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FeedDrop: A new iPhone news reader app just for Japan

Rick Martin 2013.05.06

There are no shortage of newsreader apps out there these days, especially as the landscape adjusts in the wake of the announcement of Google Reader’s upcoming retirement. Most of our readership will no doubt already be aware of useful reader apps like Reeder, Feedly, Leaf, or even maybe even SlowFeeds. But it’s also interesting to see what kinds of reader apps are emerging here in Japan [1].

We recently featured the news curation app Gunosy which pulls news that you might like by analyzing your social media accounts, and even emailing you interesting stories every morning. It’s a handy service, although it’s currently for the Japanese language only [2].

But today I stumbled across another handy made-in-Japan reader app called FeedDrop. While it’s not as smart as Gunosy, the app is useful in that it comes with a number of pre-made content categories, each of which can be toggled on or off by the user. You can also search for your own content feeds, and this process works surprisingly well, giving you RSS and XML feeds for just about any search you can muster – in English or Japanese (note, I tried it with English ones, see pictures below).

There’s also a ‘read later’ function that allows you to simply tag any article to be sent to your ‘read later’ queue. While this is certainly useful, there isn’t any styling that makes the articles any easier to read within the app, so it’s hard not to just send articles to Pocket each time. However, in terms of integration with applications that typical Japanese users like, FeedDrop excels. Twitter, Facebook, Hatena Bookmarks, Evernote, and Line are all supported, as well as the afore-mentioned Pocket.

But of course, like Gunosy, the app’s interface is in Japanese only, which is disappointing to see [3]. But it’s definitely an app that might be of interest to our readers here in Japan.

I’m curious to hear what news readers you guys are experimenting with these days. If you have any interesting recommendations, particularly anything that might be made in Japan, do let us know in the comments.

Some other Japanese reader apps worth mentioning include Vingow, SmartNews, and Naver Matome Reader. ↩
The Gunosy app interface looks very much inspired by Reeder, so if you like Reeder, you’ll feel comfortable with this app too. ↩
I can’t help but recall what Atomico’s Niklas Zennström mentioned back during the Japan New Economy Summit, noting that if you’re in the software business, you might as well be making it for the global market. I think an app like FeedDrop would be welcomed by users outside Japan if it ventured beyond just Japanese. ↩

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How DecoAlbum plans to be the best of many cute Japanese photo apps [Interview]

Masaru Ikeda 2013.05.06

When I first met up with the folks behind DecoAlbum, I thought maybe it was just another photo app. Japanese startups have developed so many photo sharing apps, and most of them hope to hit the South East Asian market. So I was wondering if this space hasn’t already been saturated. However DecoAlbum was one of the standouts at the recent Echelon Tokyo satellite event, and it was also chosen to be included in the first batch of NTT Docomo’s incubation program. So what’s so special about DecoAlbum? We sought out the app’s developer, Prime Again, to find out more. We spoke with the company’s CEO Nobuhiro Abe and his right hand Maiko Kojima. Tell us about you and your team? Nobuhiro: We were teamed up in 2010 when we developed a cloud-based contact sharing app at Breakthrough Camp, a two-month app and business development camp for university students and aspiring entrepreneurs. Then we were incorporated in December of 2010, and subsequently developed the app with students from Waseda University and Digital Hollywood University. We’ve seen many similar photo sharing apps. What makes DecoAlbum different? Maiko: We’re a team of students, and that’s our target user base. That’s why we’ve…

However DecoAlbum was one of the standouts at the recent Echelon Tokyo satellite event, and it was also chosen to be included in the first batch of NTT Docomo’s incubation program.

So what’s so special about DecoAlbum? We sought out the app’s developer, Prime Again, to find out more. We spoke with the company’s CEO Nobuhiro Abe and his right hand Maiko Kojima.

Tell us about you and your team?

Nobuhiro: We were teamed up in 2010 when we developed a cloud-based contact sharing app at Breakthrough Camp, a two-month app and business development camp for university students and aspiring entrepreneurs. Then we were incorporated in December of 2010, and subsequently developed the app with students from Waseda University and Digital Hollywood University.

We’ve seen many similar photo sharing apps. What makes DecoAlbum different?

Maiko: We’re a team of students, and that’s our target user base. That’s why we’ve learned so much about what our users really want to have. When we’re observing our friends using photo apps, they typically use one app for photo collage and another for decoration. So before uploading photos to their walls or timelines, they typically use two photo apps at least. The number of apps capable of both collage and decoration is very few, maybe even zero, because it’s difficult to manage and optimize memory usage for handling photos on smartphones. But we made it.

