Tag: BIGINJAPAN

You know how some people collect those plastic sushi replicas that Japanese restaurants place in their windows (also collected: fridge magnets)? Now you can udon your iPhone with cases that come in tasty (kind of) flavors like Bento, Sunny Side Up Egg with Bacon, Tonkatsu or Yakisoba, and are each available for pre-order at $43.20. Yes, these actually exist. [From: Serious Eats] ...

Share It's your wedding day, the single most important 24 hours of your life. You've made the arrangements, you've hired the band, the caterers and the belly dancers. You've even managed to shed 10 pounds in two weeks by eating nothing but Tabasco sauce and topsoil. But you're still worried that something could go wrong. Luckily, reliable Japanese robots are here to help. Yesterday in Tokyo, ...

We understand that dating has certainly changed with the rise of the Internet and virtual relationships. Internet dating sites have become the new coffeehouse, a Facebook poke has become the new raise of an eyebrow from across the room. But a video game out of Japan takes modern courtship to an entirely different -- and totally bizarre -- level. 'Love Plus,' for Nintendo DS, is a dating ...

We've spent the past week here in Tokyo taking a look at some of the latest gadgets on display at CEATEC, the annual Japanese Consumer Electronics Show. It's a great place to see everything from cutting-edge TV technologies that'll end up stateside next year to stylish mobile phones that'll (sadly) never find their way out of Japan. And then there's the oddball stuff that probably shouldn't ...

If the Nintendo DS and a random laptop hooked up, the Sharp Mebius would be their love child. The unique-looking netbook features two different LCD screens, the main one being 10.1-inches, and the second being 4-inches and doubling as a visually-enabled trackpad-cum-touchscreen. The 'trackpad' screen is the world's first optical sensor LCD, which essentially means it stays bright and can handle ...

Call us crazy, but we think increasing hype around 3-D movies and TV is ill-deserved -- didn't this goofy technology that requires users to put on special glasses die out in the 1950s? Sure, today's version is much improved -- and in HD, no less -- but it still reeks of gimmickry since you still have to put on those glasses to get the full effect. Well, whether you like it or not, 3-D HDTV ...

If you're a movie nut and love cutesy accessories, the Netsuke cell-phone strap is incredibly fitting. Now, everyone will know about your obsession with 'Rocky' or 'Edward Scissorhands.' (Because your phone certainly won't fit in a pocket once one of these miniature dolls is attached.) The charms (which come from Japan, of course) stand about 3.3-centimeters tall and cost less than $9, according ...

digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2009/07/22/bizarre-virtual-restaurant-air-yakiniku-a-huge-success/'; Proving once and for all that perception is everything, Japanese virtual restaurant Air Yakiniku has become the 29th most searched site on Yahoo!. (Warning: Google Translator does little to help with this one.) Allow us to explain. The virtual Korean BBQ restaurant, originally designed for ...

Japan sells some of the most advanced handsets in the world. Sure, the iPhone has a fancy touchscreen, but does it use facial recognition software to unlock it? Can you watch live TV on your BlackBerry Storm? Does the Palm Pre lead a double life as a credit card? For years, the Japanese have been building phones that are years ahead of other nation's mobiles. Yet companies like NEC, Panasonic, ...

The nation of Japan is respected for its great consumer tech (TVs, cameras, etc.), but we love it for its seemingly endless supply of hilarious, strange, and sometimes disturbing toys and games. While the odd offerings easily number in the thousands, IncredibleThings.com has managed to compile a condensed version of 14 especially bizarre Japanese toys. Three in particular stand out for their ...

TechEBlog got our stomachs oddly rumbling with their grossly delicious looking posts about three wacky vending machines, such as fresh pizza made to order, a Wi-Fi enabled Coca-Cola machine with a touch-screen and a coffee machine with a built-in camera. We've all heard the rumors about Japanese used underwear dispensers, so we know that, if you can sell it, you can also vend it. Maybe just as ...

Sometimes it seems like the worlds of science and marketing are in a constant struggle to present us with the future described in science fiction. Whether its flying cars, the OS from Minority Report, or robots that play "rock, paper, scissors," the old saw is true: you can't fight progress. And now it looks like Yahoo Japan has jumped into the fray, with a little help from Comel, a Japanese ...

Ever wonder why the Japanese love their waterproof cell phones so much? Well, we didn't, but the folks over at PC Mag did, and investigated the issue at the Fujitsu booth of this year's CTIA show. Somewhat surprisingly, it apparently all comes down to bathing, according to a Fujistu spokesperson interviewed by PC Mag. The Japanese are serious about their baths -- many take one every night, due ...

For our easily amused readers, and the commedia dell' commode aficionados, we provide these gifts of port-o-potty hilarity. Constantly looking to push the envelope in terms of comedic breakthroughs, these Japanese television producers seek to entertain unsuspecting users of port-o-lets. And, what's more entertaining than innocently sitting down to take care of business, and getting whisked away ...

SHOP HOP: In this new series, the Switched Video crew will be touring shops around the country in search of great gadgets and gear. For the first episode, we show up at AC Gears in New York City to sample some of its newer wares: AC Gears in New York City is one of our favorite shops; this purveyor of gadgets great and small (and outlet for well-known import gear-site ...