WSJ To Launch Japanese News Portal In December

The Wall Street Journal(WSJ) announced today it would launch Japanese news portal site[J] on December 15th.   This will be the company’s second non-English portal site following Chinese Edition[C] in Asia, and is bringing us a few news stories a day on a trial basis until the official launch date. WSJ has been owned by News… Continue reading WSJ To Launch Japanese News Portal In December

Softbank To Add iPhone-like WiFi Feature On Regular Cellphones

Softbank Mobile, the third largest, and iPhone exclusive provider cellphone carrier in Japan, announced their 22 (75 colors) new cellphone “Winter” models [J]. 8 of 22 will have WiFi feature and users are encouraged to join the new WiFi plan “Ke-tai WiFi”(cellphone WiFi) [J], which may cover up their 3G connectivity weakness due to dull… Continue reading Softbank To Add iPhone-like WiFi Feature On Regular Cellphones

Real-Time Drawing Collaboration Service Cacoo Breaks Out of Beta

Fukuoka-based nulab, Inc. [ja] launched a real-time collaboration tool for drawing diagrams called Cacoo. With its real-time synchronization technology, you can edit files on Cacoo while other team member is working on it. The pre-defined stencil sets include parts for network diagrams, sitemaps, wireframes, and UMLs, in addition to generic shapes and illustrations. Cacoo –… Continue reading Real-Time Drawing Collaboration Service Cacoo Breaks Out of Beta

Rakuten Introduces Akamai For Japan’s Largest Online Mall

Akamai’s Japan subsidiary(Akamai Kabushiki Gaisha) announced that Rakuten now uses their “Dynamic Site Solutions” for Rakuten Ichiba(=market), Rakuten’s flagship service holding 30,000 online shops. According to Internet Watch [J], Rakuten has been using Akamai for their Infoseek Rakuten(search), e-Bank, Rakuten ShowTime(movie) and Rakuten Taiwan. Akamai Japan commented that this is the first case among Japanese… Continue reading Rakuten Introduces Akamai For Japan’s Largest Online Mall

The Pantienon – iPhone App To Imagine A Girl w/o Underware

Kayac disclosed their latest ludicrous iPhone application, The Pantienon. What will happen if the girl in front of you isn’t wearing a panty? Have you ever had that kind of delusionary thought? The Pantienon, or Panty Amoralism, will support your delusionary thought! You may take a photo of a girl by iPhone, then, choose one… Continue reading The Pantienon – iPhone App To Imagine A Girl w/o Underware

Smart.fm Releases iPhone App To Help You Learn Wherever You Are

Tokyo-based online language learning site Smart.fm (operated by Cerego Japan) just released an iPhone app yesterday, which lets you not to miss an opportunity to learn even in desperately crowded commutes every morning. For the service’s web edition intended for PC users, they changed the web development framework from Flash to JavaScript, and in this… Continue reading Smart.fm Releases iPhone App To Help You Learn Wherever You Are

Japanese Online Drug Retailer Forced To Go Abroad To Serve Japanese Customers

One of Japan’s largest online drug retailers Kenko.com[J] announced it had launched a subsidiary[J] last September in Singapore, which is intended for avoiding the possible violation of the new law banning online drug sales and for serving the company’s customers by the personal import scheme. (Refer to this Akky’s story and that Shun-ichi’s story for… Continue reading Japanese Online Drug Retailer Forced To Go Abroad To Serve Japanese Customers

NHK Launches Reproduction-Free Internet Video Library

Japanese public TV broadcaster NHK launched an online video library[J] on Saturday. It consists of several thousands of video and sound clips collected from the broadcaster’s program archives, and any clips can be reproduced for amateur video shooters in creating their works. Wildlife pictures, sound effect items and computer graphics are available in .mp4 or… Continue reading NHK Launches Reproduction-Free Internet Video Library

Digital Content Expo 2009: AR & VR Applications Come Together (2/2)

Continued from the previous blog post on Digital Content Expo 2009. Pull-Navi (The head mount device to navigate a holder by pulling his ears) (Developed by Kajimoto Laboratory, the University of Electro-Communications) That motion reminds us of a rider controlling a horse by pulling a lead rope on his back. When a controller moves a… Continue reading Digital Content Expo 2009: AR & VR Applications Come Together (2/2)

Digital Content Expo 2009: AR & VR Applications Come Together (1/2)

Last week, there was an annual event called Digital Content Expo 2009 at Miraikan, Japan’s national museum of emerging science and innovation located in the Tokyo waterfront area, which introduced approximately 50 artistic elements and R&D results of newly developed digital content technologies. Let’s see some of items which were exhibited at the event with… Continue reading Digital Content Expo 2009: AR & VR Applications Come Together (1/2)