DecoAlbum allows users to both create collages and decorate with a single app. In terms of differentiation, there is also a storage function. Our app is not only a photo decoration and collage app but features storage on its backend. […] You can create as many albums as you want, and share anything stored photos with your friends or family members via Facebook, Line, or other social media.

Do you have any metrics to share about how your app has performed so far?

Nobuhiro: The app was launched in late June of 2012, and we’ve seen more than 1.2 million downloads in 8 months.

Is your user base different from other photo sharing apps?

Maiko: Our user base ranges from junior high school girls to housewives, especially those who prefer cute or elegant fashions. We’ve been acquiring users from the Southeast Asian market as well, mainly from housewives in their 20s. Our app is now available in Japanese, English, Mandarin, Korean, and Thai.

So are you making any specific marketing efforts elsewhere in Asia?

Primeagain CEO Nobuhiro Abe — PrimeAgain CEO Nobuhiro Abe

Nobuhiro: We have never done any paid promotions. So we’re honored to have seen such positive results. The usual acquisition of our user base has been entirely word-of-month, and we will partner with other mobile app developers to take things a step further. One of our strength is providing cute stickers designed from our awesome designers, and that has been very popular with our users, and it can be also used when messaging in other apps. We’ll be providing our specially designed stickers to some partner mobile apps, including Korea’s Between, a mobile photo sharing app for couples. We’re in talks with some other developers about providing stickers, an arrangement we feel benefits both parties.

How will you monetize? Do you have any exit strategy?

Nobuhiro: We’re partnering with Foglio (a photo processing platform run by Fujifilm) and mobile photo-processing company Tolot so that our users can print their pictures [1]. We’re also in talks with Photobook Thailand to give our users a better experience in Southeast Asian regions. Regarding the exit, we have no concrete plan at this moment beyond increasing our user base. We recently fundraised 10 million yen (approximately $100,000) from East Ventures, which might be sufficient to survive for the time being. We don’t want to [target] acquisition by another party, but expect to go straight ahead to an IPO exit.

DecoAlbum is certainly a very powerful app in terms of functions. Combining photo collage and decoration is not an issue that we hear many people complaining about, but based on DecoAlbum’s download numbers it looks to be a surprisingly significant problem. Will DecoAlbum remain the only real solution in this space? Let’s wait and see.

primeagain_team — The DecoAlbum development team

Tolot recently fundraised 500 million yen from KDDI Open Innovation Fund. ↩

news

Robot dog from Japan plays dead if your socks stink

Masaru Ikeda 2013.05.06

Crazy Labo and Next Technology, LLC., two startups from Japan’s western city of Fukuoka, have jointly invented a couple of scent detection robots. One is the human-looking Kaori-chan, and the other – Shuntaro – is made to resemble a dog. The lady robot is designed to measure the whether or not your breath smells ok, in the interests of promoting oral hygiene. When you breathe on her, she will respond with one of four different behaviors. If your breathe is ok, you will hear a chime that tells you are okay. If it’s not great, she rings another chime to indicate as much. But if your breath has some serious problems, she will be screaming. And if it really stinks completely, she will look like she’s out of order. As for Shuntaro the dog, he measures how much your socks smell. And similarly, there are four ways that he will react. If he finds your socks smell nice, he will come a little closer to you. If the smell is not so great, he will look at you and bark several times. If you smell really bad, he will snarl. And if you smell especially awful (ru-roh!), he will play dead….

Breath scent detection robot "Kaori-chan"(Photo: RKB Radio blog) — Breath scent detection robot “Kaori-chan”
(Photo: RKB Radio Broadcasting’s blog)

Crazy Labo and Next Technology, LLC., two startups from Japan’s western city of Fukuoka, have jointly invented a couple of scent detection robots. One is the human-looking Kaori-chan, and the other – Shuntaro – is made to resemble a dog.

The lady robot is designed to measure the whether or not your breath smells ok, in the interests of promoting oral hygiene. When you breathe on her, she will respond with one of four different behaviors. If your breathe is ok, you will hear a chime that tells you are okay. If it’s not great, she rings another chime to indicate as much. But if your breath has some serious problems, she will be screaming. And if it really stinks completely, she will look like she’s out of order.

As for Shuntaro the dog, he measures how much your socks smell. And similarly, there are four ways that he will react. If he finds your socks smell nice, he will come a little closer to you.

If the smell is not so great, he will look at you and bark several times. If you smell really bad, he will snarl. And if you smell especially awful (ru-roh!), he will play dead.

The company expects to rent these robots for festivals or exhibitions, helping organizers attract and entertain their attendees.

