As we reported here, Yahoo! Japan is transitioning its search engine platform from what they’ve originally developed to Google’s technology. In opposition to that move, some news sources reported Japan’s largest e-commerce giant Rakuten had requested Japan’s fair trade commission to investigate a possible violation of the antitrust act over the Yahoo! Japan – Google… Continue reading Rakuten Opposes Yahoo Japan-Google Tie-up
SeatNext – Create Meetup Record With Twitter Icons
SeatNext is a Japanese web service for people who attended a gathering to make a seating chart with Twitter icons, developed by a Niigata-based programmer civic [J](@civic). You may add a Twitter icon one by one, or as a space-separated-list. Then you layout icons as the attendees seated. You can also add text labels for… Continue reading SeatNext – Create Meetup Record With Twitter Icons
October 2010 Japan IT Links (Part 1)
Early part of October news which we did not write as a dedicated article. Continued to (Part 2) Referred pages are all in Japanese, unless otherwise stated. ANA Hotel Promotion Flash Makes Your Dream From Your Tweets Kaupon Gets 200 Million Yen Invest From Globis Capital Partners KDDI au’s New Android IS03 Features Lots Of… Continue reading October 2010 Japan IT Links (Part 1)
Cerevo’s New Encoder Box No Longer Requires PC For Ustream Livecasting
Tokyo-based Internet-enabled consumer electronics developer Cerevo[J] introduced an encoder box for livecasting on Ustream, and it was started on sale last weekend. The first lot will be shipped in early November. The new encoder box is named Cerevo Livebox and can be purchased on their website[J] for 50,000 yen each. (It equals to approx. USD610… Continue reading Cerevo’s New Encoder Box No Longer Requires PC For Ustream Livecasting
QR Code Blog – Written Only In QR Code
QR Code seems getting popularity in West because of smartphone. There are a lot of interesting ad campaigns utilizing QR Code recently in English. There was also a news that Google’s URL shortening service goo.gl supported QR code generation, then Bit.ly followed the trend this week. Some of you might know that QR Code marketing… Continue reading QR Code Blog – Written Only In QR Code
Smartphone Ad-optimizer Nobot Fundraises USD1.3M From JAFCO And Nissay Capital
Tokyo-based smartphone ad-optimizer Nobot announced on Friday they had fundraised approximately USD1.3M from Japan’s largest VC firm JAFCO and Nissay Capital[J] who is an investment arm of Japan’s largest life insurance company. Nobot was founded in April 2009, and has introduced a smartphone ad-optimization service called Ad-Maker. They’re currently distributing 100 million impressions per month,… Continue reading Smartphone Ad-optimizer Nobot Fundraises USD1.3M From JAFCO And Nissay Capital
Twitter Japan Releases Email Notification
Twitter Japan is finally getting up to speed on how people communicate with their mobile phones in Japan. Contrary to what people think, SMS does exist in Japan. It’s just not used. It never had a real chance, having been buried by e-mail, which became the standard texting communication channel between users on their keitai.… Continue reading Twitter Japan Releases Email Notification
Social Apps Provider Istpika Gets $2.5 Million From DeNA-Backed IncubateFund
I wonder in what shape the Japanese venture capital industry (and entrepreneur scene) would be without social games. Yesterday, TechCrunch Japan reported about Tokyo-based social apps provider gumi getting a “multi-million dollar” sum from GREE, which counts 21 million members in its mobile gaming network. And today, Japan- and Australia-based Istpika says it received $2.5… Continue reading Social Apps Provider Istpika Gets $2.5 Million From DeNA-Backed IncubateFund
Live: Six Japanese Tech Start-ups Present At SF NewTech Japan Night
As Shunichi Arai introduced here last month, San Francisco-based digital consulting agency btrax, Inc. organizes an event featuring six Japanese tech start-ups today. Without being at the venue in San Francisco, you’ll be able to watch it live on Ustream from all around the world. The live starts today at 11:30am JST, 7:30pm PDT and… Continue reading Live: Six Japanese Tech Start-ups Present At SF NewTech Japan Night
NHK Website Celebrates 15th Anniversary With Biz Stone And Jun Murai Interviews
NHK Online, Japan’s public broadcasting organization makes a special website about its 15 years internet activities. The NHK Online History, a Flash contents, is quite interesting as it covers Japanese and the world Internet news and trend for last 20 years. Here is the video version in English. The site also has “special interviews” of… Continue reading NHK Website Celebrates 15th Anniversary With Biz Stone And Jun Murai Interviews