Being based in Tokyo has many advantages, and one of them is to be able to visit awesome tech startups like AITIA: the Tokyo-based startup consists of just two people (a CEO and a CTO), having hired a third person (to run the business side of things) just three months ago.
What’s more important is that they have developed pretty impressive mobile technology: the company’s CTO single-handedly… → Read More
Tokyo-based Ubiquitous Entertainment creates many things: applications for the iPhone and iPad (iTunes), cell phone games, websites, SDKs, and even hardware. Reason enough for me to pay them a visit a couple of days ago in their brand new office, which is located a stone’s throw away from Akihabara, Japan’s tech and Otaku capital. → Read More
I am sure by now every CrunchGear reader knows about that 60-foot Gundam statue that Bandai erected in Tokyo in 2009 (and re-erected again in Shizuoka this year) and that we’ve spent quite a few posts on. In case you’re interested to see the statue live but can’t (Japan is far away for most of you, after all), Bandai today announced [JP] something of an alternative: a mini replica of the statue… → Read More
Panasonic has apparently enjoyed quite a bit of success with its previous, rather unusual promotion campaigns for its EVOLTA batteries. In 2008, we blogged an EVOLTA-powered mini robot that climbed up a 500 meter high cliff at Grand Canyon. Then, in 2009, we’ve shown you how such a robot ran 24km on the famous Le Mans 24 Hours circuit in France (on 2 AA batteries). → Read More
Here’s the fourth (and final) demo I witnessed at NTT‘s showroom “Note” [JP] in Tokyo: a futuristic apparatus for remote collaboration and education called “t-Room” [PDF]. While NTT’s Home ICT system, the telemedicine technology, and the digital signage system (now with one more video) were quite impressive, the t-Room certainly boasts the biggest wow factor. → Read More
The third demo I witnessed at telecommunications giant NTT‘s showroom “Note” [JP] in Tokyo last week revolved around telemedicine, the concept of sending audio, video and other data through a network for remote medical consulting, diagnosis or examination. NTT’s offering is currently being used by 19 institutions in Japan. → Read More
Here’s the second demo I witnessed at NTT‘s showroom “Note” [JP] in Tokyo: an “intelligent” digital signage system that actually holds the potential to offer value not only to advertisers but to users as well. We have shown you many such systems in the past (including one cool model from NTT), but this one’s a bit different. → Read More
Living in Tokyo has its advantages. One of them is to get invited (as the first non-Japanese blogger) to make a tour through the showroom of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.), one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world (195,000 employees). The showroom, dubbed NOTE [JP], offers some pretty cool, futuristic technologies.
And thankfully, NTT let me capture some of the… → Read More
He’ll be back: The awesome 1/1 scale Gundam statue that was erected on Tokyo’s artificial island Odaiba in June and that was deconstructed in September this year, will be seen again in its full glory. We reported several times about the statue, which stands 60 feet tall and shows some cool special effects (see video below). → Read More
The Future University (cool name) in Hakodate, Northern Japan, presented the Ikabo, a giant squid robot at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo (that ended on Sunday). Not only is the robot tall (2.2m), cute and pretty heavy (weight: 200kg), but it also mimics your hand movements via Wii motion controllers. → Read More
Greetings, from the Land of the Rising Sun! You missed a wonderful meetup in Tokyo last night at the Ebusu Beer Station. We had about two dozen folks sharing food, drinks, and conversation. Although most were living in the Tokyo area, at least one fellow traveled several hours from Kyoto to join us! Many thank to the TechCrunch Japan crew for coordinating this, and thanks to everyone who made it… → Read More
Great news, everybody! I’ll be in Tokyo, Japan next week for CEATEC. Let’s have a meetup! A successful meetup requires good people, good conversation, and good beer. I think we can manage all three, don’t you? → Read More
I just came back from the official pre-launch event for the iPhone 3GS in Japan, organized by telecommunications giant SoftBank (the exclusive carrier in Nippon). The iPhone is often said to be rather unpopular in this country (which isn’t true), but even though the event began at 10 in the night, it was totally packed. → Read More
