THE BRIDGE

tag iphone

App of the Week: Pac-Man is the top iPhone app in 44 countries

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More than a video game, Pac-Man – as one of the earliest hit video games – is a global icon. Even my grandmother recognizes Pac-Mac. So perhaps it’s not surprising that when Apple made the iOS version of Pac-Man free last week as its “App of the Week” that fans around the world welcomed it warmly. Just how well has Pac-Man been doing over the past week since it was made free? Well, it’s currently the number one free iOS app in an astounding 44 countries, including the US and Japan. I confess, I don’t think I can remember when any app has been number one in so many countries. It just goes to show that in addition to really liking free stuff, people around the world really love Pac-Man too. I’m constantly recommending apps to my wife, and this is one of the few that she actually downloaded once I told her about it. The iOS game offers the classic maze for you to play, with eight new mazes that you can try, and optionally buy. One annoying part about the game, however, which is odd for a paid app, is that developer Namco-Bandai really doesn’t hesitate to overwhelm…

pacman

More than a video game, Pac-Man – as one of the earliest hit video games – is a global icon. Even my grandmother recognizes Pac-Mac. So perhaps it’s not surprising that when Apple made the iOS version of Pac-Man free last week as its “App of the Week” that fans around the world welcomed it warmly.

Just how well has Pac-Man been doing over the past week since it was made free? Well, it’s currently the number one free iOS app in an astounding 44 countries, including the US and Japan. I confess, I don’t think I can remember when any app has been number one in so many countries. It just goes to show that in addition to really liking free stuff, people around the world really love Pac-Man too. I’m constantly recommending apps to my wife, and this is one of the few that she actually downloaded once I told her about it.

The iOS game offers the classic maze for you to play, with eight new mazes that you can try, and optionally buy. One annoying part about the game, however, which is odd for a paid app, is that developer Namco-Bandai really doesn’t hesitate to overwhelm its users with ads. It’s pretty irritating, and if I had paid for the game I might be a little upset right now.

Since 1980 when Namco initially released the game, Japan has been producing a steady stream of iconic games and characters to follow in Pac-Man footsteps [1]. Over the years there has been Donkey Kong, Super Mario, Final Fantasy, and many more cultural exports that few countries (besides maybe the US) can match. China, for example, still hasn’t really produced anything to compare.

But I digress.

Do check out Pac-Mac over on the App Store if you haven’t gotten it already. The week is almost over, and it won’t be free for too much longer!


  1. Note that these are metaphorical feet only. Pac-Man, as everyone knows, does not have any feet with which to make footsteps.  ↩

How to turn your iPhone into a retro television on the cheap

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One of my favorite things about Japan is the abundance of creative gadget and accessory makers here. Among the more interesting ones is Hashy Topin, and this year the company is selling a very cheap but intriguing way to make watching movies on your iPhone a little bit easier. Meet ‘Telephone Vision’, a fun screen magnification accessory that will give you a 1.8x view of your smartphone screen. The kit comes with a small stand for your phone, over which you can then place the cardboard television cover. This is designed to mimic a traditional television, with buttons and a mock speaker (holes!). But the transparent acrylic screen does make your picture bigger and easier to see, which is the main attraction here. Now of course, the majority of us would not seriously use such a novelty for repeated media viewing, but selling for just 650 yen (a little more than $6) this Telephone Vision kit makes for a really fun gift, especially for kids who might want their own TV in their room. To get a closer look at the Telephone Vision kit, check out the video below from YouTuber Ayako Sato (@ksorano), which demonstrates how it is put…

iphone-television

One of my favorite things about Japan is the abundance of creative gadget and accessory makers here. Among the more interesting ones is Hashy Topin, and this year the company is selling a very cheap but intriguing way to make watching movies on your iPhone a little bit easier.

Meet ‘Telephone Vision’, a fun screen magnification accessory that will give you a 1.8x view of your smartphone screen. The kit comes with a small stand for your phone, over which you can then place the cardboard television cover. This is designed to mimic a traditional television, with buttons and a mock speaker (holes!). But the transparent acrylic screen does make your picture bigger and easier to see, which is the main attraction here.

hashy-2

Now of course, the majority of us would not seriously use such a novelty for repeated media viewing, but selling for just 650 yen (a little more than $6) this Telephone Vision kit makes for a really fun gift, especially for kids who might want their own TV in their room.

To get a closer look at the Telephone Vision kit, check out the video below from YouTuber Ayako Sato (@ksorano), which demonstrates how it is put together.

Hashy Topin really likes to use iPhones to turn back the clock in this way. Back in 2010 they featured a dock/charger combo that let you convert you iPhone into a conventional telephone.

