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Otaku Camera for Android gets a boost, rockets past a million downloads

Rick Martin 2013.03.11

Tokyo Otaku Mode’s popular photo app Otaku Camera has recently received a big boost by recently being featured on Google Play in 42 countries, including the US and Japan. We’re told that this has helped the Android version of their app has hit the one million download milestone within a very short time. Currently the iPhone version of the app is doing ok too, with about 400,000 downoads to date. And if the momentum can continue over on Google Play, then perhaps two million total downloads is not too far off. We did a brief video demo of Otaku Camera last month, highlighting some of its main features (see video below). The company has been providing downloadable photo frames in the app via its frame shop. Currently the frames are free, although I expect later they will introduce some paid frames. Tokyo Otaku Mode is perhaps best known for its wildly popular Facebook page, which has more than 10 million fans. Currently the Tokyo-based startup is making an effort to monetize that fan base, and developing a mobile presence is one aspect of that initiative. You can learn more about TOM by checking out our in-depth feature from back in…

Tokyo Otaku Mode’s popular photo app Otaku Camera has recently received a big boost by recently being featured on Google Play in 42 countries, including the US and Japan. We’re told that this has helped the Android version of their app has hit the one million download milestone within a very short time.

Currently the iPhone version of the app is doing ok too, with about 400,000 downoads to date. And if the momentum can continue over on Google Play, then perhaps two million total downloads is not too far off.

We did a brief video demo of Otaku Camera last month, highlighting some of its main features (see video below). The company has been providing downloadable photo frames in the app via its frame shop. Currently the frames are free, although I expect later they will introduce some paid frames.

Tokyo Otaku Mode is perhaps best known for its wildly popular Facebook page, which has more than 10 million fans. Currently the Tokyo-based startup is making an effort to monetize that fan base, and developing a mobile presence is one aspect of that initiative. You can learn more about TOM by checking out our in-depth feature from back in February.

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On My Mobile: Metaps’ Yusuke Kobayashi

Rick Martin 2013.03.08

This is the first in our ‘On My Mobile’ series (RSS), a modest attempt to better understand how folks in Japan use their smartphones. We recently heard from Tokyo-based smartphone ad company Metaps, which just raised $11 million in series B funding. As a semi-related follow up, I thought it might be fun to ask someone from Metaps how they use their own Android phone. Yusuke Kobayashi was kind enough to participate in the first of what we hope to be a continuing series called ‘On My Mobile’. The goal is to take a look at the notable applications that folks in Japan’s tech industry use themselves, in the interests of better understanding Japan’s mobile space. In the interactive graphic below, you can see a couple of screens from Yusuke’s Android phone. He elaborates a little on three of his favorite applications: MT2 Free – This app is site viewer of Japanese 2channel which is a huge bulletin board site. I often use this app to get various information about entertainment, society, sport, etc. Also, the user comments for this app are pretty funny. Sudoku Plus – This app is puzzle game with numbers. I use this app to kill…

This is the first in our ‘On My Mobile’ series (RSS), a modest attempt to better understand how folks in Japan use their smartphones.

We recently heard from Tokyo-based smartphone ad company Metaps, which just raised $11 million in series B funding. As a semi-related follow up, I thought it might be fun to ask someone from Metaps how they use their own Android phone. Yusuke Kobayashi was kind enough to participate in the first of what we hope to be a continuing series called ‘On My Mobile’. The goal is to take a look at the notable applications that folks in Japan’s tech industry use themselves, in the interests of better understanding Japan’s mobile space.

In the interactive graphic below, you can see a couple of screens from Yusuke’s Android phone. He elaborates a little on three of his favorite applications:

MT2 Free – This app is site viewer of Japanese 2channel which is a huge bulletin board site. I often use this app to get various information about entertainment, society, sport, etc. Also, the user comments for this app are pretty funny.
Sudoku Plus – This app is puzzle game with numbers. I use this app to kill time and exercise my brain.
Revenge Of Dragoon – This app is social game, and the most interesting thing about it is its story and the card battle.

You can mouse over the image below to explore more of Yusuke’s preferred applications.

