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Posts with tag BigInJapan

Nintendo DS Comes to School in Japan, Teaches English

by Christine Whitney, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 6:06PM

Nintendo DS Used as Teaching Aid

As we recall, our early school years were not that fun. We got in trouble for asking to go to the bathroom and were made to do timed math problems next to the kid who always got nosebleeds. Sometimes we feigned illness so we could stay home and watch 'Treasure Island' and play 'Ninja Turtles' on Super Nintendo.

Nintendo has come a long way since then. And so has school!? Maybe...

The Japanese have again proven their coolness by incorporating Nintendo DS into the classroom. At least in one Tokyo girls' school, the portable gaming device is now doubling as an educational tool! Seventh-graders at Joshi Gakuen Junior High play with DS as a part of their English curriculum, using a talking software program replete with spelling exercises and language drills.

The program is part of a larger course intended to emphasize English conversation and communications skills, and to break away from traditional techniques of rote memorization and boring grammar exercises. Though some dissidents are not yet convinced of the DS' value as an educator, the girls at Joshi Gakuen are into it. One student claimed the English software was her favorite game, trumping even 'Mario Kart' and 'Animal Crossing'. [Source: AOL News/AP]
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Cell Phone Produces Sexy Scents

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 16th 2008 at 3:10PM

A Shot of Scent from your Celly

Cell phones are borderline indispensable these days. They're fully integrated into most of our lives, becoming essential emergency communication tools. Their little cameras make capturing impromptu moments easy, and their data capabilities let you check your e-mail or surf the Web on the go. And soon, in Japan at least, your cell phone will be able to even make your pad smell better.

It's called "Mobile Fragrance Communication," and it's a service that interfaces with a base station installed at home. The station, which is already on the market, uses canisters to emit different fragrances depending on music, movies, or a variety of other inputs. Once the service comes out of testing, it will allow users to control the fragrance stations with their mobiles as well, setting up a "fragrance playlist" and triggering it with just a few button presses.

Could this be the olfactory equivalent of the custom ring tone? Possibly, but don't expect to see this feature showing up at your local AT&T or Verizon stores anytime soon. Something tells us this is a service destined to stay only in Japan. Even so, it's not the first time that scent-emitting gadgets or odor-producing movies have seen the light of day.

From Popgadget


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Totally '80s Synthesizer Being Developed For Nintendo DS

by Evan Shamoon, posted Mar 18th 2008 at 1:04PM



Korg and AQ Interactive are developing Korg MS-10 -- a portable version of the vintage music synthesizer, designed specifically for the Nintendo DS. It's a synth, drum machine, and sequencer, all controlled with the DS stylus and touch screen. For those who want stats (from the official Web site):

In addition to the two analog synth simulators and drum module, a 6-track/16-step sequencer enables precise control and provides a wide range of musical possibilities. Several units can be connected and played together through a wireless link, and this and other features make the Nintendo DS and KORG DS-10 almost limitless in their application -- they can take you places that no single synthesizer can.

No promises yet, but we're gonna go out on a limb and say this will be the best handheld console-based music studio ever created. It's set for a Japan-only release in July; while's there's no official US release date, DS cartridges have no regional lockout, so you'll be able to rock out on your honky DS no problem.

From Crave


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Virtual 'Hello Kitty' World Officially Launches Online

by Evan Shamoon, posted Mar 18th 2008 at 10:07AM



Okay fellas (and gals), put on those capris and the pink halter top that's been collecting dust in your closet: it's Hello Kitty time.

Specifically, time for Hello Kitty Online, an online hub for all things HK. It's called Sanrio Town, and it will serve as the central community for the upcoming Hello Kitty MMOG.

There are forums dedicated to Hello Kitty and other lovable Sanrio characters, along with fashion, love, music and games. There's even a Dream Studio area (still in beta), allowing you to upload and personalize and share videos and photos.

Hellooooooo Kitty.