Tokyo’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper has visited their offices to how the robots behave. Check their video here for more information.

news

Hand-powered personal fan promises to be big in Japan this summer

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.05.06

Summer in Japan can be very humid and uncomfortable. Paper fans and parasols are what people usually use to beat the heat, but there might be a better solution. This coming summer, people can try out a battery-free portable fan called Kuru-Kuru Eco Fan, developed by Takaratomy. The first version of this eco-fan was released in April of last year with over 120,000 items shipped. The original fan required the user to turn the handle, but this reworked version is powered when you squeeze the handle which then triggers the fan blade to turn (see picture above). With one squeeze, the fan turns more than 50 times. Suited for both adults and children, the fan’s handle is only 5.5 cm wide (in the open position), and weighs just 51 grams. The three fan blades are made of soft material making it safe for children to use. All it takes is a squeeze of the handle and you can enjoy a nice breeze. Your other hand is, of course, free to use your smartphone. Kuru-Kuru Eco Fan is priced at just 787 yen, or about $8. It comes with a strap to hold it around your neck, and extra design patterns…

The first version of this eco-fan was released in April of last year with over 120,000 items shipped. The original fan required the user to turn the handle, but this reworked version is powered when you squeeze the handle which then triggers the fan blade to turn (see picture above). With one squeeze, the fan turns more than 50 times.

Suited for both adults and children, the fan’s handle is only 5.5 cm wide (in the open position), and weighs just 51 grams. The three fan blades are made of soft material making it safe for children to use. All it takes is a squeeze of the handle and you can enjoy a nice breeze. Your other hand is, of course, free to use your smartphone.

Kuru-Kuru Eco Fan is priced at just 787 yen, or about $8. It comes with a strap to hold it around your neck, and extra design patterns which you can use to dress it up a bit. The fan is part of Takaratomy’s Eco Toy initiative, aimed to create toys that are friendly to the enviroment.

Speaking of summer, character goods merchandiser called Runat released a silicon ice cube tray called Manga Gori, or Manga Ice. The tray makes ice cubes that are shaped like onmatopoeic words often seen in manga. The clever ice cube tray is available on Amazon for 1029 yen, or about $10.

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Japan tech this week: Mobile standouts Line, Puzzle & Dragons still kicking butt

japan tech this week

Rick Martin 2013.05.05

It was Golden Week here in Japan, so there wasn’t too much happening from the business world. We took the opportunity to be a little more reflective, spotlighting some interesting companies, apps, and games. For those of you in Japan, we hope you’ve had a good holiday! [1] If you’d like to get this weekly summary plus other bonus content, we hope you’ll check out our shiny new newsletter here. Features Kickstart this: 14 of Japan’s top crowdfunded projects Beauty products portal @Cosme is an internet mainstay among Japanese women Japan’s Weathernews hopes to take the US market by storm Relux: A satisfaction-guaranteed online marketplace for Japanese ryokan Business NTT Docomo to acquire Japan’s largest medical database Gadgets This hard drive will self-destruct: New HDD case from Japan takes security seriously! Line tries to hook kids early, launching toy smartphone with Takaratomy Fun Apps StickerMe: Add your own face to mobile chat stickers, share on Facebook, Line, or Kakaotalk Line’s hockey stick moment: Japanese chat app hits 150 million users Japanese finance app Zaim rolls out slick web version, updates Android app with OCR Kame Camera takes Japanese schoolgirl ‘Dragon Ball’ meme a step further Games With over 5 million…

If you’d like to get this weekly summary plus other bonus content, we hope you’ll check out our shiny new newsletter here.

Features

Business

NTT Docomo to acquire Japan’s largest medical database

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Actually, tomorrow is a public holiday in Japan too, so I guess you have one more day still! ↩

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Kickstart this: 14 of Japan’s top crowdfunded projects

Masaru Ikeda 2013.05.04

Visualizing.info is a website that visualizes statistics and metrics from market surveys. On May 1st, the website was updated for the first time in almost a month, and it presented some interesting statistics from the Japanese crowdfunding space. The website has collected figures from the major Japanese crowdfunding sites: Readyfor, Campfire, Motion Galery, Countdown, and Kibidango. It presented an overview of what projects are trending or are most influential by counting the number of supportive ‘likes’ or the accumulation of funds raised. So what projects are the most popular in Japan in terms of the amounts raised? Let’s have a quick look below. All the statistics were current as of April 30th, 2013. Readyfor 1st place: Fill an empty library Raised 8.2 million yen from 862 people This project aims to help a library in Rikuzen Takada fill its shelves with with books. The library is located in the heart of an area that was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, where most books were damaged or destroyed by the subsequent tsunami. 2nd place: Support the koalas Raised 4.8 million yen from 677 people It aims to help a zoo in Nagoya grow eucalyptus to feed their…

So what projects are the most popular in Japan in terms of the amounts raised? Let’s have a quick look below. All the statistics were current as of April 30th, 2013.