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Japan’s ‘Kiddy’ is a photo diary for iPhone that keeps grandma in the loop

Rick Martin 2013.03.07

Having recently joined the ranks of parenthood, I’ve been in the market for useful apps with which I could privately archive pictures of my new arrival. I don’t want to be one of those over-sharing parents on Facebook, nor do I want to publicly photos far beyond my immediate family and friends. Kiddy is a photo sharing application from Japan which attempts to solve this sort of problem, letting you keep a calendar-like photo diary of your child’s development in a more private environment. If you do want to share your photos, you can push images to Facebook, or send them via email from the application. But the most interesting sharing feature for the app is what’s called the ‘Kiddy Card.’ This feature allows you to select five of your best photos, and create a sort of postcard which you can then send to family members in the mail. Currently Kiddy is offering a free Kiddy Card campaign for the first five hundred applicants. If you’d like to send to one address, it’s $2.59 per month; two addresses is $4.99 per month, and three addresses is $6.99 per month. In Japan in particular, with its rapidly aging population, this function…

Having recently joined the ranks of parenthood, I’ve been in the market for useful apps with which I could privately archive pictures of my new arrival. I don’t want to be one of those over-sharing parents on Facebook, nor do I want to publicly photos far beyond my immediate family and friends.

Kiddy is a photo sharing application from Japan which attempts to solve this sort of problem, letting you keep a calendar-like photo diary of your child’s development in a more private environment. If you do want to share your photos, you can push images to Facebook, or send them via email from the application.

But the most interesting sharing feature for the app is what’s called the ‘Kiddy Card.’ This feature allows you to select five of your best photos, and create a sort of postcard which you can then send to family members in the mail. Currently Kiddy is offering a free Kiddy Card campaign for the first five hundred applicants.

If you’d like to send to one address, it’s $2.59 per month; two addresses is $4.99 per month, and three addresses is $6.99 per month. In Japan in particular, with its rapidly aging population, this function is a good way to ensure that grandparents aren’t left stranded across the digital divide.

Kiddy has been around for just a few months, but so far it seems to have found a surprising niche in the ‘medical’ category on Apple’s Japanese App Store. And an Android app is said to be on the way as well. Kiddy was created by the same folks behind Compath.me, a Tokyo startup which many of you may recognize. Check out their promo video below:

Other alternatives

Another made-in-Japan baby diary app on the market that parents might want to check out is Daiby, from Hakuhodo DY Media Partners. As for my own baby diary of choice, I still plan to use Notabli, primarily due to its ease of use, support for audio and video moments, and its promise to liberate my photos and data if I choose to quit the app in the future. (I’m glad to see however that Kiddy also plans to have this function soon.)

Kiddy’s service of delivering your pictures on paper is somewhat reminiscent of Mixi’s Nohana photo book service. That application, amazingly, lets you order one free book per month, not including a minor shipping fee. I recently ordered one, and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

news

Tokyo-based advertising startup FreakOut raises $5.3M from Yahoo Japan

Masaru Ikeda 2013.03.07

FreakOut is a Tokyo-based startup developing a smartphone advertising platform for real-time bidding (RTB). Today it announced that it has raised 500 million yen (approximately $5.3 million) in series B funding from YJ Capital, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689). FreakOut was launched in 2010 by Yuzuru Honda who previously launched a content-matching ad platform called Brainer, which was subsequently sold to Yahoo Japan in 2008. The startup has been delivering its white-label platform to more than 3,000 advertisers through 90 agencies in Japan and the US. With this new funding, the startup expects to intensify operations at its US subsidiary, FreakOut International Inc., which was launched in New York last April. Prior to this fundraising, the startup raised 350 million yen ($3.7 million) from two Japanese VC firms last year. TechCrunch Japan reports that the current value of the company is about 10.3 billion yen ($110 million).

FreakOut is a Tokyo-based startup developing a smartphone advertising platform for real-time bidding (RTB). Today it announced that it has raised 500 million yen (approximately $5.3 million) in series B funding from YJ Capital, the investment arm of Yahoo Japan (TYO:4689).

FreakOut was launched in 2010 by Yuzuru Honda who previously launched a content-matching ad platform called Brainer, which was subsequently sold to Yahoo Japan in 2008. The startup has been delivering its white-label platform to more than 3,000 advertisers through 90 agencies in Japan and the US. With this new funding, the startup expects to intensify operations at its US subsidiary, FreakOut International Inc., which was launched in New York last April.