From ShinyShiny


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Japanese Internet Providers to Ban File Sharers

by Tim Stevens, posted Mar 17th 2008 at 9:10AM

Japanese Internet Providers to Ban File SharersDebates are raging around the world regarding exactly what role Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, should have when it comes to the illegal swapping of music or movie files. In the U.S., Comcast has already taken steps to block those who would share files, while Verizon has made it clear that it has no intentions to monitor those it provides service to. In Japan, though, the debates are over, as the country's four ISPs have decided to start using software to find, monitor, and potentially disconnect file sharers.

According to the Yomiuri Shinbun newspaper, ISPs have indicated that anyone caught sharing files will be given a warning, upon first offense. Future detections will result in file sharers being temporarily disconnected from their Web access. Those who share files illegally after repeated warnings will lose their Internet connection permanently.

What's unclear is just just many offenses it will take to lose one's license to surf, and whether the ISPs will be punishing only illegal file sharing over peer-to-peer networks or all file sharing.

Japanese surfers will find out next month when the new plan goes into action.

From TechCrunch

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Japanese Robots to Monitor Pollen Levels

by Evan Shamoon, posted Jan 30th 2008 at 10:11AM



Allergies suck -- so the always-resourceful Japanese have decided to sick robots on the problem. Tokyo-based weather forecasting company Weathernews, Inc. is apparently getting ready to install roughly 200 spherical robots across the country to monitor the pollen in the air. The shells of these bots are made of styrofoam, and a monitor inside does the dirty work. The eyes indicate the corresponding levels of pollen in white, blue, green, red and purple colors.

Two hundred hay fever-sufferers around the country will also send minute-by-minute reports via the Internet to Weathernews HQ, all of which will eventually add up to its pollen map for the season.

Robots and humans: working together for a less sneezy planet.

From GizmoWatch

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Sony's Almost-Paper-Thin OLED-TV Coming to U.S.

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 11th 2007 at 1:28PM

Sony's Super-Slim OLED TV Coming to U.S. Next YearBack in October, Sony wowed us with delicious pictures of a ridiculously thin television, the XEL-1 OLED TV. Its screen enclosure was just three millimeters (about .1-inches!) thick -- or thin rather. Okay, so it's only 11-inches across, meaning you wouldn't want to make one the focal-piece of your home theater system. But it's hard to resist, given its lithe design. It was supposed to be Japan-only, but now Sony's saying we can have one. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until some undisclosed time next year before the TV gets its U.S. release.

The sets, which dropped in Japan for about $1,700, use a newer type of display called Organic LED, or OLED. The technology isn't altogether dissimilar to that of your typical LCD television, but where an LCD display requires backlights to illuminate the picture from behind, an OLED panel illuminates itself. Without the backlight, the bezel can be made smaller, resulting in the thin set seen here. OLED also can offer brilliant brightness and contrast compared to a traditional LCD, but its biggest problem is degradation. Where an LCD will last you pretty much forever (if you replace the backlights), OLEDs eventually fade and die.

The XEL-1 suffers from this problem, rated to deliver about 30,000 hours worth of viewing before having to be retired. That's less than half your average plasma set, and at the extreme price for the size, the XEL-1 is more a design and technical exercise than anything. We saw it on the show floor at CEATEC a couple of months ago and loved the look of it. We're glad to see Sony will be bringing it to the U.S. ... even if we can't necessarily afford one.

From Engadget

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Christmas-Carol-Singing-Robot Gets Knocked Out By Scrooge-Robot

by Evan Shamoon, posted Dec 4th 2007 at 6:00PM



Hey robot fans! The 12th annual Robo-One Grand Championship match just went down in Tokyo, and boy was it surreal.

Here's how it works: To win the tournament, contestants must keep their balance while attacking their enemy, be able to get up when pushed down, and ultimate push their opponent out of the ring. Some of the robots come from professional roboticists in labs, while others come from kids in their bedrooms.

Apparently, the highlight of the night came when hundreds of spectators clapped as a robot (affectionately known as "Arichyon") sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Then, the crowd, in a rather disloyal gesture, went bananas when a robot with a penguin head knocked Arichyon out with a right hook.

Japan -- continuing to make the rest of the world look like ancient Rome.

