NTT Broadband Platform, an NTT Docomo subsidiary operating public wi-fi services, recently announced the launch of its complimentary wi-fi service for iOS, intended to serve international travelers to Japan. This service is called ‘Japan Connected-free Wi-Fi’ and was initially launched for Android users back in November.
All you need to do is to install the app on your smartphone and sign up when you launch the app for the first time. It lists over 16,000 free wi-fi hotspots nationwide in Japan, including 7-Eleven stores, Denny’s restaurants, JR railway stations, and many other public places. Unfortunately when you’re offline, you can’t use the map to find the nearest location from where you are. But the app shows you several signs that designated internet accessible areas which you can probably find around town, so it will be relatively easy to get a connection. The service is available in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Korean, and Japanese.
On a somewhat related note, our readers may recall the Tokyo Bureau of Transportation also started in-train and in-bus complimentary wi-fi service aboard their bus and subways, specifically intended for serving international travelers.
The creative folks over at Tokyo-based TeamLab have developed an interesting video solution that lets you transform any given location into your own three-dimensional graphical space over a green screen. What’s remarkable about it is that when the camera moves, the virtual space will adjust to the viewing angle in real time. Dubbed TeamLab Studio, the technology is currently in the beta phase, but has been put into use at Cure Studio in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. The studio can be used by anyone to create cosplay videos in virtual worlds, and you can even add things like magic effects to accentuate your movement. One such video sample can be viewed below. Cure Studio can be used for free, although visitors will have to pay admission for Haco Stadium Ikebukuro where the studio is located. While a TeamLab rep couldn’t disclose too much details about the technology behind the real-time synchronized camera movement and visualized space, I understand that the software to interface with the camera was developed in-house at TeamLab. This is just the latest digital work from the very prolific TeamLab, which is also responsible for ingenious projects like the interactive TV game that was played by a million people…
The creative folks over at Tokyo-based TeamLab have developed an interesting video solution that lets you transform any given location into your own three-dimensional graphical space over a green screen. What’s remarkable about it is that when the camera moves, the virtual space will adjust to the viewing angle in real time.
Dubbed TeamLab Studio, the technology is currently in the beta phase, but has been put into use at Cure Studio in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. The studio can be used by anyone to create cosplay videos in virtual worlds, and you can even add things like magic effects to accentuate your movement. One such video sample can be viewed below. Cure Studio can be used for free, although visitors will have to pay admission for Haco Stadium Ikebukuro where the studio is located.
While a TeamLab rep couldn’t disclose too much details about the technology behind the real-time synchronized camera movement and visualized space, I understand that the software to interface with the camera was developed in-house at TeamLab.
This is just the latest digital work from the very prolific TeamLab, which is also responsible for ingenious projects like the interactive TV game that was played by a million people in real time last year, or the two-ton, 4D animated tree that was displayed in Fukuoka last Christmas.
See our report in Japanese Adways Korea, the subsidiary of Tokyo-based Adways Inc, has announced the official launch of its Yoyaku Top 10 service in Korea. It lets users pre-register for mobile game apps, and has been available in Korea in the beta phase since January. For developers, it serves as a medium to reach fans before the launch of an app, or even provide push notifications for new updates or events. During that three month beta, the service has been used by 150 apps from 50 different developers, with as many as 10,000 pre-registrations coming on a single app. The company claims a 56% conversion rate, which they say is far better than PC-based pre-registration services [1]. Yoyaku Top 10 was initially launched for the Japanese market in January of 2013, and Adways apparently has experienced enough success with it to warrant localization into Korean to explore that market. After Korea, the company aspires to expand service elsewhere in Asia. Adways says this figure is 20% for PC services, though we don’t have any verification for this. ↩
Adways Korea, the subsidiary of Tokyo-based Adways Inc, has announced the official launch of its Yoyaku Top 10 service in Korea. It lets users pre-register for mobile game apps, and has been available in Korea in the beta phase since January. For developers, it serves as a medium to reach fans before the launch of an app, or even provide push notifications for new updates or events.