Prior to this fundraising, the startup raised 350 million yen ($3.7 million) from two Japanese VC firms last year. TechCrunch Japan reports that the current value of the company is about 10.3 billion yen ($110 million).

news

New iPhone app from Domino’s Japan has virtual star Hatsune Miku dance on your pizza

SCORE 1,114

Rick Martin 2013.03.07

Domino’s Pizza has announced a pretty interesting high-tech collaboration that will create a new version of its already popular mobile app by adding the geeky appeal of virtual Vocaloid superstar Hatsune Miku. The app is free and has the normal functions of the Domino’s app, including the ability to order pizza, check the status of your order, and collect coupons. And in addition to the aqua-colored Hatsune Miku theme, it also has a few fun features, most notably an augmented reality function called ‘Pizza Stage Live.’ After your pizza arrives, you simply point your smartphone camera at the Hatsune Miku-themed Domino’s pizza box, and it suddenly becomes a stage where the animated singer begins a performance. Apparently the song, dance, and costume were all created by the folks at Domino’s Japan. Domino’s new app also includes a ‘Social Pizza Camera,’ a simple photo application that superimposes an image of Hatsune Miku – wearing costumes designed by Domino’s staffers – on top of any given scene. Once you take the picture, you can then share to Facebook or Twitter as well. Of course, Domino’s has added their logo at the bottom in the interests of some self-promotion. Domino’s employees have also…

Domino’s Pizza has announced a pretty interesting high-tech collaboration that will create a new version of its already popular mobile app by adding the geeky appeal of virtual Vocaloid superstar Hatsune Miku.

The app is free and has the normal functions of the Domino’s app, including the ability to order pizza, check the status of your order, and collect coupons. And in addition to the aqua-colored Hatsune Miku theme, it also has a few fun features, most notably an augmented reality function called ‘Pizza Stage Live.’ After your pizza arrives, you simply point your smartphone camera at the Hatsune Miku-themed Domino’s pizza box, and it suddenly becomes a stage where the animated singer begins a performance. Apparently the song, dance, and costume were all created by the folks at Domino’s Japan.

dominos-pizza-japan-hatsune-miku^3

Domino’s new app also includes a ‘Social Pizza Camera,’ a simple photo application that superimposes an image of Hatsune Miku – wearing costumes designed by Domino’s staffers – on top of any given scene. Once you take the picture, you can then share to Facebook or Twitter as well. Of course, Domino’s has added their logo at the bottom in the interests of some self-promotion.

Domino’s employees have also gotten in on the action, producing some fun Hatsune Miku videos and songs, also featured in the app. Even Domino’s executive vice president has gotten involved in a truly cringe-worthy promo video for the application, which you can check out below.

If you’d like to try the app for yourself, you can get it for free over on Apple’s Japanese app store.

Update: We subsequently received word that Kamakura-based developer/publisher Kayac worked on this app. Impressive!

dominos-pizza-japan-hatsune-miku

news

Discover an old world aesthetic with Kyoto Camera for iPhone

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.03.06

Kyoto Camera is a new iPhone photo app that recently joined the already very saturated photo app market. This application is somewhat unique however in that it isn’t about enhancing photos with filters, sharing with friends, or decorating photos with cute stamps. Interestingly, it simply focuses on discovering the colors we traditionally associate with the city of Kyoto in your everyday surroundings. By placing the white dot at the center of your photo preview, the app detects the object in the screen and displays name of the traditional color, and a corresponding color swatch is shown next to your shot, acting as a sort of stylish border flanking to the right in a polaroid-style snapshot (see above). Photos can then be saved to the camera roll. You can point to anything in your surroundings such as a convenience store, your shoes, a painting, or even Tokyo Tower. The app is sort of similar to Color Hunter except that it can be used for things in the real world. Kyoto Camera might come in handy for people who are looking to redo their walls in the style of old Kyoto. Or better yet, if you happen to be visiting Kyoto anytime…

Kyoto Camera is a new iPhone photo app that recently joined the already very saturated photo app market. This application is somewhat unique however in that it isn’t about enhancing photos with filters, sharing with friends, or decorating photos with cute stamps. Interestingly, it simply focuses on discovering the colors we traditionally associate with the city of Kyoto in your everyday surroundings.

By placing the white dot at the center of your photo preview, the app detects the object in the screen and displays name of the traditional color, and a corresponding color swatch is shown next to your shot, acting as a sort of stylish border flanking to the right in a polaroid-style snapshot (see above). Photos can then be saved to the camera roll.

You can point to anything in your surroundings such as a convenience store, your shoes, a painting, or even Tokyo Tower. The app is sort of similar to Color Hunter except that it can be used for things in the real world. Kyoto Camera might come in handy for people who are looking to redo their walls in the style of old Kyoto. Or better yet, if you happen to be visiting Kyoto anytime soon, you might use this app to snap off some pictures of key landmarks while you are there.

The city of Kyoto is filled with traditional buildings of beautiful colors. You can even find a brown McDonald’s there, which avoids its usual red so as to not disturb the surrounding landscape. If you’d like to try it out, the app is availabe over on the App Store for 85 yen (or about 90 cents).

