February 2010 Japan-IT Links (Part 1)

First half of February news which we did not write as a dedicated article. (follows to Part 2) Referred pages are all in Japanese, unless otherwise stated. Another Japanese iPad on… iTunes! Google Logo Contests By Kids, Japan round English translations of some popular 2-channel phrases NEC’s Android based touchscreen gear like iPad (December 2009… Continue reading February 2010 Japan-IT Links (Part 1)

Nikkei Officially Announced Its Digital Version With 4,000 Yen Per Month

As we reported the leaked info last month, Japan’s industrial newspaper Nikkei Shimbun (Nikkei is abbreviation of Nihon Keizai = Japan’s economy) is to begin their paid online version since March 23rd 2010. The service name is “The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Digital Version”, nicknameed “Web-Kan”. This “Kan” means “publish” in Japanese. As rumoured, the subscription… Continue reading Nikkei Officially Announced Its Digital Version With 4,000 Yen Per Month

The First Twitter Drama Starts In April In Japan

Fuji Television (Fuji TV), a Tokyo key station who has nationwide network, announced their coming Spring drama program which features Twitter. The drama “Sunao ni Narenakute” [J], which directly means “I cannot be honest.” in English, but it is also the same as the translation of Chicago’s song “Hard to Say I’m Sorry“. The synopsis… Continue reading The First Twitter Drama Starts In April In Japan

Planned In Japan: e-Books Only Downloadable At… Bookstore?

Kowa Computer Co. Ltd., who have been providing book publishing system for industry, revealed that they are to enter downloadable e-book market with their own smart-phone-sized device. The unique thing about their system different from Amazon Kindle and Apple iBook is, that the users will be able to download their e-book only at the retail… Continue reading Planned In Japan: e-Books Only Downloadable At… Bookstore?

Internet Ads Overtakes Newspaper To Become No.2 After Television In Japan

Dentsu Inc., Japan’s largest advertisement agency, published its annual Japan’s advertising expenditures report. [J, pdf] According to the report, Dentsu estimates that advertisers spend 7.77 billion USD (1.2% growth) more on the Internet than on newspaper advertising 7.40 billion in 2009, first time in history. The No.1 television earned 18.84 billion, which is 10.2% decreased.… Continue reading Internet Ads Overtakes Newspaper To Become No.2 After Television In Japan

Flying Panty Ornithopter Merchandised

One of the top Japanese internet-buzzed movie in 2009 was an funny ending of Anime “Sora no Otoshimono”(Thing fallen from the sky) episode 2. If it is your first time watching, you will be stunned. (NSFW?) The beautiful lyrical song is from 1974’s golden oldie “Misaki Meguri” (Cape excursion). Inspired by this, a science-fictioneer Housuke… Continue reading Flying Panty Ornithopter Merchandised

Japan No.2 Carrier KDDI au Announces Android and Windows Phone Shipment Since This June

KDDI (cellphone network name is “au”) today announced [J] that they will sell 2 smartphones, Android and Windows Phone at earliest in June 2010. They will open their own Android Application Market besides the original Android Market. On there, application providers’ charge will be able to be included on their cellphone bills, as same as… Continue reading Japan No.2 Carrier KDDI au Announces Android and Windows Phone Shipment Since This June

Faceboook Is Making Japanese Cellphone Dedicated Version

Nikkei Trendy Net reported [J] that Facebook Head of International Growth Javier Olivan told them Facebook’s Japan branch status and their first goal, specially customized site for Japanese cellphone. According to the report, Facebook already opened their Tokyo office on February 2nd, which was announced in last fall (our report). The main task of them… Continue reading Faceboook Is Making Japanese Cellphone Dedicated Version

Ning-like “My Own Social Network” Service So-net SNS Gives Up Their Business

So-net SNS, one of the largest free hosting of user generated social networking services in Japan, announced [J] their termination of service in June. # SNS stands for “Social Networking Service”, which is often used in Japanese when mentioning Mixi, Gree, etc. Some people even use SNS without knowing what it came from. So-net, a… Continue reading Ning-like “My Own Social Network” Service So-net SNS Gives Up Their Business