Readyfor

1st place: Fill an empty library

Raised 8.2 million yen from 862 people

This project aims to help a library in Rikuzen Takada fill its shelves with with books. The library is located in the heart of an area that was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, where most books were damaged or destroyed by the subsequent tsunami.

2nd place: Support the koalas

Raised 4.8 million yen from 677 people

It aims to help a zoo in Nagoya grow eucalyptus to feed their koalas. As some of our readers may know, koalas don’t eat anything other than eucalyptus. But these trees don’t grow naturally, and have to be grown artificially. Due to a lack of funds from the local government, this project raised money by turning to the public for financial support.

3rd place: Send young artists to Italy

Raised 4.2 million yen from 388 people

Elementary school students living in the area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake have created artwork made from the debris left by the devastation. These are to be exhibited at the Toy Museum in Zagarolo, Italy. The project owners wish to take the children to attend the exhibition.

Campfire

1st place: From Fukushima to Chernobyl

Raised 6 million yen from 728 people

Three famous Japanese journalists and critics who have been observing the devastated area affected by the 2011 disaster are planning to visit Chernobyl to cover what’s has been happening there after the nuclear power plant accident. The three have raised money for a trip and will bring the latest reports and information to their audience in return.

2nd place: iPhone Polaroids

Raised 5.3 million yen from 268 people

A hardware manufacturing group called Impossible Instant Lab is planning to produce a device that allows you to develop Polaroid-style physical photos using the iPhone.

3rd place: Akihiro Nishino’s picture books

Raised 5.3 million yen from 585 people

Popular Japanese comedian Akihiro Nishino has created his own original picture books. He is hoping for a global outreach, and is planning to hold an exhibition at a gallery in New York.

Motion Gallery

1st place: Herb & Dorothy

Raised 14.6 million yen from 915 people

Japanese film maker Megumi Sasaki created a documentary film called Herb & Dorothy. It focuses on how an elderly couple living in NYC assembled one of the most important post–1960 art collections in history, on their modest civil-service salaries. Megumi wants to show the movie at a Japanese theater.

2nd place: Like someone in love

Raised 5.6 million yen from 244 people

Award-winning Iranian film maker Abbas Kiarostami shot a film in Japan called Like Someone in Love. Abbas once gave up on shooting the film due to the Great Earthquake, but eventually production was finished. The story revolved around an old man and a young prostitute in Japan, and thus far has been well received by critics. This effort aimed to raise funds to go towards the film’s distribution in Japan.

3rd place: Remembering Yanana

Raised 3.2 million yen from 132 people

These days, many Japanese local governments have introduced mascot characters called ‘Yuru-chara,’ primarily in an effort to promote local products and tourism in their areas. “Yanana” is one of the characters hailing from Gifu, Japan, but she subsequently had to stop her activities because her promotion schedule was unexpectedly terminated. For the purpose of keeping her alive in the minds of locals, some fans are raising money to hold retirement event, establish a monument, and even create a movie in her honor.

Countdown

1st place: Gamarjobat

Raised 8.4 million yen from 399 people

Japanese comedy duo Gamarjobat has been performing pantomime shows in 32 countries around the world. The duo has appeared on the BBC variety show Blue Peter and their next destination is Hollywood. To help them make it there, they want to create a promotional video about themselves.

2nd place

Raised 4.1 million yen from 115 people

A Japanese inn owner hopes to found a co-working space in a hot spring resort. Located in the Tohoku region just three hours away from Tokyo by bullet train, the owner wants to create a facility where everyone can comfortably work – but given the relaxing environment, heal at the same time.

3rd place: Online sign language dictionary and keyboard

Raised 2.9 million yen from 132 people

This project aspires to create the world’s first online dictionary for sign languages. Readers may recall that we previously featured this idea back in February.

Kibidango

1st place: The perfect camera bag

Raised 6.5 million yen from 226 people

Ulysses is the ideal camera bag. The creators have been polishing the idea for eight years, and they’ve finally invented one which uses natural materials but is still durable and easy-to-use.

2nd place: Pinot noir from Niigata

Raised 2.5 million yen from 107 people

A winery owner in Niigata plans to create a new wine using a Pinot noir grape. He wants to cultivate a grape vineyard, create his wine, and finally ship it. His customers (investors) have to wait five years for the wine to mature.

FeedDrop: A new iPhone news reader app just for Japan

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