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Monetizing Android ads for Asia (and soon the world) Metaps raises $11M in series B

Rick Martin 2013.03.06

Read the Japanese version of this report Japanese app monetization platform Metaps has announced today that it has raised 1 billion yen (or about $11 million) in series B funding from Fidelity Growth Partners. The company plans to use these funds to continue its expansion in Asia, and then beyond later this year. Metaps claims to be the largest such mobile ad network in Asia, and has the lofty goal of becoming the largest Android monetization platform in the world by the end of this year. Metaps originally launched in 2011, and since then Android apps using its platform have achieved a total of 62 million downloads by focusing on mature Asian markets like Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The company will continue to focus on Asia until this summer, after that looking to North America, followed by the European market in the fall. Interestingly, Fidelity Growth Partners has much experience in China, and a Metaps representative tells us that this is one reason why they will partner with them. Metaps is also in talks with some local Chinese firms as well. We’re told that Metaps’ success thus far is largely due to strong results for Android games, which…

Read the Japanese version of this report

Japanese app monetization platform Metaps has announced today that it has raised 1 billion yen (or about $11 million) in series B funding from Fidelity Growth Partners.

The company plans to use these funds to continue its expansion in Asia, and then beyond later this year. Metaps claims to be the largest such mobile ad network in Asia, and has the lofty goal of becoming the largest Android monetization platform in the world by the end of this year.

Metaps originally launched in 2011, and since then Android apps using its platform have achieved a total of 62 million downloads by focusing on mature Asian markets like Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The company will continue to focus on Asia until this summer, after that looking to North America, followed by the European market in the fall.

Interestingly, Fidelity Growth Partners has much experience in China, and a Metaps representative tells us that this is one reason why they will partner with them. Metaps is also in talks with some local Chinese firms as well.

We’re told that Metaps’ success thus far is largely due to strong results for Android games, which comprises about 70% of the company’s revenue. But that share is gradually decreasing as other non-gaming apps are beginning to monetize better.

news

In Japan, new iPhone apps help you remember the deceased

Masaru Ikeda 2013.03.06

How do you pay your respects to a loved one who has recently passed away? You might go to a nearby church, or pay a visit to the cemetery. In Japan, many people used to have a Buddhist altar at home, but this is less common these days. Nagoya-based smartphone app developer Hanbunko has introduced another way, with a series of iPhone apps dedicated to a sort of digital remembrance. Users can simply pray for someone by looking at his or her portrait on their phone, while listening to appropriate music or chanting a sutra. The app has a sutra version and a sort of ‘nursery song’ version, and the both can store up to 10 portraits. The apps are available for free on the iTunes app store, but you will be charged if you wish to eliminate an in-app ad (85 yen). For the ‘nursery song’ version, the app has several tunes performed by Hiroko Scott, who has been writing music for the harp and piano in Australia. The startup expects to add more songs later on. You can check out the video demo below to learn more about how these apps work. Hanbunko is also well known for…

How do you pay your respects to a loved one who has recently passed away? You might go to a nearby church, or pay a visit to the cemetery. In Japan, many people used to have a Buddhist altar at home, but this is less common these days.

Nagoya-based smartphone app developer Hanbunko has introduced another way, with a series of iPhone apps dedicated to a sort of digital remembrance. Users can simply pray for someone by looking at his or her portrait on their phone, while listening to appropriate music or chanting a sutra. The app has a sutra version and a sort of ‘nursery song’ version, and the both can store up to 10 portraits. The apps are available for free on the iTunes app store, but you will be charged if you wish to eliminate an in-app ad (85 yen).

For the ‘nursery song’ version, the app has several tunes performed by Hiroko Scott, who has been writing music for the harp and piano in Australia. The startup expects to add more songs later on.

You can check out the video demo below to learn more about how these apps work.

Hanbunko is also well known for having developed an iOS app that helps people suffering from certain verbal impediments or challenges to communicate with others selection certain options within the app (available in English and Japanese).

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Apple announces paid content for iBookstore in Japan

Rick Martin 2013.03.06

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has released an update to its iBooks application, which finally introduces paid content for users in Japan from the iBookstore. The update also includes improvements for Asian language books, and ostensibly that includes Japanese. We heard early reports about this development back in December, with Nikkei writing that Apple had 80,000 titles ready to go from local publishers. We’re not sure what the official number of offerings is, but the iBookstore now offers a wide variety of manga and novels, including big name titles like One Piece. CNet Japan notes that publishers on board include Kodansha, Kobunsha, Gentosha, Shueisha, and PHP Institute. The Japanese ebook scene is a notoriously difficult one for Western companies to penetrate, and Amazon can attest to this as its Kindle ebook reader took forever to arrive. This was reportedly due to long, tedious negotiations with Japanese publishers who are are resistant to having their industry disrupted. Apple, no doubt, had work hard to get past those same issues. (Via Tuaw)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has released an update to its iBooks application, which finally introduces paid content for users in Japan from the iBookstore. The update also includes improvements for Asian language books, and ostensibly that includes Japanese. We heard early reports about this development back in December, with Nikkei writing that Apple had 80,000 titles ready to go from local publishers.

