At Ex-school Site In Akihabara
The birth rate keeps lower number in Japan, which causes more elementary and junior high schools to be shut down across the nation. Especially in the highly populated areas, these ex-school buildings turned to be used for artist’s studios, SOHO for tech entrepreneurs and coffee shops filling the lessee’s stomachs with great meals. In mid-May,… Continue reading Soldering Cafe To Be Opened At Ex-school Site In Akihabara
Google Japan’s “President” Gone – Exceptional Position Of Japan Local Office Lessened
As we reported last month, one of only 6 Google presidents Koichiro Tsujino left Google Japan at the end of April. This leave is confirmed both on the Google’s executive list, on which no more Google Japan president exists, and Tsujino’s tweet [J], ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????less than a minute ago via web??????ktsujino On that tweet, he said… Continue reading Google Japan’s “President” Gone – Exceptional Position Of Japan Local Office Lessened
Foodlog, Rapeko, EatNow: 3 Japanese food picture posting services
One major difference between Japanese bloggers and those elsewhere is that not too few Japanese writers seem to be obsessed with food, filling their blogs with pictures of their dinner, lunch boxes, favorite snacks etc. shot from all angles. Here‘s a Japanese blog that even solely focuses on lunch boxes (and this is just one… Continue reading Foodlog, Rapeko, EatNow: 3 Japanese food picture posting services
DeNA Reports USD100M On Quarterly Profit; They To Focus On Social App Business
Last Friday, Tokyo-based mobile game platform developer and game publisher DeNA announced the company’s quarterly consolidated financial result ended March 2010, which shows us good figures like USD200M in the net sales (81% increase compared to that of last year) and almost USD100M in the operating profit (240% increase compared to that of last year).… Continue reading DeNA Reports USD100M On Quarterly Profit; They To Focus On Social App Business
Google Losing Default Mobile Search Engine Position On Docomo i-mode Portal, A Gate To Half Of Japanese Mobile Web
Japan’s largest cellphone carrier NTT Docomo, which boasts 50% market share on cellphone users, also keeps over 50% share of cellphone web connection services i-mode, announced that they switch their default mobile internet search service from Google mobile search to Goo’s one since April 30th [J]. Until last week, your searching on i-mode portal, iMenu… Continue reading Google Losing Default Mobile Search Engine Position On Docomo i-mode Portal, A Gate To Half Of Japanese Mobile Web
Tokyo Giants & Hanshin Tigers, Both To Introduce Specially Designed Handsets For Better Fan Engagement
The Yomiuri Giants[J], a professional baseball team based in Tokyo, announced it would introduce a new cellphone handset especially designed for their fans in late June in association with Japan’s second largest mobile operator KDDI and MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) Inphonix[J]. The team’s logo is printed on the handset, and player’s portraits and the… Continue reading Tokyo Giants & Hanshin Tigers, Both To Introduce Specially Designed Handsets For Better Fan Engagement
Twitter Parade Generator IS Parade By KDDI
KDDI, Japan’s second largest cellphone carrier, launched a new Twitter related mashup for one of their new IS smartphone(Android and Windows Mobile) promotion activities, IS Parade. On the site, you will be asked to type a Twitter ID or any keywords. Hit the “Start” then the parade with Twitter icons and tweets will be shown… Continue reading Twitter Parade Generator IS Parade By KDDI
Amazon Envy: Rakuten Builds Own Distribution Centers
Big shake-up in Japan’s $70 billion e-commerce market: Rakuten, Japan’s leading virtual mall (over 30,000 merchants, over 50 million customer accounts), is about to launch an attack against its biggest (yet indirect) rival), Amazon Japan. The biggest difference between the two sites is that Rakuten is a B2B2C platform without a warehousing function. But that’s… Continue reading Amazon Envy: Rakuten Builds Own Distribution Centers
Cartoon Illustration Sharing Site Tinami Introduces Streaming Integration And API
Tinami[J], a fourteen-year-old illustration sharing site for cartoonists and animators, completed the integrations with Ustream and Stickam last week, and it now allows users of the service to broadcast live videos of their drawing processes via the two streaming services and to communicate with their fans. Furthermore, the site introduced an API[J] for developers who… Continue reading Cartoon Illustration Sharing Site Tinami Introduces Streaming Integration And API