Jul 03
Jul 03
It’s never nice to be told you’re a second class citizen, which is probably why Microsoft was reticent to mention when the Xbox One would launch in Japan. When 4Gamer cornered Japanese VP Yasuyuki Higuchi for answers, he conceded that the country was “tier two,” and that the hardware wouldn’t arrive there until 2014. On the upside, he did promise that the tier two countries wouldn’t be waiting long after the North American release, but that’s hardly going to sate early adopters with an eye on the local hero.
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Via: Games Industry
Source: 4Gamer (Translated), DualShockers
Jul 03
No jail time for Olympus bosses who committed $1.7 billion accounting fraud
Posted in: Today's Chili
You might think a harmless white collar crime would escape the wheels of justice. After all, what’s a little $1.7 billion accounting scandal in the grand scheme of things? As it turns out, you wouldn’t be far wrong: none of the three senior figures sentenced in Japan today for falsifying Olympus Corp.’s financial accounts have been sent to jail. Former Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa received a three-year suspended sentence, in light of the fact that he didn’t make the original decision to hide the firm’s financial losses, while a former executive VP and a former auditing officer also got suspended sentences after making similar defenses. The company itself was fined $7 million.
Meanwhile, the two men accused of starting the fraud, former presidents Masatoshi Kishimoto and Toshiro Shimoyama, have escaped all charges because, as reported by Kyodo News a couple of months ago, too much time has elapsed since the original crime. Oh well. If there’s any upside to this sorry saga, we guess it’s the fact that the whistleblower who lost his job after exposing the scandal, former CEO Michael Woodford, eventually saw some restitution.
Source: Bloomberg
Jul 01
Jul 01
Apple has filed an application for an ‘iWatch’ trademark in Japan—which adds a little more weight to
Posted in: Today's ChiliApple has filed an application for an ‘iWatch’ trademark in Japan—which adds a little more weight to the rumors of Cupertino’s forthcoming wrist wear
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Jun 30
Evidence is mounting that Apple might out a smartwatch in the near future after Yahoo Japan noticed that the company applied for the “iWatch” trademark in Japan on June 3rd. Our Japanese editor noticed that several other companies have applied for that term as well, though this one (released on June 27th) is from Apple Inc. of Cupertino. That follows a patent application from Apple we saw earlier in the year for a watch-like AMOLED device that proposed a slap bracelet, kinetic energy charger and “end-detection” user sensor, among other features. In addition, other rumors from Bloomberg back in February suggested that 100 Apple employees were working on a smartwatch of some kind. If we don’t see a device after all that, Cupertino’s gone to a heck of a lot of trouble for nothing. Check after the break for a screen grab (in Japanese) of the trademark application.
Jun 30
I love good sushi. Since I’m land-locked in the Midwest, it’s not exactly easy to get good fresh sushi-grade fish here, but there are definitely some places that fly it in daily at least. Still, I haven’t seen any sushi joint around here who serves it this way…
Yes, that’s a tank made of raw fish, rice and seaweed.
I certainly wouldn’t want to be on the business end of a slice of cucumber, would you? Though if the ammo is made from smoky salmon roe, I suppose I could handle it. Just don’t come at me with that shrimp turret – unless you want to see me go into anaphylactic shock.
These tank-shaped sushi plates were made by a Kurisakiya as a tribute to the anime Girls und Panzer. Why? Because in Japan, anything is possible!
[via Kotaku via Archie McPhee]
Jun 29
While there are many futuristic uses for the heads-up display in Google Glass, several people I’ve met who were wearing them used them primarily to capture images and videos from their personal point of view. So if you don’t want to spend $1500 on a pair of real Google Glasses, you can get the camera part for less than 1/10th that cost.
Made by Japan’s Thanko, the Mitanmanma Megane HD Camera Glasses(JP) are designed so you can capture POV video on the cheap. Just place the glasses over your eyes, press the button, and start capturing video to a microSD card. Unlike Google Glass, however, that’s all these glasses do. If you start asking them where the nearest Starbucks is, you’ll be waiting a very long time for an answer. They don’t capture still images, and they won’t make appointments for you either.
Unlike other video glasses, these ones are quite minimal, weighing in at just 2.1 ounces (though a regular pair of sunglasses weighs about 1/4 of this). Also, they can’t be worn over other eyeglasses like Google Glass. They’re capable of capturing a (suspect) 1920×1080 resolution AVI format video at 20 to 30fps. They’re supposed to run for about 30 to 40 minutes on a charge. Here’s some craptacular sample video so you can check out the image quality:
I’m not sure if the frame rate gets any better than that, so they look like they’d be good for capturing animated GIFs and Vines more than full-motion video. Still, what do you want for a hundred bucks? You can get a pair of the Thanko Mitamanma Megane HD Camera Glasses from Japan Trend Shop for $112(USD) plus $12 for worldwide shipping.
Jun 28
In the world of wireless carriers, “differentiation” is the holy grail when it comes to selling what appears like a commodity: wireless communications. Since this is one of the largest industries in the world (the top 10 carriers generate $202B […]
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Jun 28
Toilet Trike Runs on the Runs
Posted in: Today's ChiliJapanese toilet company Toto has a bike that runs on poop. If you want to save on fuel and produce your own fuel instead, this is the bike for you. The toilet you see there is just decorative, but the engine does run on poop.
It’s called the Neo and it took three years of research, development and design. It is basically a 250cc trike, with a built-in toilet for a seat. However, I was just kidding about you contributing to the fuel supply, which is actually purified and compressed livestock waste. So it still runs on poop – just not yours.
The bio-gas that it uses comes from the Shika-oi, in Hokkaido where waste and household water are converted to methane gas via fermentation. The methane gas is then converted to bio-gas by purifying. The bio-gas is what ends up in the bike, so there’s no actual manure anywhere, but it’s a fun design that gets the word out about alternative energy.
[via Neatorama]
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