smartphones – Asiajin

KDDI To Bring Android Apps To China Mobile Subscribers

Japan’s second biggest telco and mobile carrier KDDI is planning to bring a set of made-in-Japan apps to Android users in China, in cooperation with China Mobile, the country’s biggest telco (over 600 mobile subscribers). Under the deal, KDDI will start offering an initial 22 apps, for example manga or games, in China Mobile’s Android… Continue reading KDDI To Bring Android Apps To China Mobile Subscribers

enchant.js: New HTML5/JavaScript Game Engine For Smartphones

Tokyo-based Ubiquitous Entertainment (UEI) announced [JP] “enchant.js” yesterday, an HTML5/JavaScript game engine for smartphones (and PCs). The engine is available in beta, it’s open source (dual license MIT or GPL on github), and entirely free to use. UEI says their aim with the release of the engine is to motivate young people in particular to… Continue reading enchant.js: New HTML5/JavaScript Game Engine For Smartphones

9leap: D2C And UEI Launch Program For Young Smartphone Game Creators

Do you know a student in Japan who is under 25 years of age and who can create cool smartphone games? If yes, 9leap, a new program that just launched, might be of interest to you. 9leap is the brain child of Tokyo-based D2 Communications (D2C) – a joint venture between Dentsu and NTT Docomo… Continue reading 9leap: D2C And UEI Launch Program For Young Smartphone Game Creators

Docomo Merges i-Mode And Smartphone Businesses

There is no reason for i-mode provider NTT Docomo to give up on its highly profitable mobile Internet service for feature phones as long as it makes money, but Japan’s biggest mobile carrier is starting to change things. According to Japanese business daily The Nikkei, Docomo is moving to combine its i-mode and smartphone businesses… Continue reading Docomo Merges i-Mode And Smartphone Businesses

NHN Plans To Flood Japan With Smartphone Games

NHN Japan, the local arm of South Korean web giant NHN and operator of online gaming portal Hangame, is planning to seriously step up game development for smartphones, especially on Android. Japan’s biggest business daily, The Nikkei, is reporting that NHN in Korea has set up a 100-people team that’s supposed to create the titles,… Continue reading NHN Plans To Flood Japan With Smartphone Games

Report: Smartphones Account For 50% Of Current Handset Sales in Japan

Goodbye, Galakei feature phones: according to Tokyo-based market research firm BCN (published in The Nikkei today), smartphones accounted for 49.8% of the total number of handsets sold between December 13 and 19 in Japan. Sure, this is just a snapshot, but there is a clear tendency to be observed here, and the smartphone segment in… Continue reading Report: Smartphones Account For 50% Of Current Handset Sales in Japan

Docomo To Unveil Feature Phone-Only App Store On Monday

Japan’s biggest business daily The Nikkei is reporting that the country’s leading mobile carrier, NTT Docomo, is to unveil a a new app store of sorts on Monday, December 6. The portal will offer 1,200 apps from the get-go, in addition to 1 million music titles and a total of 30,000 e-books – exclusively for… Continue reading Docomo To Unveil Feature Phone-Only App Store On Monday

Hit List: Japan’s Top 20 Products In 2010 (And 2011)

What are Japan’s top products in 2010? That’s a question Japan’s (and one of the world’s) biggest advertising agency Dentsu recently asked in a survey [PDF] it has been conducting since 1985 (n=1,000). For the first time, Dentsu has also compiled a “hit list” that’s supposed to shine a light on what’s going to be… Continue reading Hit List: Japan’s Top 20 Products In 2010 (And 2011)