Tokyo-based Ubiquitous Entertainment (UEI) announced [JP] “enchant.js” yesterday, an HTML5/JavaScript game engine for smartphones (and PCs). The engine is available in beta, it’s open source (dual license MIT or GPL on github), and entirely free to use. UEI says their aim with the release of the engine is to motivate young people in particular to… Continue reading enchant.js: New HTML5/JavaScript Game Engine For Smartphones
Category: News
Study: Post-Quake Sales Of Japanese Group-Buying Sites Down 36%
What’s the overall size of Japan’s market for online group-buying sites? Tokyo-based Luxa (which runs one of these sites/more info here) regularly issues reports on the domestic industry as a whole. And according to their latest study, the quake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 had a rather large negative effect on the… Continue reading Study: Post-Quake Sales Of Japanese Group-Buying Sites Down 36%
Teclosion 2011 Spring: Wondershake Wins The Grand Prix Among 15 Finalists
Design IT[J], a Tokyo-based UI-focused media consultancy also known for previously maintaining TechCrunch’s Japanese edition (its management was switched to AOL earlier this month[J]), held the first conference in Akihabara on Friday, for discussing the future of Japan tech industry and introducing great start-up stuffs. In the morning session, CEOs from Mixi, GMO Internet Group,… Continue reading Teclosion 2011 Spring: Wondershake Wins The Grand Prix Among 15 Finalists
DigiColle 2010: Akiba’s Univ Students Present Their Research Results & Works
Digital Hollywood was founded in 1994 by Dr. Tomoyuki Sugiyama[J] who had worked as a visiting researcher at MIT Media Lab, and later then it became a university that has grown out of a vocational school. The university holds an annual conference, which is named DigiColle[J] after Digital Hollywood Collection, to show up research… Continue reading DigiColle 2010: Akiba’s Univ Students Present Their Research Results & Works
Gourmet Innovation Launches Donation Program For Serving Ramen Meals To Disaster Victims
Many years ago, I watched a TV commercial of UK automaker Rover Company, saying there would be nothing to proudly introduce in UK other than Rover and fish & chips. Similarly, average Japanese are not able to have pleasant days without curry rice nor ramen noodles. Gourmet Innovation[J], a Tokyo-based start-up operating an e-commerce site… Continue reading Gourmet Innovation Launches Donation Program For Serving Ramen Meals To Disaster Victims
9leap: D2C And UEI Launch Program For Young Smartphone Game Creators
Do you know a student in Japan who is under 25 years of age and who can create cool smartphone games? If yes, 9leap, a new program that just launched, might be of interest to you. 9leap is the brain child of Tokyo-based D2 Communications (D2C) – a joint venture between Dentsu and NTT Docomo… Continue reading 9leap: D2C And UEI Launch Program For Young Smartphone Game Creators
DeNA And CyberAgent To Start Joint Smartphone Ads Network For Mobage/Ameba
DeNA announced that CyberAgent and they are to established a new joint venture company at the end of April. The company will form an ads network for smartphone since May. CyberAgent will own 51%, DeNA 49%. DeNA holds 24.48 million social network users on Mobage and Yahoo! Mobage, Cyber Agent has 13 million users on… Continue reading DeNA And CyberAgent To Start Joint Smartphone Ads Network For Mobage/Ameba
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Donates $120 million In Quake Aid, Live On Ustream
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is known to like to think big, and the announcement he made today is no exception: Son said that he will donate a total of 10 billion yen ($120 million) of his personal money to the victims of the quake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11. Son made the… Continue reading SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Donates $120 million In Quake Aid, Live On Ustream
Bukupe: Might A Book Curation Site Be Alternative To Skim-Reading?
City dwellers are busy every day. They don’t have much time for reading books. E-books make you possible to enjoy reading without stopping by at bookstores. Skim reading, speed reading, anything else? Bukupe[J], named after ‘book encyclopedia’, just unveiled a book curation service on Friday, which allows you to write abstracts for books you’ve… Continue reading Bukupe: Might A Book Curation Site Be Alternative To Skim-Reading?
GMO-VP Launches “F-Commerce” Fund And Invests In Platform Developer
On Friday, GMO Venture Partners[J], an investment arm of Shibuya-based web juggernaut GMO Internet Group, launched a private equity fund specializing in investing in start-ups who are developing e-commerce and ad services to be provided on the Facebook platform (a.k.a. F-commerce), which is called Social Ad & Commerce Technology Fund. It has a JPY57M(=USD670,000) volume… Continue reading GMO-VP Launches “F-Commerce” Fund And Invests In Platform Developer