Japan does fun novelty gifts like this incredibly well, and if you happen to pass through the country in your travels, do drop in on the nearest Tokyu Hands store for lots more disposable innovations like this one! [Via DG Freaks]

Japanese iPhone add-on enhances bland meals with BBQ smell

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Readers may recall when we previously featured the work of Japanese digital media company Kayac back in March. Their augmented reality Hatsune Miku pizza boxes for Dominos Japan were a great example of digital marketing. Now Kayac has another fun production, this time producing a fun iPhone attachment and app combo in cooperation with Chatperf and their Scentee mobile add-on that plugs into your headphone jack. Their ‘Hana Yakiniku’ (roughly translated as ‘nose barbecue meat’) is a small device/app kit intended to improve your eating experience by emitting the delicious smell of barbecue. 3 flavors: ribs, butter potatoes, and cow tongue For for example, lets say you’re on a diet and can only eat small salads or some white rice or something – in that case, Hana Yakiniku would enhance your bland food with a tastier smell. Currently it comes in three flavors: ribs, butter potatoes, and cow tongue (common at barbecue restaurants in Japan). If you’re eager to try this one out, you’ll have to wait a little while longer. Hana Yakiniki doesn’t go one sale until November 15. But when it does it will be pretty affordable, selling for the price of 3,654 yen (or about $36). Cartridge…

hana-yakiniku-wide

Readers may recall when we previously featured the work of Japanese digital media company Kayac back in March. Their augmented reality Hatsune Miku pizza boxes for Dominos Japan were a great example of digital marketing.

Now Kayac has another fun production, this time producing a fun iPhone attachment and app combo in cooperation with Chatperf and their Scentee mobile add-on that plugs into your headphone jack. Their ‘Hana Yakiniku’ (roughly translated as ‘nose barbecue meat’) is a small device/app kit intended to improve your eating experience by emitting the delicious smell of barbecue.

3 flavors: ribs, butter potatoes, and cow tongue

For for example, lets say you’re on a diet and can only eat small salads or some white rice or something – in that case, Hana Yakiniku would enhance your bland food with a tastier smell. Currently it comes in three flavors: ribs, butter potatoes, and cow tongue (common at barbecue restaurants in Japan).

If you’re eager to try this one out, you’ll have to wait a little while longer. Hana Yakiniki doesn’t go one sale until November 15. But when it does it will be pretty affordable, selling for the price of 3,654 yen (or about $36). Cartridge refills can be purchased for 100 yen for a three-pack. You’ll be able to order yours over on Amazon Japan.

If you’d like an explanation of how Hana Yakiniku works, check out the (rather cringeworthy) demo video below [1].


  1. While this is a pretty fun idea, the voiceover and copywriting in their promo video (much like the Hatsune Mike promo previously) is pretty awful.  ↩

Grand Prix Story: Retro 8-bit racing goodness on mobile

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There were lots of fun mobile games at the recent Tokyo Game Show. But here’s a game that I stumbled upon today, which has actually been around for some time, but is still worth sharing here. Kairosoft’s Grand Prix Story is a delicious little 8-bit race simulation game that puts you in the role of a racing team manager. And for a racing game that actually require you to drive, it’s surprisingly fun. Your job is to manage the teams funds, improve your car, hire drivers and mechanics, and even acquire sponsorships. You can spend money to have your team conduct research on developing better car parts, and then out them to the test in a simulated race. As the team manager, you can also put your driver through training, but you need to make sure he’s well rested enough to go full throttle on race day. If he can pull off a podium finish, that will bring prize money you can further invest, and it also turns the heads of sponsors to get behind your team. Grand Prix Story comes in two versions: a paid app which is $3.99, and a free/lite version that limits your playing time. For…

There were lots of fun mobile games at the recent Tokyo Game Show. But here’s a game that I stumbled upon today, which has actually been around for some time, but is still worth sharing here. Kairosoft’s Grand Prix Story is a delicious little 8-bit race simulation game that puts you in the role of a racing team manager. And for a racing game that actually require you to drive, it’s surprisingly fun.

Your job is to manage the teams funds, improve your car, hire drivers and mechanics, and even acquire sponsorships. You can spend money to have your team conduct research on developing better car parts, and then out them to the test in a simulated race.

As the team manager, you can also put your driver through training, but you need to make sure he’s well rested enough to go full throttle on race day. If he can pull off a podium finish, that will bring prize money you can further invest, and it also turns the heads of sponsors to get behind your team.

Grand Prix Story comes in two versions: a paid app which is $3.99, and a free/lite version that limits your playing time. For a better idea of how the game is played, check out our video demo above.

If you’d like to try another fun 8-bit mobile game from Japan, you might also check out Ninja Striker, a really fun retro platformer that we looked at last month.

grand-prix-story-2 grand-prix-story

Apple’s new iPhone 5C and 5s start hot in Japan [Photos]

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It’s opening weekend for Apple’s new iPhone 5C and 5S here in Japan. And I was curious to see that even on a very hot Sunday morning there were perhaps a hundred people lined up at the Apple Store in Shibuya, even though it’s the third day that they’ve been on sale. You can check out more pictures below. Now that the iPhone is on NTT Docomo , Apple’s presence in Japan has significant room to grow. The carrier has 55 million mobile subscribers, and has finally given up on their aspirations to crapwarify the popular handset with their vision of a ‘lifestyle system’. But clearly customers want something different, as Docomo’s flagship Galaxy S4 has disappointed. With a population that is both very health- and fashion- conscious, expect the new iPhone 5S to do especially well in Japan, with the fashionable gold model and the new M7 motion coprocessor bringing new kinds of fitness apps to the platform.

