Hasta La Gadget!

Make that “spoke”. This is old news, but I’ve just discovered some press about us while searching for my name in its most commonly misspelled form “Keferi”. Don’t worry BBC, it’s not just you.

Last December the Asia Television Forum was very nice and flew us in to Singapore to give the keynote presentation for the Mobile Television panel discussion. Broadband TV News reported on it a bit:

“It is an infrastructure experiment, but nobody is yet sure what content or applications will result in One Seg achieving viability.” He said that in the West broadcasters and telcos were “freaking out” looking for a mobile TV business model, but that may have to evolve from experimentation of the type that was taking place in Japan. Keferi suggested that broadcast mobile services could serve as teasers for paid streamed content.

Mobile carrier NTT Docomo has announced the launch of the company’s new “Photo Otayori (correspondence) Service” with a key element of this service being the Denki (electronic) Picture Frame.

This 8-inch liquid crystal screen automatically displays photos sent remotely by mobile or PC in a slideshow fashion. This function is designed to bridge the gap between the younger tech-savvy generation and the elderly one. Put simply, it is a way for young people (probably urban and mobile) to communicate with their grandparents (possibly in the countryside)—in away that is easy and positive for both sides.

Along with the photo, the frame can also display an accompanying text message; other display options include calendar and clock formats. In an additional nod to simplicity, an automatic sensor detects the light in the room and turns the device on or off accordingly.

The service is not just limited to Docomo users, but is compatible with other phone carriers and personal computers too. The concept comes from the Docomo for Everyone Lab (Minna no Docomo Kenkyuushitsu), a project that began in April 2008. The Denki Picture Frame will be available from July 1st for ¥19,800. The fee for the service is ¥210 per month plus additional charges depending on the number and size of the photos delivered.

According to a study conducted by Yano Research, the commodity home delivery market rose 4% between 2007 and 2008 reaching a worth of over 1.5 trillion yen (about USD15.6 billion). Moreover, the value of “net super” orders (groceries ordered over the internet) reached 23 billion yen in the same year—1.7 times the value of the previous year. The growing elderly population and increasing number households where both partners work are cited as reasons for presumed market growth.

While convenience is obviously key, a number of customers concerned with food safety are using the internet to order food directly from organic and pesticide free foodstuff producers. Orders of this nature (following recent scares about tainted food from China) rose an impressive 12.6%. Yano anticipates that the general commodity delivery market will rise to 1.8 trillion yen (about USD18.8 billion) by 2013, of which 46.8 billion yen (about USD488 million) will be organic foodstuffs.

While most major national grocery store chains have “net super” components, other service providers are rising to the occasion. Once such example is the fashionable Kunitachi Farm. Originally a restaurant in suburban Tokyo that sources ingredients from nearby farms, the brand has expanded to include a net store on Rakuten, Japan’s enormous, all-encompassing net mall. Shoppers to the site can see pictures and profiles of the farmers who bring the food to the table, adding a new element to the food preparation process.

While some may lament that solitary shopping online means that neighbors will no longer meet and interact at local markets, a few web services actually have a community element built in. A popular example is the Co-op supermarket chain online Pal System that allows neighbors to form community purchasing groups, saving money on bulk purchases and receiving free shipping. To date, over a million shoppers around the country are enrolled in the Pal System.

Trend Potential
Online grocery shopping rises to the occasion, meeting the needs of consumers valuing not only convenience but, increasingly, food safety. Meanwhile key sites show how a community element can be included, demonstrating that net shopping need not necessarily be anti-social.

Gadget maker Princeton has just come out with some nifty DIY Paper Speaker sets that look like retro audio players, but plug into your modern player or PC to become your unassuming, space-saving speakers.

Inside the paper boomboxes and record players are a tiny 3W amp and 1W speaker that, if anything like the Yorozu Audio Sound Revolution paper speaker we’ve played with before, should actually have some decent sound. It’s quite amazing how well sound vibrates through paper to become quite full.

Princeton is also doing a speaker-crowdsourcing contest for creative types to make their own papercraft speakers, so if you have any ideas that you want mass-produced, now’s the time to break out the scissors and crayons!

Japan is well known for its well-developed e-money infrastructure. With RFID integration in mobile phones, train passes, and even loyalty cards for shops, it’s possible to do a great deal of your shopping and transportation without carrying cash or using a credit card either.

E-money was also introduced slowly and deliberately onto the Japanese market, which has resulted in an ecosystem that is not only accepted by the public, but expanding rapidly. Using a contactless e-money card or enabled phone it’s possible to do everything from buy drinks in vending machines to paying for airline tickets and even checking into hotel rooms!

Via Steven Nagata, this pay toilet in Akihabara can use e-money cards to pay for access. Not only does this eliminate any theft issues, but it’s also great for germaphobes!

Coin lockers also get the e-money treatment. Your card pays for the locker, but it also acts as the key when you get back!

For those interested in e-money and the transportation system of Tokyo in general, YouTuber, comedian, and samurai-in-training Kevin Cooney gives an overview below.