If any product ever truly deserved the title of ‘jack of all trades but master of none’ it’s Thanko’s new iTable desk accessory. It preys on those who hate chaos on their desk, but at the cost of gobbling up a good chunk of your workspace. More »
Hey, Gundam fan. Yes, you – I’m talking to you. It seems like you’re not alone in your desire to own and have everything that screams Gundam, because the folks over at Tokyo’s Pacific Le Daiba probably knew that there were more fans like you in the world.
Three rooms at the said hotel have been renovated and filled with oodles of Gundam memorabilia. Not only that, but they’ve been completely redecorated to look as if you’ve stepped into some kind of Gundam gallery.
The rooms have a cockpit to reenact your favorite scenes from the anime, sheets and bedding to reflect its ‘real’ owners, and you’ll be greeted by awesome art from your favorite characters the moment you wake up.
Pacific Le Daiba shelled out about 10 million yen ($125,000) to turn their hotel rooms into these themed suites. Lucky for you, you’ll only have to pay about 27,000 yen or $338(USD) a night to stay in one these rooms.
[via Dvice]
The rest of the world has been sampling Sony’s streaming music wares for a while, but the all-you-can-listen subscription service has finally launched today in Japan, priced at 1,480 yen per month. Music Unlimited has now rolled out to both Sony hardware and various mobile OS’, in a bid to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Spotify. Users can still ‘match’ their existing music collection to the cloud service — if available — and will be able to stream available music on any compatible device and even cache their playlists for offline playback. Hit up the PR after the break for all the details.
Sony’s Music Unlimited service finally reaches Japan homeland, offers access to over 10 million tracks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jul 2012 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ever since Rakuten revealed its intentions to scoop up Kobo, the e-reader maker was clearly destined to hit the Japanese market. As noted a week or so back, the company’s eReader Touch will be arriving the Land of the Rising Sun in July — July 19th, to be exact. And, starting today, customers in that country can pre-order the reader for ¥7,980 (or $100 USD). Kobo’s promised a “fully localized” experience on the reader, including local currency, content and a “robust” offering of Japanese books in time for launch.
Kobo eReader Touch up for pre-order in Japan, hitting market with ‘localized experience’ July 19th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you’re like us and really want to know what’s going on, then you’ve come to the right place. This past week, Samsung introduced its first Windows Phone for China and both HTC and Samsung each chimed in about Android 4.1 — the sweet treat better known as Jelly Bean. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of June 25th, 2012.
Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of June 25th, 2012
Mobile Miscellany: week of June 25th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hulu Japan has mailed in a status update noting that its content library has increased by more than 300 percent since launching last fall, now amounting to over 800 films and around 6,900 TV shows. Newly added to that list is Mad Men and more notably, “select HBO shows” including Entourage and Sex And The City today, followed by Entourage and Band of Brothers later this year. Of course, similar to the situation that sees Showtime favorites like Dexter available on Netflix in Latin America but not here in the States, it doesn’t make it any more likely HBO will suddenly become cord-cutter friendly at home — this is an international deal only. Hulu does have more good news in Japan though, now that it works on more devices with the Wii coming soon and “aggressive expansion” planned for the rest of 2012. While it doesn’t help the list of Hulu Plus-compatible Android phones grow any faster, there is a quick trailer celebrating the new content, viewers on either side of the Pacific can check it out after the break.
Continue reading Hulu Japan lands HBO content, but don’t expect any changes in the US
Hulu Japan lands HBO content, but don’t expect any changes in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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So maybe that self-chilling soda didn’t pan out, but Coca-Cola is working on another method for keeping its beverages cool without using power. In partnership with Fuji Electric Retail Systems, the company has developed the A011 vending machine, which is capable of keeping drinks frosty for up to 16 hours a day without using energy. The A011 works by shifting the cooling process from mid-day, when energy use is higher, to nighttime, when there is a higher power capacity. Even after the machine stops powering the chilling, the unit’s temperature only rises slightly, thanks to vacuum insulation and an airtight design. Great in theory, right? Well Coca-Cola Japan will put the product to the test this summer with a two-month pilot program in two of Japan’s toastiest areas, Tajimi City in Gifu Prefecture and Kumagaya City in Saitama Prefecture. If things go well, the company will tweak the A011 to extend the amount of time it can go without power. Room-temperature soda is the worst, so here’s hoping it works.
Continue reading Coca-Cola’s A011 vending machine keeps drink cool without using (much) power
Coca-Cola’s A011 vending machine keeps drink cool without using (much) power originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 22:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nintendo’s latest oversized handheld not big enough for you? Maybe another Circle Pad Pro will help. According to Japanese gaming publication Famitsu, the Big N is poised to give the freshly announced 3DS XL a second analog slider. Pricing wasn’t covered in the magazine’s Nintendo Q&A session, but gamers in the Land of the Rising Sun should have their thumbs on it later this year. Oh, and in case you didn’t hear, the colossal clamshell is getting its very own charging cradle too, sold separately for 1,200 yen ($15). Mum’s the word on stateside details for the secondary slide pad, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it show up on foreign shores.
3DS XL to get Circle Pad Pro treatment, become that much larger originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 08:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Japan got itself in the good graces of many a Futurama fan after creating Bender’s ancestor. Then again, another Japanese robotic creation — one that specializes in rock, paper, scissors — may actually have more in common with the morally questionable, beer-guzzling bot. That’s because this sneaky little future overlord wins 100 percent of its matches by using an oh-so human trait known as cheating. See, the researchers at the University of Tokyo’s 4chan, er, Ishikawa Oku Laboratory programmed the “Janken” robot to recognize its human opponent’s hand shape and counter it within a millisecond. Adding to the troll factor is the fact that it was unwittingly named the “Human-Machine Cooperation System” because, well, it needs the cooperation of some poor human sap to work its magic. The achievement joins other man-versus-machine milestones, including losses by humans in chess and shogi. Of course, the question now is, what happens if you pit two “Janken” machines against each other?
Japanese robot trolls humans at rock-paper-scissors, sadly wasn’t named the UMADBRO 9000 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 22:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Japan, China, and South Korea together dominate 90 percent of the global shipbuilding industry. But compared to the neighbors, Japan is getting killed on production costs. So how do the Japanese respond? By inventing an entirely new kind of ship. More »
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