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Augmented reality t-shirts stand out in Japan

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Japanese fashion retailer Beams is experimenting with AR technology to create some truly amazing t-shirts. They’re called Asoberu-T (Asoberu means ‘to play with’ in Japanese) and by viewing these shirts with your mobile camera, a very cool, unique design will emerge. The company collaborated with a popular manga Gintama to mark the release of its movie, set to hit theaters on July 6th, and the t-shirt went on sale online for a limited time of less than a week. The shirts have famous quotes from the manga characters, and cost 4,200 yen each (or about $42). In order to play with the t-shirt, you need to download a dedicated app which will be released on July 5th. Users can take photos of the pop-out designs and share them with friends on different social networks. The app will be available for both iOS and Android. You can check out Asoberu-T over on the Beams online shop.

Japanese fashion retailer Beams is experimenting with AR technology to create some truly amazing t-shirts. They’re called Asoberu-T (Asoberu means ‘to play with’ in Japanese) and by viewing these shirts with your mobile camera, a very cool, unique design will emerge.

The company collaborated with a popular manga Gintama to mark the release of its movie, set to hit theaters on July 6th, and the t-shirt went on sale online for a limited time of less than a week. The shirts have famous quotes from the manga characters, and cost 4,200 yen each (or about $42).

In order to play with the t-shirt, you need to download a dedicated app which will be released on July 5th. Users can take photos of the pop-out designs and share them with friends on different social networks. The app will be available for both iOS and Android.

You can check out Asoberu-T over on the Beams online shop.

Aqush gives Japanese lenders access to US personal loan market

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Aqush, a prominent Japanese social lending service, announced today that it has partnered with US-based Lending Club to form a new fund, giving Japanese lenders easier access to fundraising projects in America. For Japanese users interested in investing in US-based projects, you usually need to set up a local banking account there. As a result of this new partnership, Japanese lenders can invest in such projects by paying an additional 1.5% surcharge. Lending Club was launched back in 2007, and has handled personal loans worth a total of more than $1.9 million. The company raised $125 million from Google back in May. Exchange Corporation (or ExCo for short) is the company behind Aqush. It was launched by former investment banker Russel Cummer back in 2008, and subsequently received an undisclosed amount of investment from Silicon Valley-based startup fund 500 Startups back in 2010. He also founded another startup called MyCredit.jp which provides consumers with a credibility report of their finances, a sort of Japanese version of Experian or Equifax.

aqush-global-fund_screenshot

Aqush, a prominent Japanese social lending service, announced today that it has partnered with US-based Lending Club to form a new fund, giving Japanese lenders easier access to fundraising projects in America. For Japanese users interested in investing in US-based projects, you usually need to set up a local banking account there. As a result of this new partnership, Japanese lenders can invest in such projects by paying an additional 1.5% surcharge.

Lending Club was launched back in 2007, and has handled personal loans worth a total of more than $1.9 million. The company raised $125 million from Google back in May.

Exchange Corporation (or ExCo for short) is the company behind Aqush. It was launched by former investment banker Russel Cummer back in 2008, and subsequently received an undisclosed amount of investment from Silicon Valley-based startup fund 500 Startups back in 2010.

He also founded another startup called MyCredit.jp which provides consumers with a credibility report of their finances, a sort of Japanese version of Experian or Equifax.

Cat-on-roomba iPhone game from Japan may have just won the internet

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One of the first computer games that I remember playing as a kid is Breakout. Since then there have been many re-imaginings of the iconic game, but I recently stumbled upon a unique one over on App Bank. It’s called Cat with Rumba (‘Neko no Rumba’ in Japanese), and by combining computer game nostalgia and the power of cute cats, this game may very well have just won the internet. If you’ve played Breakout before, the simple mechanics will be familiar to you. You simply move the paddle in the bottom of the screen to bounce your Roomba-riding cat around a very messy room. The cat-and-Roomba combo are actually a pretty hard target to miss, but the difficult part is cleaning up all the garbage before the 60-second timer runs out. In the process you can snatch up valuable treasure items too, adding to your collection as you go. When you completely clean the room, the cat does a really awesome dance as well! It is still just available to play in Japanese, but it’s simple enough to play even if you can’t read the text. If you’d like to give it a try, you can download it for free…

cat-with-rumba-icon

One of the first computer games that I remember playing as a kid is Breakout. Since then there have been many re-imaginings of the iconic game, but I recently stumbled upon a unique one over on App Bank. It’s called Cat with Rumba (‘Neko no Rumba’ in Japanese), and by combining computer game nostalgia and the power of cute cats, this game may very well have just won the internet.

If you’ve played Breakout before, the simple mechanics will be familiar to you. You simply move the paddle in the bottom of the screen to bounce your Roomba-riding cat around a very messy room.

The cat-and-Roomba combo are actually a pretty hard target to miss, but the difficult part is cleaning up all the garbage before the 60-second timer runs out. In the process you can snatch up valuable treasure items too, adding to your collection as you go. When you completely clean the room, the cat does a really awesome dance as well!

