Itochu Technology Ventures Invests $2 Million In Ooyala’s $22 Million Series D Round

As TechCrunch reported yesterday, video publishing platform Ooyala from the US plans to bolster its activities in Asia after raising a $22 million series D round (the company is now funded with $42 million in total). TechCrunch quotes CEO Fulcher as saying that future markets include places like Japan, Taiwan, China, and Korea. What’s interesting… Continue reading Itochu Technology Ventures Invests $2 Million In Ooyala’s $22 Million Series D Round

New Digital Telopper Realizes Social TV Commenting

Nico Nico Douga is a popular video sharing service in Japan. Their traffic is second to YouTube, boasts over 18 million registered users, and known by its flowing comments over the movie. Nico Nico Jikkyo(Jikkyo=live), which we covered a year ago, is a derived service which itself if just a transparent application displays user-generated comments,… Continue reading New Digital Telopper Realizes Social TV Commenting

Which Twitter Clients Is Japan Using? Here Are The Top 20.

Twitter is Japan country. Just take these stats: it’s estimated that currently around 10 million Japanese are registered and that 16.3% of all web users in this country tweet (considerably more than the 9.8% in the US). 14% of all tweets out there are in Japanese, more than Portuguese (9%) or Spanish (4%). But what… Continue reading Which Twitter Clients Is Japan Using? Here Are The Top 20.

Japan Internet Tech Entrepreneur Event In San Francisco

A first of its kind event is being held in San Francisco featuring Japanese Entrepreneurs on October 13, 2010.  This event named SFNewTech Japan Night is the vision of Brandon K. Hill, President/CEO of btrax, Inc – a San Francisco based digital consultancy agency.  “I wanted to help Japanese Entrepreneurs extend their market outside of… Continue reading Japan Internet Tech Entrepreneur Event In San Francisco

Mochi Media “Scores” Hit Virtual World Ameba Pico From Japan’s CyberAgent

Virtual world Ameba Pico (Ameba Pigu in Japan) is a success story. The service was launched by Tokyo-based web powerhouse CyberAgent in February 2009 and went on attracting four million members [PDF] in Japan. CyberAgent announced an English version in November 2009, which went online in March 2010. And if The Nikkei, Japan’s biggest business daily,… Continue reading Mochi Media “Scores” Hit Virtual World Ameba Pico From Japan’s CyberAgent

Mixi Goes Facebook (II): “Mixi Check In” Is “Facebook Places”

With “Check”, Mixi copied Facebook’s “Like” function today, and while they were at it, Japan’s biggest social network copied Facebook’s location-based function, “Places”, as well. It’s just that on Mixi, “Places” is called “Check In”. So historically speaking, it took Mixi two years to follow Facebook’s Apps platform, half a year for “Like” and now… Continue reading Mixi Goes Facebook (II): “Mixi Check In” Is “Facebook Places”

Mixi Goes Facebook (I): “Mixi Check” Is Facebook’s “Like”

Facebook announced (and rolled it out) earlier this year, and now Japan’s biggest social network, Mixi, announced it, too: A function to share what you “like” on external sites with your friends. On Mixi, that function is called “Check”. As you can see on the screenshot of my Mixi profile below, Mixi Check is now… Continue reading Mixi Goes Facebook (I): “Mixi Check” Is Facebook’s “Like”

Tokyo’s Social App Provider Pokelabo Fundraises USD12M From DCM And Mobage-Town

On Wednesday, Tokyo-based social app provider Pokelabo[J] announced that they had fundraised USD12M from Silicon Valley-headquartered VC firm DCM and IncubateFund[J], an investment fund by DeNA owning social app and mobile game platform Mobage-Town. Pokelabo was founded three years ago by the company’s CEO and his “Mixi[J]-mates”.  It has developed flash games for feature phones,… Continue reading Tokyo’s Social App Provider Pokelabo Fundraises USD12M From DCM And Mobage-Town