Tag: Technology

  • INCUBOT Productions

    Matt Alt and Alen Yen have teamed up to form Incubot Productions, a company that plans to release retro robot collectibles. First up are the Nekobot USB robots (pictured above), with a 2GB capacity, and now on sale through their site.

  • Google Push in Japan

    When it comes to searching on the web, Google is king pretty much everywhere in the world, but not Japan. Nope, here, Yahoo! still reigns supreme, and Google has just started a new big push in the country to try and get more people using the G-rated search engine. The new campaign includes of course…

  • TENORI-ON Orange Model

    Yamaha has introduced a new model of its TENORI-ON digital musical instrument, originally developed with media artist Toshio Iwai. The new version is stripped down to bring the price down (now around $1,000), and features orange lights. Via Designboom. Update: $1,000 is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, but the street price for the device should…

  • Spica

    Here’s a video of Yuki Yamamoto‘s Spica, a speaker that uses water and light to give you quite the show as you listen to your favorite tracks. It was on show at this year’s DesignTide, and I can confirm that it looked just as good in person as it does in the video. Via Designboom.

  • Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks

    Anyone who has tried to find some free wi-fi spots in Tokyo will know just how big a deal this is: Starbucks is set to offer free wi-fi in 94 of its stores in Japan starting November 1, with plans to expand after that. Tokyo web workers rejoice. Via Jason Jenkins. Update: The service may…

  • TiltShift Generator for iPhone

    Something else I should have posted ages ago: the release of Takayuki Fukatsu‘s TiltShift Generator for iPhone (it was previously released as a desktop app). I’m a huge fan of all of Fukatsu’s iPhone photo apps, and have been having fun with this one as well.

  • iPhone Bicycle Navigation System

    Here’s a pretty interesting project in which Tokyo-based Ubiquitous Entertainment put together a navigation system that mounts an iPhone on a cycling helmet, with the display running into an eyepiece. Thanks to the device’s compass — if you have a 3GS that is — everything orients correctly as you move your head around. Via Core77.

  • More on Kindle in Japan

    The Japan Times has an article that takes a good look at the arrival of the Kindle in Japan, and the challenges it will face in getting Japanese publishers to contribute to the device. Via Japan Probe, which also includes a bit on how to avoid the international book price mark-up.

  • COOLPIX Projection

    What do you do with a bunch of COOLPIX S1000PJ cameras, that have the added function of projecting images? If you’re GT Tokyo‘s Naoki Ito, you strap them on the Helicopter Boyz and produce this performance. Via Creative Review.

  • Amazon Kindle in Japan

    You may have already heard the news, but if you haven’t, the Amazon Kindle is coming to Japan (and 99 other countries). While you’ve always been able to buy one wherever you are, this new international version means that you’ll able to use the 3G access to buy books anytime, anywhere. For the time being,…