It is still just available to play in Japanese, but it’s simple enough to play even if you can’t read the text. If you’d like to give it a try, you can download it for free over on the App Store [1]. Even though it has yet to really catch on, even in Japan, it’s a super fun game and I really recommend you check it out!

cat-with-rumba-2 cat-with-rumba-2


  1. I should note that this app did crash a few times for me when I installed it. So you may or may not experience the same thing. Good luck!  ↩

Japan-based Phroni introduces smart add-ons for Dolphin and Sleipnir mobile browsers

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Phroni is a FireFox add-on that scan whatever website you’re browsing and augment keywords with links to useful information resources. It uses artificial intelligence-based technology and a database of keyword-to-link mappings. Studio Ousia, the Japanese startup behind the technology, has now also introduced new add-ons for two smartphone web browsers: Dolphin Browser and Sleipnir Mobile (for iOS / Android). Dolphin Browser was developed by SF-based startup Mobotap, originally born from a Startup Weekend Beijing event. It is an alternative mobile browser for iOS and Android devices, and allows users to browse websites with gesture or sonar controls. Slepinir Mobile is the mobile version of the Sleipnir browser, created by Japanese startup Fenrir. The browser is known for its bold steps in user interface design and browsing experience. We reviewed Sleipnir for Mac back in February, if you’d like to learn more. Phroni technology adds helpful links on keywords, offering you a way to easily get to other resources you may be interested in. The technology is currently patent pending in the US and Japan. Studio Ousia is an standout graduate from Keio University SFC‘s incubation program. The startup raised 70 million yen (about $864,000) from Nissay Capital back in February of last…

phroni_on_dolphin-browser
Browsing the SD Japan website with the Phroni-enabled Dolphin Browser

Phroni is a FireFox add-on that scan whatever website you’re browsing and augment keywords with links to useful information resources. It uses artificial intelligence-based technology and a database of keyword-to-link mappings. Studio Ousia, the Japanese startup behind the technology, has now also introduced new add-ons for two smartphone web browsers: Dolphin Browser and Sleipnir Mobile (for iOS / Android).

Dolphin Browser was developed by SF-based startup Mobotap, originally born from a Startup Weekend Beijing event. It is an alternative mobile browser for iOS and Android devices, and allows users to browse websites with gesture or sonar controls.

Slepinir Mobile is the mobile version of the Sleipnir browser, created by Japanese startup Fenrir. The browser is known for its bold steps in user interface design and browsing experience. We reviewed Sleipnir for Mac back in February, if you’d like to learn more.

Phroni technology adds helpful links on keywords, offering you a way to easily get to other resources you may be interested in. The technology is currently patent pending in the US and Japan.

Studio Ousia is an standout graduate from Keio University SFC‘s incubation program. The startup raised 70 million yen (about $864,000) from Nissay Capital back in February of last year. It recently set up a satellite studio in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, where they expect to intensify software development and promotional activities.

You can learn more about Phroni in its promo video below.

Pitapat announces public release of Q&A service Qixil

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Tokyo-based startup Pitapat was founded back in 2011, a subsidiary of Japanese web giant CyberAgent (TYO:4751). Some of our readers may recall that it launched Qixil an invitation-only Q&A app back in April. Now the startup is announcing today that the service has been fully opened to the public, and anyone can now join the Q&A forums without an invitation. Qixil is somewhat similar to Quora, and has acquired more than 1,000 users from a wide range of profession like lawyers, politicians, and investors. According to the company, if you post a question on the app, there’s about a 92% chance that you’ll get an answer back from someone. It originally focused on startup-related topics, mainly exchanging questions and answers between entrepreneurs and investors. However, upon this public release, the service is allowing users to discuss all kinds of topics. On the app, a user can post a question in the category of his or her choosing. If you answer the question and other users evaluate your feedback, you’ll win a point for that particular category. By accumulating points, you subsequently might be qualified as a professional or expert in that category.

pitapat_logoTokyo-based startup Pitapat was founded back in 2011, a subsidiary of Japanese web giant CyberAgent (TYO:4751). Some of our readers may recall that it launched Qixil an invitation-only Q&A app back in April. Now the startup is announcing today that the service has been fully opened to the public, and anyone can now join the Q&A forums without an invitation.

Qixil is somewhat similar to Quora, and has acquired more than 1,000 users from a wide range of profession like lawyers, politicians, and investors. According to the company, if you post a question on the app, there’s about a 92% chance that you’ll get an answer back from someone.

It originally focused on startup-related topics, mainly exchanging questions and answers between entrepreneurs and investors. However, upon this public release, the service is allowing users to discuss all kinds of topics.

On the app, a user can post a question in the category of his or her choosing. If you answer the question and other users evaluate your feedback, you’ll win a point for that particular category. By accumulating points, you subsequently might be qualified as a professional or expert in that category.

qixil_screenshots