Jan 22
According to the Anime (and Manga) Rurouni Kenshin, there’s a mythical sword by the name of “sakabato” out there in the wild, one made only for the warrior most dedicated … Continue reading
Jan 21
Earlier, we showed you a way to use an actual DualShock 4 controller with your jailbroken iOS device. While these are only DualShock 2 controllers, they will plug directly into your smartphone. Unfortunately, that’s where the similarity ends.
These teensy inch-wide PlayStation 2 DualShock 2 controllers are simply designed as decoration for your mobile device, but they are pretty cute and quite detailed. It’s too bad they’re not functional. Though if anyone out there can manage to hack one so it works, I wouldn’t be surprised.
They’re being made by Japan’s Union Creative, and are available for pre-order in sets of six from NCSX for about $27(USD). Buy a set, and share them with five of your closest friends.
Jan 21
Thank God we don’t see too many glitches in our technology these days. Visual glitches can be annoying, frustrating and often brightly blinding. Which is how I would describe these coats.
These coats are born from an unholy alliance between Japanese designers Nukeme and Ucnv. They’re available with either a black or white coat and an all-over glitch pattern that might make you lose your lunch if you stare at it too long.
On the upside, each is handmade and ships to you from beautiful Toyko. It will cost you about $295(USD) to look like a walking glitch. Too bad these coats don’t come with recordings of audio distortion to go along with them.
You can get up close and personal with a 3D scan of the outfits here.
[Yearoftheglitch via Boing Boing via Fashionably Geek]
Jan 17
Last week we reported that Japanese carrier NTT DOCOMO announced their support of Samsung’s Tizen platform and would carry its hardware as well. That’s good news for Samsung as NTT DOCOMO is Japan’s largest carrier and would no doubt be a boon for them, but unfortunately it looks like NTT DOCOMO has had a change of heart and will n longer be carrying the Tizen hardware. According to the carrier, the reason behind this is because the Japanese smartphone market was apparently not growing fast enough where the carrier would be able to support three different operating systems simultaneously (iOS and Android being the other two).
This was backed by a recent study by IDC Japan who found that the country’s smartphone market only grew 2.2% from April-September last year. According to the carrier’s spokesperson, So Hiroki, “The market is not big enough to support three operating systems at this time.” Naturally this is quite a big blow to Samsung although they have yet to comment on the matter just yet. All is not lost as Hiroki did state that the carrier would continue to work to help develop Tizen, although when Tizen hardware will see a launch on the carrier’s network remains unknown. Some have speculated that NTT DOCOMO’s iPhone offering could be the reason why they changed their minds, although the carrier has since denied this.
NTT DOCOMO Changes Stance On Tizen Hardware Availability original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Jan 17
Microsoft Preps Xbox One For Japan
Posted in: Today's Chili
It seems that apart from games having different languages, such as Japanese or English, Microsoft has more to worry about other than the language barrier. While Microsoft has not mentioned when their latest console will be released in Japan, a 2014 timeframe has been given and speaking with Weekly Famitsu, Microsoft Japan spokesperson Takashi Sensui has come forward with additional details about the Xbox One and how it will play nicely with the Japanese market and how it will cater to the culture as well. As Microsoft has marketed the Xbox One as a multimedia device, Sensui has revealed that the company has been in talks with local device manufacturers and content providers. (more…)
Microsoft Preps Xbox One For Japan original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Jan 16
We can’t really see it from where we are, but in reality there is a lot of junk floating in space and in our orbit. Its actually our fault since the junk consists of debris from previous space missions, and you would think that we would have learnt to clean up after ourselves already, but apparently not. Well it looks like Japan could be doing everyone a huge favor as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced a plan to create a gigantic magnetic space net that will basically attempt to scoop up all the junk that we have left floating around in space. (more…)
Japan To Deploy A Magnetic Net In Space To Clean Up Floating Debris original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Jan 15
When it comes to both digital and physical goods, most of the time tax is applied, however due to different countries having differing rates of taxes, sometimes it is actually cheaper if you were to purchase from outside the country and have it imported. For the most part your imports will not be taxed unless it’s above a certain limit which makes it an incredibly attractive solution. However it seems that over in Japan, the government plans on taxing foreign downloads come 2015, meaning that local taxes will be applied to foreign digital downloads, compared to before where they were not taxed locally, but in the country they originated from.
According to the government, prior to this foreign downloads enjoy a “tax-free” (local) existence compared to local downloads which were taxed according to the law. This gave foreign companies an advantage over local vendors which sparked some complaints, which is why this law will be put into place to help placate local vendors who might be have felt wronged by this system. According to Nikkei, the tax will apply to digital content such as e-books, music, apps, and games downloaded from foreign servers. Naturally this will make things more expensive although it is not clear how much more expensive things might get for the residents in Japan. So what do you guys think of this new system?
Japanese Government To Tax Foreign Downloads In 2015 original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Jan 15
Something must be done to deal with the estimated 100 million bits of man-made space junk circling the planet, and Japan is taking the lead. But can we do? Shoot it with a laser? Invent Wall-E-like robots to collect it? Nah… let’s just blast a big net into space.
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Jan 14
When the gold iPhone 5s was revealed in leaks, it was called fake. When the actual, real deal, official iPhone 5s was released in gold, it was the start of … Continue reading
Jan 10
For many years Japan’s largest carrier, NTT DOCOMO, resisted Apple and did not bring the iPhone onto its networks. However as the years passed and their rivals started to offer the iPhone, NTT DOCOMO realized that they were starting to lose subscribers to the competition and started to rethink their strategy. One of the reasons why the carrier had been so unwilling was because of the conditions and obligations that Apple imposed on its partners, and also because Apple refused to allow NTT DOCOMO to preinstall their own apps on the iPhone, primarily because Apple did not want bloatware from carrier to affect the overall iPhone experience. Eventually NTT DOCOMO gave in and finally offered the iPhone starting with the iPhone 5s, and thanks to new reports, it looks like the carrier has started to reap the benefits.
According to reports, it seems that NTT DOCOMO has managed to add an additional 279,000 new subscribers in December alone, making it the first time in two years that the carrier, despite being the largest in Japan, surpassed its rivals KDDI and Softbank in customer growth. While DOCOMO did not reveal how many iPhones it has managed to sell, a company spokesperson confirmed that Apple’s iPhone was one of the main reasons for its growth last month. Say what you will about the iPhone and the people use it, but it is hard to deny that it is anything but good for business. That being said, we can’t wait to see how the iPhone will impact China’s largest telco, China Mobile, as well.
iPhone Attributed To NTT DOCOMO’s Growth In Subscribers original content from Ubergizmo. 
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