Investment arm of a Tokyo-based Internet venture Cyber Agent Group, Cyber Agent Investment LTD.[J] announced to organize a business plan competition called “START”, for the purpose of discovering innovative and potential tech start-up, in cooperation with Cyber Agent, Mixi[J], Yahoo Japan[J], EC Navi[J], CA Mobile, netprice.com, DeNA and Microsoft Bizspark. Award winning plan may get funding… Continue reading Cyber Agent Investments Organizes Business Plan Competition
Category: News
Mixi Intoduces New Features of “MyMixi of MyMixi” and “Footprint of My Own”
Japan’s most popular SNS “Mixi” introduced new two feature deployments today, especially on so-called “footprint” feature. You may have your own site on Mixi, and Mixi’s footprint feature allows to show you on the list when and which other Mixi users have visited your site. With today’s system renewal, new icons are prepared for “My Mixi of My Mixi” etc., that… Continue reading Mixi Intoduces New Features of “MyMixi of MyMixi” and “Footprint of My Own”
2ch.net ownership moved to Singapore company
Hiroyuki Nishibuya, founder of Japan’s biggest anonymous BBS 2ch.net (Ni-Channel), revealed that he had transferred the ownership of 2ch.net to oversea on his blog. The FAQ on 2ch.net was modified, too. Q Who owns 2ch? A 2ch.net is managed and operated by PACKET MONSTER INC. 2ch.net has been at the heart of libel lawsuits in… Continue reading 2ch.net ownership moved to Singapore company
Coming soon: Sushi encyclopedia for the iPhone and iPod Touch
This news should be especially interesting for anyone who loves sushi and happens to be an iPhone owner: Major Japanese publishing company Shogakukan is planning to release a virtual sushi guide for the iPhone (J). The sushi encyclopedia will be available for download on both the iPod Touch and the iPhone by the end of… Continue reading Coming soon: Sushi encyclopedia for the iPhone and iPod Touch
Executives of Tokyo startup SUN arrested
Executives of SUN, a Tokyo-based “Second Life”-related startup company, have been arrested under suspicion of facilitating the escape of another man wanted by police. The suspect, a lawyer and ex-member of Osaka’s prefectural assembly, was allegedly involved in tax evasion [1], and has since been captured in Manila. The CEO of the company was prosecuted… Continue reading Executives of Tokyo startup SUN arrested
Google agrees to pay royalties for Japanese music played in YouTube clips
Google today came to an agreement with the JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers), Japan’s largest music copyright administration body to pay royalties for music protected by local copyright and used in YouTube videos. YouTube members are now free to upload video clips containing JASRAC-protected music (the organization controls over 1.5… Continue reading Google agrees to pay royalties for Japanese music played in YouTube clips
Suginami Ward Proposes Removing Google Street View Images
A ward in the residential area of the Tokyo Metropolitan Special District, Suginami Ward Authority started introduce on the ward’s newsletter and the website how to request the deletion of Google Street View images to Google. Google Street View started last August here in Japan, it is convenient to find the route to the destination, but some… Continue reading Suginami Ward Proposes Removing Google Street View Images
Branding social networks the Japanese way: Put ’em on juice bottles and noodle cups
After having drawn 15 million members to the site (or approximately 1 in 6 Internet users in Japan), Nippon’s biggest social network Mixi now thinks the time has come for some offline cross-promotion. What you can see above is Mix Fruits & Calpis, a special version of Calpis, a popular Japanese soft drink that normally… Continue reading Branding social networks the Japanese way: Put ’em on juice bottles and noodle cups
EmoHeart: Japanese universities develop solution to visualize “human” emotions in virtual worlds
One major problem that leads to a low level of identification with avatars in virtual worlds is the lack of visualization of emotions carried in typed messages (through which users usually communicate). In Second Life, for example, users can choose between a number of emotions to be displayed but have to time them manually, disconnecting… Continue reading EmoHeart: Japanese universities develop solution to visualize “human” emotions in virtual worlds
Breaking News: Gree goes IPO
Gree Inc. Japanese Social Network Service (SNS) company which has been chasing Mixi in PC web, and Mobage-Town/DeNA in mobile web, seems to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers (Tosho Mothers) around December 17th. No mentioned on Gree’s company site yet. Both Gree and Mixi launched in February 2004, seeing orkut’s success which… Continue reading Breaking News: Gree goes IPO