During that three month beta, the service has been used by 150 apps from 50 different developers, with as many as 10,000 pre-registrations coming on a single app. The company claims a 56% conversion rate, which they say is far better than PC-based pre-registration services [1].
Yoyaku Top 10 was initially launched for the Japanese market in January of 2013, and Adways apparently has experienced enough success with it to warrant localization into Korean to explore that market.
After Korea, the company aspires to expand service elsewhere in Asia.
Adways says this figure is 20% for PC services, though we don’t have any verification for this. ↩
See the original story in Japanese. Japanese startup 10sec operates a mobile flea market mobile for the US market. Today the company announced today that it has raised 160 million yen (about $1.6 million) from Japanese internet company CyberAgent (TSE:4751). According to the startup’s CEO Hideyuki Shoda, this follows their previous funding from Tokyo-based Incubated Fund. The app, which will be available on the US App Store from mid-May, lets you to sell items using your Instagram photos. Shoda told us how the app is different from existing flea market apps: When you use conventional flea market apps, you may need to input your price, description, and delivery method for what you sell. But our app allows lets you list your item on our platform in as little as 10 seconds. The platform doesn’t as you to specify a price when you sell an item, but you simply wait until a potential buyers propose one. Users can purchase your item through the app or the website, and payment is collected by 10sec when the deal is made. The seller is subsequently paid via their banking account upon the confirmation that the buyer has received the item. Shoda also elaborated on…
Japanese startup 10sec operates a mobile flea market mobile for the US market. Today the company announced today that it has raised 160 million yen (about $1.6 million) from Japanese internet company CyberAgent (TSE:4751). According to the startup’s CEO Hideyuki Shoda, this follows their previous funding from Tokyo-based Incubated Fund.
The app, which will be available on the US App Store from mid-May, lets you to sell items using your Instagram photos. Shoda told us how the app is different from existing flea market apps:
When you use conventional flea market apps, you may need to input your price, description, and delivery method for what you sell. But our app allows lets you list your item on our platform in as little as 10 seconds.
10sec CEO Hideyuki Shoda
The platform doesn’t as you to specify a price when you sell an item, but you simply wait until a potential buyers propose one. Users can purchase your item through the app or the website, and payment is collected by 10sec when the deal is made. The seller is subsequently paid via their banking account upon the confirmation that the buyer has received the item.
Shoda also elaborated on the advantage of their Instagram integration:
We have many users who have been buying and selling items on Instagram just by adding a #forsale tag to their item photos. But they need to handle payments or inventory by themselves. Our app lets them eliminate these time-consuming tasks, since we provide payment processing, receipt of orders, and inventory management features.
The team wants to bring in these flea market sellers who are already using Instagram. That’s why they choose the US as their target market where Instagram users account for 35% of the network’s global user base. Shoda hinted at their future plans:
We’re going to make our app available on photo sharing apps other than Instagram. So we expect to build a buy-and-sell platform using various photo apps.
This funding was triggered when they won an award at ‘Startup-ban Ashita Kaigi’, a day-long startup camp program recently held by CyberAgent. The company will set up an office in the US to better serve local users.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Grood, the startup best known for its crowdsourcing platform for voice actors, announced today that it has launched a new platform called Tabikul. This service helps you arrange travel itineraries by capitalizing on crowdsourced information. Based on your request, crowdsourced users living in certain destinations will help you arrange a travel itinerary. You can select your preference for mode of transportation or accommodations from five options, depending on your price requirements. You can receive proposals from crowdsourced users in 72 hours from the submission of your request, and even can ask for minor changes by interacting over the platform. If you like the proposed itinerary, you can order the tickets needed on the website, without having to go to another booking site. When you order, the user who arranged your itinerary can receive 10,000 yen (about $100) as a reward from the platform. At the time of launch, Tabikul is still limited to accepting travel itinerary requests to France, the UK, and Italy. They plan to expand it as they acquire more crowdsourced users from other regions.