We’re not sure what the official number of offerings is, but the iBookstore now offers a wide variety of manga and novels, including big name titles like One Piece. CNet Japan notes that publishers on board include Kodansha, Kobunsha, Gentosha, Shueisha, and PHP Institute.

The Japanese ebook scene is a notoriously difficult one for Western companies to penetrate, and Amazon can attest to this as its Kindle ebook reader took forever to arrive. This was reportedly due to long, tedious negotiations with Japanese publishers who are are resistant to having their industry disrupted. Apple, no doubt, had work hard to get past those same issues. (Via Tuaw)

news

Japan really likes ‘Like Me’ avatar apps

Rick Martin 2013.03.05

A while back when I reported that Ponus’s awesome tower defense game Battle Cats had made it to the top spot in the Japanese App Store, the game was soon after bumped off by a strange looking app called Like Me! Let’s make a portrait – Doodle version [1]. I didn’t make too much of it at the time, as I’m personally not such a fan of these dinky avatar-making applications. But it looks like lots of people in Japan like it, because Like Me (Doodle) has been hanging around as one of the top 5 free iOS apps ever since. It turns out that the developer, PDC Okinawa, has two other apps in its ‘Like Me’ series, including one that lets you do anime style avatars, and another one called ‘yurukawa’, which creates portraits in a sort of loose, unrefined style [2]. All three are doing respectably well in the entertainment category, with Doodle in the top spot, Anime at number eight, and Yurukawa at number 25 (see rankings above). I gave it a quick run run-through and found that creating your avatar is pretty simple. You can create your face using a wide selection of face parts, and…

like-me-apps — Japan app store ‘entertainment’ category, Mar 5, 2013

A while back when I reported that Ponus’s awesome tower defense game Battle Cats had made it to the top spot in the Japanese App Store, the game was soon after bumped off by a strange looking app called Like Me! Let’s make a portrait – Doodle version [1]. I didn’t make too much of it at the time, as I’m personally not such a fan of these dinky avatar-making applications. But it looks like lots of people in Japan like it, because Like Me (Doodle) has been hanging around as one of the top 5 free iOS apps ever since.

It turns out that the developer, PDC Okinawa, has two other apps in its ‘Like Me’ series, including one that lets you do anime style avatars, and another one called ‘yurukawa’, which creates portraits in a sort of loose, unrefined style [2]. All three are doing respectably well in the entertainment category, with Doodle in the top spot, Anime at number eight, and Yurukawa at number 25 (see rankings above).

I gave it a quick run run-through and found that creating your avatar is pretty simple. You can create your face using a wide selection of face parts, and there are also special items that you can buy in-app if you’d like to make your avatar look extra special. Like Me Doodle is also doing respectably well in the top grossing charts, so apparently that virtual item strategy is working to some extent.

I’m not certain if their current popularity is entirely organic or due to some special campaign. There’s at least some cross promotion between apps. But for now, Japan appears to really like this Like Me series of apps. While the applications are in English, and could potentially grab some popularity abroad, I don’t expect PDC to try to market them outside Japan — although it would be nice to see it try.

For a closer look, check out their promo video for Like Me Doodle below.

Catchy name, right? ↩
Technically, the company’s refers to itself as ‘pdc okinawa’ with no caps. Go figure. ↩

Mobile

Otaku Camera for Android gets a boost, rockets past a million downloads

On My Mobile: Metaps’ Yusuke Kobayashi

Japan’s ‘Kiddy’ is a photo diary for iPhone that keeps grandma in the loop

Other alternatives

Tokyo-based advertising startup FreakOut raises $5.3M from Yahoo Japan

New iPhone app from Domino’s Japan has virtual star Hatsune Miku dance on your pizza

Discover an old world aesthetic with Kyoto Camera for iPhone

Monetizing Android ads for Asia (and soon the world) Metaps raises $11M in series B

In Japan, new iPhone apps help you remember the deceased

Apple announces paid content for iBookstore in Japan

Japan really likes ‘Like Me’ avatar apps

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