Hasta La Gadget!

This iPhone case is a slightly disgusting way of holding your iPhone. Naturally, it comes from Japan, and will probably get a few laughs when you go to pick up your phone.

The Hana case is definitely an oddity, because you actually stick your fingers up its silicone nose to hold your iPhone. Grossed out yet? If not, then this might be the case for you. Digging around in there will surely get you a few looks on public transport.

The Hana case comes in blue, green, and pink, so it will please girls and boys who like to pick their noses. It sells for $13.80(USD) directly from p + g design.

[via Dressed Like Machines]

It’s almost become a truism that internet connections from the Asia-Pacific region to the rest of the world can be slow and lag-ridden, but that assumption is about to be knocked flat if Facebook and others in a Time Dotcom-led consortium have their way. The alliance is investing a combined $450 million into the Asia Pacific Gateway, a 6,214-mile undersea cable that will run between Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. The fiber optic pipe will not only help reduce the need to route large volumes of traffic through Singapore but, in many cases, send much of that traffic straight to American shores — a big help when Facebook and much of the web industry still hosts most of its content on the Eastern side of the ocean. Although faster speeds won’t be in place until the summer of 2014, by which point the more direct connections might be absolutely necessary, it still gives hope to those of us who want to poke friends and upload photos in record time.

Facebook and others invest in 6,214-mile Asia-Pacific undersea internet cable, friend request lag to plummet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NEC Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd. will move some production of ThinkPad PCs from China manufacturing lines back to Japan. Originally developed and manufactured in Japan’s Yamato research laboratory, a trial run for production of ThinkPads at NEC’s plant in Yamagata Prefecture will begin this fall. Moving toward full-scale production in Japan is desired for the future.

Japanese customers who purchase ThinkPads currently have to wait about 10 days for delivey. By moving some of the production to Japan, the company will be able to ensure faster delivery and convenience for their Japanese customers. The executive chairman of NEC Lenovo Holdings B.V. made it clear that the future of the project will heavily rely on the choices of NEC-Lenovo group partners and customers.

NEC and Lenovo launched the venture about a year ago focused on Japan with the goal to capture about a 30 percent domestic market share within three years. NEC and Lenovo’s main competitor, HP, made a similar move in 2011 to shift some production away from China and into Japan to make it more convenient for Japanese customers.

[via Verge]

Lenovo to move ThinkPad production back to Japan is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re a fan of Sony’s products then there’s some good news out of Japan: the next software update for the PS Vita, 1.80, will add the ability to play classic PSOne titles. Around 700 titles will be available to play, which isn’t a bad haul at all, but they’ll see staggered releases. We imagine being able to play Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy VII on the go will appeal to quite a few gamers.

The other big news from Sony Japan is that the PlayStation 3 will gain the ability to download and play classic PS2 titles. That’s maybe a bit of a sore point for consumers, with the original PlayStation 3 featuring backwards compatibility with PS2 games while future versions removed the functionality. These new downloadable titles will work across any PS3 as well.

PS2 titles will launch in the PlayStation Store on July 25th, and games will include Biohazard Code: Veronica, Dragon Force, and Decisive Warfare. Titles will cost between ¥800 (~$10) and ¥1,500 (~$18.8), but there’s no word yet on if Sony plans to bring the the same functionality to consoles outside of Japan.

[via Engadget]

PS Vita gets old-school summer with PSOne gaming is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With now over 45 million users, while you may not use Line yourself, someone you know (or at least someone they know) probably does. The Asia-centric Skype rival has decided to roll-out some extra functionality and is looking to go a few rounds with even bigger competition. ‘Home’ offers up a base for sharing photos and other content, as well as your own status updates, while the ‘timeline’ feature will throw together a familiar-sounding chronological breakdown of your latest adventures to show your friends, adding in the ability to comment on each other’s posts. Its ‘Line channel’ sounds even more nebulous and aims to use the existing app as a foundation for integrating and linking to yet more programs and services. The screenshots hint at camera, gaming and (yes) horoscope integration, while Line is gearing up for both HTML5 and native applications. Hit up the company’s notions on a heavily connected messaging service in two servings of press release, right after the break.

Continue reading Line messaging and VoIP app adds ‘timeline’ and ‘home’ features, throws in new platform for app integration

Line messaging and VoIP app adds ‘timeline’ and ‘home’ features, throws in new platform for app integration originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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