Oct 17
Radiation is serious—especially in Japan. With the country still dealing with a nuclear disaster, people need to protect themselves.
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Oct 10
Smell-o-vision is real, and you can now experience it firsthand with Scentee. In case you haven’t heard about it yet, Scentee is a small smartphone attachment that gives you a whiff of real-world scents and smells at the push of a button (or rather, with a tap on the screen.)
Various scent cartridges for the Scentee already exist, such as coffee, corn soup, apples, and cinnamon rolls.
The latest addition is the Hana Yakiniku, which adds the delicious aromas of grilled short ribs, beef tongue, and buttered potatoes the growing catalog. Just fire up the accompanying app, choose which meat you want to smell, and breathe deep…
Unlike what the promo video suggests, I don’t think this can substitute for eating actual meat. But hey, you’re welcome to follow what they instruct in the video – just let us know how it goes for you.
[via BitRebels]
Oct 09
In case you weren’t already concerned enough about the wacky (re: highly dangerous) antics going over at the Fukushima power plant, maybe this will do the trick. Six workers attempting to clean up the increasingly unruly mess have accidentally doused themselves with highly radioactive water.
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Oct 07
It’s another week and another chance for TEPCO to embarrass itself at the beleaguered Fukushima power plant. Sometime on Monday morning, the cooling pump for the reactors shut down suddenly. It must’ve been some mechanical failure or some freak accident, right? Nah. Some worker just pushed the off button by mistake, according to the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
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Oct 07
Japan’s NTT DOCOMO was the last of the major Japan carriers to start offering the iPhone, although they did kick that off with Apple’s new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. One of the reasons the carrier decided to sign on with Apple was because they were tired of losing subscribers to their rivals, such as KDDI and Softbank who offered the iPhone way before NTT DOCOMO did. Unfortunately it seems that despite offering the new iPhones, NTT DOCOMO is reportedly still losing subscribers to their rivals and they are blaming limited stock as the reason. According to a report from Reuters, the carrier saw a drop of 66,800 subscribers in the month of September which is a stark contrast to those of KDDI and Softbank who saw an increase in subscribers.
We’re not sure how the other two carriers are enjoying success while NTT DOCOMO isn’t. It is not news that the iPhone 5s is currently experiencing shipping delays due to its production not going as well as it should have, with some blaming the Touch ID sensor as one of the reasons why production is slow and supply is constrained. Either way or the folks at KDDI and Softbank were allocated more units, or NTT DOCOMO underestimated the demand. In any case this is not a short-term solution for the carrier and the benefits will probably show up in the long-run, but for now it does not look like they are off to a good start.
NTT DOCOMO Still Bleeding Subscribers Despite Offering The New iPhones original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Oct 07
NTT Docomo Finally Gets The iPhone, But Subscribers Still Flee Due To Low Stock
Posted in: Today's Chili
Japanese carrier NTT Docomo has revealed that it experienced a record monthly drop in subscribers for September, which is somewhat surprising given that the company was the lone remaining major Japanese carrier without the iPhone on offer until the release of the iPhone 5s and 5c, also in September. The mobile operator blames the iPhone as the reason behind the dip, however, in a twist that shows that when it comes to iPhone, customers are looking for immediate satisfaction.
Docomo blamed a drop of 66,800 subscribers during September to limited stock of new iPhone devices, according to a report from Reuters in Tokyo today, which contrasts considerably with what rivals KDDI and SoftBank saw. Both of those carriers received net subscriber additions in September thanks to the new iPhone’s launch, something Docomo ascribes to them having plenty of iPhone hardware on hand to meet demand.
Despite this setback, Docomo will probably eventually see a net benefit from having the iPhone. Using the U.S. situation as an example, it took a long time for AT&T’s competitors to start to win back the subscribers they’d slowly shed to that U.S. carrier after it held the iPhone exclusive contract for years. Low stock out of the gate for Docomo vs. both KDDI and SoftBank suggests that perhaps the two existing players got preference as to early shipments, or it’s possible that Docomo underestimated demand for Apple’s iPhone and as a result put in low initial orders.
There’s a larger point to be made here about the iPhone and its effects on carrier fortunes: This is definitely a device that people are willing to jump fences for. The example here proves that customers weren’t willing to wait even so much as a few weeks to get their hands on the device on a network they’re already used to when it’s readily available elsewhere. Of course, the ultimate fear for mobile operators is that they become just another interchangeable dumb pipe, with the device driving buyer network decisions, and it looks like that could be exactly what’s happening in the Japanese market, at least.
Oct 04
Smart Glasses Translate Japanese Text to Other Languages: for Manga & JRPG Fans
Posted in: Today's ChiliWe’ve seen an iOS app that can translate text from one language to another in real-time. The engineers at Japanese telecommunications company NTT DoCoMo thought it would be easier for users if the translator was integrated into a pair of glasses. If I had these the first thing I’d do would be to use it to play all the Super Robot Wars games. Damn you Banprestoooo!
Similar to the voice translator Sigmo, NTT DoCoMo’s prototype needs an Internet connection to be able to translate text. It will then display the translation over the Japanese characters.
2020? There’ll be a billion SRW games by then!
[via Reuters via UniqueDaily]
Oct 04
It would appear that the engineers at Huawei have decided that you need your USB ports open more than you need that SD card reader free as they’ve created a 3G-capable SD card for the masses. This device is able to connect to your laptop the same way you’d plug in a USB “MiFi dongle”, […]
Oct 02
For Fujitsu, fingerprint readers on smartphones are old hat; on Android tablets, however, they’re still rare. The company should make those sensors easier to find with its latest Arrows Tab, the FJT21. The 10.1-inch slate uses its fingerprint reader to streamline Android 4.2’s multi-user support, signing anyone in with a swipe. Families can also implement both a simple mode for newcomers and a content-restricted kids’ mode. Fujitsu isn’t leaning solely on sign-in technology to sell its tablet, though. The FJT21 centers on a 2,560 x 1,600 LCD with Gorilla Glass 3 protection; under the hood, there’s a fast 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3-megapixel front camera and 64GB of expandable storage. Japan’s KDDI will ship an LTE-equipped version of the new Arrows Tab in late November. Sadly, it’s doubtful that we’ll see an equivalent model reach the US.
Filed under: Tablets
Via: Impress Watch (translated)
Source: KDDI (translated)
Oct 02
The idea of “smell-o-vision” is one that’s been tossed around for as long as I could remember as people always seem interested in being able to smell whatever it is that’s currently showing on their TV set. But a Japanese company is looking to make smell-o-vision a reality through a combination of an iPhone application and headphone adapter. (more…)
Japanese iPhone Accessory Makes Smell-O-Vision A Reality original content from Ubergizmo. 
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