News – Page 46

In Japan, Freemium Works. Nico Nico Douga paid member user base passes 500k

One of the big differences between the web in Japan versus America or Europe is the way sites are being monetized. Generally speaking, the level of acceptance for the freemium model seems to be higher among Japanese users. As a ballpark number, it’s safe to say that usually between five and 15 percent of users… Continue reading In Japan, Freemium Works. Nico Nico Douga paid member user base passes 500k

Mixi Echo Becomes Mixi Voice To Chase Twitter

Japan’s biggest social network service Mixi [J, registration required], who had started in-service microblog Mixi Echo since last summer, renamed it with Mixi Voice and made it as an “official” service. User’s top page has Voice’s messages just under profile icon. “More” link takes you to the Voice page, which looks more familiar with Twitter… Continue reading Mixi Echo Becomes Mixi Voice To Chase Twitter

Amazon Japan’s Counterattacks To Rakuten Books

Amazon Japan v.s. Japan’s local Rakuten battle was recently well covered on TechCrunch (by our buddy Serkan Toto, of course). Amazon is doing pretty good localization on their main part, books, but draining duel against Rakuten in many shopping categories. Amazon Japan’s shipping fee 300 yen (3.3 USD) has been waived if a customer purchases… Continue reading Amazon Japan’s Counterattacks To Rakuten Books

New Dating Game Robs Boys Of Loves In Girlfriends

Love Plus[J] is a virtual dating simulation game, which was developed by Konami for Nintendo DS and went on sale at the beginning of this month. This game title attracts an enormous number of game geeks, especially among the “herbivorous“-typed boys, living around the country, and more than 47,000 packages were sold just in three… Continue reading New Dating Game Robs Boys Of Loves In Girlfriends

IPO Consulting Firm Launches Trilingual Database Of Japanese Tech Start-ups

On Thursday, Tokyo-based consulting firm for tech start-up ventures, Project Ocean LLP[J] launched a trilingual database of Japanese tech start-up companies, which is called Startups Japan. Project Ocean LLP was founded by Mr. Tomoya Hayakawa[J] in 2006, and Mr. Hayakawa previously worked with Japanese major investment bank Daiwa Securities SMBC on IPO underwriting services for… Continue reading IPO Consulting Firm Launches Trilingual Database Of Japanese Tech Start-ups

Sharp’s Pocket-sized netPC: Ten Hour Lifetime Gives You No Fear About Dead Battery

On Thursday, Sharp introduced a brand new pocket-sized netPC terminal named “NetWalker[J]“, which is expected to go on sale in late September for USD460 each (estimated street price). It has ten hour battery lifetime, Freescale Semiconductor‘s multimedia application processor as a CPU, a 512MB memory and a 4GB flash memory. The terminal’s 409 gram (14.4oz)… Continue reading Sharp’s Pocket-sized netPC: Ten Hour Lifetime Gives You No Fear About Dead Battery

Mixi Finally Shed ‘Beta’ With Mixi Appli

Mixi [J] (Asiajin articles), the biggest social network service in Japan, starts their OpenSocial compliant application platform Mixi Appli officially opened to every Mixi user on PC. Mixi Appli Mobile is planned to follow next month. Mixi announced its OpenSocial platform last year and has been running closed beta test with third party developers for… Continue reading Mixi Finally Shed ‘Beta’ With Mixi Appli

Unidentified “Floating” Objects Are Introduced In Osaka This Summer

In commemorating the series of water-oriented events which are now underway in Osaka, NTT Facilities, a property management company of NTT Group, developed two solar-powered and UFO-shaped water purifiers, which are to be installed in Dotonbori[Wikipedia]-canal running through the center of the city, and in a moat around the Osaka Castle. That machine is a… Continue reading Unidentified “Floating” Objects Are Introduced In Osaka This Summer

Mixi ex-CTO Helps Singaporean Mobile Startup Xsago

Batara Eto, who suggested to make a Japanese social network to his boss in late 2003 and programmed Japan’s biggest social network Mixi, let the company (E-mercury) to change their primary business and rename (to “Mixi”, of course) with the huge success, then left his CTO job in 2007 [J], is reported to invest to… Continue reading Mixi ex-CTO Helps Singaporean Mobile Startup Xsago