Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.
apps (Page 4)
With the announcement by Japan’s premier manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump regarding their highly anticipated smartphone app Jump Live, information has been coming out in drips and drabs about its features.
However, their most recent announcement has fans jumping for mild confusion: it’s a multimedia pasta cooking challenge between the creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hirohiko Araki and creator of Assassination Classroom Yusei Matsui.
The smartphone is perhaps one of the neatest inventions we have. They allow unprecedented access and communicative abilities—until the #$%& battery dies! What good is a five-inch screen with a quadcore processor and more gigs of ram than my last laptop if the battery is dead by noon? This has led to numerous power-saving methods, external batteries, and, of course, apps claiming to extend battery life. Today, we discovered one app that does a little more than just extend your battery life, it also creeps you out and makes you feel like a terrible pervert! Yah!
People the world over love to upload pics of their cute kitties, but with the help of this new app the cats could well end up taking the photos for you!
When he realized he’d primarily been using his smartphone in bed, Nemool Smith, an au product designer and chief hardware architect, wanted a more comfortable and rewarding user experience. Coming up blank in an online search for solutions, Nemool got an idea and decided to approach his bosses at KDDI and get their permission to design a radically new hardware platform he was sure would revolutionize the way people used their phones. The result has set the tech world abuzz, and has the potential to vault KDDI to the top of the global smartphone market.
Introducing the new au zzzPhoneBed by KDDI
Here’s an awkward situation I’m sure we’ve all had to deal with at one point or another.
Your recently-divorced out-of-the-closet father with a thing for guys in uniform has begun bringing home high ranking military officials.
You want to show these officers and gentlemen their due respect, but every time you go to salute your lack of technique makes them look at you like you’re some kind of dirty hippy. That scornful glare cast by a Rear Admiral as he flings on a feather boa is just the worst.
Luckily, the modern incarnation of the Japanese Navy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) put together a free iPhone app and instructional video to teach the proper way to salute. The iPhone app called Salute Trainer also measures your saluting ability in detail and gives you a score and military style ranking.
The holidays are over, you’ve gained a few extra pounds, but you’re finding it difficult to start a workout routine after so many peaceful days spent lounging around. What you need is a workout buddy to help you stay motivated. Preferably a cute girl.
For those of you who don’t know any cute girls willing to get sweaty with you, Japanese indie developer Creative Freaks has you covered with Burn your fat with me!!, a fitness app/dating simulation game where players must workout in real life to impress a 2D anime love interest.
Recently a lot of Asian Americans are getting their pantsu in a bunch about an Android app called “Make Me Asian” that allows users to slant their eyes, yellow their skin and add other stereotypical Asian features to their photos.
Critics say the app uses dated and racist stereotypes that marginalize and humiliate Asian Americans. There is even an online petition asking Google to remove the app, which has nearly 3,000 signatures as of December 28.
Alright, so the Asian American community is clearly offended, but what do Asian Asians think of this app?
Well, they think it’s pretty fun, actually.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love my wife and wouldn’t trade her for anyone in the world. But my brain is telling me that I just met the girl of my dreams at today’s Tokyo Game Show, and how can you argue with your own brain?
She’s a booth girl at Brain Kiss, a “neuro-diagnosis” app for iOS that tests the compatibility of two people by analyzing their brainwaves.
All you need to do is put on a special brainwave-reading headset developed by NeuroSky and stare deep into the eyes of the person in front of you for 15 seconds. Brain Wave then presents you with your results, divided into five different “levels of affection.”
It sounds like a fun little app, but be careful who you use it with: if you’re like me, love may be staring your straight in the face.
We’ve introduced some unique smartphone apps in one of our previous posts, but here’s one more unique app that’s caught our attention and may even be useful, if you believe what the developers say. If you’ve ever been annoyed by mosquitoes in the outdoors, and I believe most of us have at one time or another, then the Mosquito Buster app may be the solution to your pest problem. Yes, those small, buzzing blood-suckers can really be a pain, can’t they? But can a smartphone app really help you avoid mosquitoes? Well, the people at TABROID, a Japanese site that focuses on Android-related news and information, have apparently tested the app out in the field to see if it actually works. Read More
Awesome Course Schedule, an app released last year by Japanese content provider Labit, has been rapidly gaining traction with students at Japanese universities, because it allows them to rate and review their courses. Read More
Foreigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Japanese city loses residents’ personal data, which was on paper being transported on a windy day
Ghibli Park now selling “Grilled Frogs” from food cart in Valley of Witches
Historical figures get manga makeovers from artists of Spy x Family, My Hero Academia and more
Osaka governor suggests lowering voting age to 0 to curb population decline
Should you add tartar sauce to Japanese curry rice? CoCo Ichi makes diners an unusual offer
Smash Bros. director Sakurai stabs Kirby in the face, has delicious justification for it
Haku is…Chihiro’s dead brother? Studio Ghibli fans blown away by Spirited Away theory
Mt. Koya planning to instate visitor’s tax to cope with huge tourist numbers
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of societyJapanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
French Fries Bread in Tokyo’s Shibuya becomes a hit on social media
Studio Ghibli releases new action figures featuring Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind characters
New private rooms on Tokaido Shinkansen change the way we travel from Tokyo to Kyoto
Red light district sushi restaurant in Tokyo shows us just how wrong we were about it
Tokyo Tsukiji fish market site to be redeveloped with 50,000-seat stadium, hotel, shopping center
All-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
Beautiful Ghibli sealing wax kits let you create accessories and elegant letter decorations【Pics】McDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goodsForeigner’s request for help in Tokyo makes us sad for the state of society
Studio Ghibli releases Kiki’s Delivery Service chocolate cake pouches in Japan
New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Our Japanese reporter visits Costco in the U.S., finds super American and very Japanese things
Studio Ghibli unveils Mother’s Day gift set that captures the love in My Neighbour TotoroJapanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotesAll-you-can-drink Starbucks and amazing views part of Tokyo’s new 170 meter-high sky lounge
More foreign tourists than ever before in history visited Japan last month
New Pokémon cakes let you eat your way through Pikachu and all the Eevee evolutionsMcDonald’s new Happy Meals offer up cute and practical Sanrio lifestyle goods
Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Should you add tartar sauce to Japanese curry rice? CoCo Ichi makes diners an unusual offer
Smash Bros. director Sakurai stabs Kirby in the face, has delicious justification for it
Haku is…Chihiro’s dead brother? Studio Ghibli fans blown away by Spirited Away theory
Mt. Koya planning to instate visitor’s tax to cope with huge tourist numbers
Japanese ramen restaurants under pressure from new yen banknotes
Katsudon vs. tonkatsu vs. katsu sandwich – What’s the best way to eat pork cutlet in Japan?
Suntory x Super Mario collaboration creates a clever way to transform into Mario【Videos】
We find an Okinawan chili sauce made with the rarest kind of awamori–so we had to taste it
Toyota built a life-sized Miraidon Pokémon and are letting people test drive it this weekend
We go behind the scenes at Japan Airlines’ in-flight meal factory【Photos】
Akihabara pop-up shop sells goods made by Japanese prison inmates
Japan’s massive matcha parfait weighs 6 kilos, contains hidden surprises for anyone who eats it
Our Japanese reporter eats instant ramen from a bag for (almost) the first time in his life
Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron gets North American screening date in September