From Reuters


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MoPods

by Evan Shamoon, posted Nov 22nd 2007 at 9:37AM



There are those who prefer their holiday gifts small and cute (either giving or receiving), and for those people, MoPods make a great choice. The idea is to wear your MoPod on your bag, belt, clothing, key rings, then just go about your business and wait for them to spin and flash to alert you when your phone is ringing There's something for every cute fetish: panda, devil, kitten, puppy, and penguin, to name a few. It should be noted that they'll only work on GSM networks (that includes most T-Mobile and AT&T phones, including the iPhone), and not 3G networks (or any Sprint or Verizon Wireless phone). They're cheap, they're (sorta) practical, and they're big in Japan. What more could you ask for? (Hint: it rhymes with "iPhone".)


From MoPods
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USB Humping Dog Does Exactly What You Think It Does (to Your Computer)

by Switched Staff, posted Nov 20th 2007 at 6:11PM


From the land that brought us sushi, Hello Kitty and the surprise attack of the Picachu comes what we're comfortable declaring the most useless, but most entertaining, application of engineering talents ever: the USB-powered humping dog (because Fido's libido should be mobile as well, doggone it!). Yes, the mechanical doggie dongle made its way into the luggage of Switched.com's Tom Samiljan as he returned from covering CEATEC, the giant, Japanese gadget expo.

Ok, over-eager peripherals aren't the only gadgets we saw in Japan. There were paper-thin OLED displays, boomboxes that do the breakdancing for you and, of course, lots of robots. See it all in our video roundup, and marvel at a mammal whose stamina is limited only by your laptop's battery life.

Plus: Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast edition of the Switched Show, delivered whenever we finish 'em, straight to your iTunes.

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Sony Rolly

by Evan Shamoon, posted Nov 19th 2007 at 4:16AM



Sony's all-singing, all-dancing music/speaker/playing/thingamabob has finally touched down (in Japan, at least), and it's every inch the head-scratcher we thought it would be. The Sony Rolly is a motion-controlled device, with sensors that tell it which way is up. In other words, it's a music-playing robotic orb from the same people who brought you Aibo.

Confused? It doesn't matter -- just know that you will make any gadget head who you give this unique gizmo to very happy. You adjust the volume by turning the player clockwise or counter-clockwise, and skip or rewind tracks by rolling the player forwards or backwards. Or shaking it. You can even download dance moves to the Rolly, and forthcoming software will allow you to design your own. There's only 1-gigabyte (GB) of internal memory, but you can stream music to the Rolly over Bluetooth from your computer. Oh, and it lights up! At $500, it's strictly for those with money to burn (and friends to impress).


From Dynamism
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Wearable Antenna Uses Your Body to Get Better Reception

by Evan Shamoon, posted Nov 1st 2007 at 8:01AM


Humans are a weird species. Check this out: NEC has just announced its wideband wearable antenna, which essentially turns a a person (wearing a special suit) into a high-performance mobile antenna. The prototype apparently works in either open space or when using the human body for conduction. The plan is to use it for digital terrestrial broadcasts, so presumably for live TV broadcasts to your cell phone?

Seriously, though. You don't see goats or chimpanzees pulling these sorts of shenanigans.

At least we know what we're dress up as for Halloween next year. (A human antenna).

From Engadget


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Video Gaming Makes for Hit Japanese Reality TV Show

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 30th 2007 at 3:40PM



Don't ever let anybody tell you playing video games all day won't get you anywhere... at least not if you live in Japan. Game Center CX is popular Japanese reality TV show staring Shinya Arino, who, clad in a light blue workman's suit, plays through classic, and mind bogglingly difficult video games.

Arino has played everything from well know titles like 'Super Mario Bros.' and 'Galaga' to obscure Japanese-only releases like 'Totsugeki! Fuuun Takeshi Shiro.' Arino sits at a plain, if messy, work desk and attempts to beat the games in one sitting. Arino is promoted or demoted at the fictional 'Game Center CX' company based on his performance.

The show has even spawned a wide variety of licensed products, from coffee mugs to wonderfully ironic "action" figures, and even a deliciously meta video game about a guy who plays video games. The latter is for the Nintendo DS, and sadly as is usual with these quirky titles will probably never see a US release.

From Boing Boing and Wired

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