Tokyo-based Grood, the startup best known for its crowdsourcing platform for voice actors, announced today that it has launched a new platform called Tabikul. This service helps you arrange travel itineraries by capitalizing on crowdsourced information.
Based on your request, crowdsourced users living in certain destinations will help you arrange a travel itinerary. You can select your preference for mode of transportation or accommodations from five options, depending on your price requirements. You can receive proposals from crowdsourced users in 72 hours from the submission of your request, and even can ask for minor changes by interacting over the platform.
If you like the proposed itinerary, you can order the tickets needed on the website, without having to go to another booking site. When you order, the user who arranged your itinerary can receive 10,000 yen (about $100) as a reward from the platform.
At the time of launch, Tabikul is still limited to accepting travel itinerary requests to France, the UK, and Italy. They plan to expand it as they acquire more crowdsourced users from other regions.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based startup Hatch is developing a hiring platform that uses machine learning and big data solutions. The company announced today that it has raised seed funding of 75 million yen (approximately $750,000) from CyberAgent Ventures and Anri. They will use these funds to intensify development and marketing efforts for their hiring support platform, which will be called Talentio. The company was launched last August by Akihito Nihomiya (CEO), Ichiro Sadahira (COO and CFO), and Yoshinobu Kinugasa (CTO). They initially thought they would launch a business in the edutech space by analyzing behavior, but when they found it will take time to make that area monetizable, then shifted their target to exploring opportunities in hiring. They have been developing their platform for almost half an year in stealth mode. Growth hacking for hiring The issues that the company wants to address with the new platform can be summarized in two points: First, the process of managing applicants profiles is still being handled manually at most companies, often with profiles stored in an Excel file. It can be difficult to find out who among your colleagues interviewed an applicant or what kind of jobs the person…
Tokyo-based startup Hatch is developing a hiring platform that uses machine learning and big data solutions. The company announced today that it has raised seed funding of 75 million yen (approximately $750,000) from CyberAgent Ventures and Anri. They will use these funds to intensify development and marketing efforts for their hiring support platform, which will be called Talentio.
The company was launched last August by Akihito Nihomiya (CEO), Ichiro Sadahira (COO and CFO), and Yoshinobu Kinugasa (CTO). They initially thought they would launch a business in the edutech space by analyzing behavior, but when they found it will take time to make that area monetizable, then shifted their target to exploring opportunities in hiring. They have been developing their platform for almost half an year in stealth mode.
Hatch management From the left: Akihito Ninoymiya (CEO), Ichiro Sadahira (COO and CFO), Yoshinobu Kinugasa (CTO)
Growth hacking for hiring
The issues that the company wants to address with the new platform can be summarized in two points:
First, the process of managing applicants profiles is still being handled manually at most companies, often with profiles stored in an Excel file. It can be difficult to find out who among your colleagues interviewed an applicant or what kind of jobs the person has experienced before.
Conversely, job seekers find it difficult to identify what kind of skills are needed or the amount of salary they can receive in a given industry.
We understand the company wants to implement a growth hack concept (often seen in the gaming industry these days) in the hiring and job seeking processes. They are planning to hold a ‘Secret Release Party’ soon, where they will showcase their products to selected potential users, so we encourage you to visit there if you want to check it out.
Companies have many options to streamline the hiring process using executive search provided by big companies and hiring support platforms operated by startups. And recruiting personnel are keen to find promising talent by making the most of such services. We’re told that Hatch doesn’t intend to compete with other operators or platform developers. As far as I can tell, their solution will be able to integrate with third-party hiring platforms, in the same way that many financial aggregation tools scrape updates from multiple online banking services. In this way, the platform lets you see information from multiple sources using a single interface.
While we’ve already seen Silicon Valley-based startup Jobvite in this space, Hatch is exploring global expansion opportunities from Asia, with initial plans to expand the business to Taiwan and Korea.
Masaru Ikeda
Rick Martin
Miyako Yoshizawa
Junya Mori