Our first TechCrunch/CrunchGear meetup in Tokyo (TechCrunch Japan is one of Japan’s main blogs) yesterday night was a blast. Peter Ha was in town and over 100 people attended the event on very short notice, including representatives from Yahoo Japan, telecommunications giants KDDI and NTT, Opera, MySpace Japan, mobile social network GREE and many more. Japan’s super blogger Danny Choo also joined… → Read More
As I was taking the train to Akihabara this morning I spotted a strange handset with an Apple logo. I immediately realized that what I was seeing was the iPhone 3G 2.0. I couldn’t believe my weary eyes. I had hit the jackpot. Hit the jump to see the new hotness. → Read More
A quick trip to Wikipedia identifies Ginza as the Fifth Avenue of Tokyo. (That I went there in 2007 is neither here nor there.) Very interesting, yes. So imagine the gang’s surprise when we discovered this Bandai-branded speaker, in the form of a diorama. It’s Ginza, just like it was in 1955. → Read More
Today, Panasonic unveiled the latest rugged Toughbook in Tokyo, the F8. If you’re unfamiliar with the Toughbook series then take notice because these laptops are built like tanks and deliver on all the features you’d expect and want. The F8 can claim a world’s first by being the lightest 3G-ready 14.1-inch widescreen notebook, too. See that handle? → Read More
It seems electric cars are slowly but surely gaining a foothold in everyday life, at least in Japan. Last week, local tech powerhouse TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Corp.) installed a total of nine charging stations for this kind of vehicles in Tokyo. The launch marks the first time that owners of electric cars can charge their vehicles in battery stations located in basement parking lots where all… → Read More
They tested it for nearly a year now but today Japan’s telecommunications giant NTT announces their aroma-emitting digital signage system is finally available [JP] for advertising and promotion companies in and outside Nippon. A limited test run of the so-called Kaoru Saineeji (aroma signage) system in a few selected places in Tokyo was finished successfully. NTT uses a proprietary digital… → Read More
The so-called Yamanote line is Tokyo’s most important commuter rail line, circling the center of the city and connecting all major train stations. Now, watchmaker Seahope Japan is selling a series of unique LED watches [JP], which look like the bulletin boards commonly used on the stations along the loop line. 4 different models are available: Shinjuku station, Shinagawa, Ebisu and… → Read More
Japanese sex offender busted by Japanese police and passengers in Tokyo (from Flickr) A number of blogs (this one, for example) picked up a posting of a Japanese journalist who reported that Apple added a specific function to the Japanese version of the iPhone: a shutter sound for the camera that is also active in silent mode. Shutter sounds in Japanese mobile phones (mostly a loud click or short… → Read More
http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcrunchgear%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F1067955%3Freferrer%3Dblip%2Etv%26source%3D1&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf I just came back from the Softbank flagship store in “Tokyo’s Fifth Avenue”, Omotesandou street. → Read More
Yesterday I attended the 16th Industrial Virtual Reality Expo in Tokyo to find some cool tech to cover for CrunchGear. However, a lot of what I saw was just boring stuff. Advanced maybe, but boring: motion capturing systems, VR games, 3D projectors etc. → Read More
Apparently there’s a Coca-Cola robot running wild through the streets of Tokyo, ostensibly promoting the sugar water drink at passers-by. The initial write-up has more than one quip that made me chuckle: “…lumbering around Tokyo pinching the heads of people who prefer a different brand.” What is it with Japan and vending machines? → Read More
http://www.reuters.com/resources/flash/includevideo.swf?edition=US&videoId=78870 Here’s something everyone can enjoy; intricate robot fighters bobbing, weaving, and punching. It’s the twice-yearly Robo-One Championships in Tokyo. The most recent tournament played host to 112 robots ranging from your standard karate-bot to the more interesting chicken robot named… → Read More
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