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It’s opening weekend for Apple’s new iPhone 5C and 5S here in Japan. And I was curious to see that even on a very hot Sunday morning there were perhaps a hundred people lined up at the Apple Store in Shibuya, even though it’s the third day that they’ve been on sale. You can check out more pictures below.

Now that the iPhone is on NTT Docomo , Apple’s presence in Japan has significant room to grow. The carrier has 55 million mobile subscribers, and has finally given up on their aspirations to crapwarify the popular handset with their vision of a ‘lifestyle system’.

But clearly customers want something different, as Docomo’s flagship Galaxy S4 has disappointed.

With a population that is both very health- and fashion- conscious, expect the new iPhone 5S to do especially well in Japan, with the fashionable gold model and the new M7 motion coprocessor bringing new kinds of fitness apps to the platform.

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What country finds you most attractive? Find out with this app from Japan

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There are a lot of online dating apps and services out there. Here in Japan, many domestic services are limited to Japanese users due to the language barrier. But one iPhone app is looking beyond Japan. GooLook is a social networking app that lets its users see if people in other countries find you attractive. Choose a country where you want your face to be rated The app is available in eight different languages, spanning 168 countries. Users are required to login using Facebook or Twitter credentials, or by creating an account within the app. After than you can choose a country where you want your face to be rated. Your photo will be sent out to 50 people in that country, and your popularity measured by the number of responses (or ‘smiles’) you receive. One fun feature of this app is that it displays the results in a graph, showing at glance which country finds you most attractive. In the near future GooLook plans to add a ranking feature, showing off the most popular faces in the whole world. The app already lets users see your popularity work ranking with its ‘Smile Rank’. GooLook was initially released in beta…

GooLook-web

There are a lot of online dating apps and services out there. Here in Japan, many domestic services are limited to Japanese users due to the language barrier. But one iPhone app is looking beyond Japan. GooLook is a social networking app that lets its users see if people in other countries find you attractive.

Choose a country where you want your face to be rated

The app is available in eight different languages, spanning 168 countries. Users are required to login using Facebook or Twitter credentials, or by creating an account within the app.

After than you can choose a country where you want your face to be rated. Your photo will be sent out to 50 people in that country, and your popularity measured by the number of responses (or ‘smiles’) you receive.

One fun feature of this app is that it displays the results in a graph, showing at glance which country finds you most attractive. In the near future GooLook plans to add a ranking feature, showing off the most popular faces in the whole world. The app already lets users see your popularity work ranking with its ‘Smile Rank’.

GooLook was initially released in beta back in June of 2012 and was downloaded over 22,000 times within its first two weeks. Initially 95% of the downloads came from Japan, but soon after folks in the United States and Korea caught on, as well as other countries in Europe. The app ended up attracting users from over 100 countries, and a year later, the app emerged from the beta stage to make its official debut.

GooLook can be downloaded for free over on the App Store.

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Because plants can’t swing a sword: Shinobi vs Zombie for iPhone

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Thanks to the folks over at Axel Games for pointing out this gem. I thought I had enough of the ‘____ vs Zombies’ game genre. But then a small Japanese developer had to go and make Shinobi vs Zombie for iPhone – so I guess I can try one more! In terms of controls, this is a super simple game. It makes use of your accelerometer, as you tilt your handset in whatever direction you wish your ninja to run. He will automatically attack a zombie whenever there is one in his path, but he’s vulnerable from the sides and the back, so you need to make sure to keep the zombies in front. If your life runs low, you can replenish it by collecting pink orbs which emerge when you knock off a zombie. There are also green, yellow, red, and blue orbs to collect, each of which represents a different type of ninjitsu or special skill. When the fighting gets a little tight, you can activate these using the menu on the bottom. If you’d like to learn more, you can check out our short ideo demo above. Or go download the game for free (it’s ad supported)…

Thanks to the folks over at Axel Games for pointing out this gem. I thought I had enough of the ‘____ vs Zombies’ game genre. But then a small Japanese developer had to go and make Shinobi vs Zombie for iPhone – so I guess I can try one more!

In terms of controls, this is a super simple game. It makes use of your accelerometer, as you tilt your handset in whatever direction you wish your ninja to run. He will automatically attack a zombie whenever there is one in his path, but he’s vulnerable from the sides and the back, so you need to make sure to keep the zombies in front.

If your life runs low, you can replenish it by collecting pink orbs which emerge when you knock off a zombie. There are also green, yellow, red, and blue orbs to collect, each of which represents a different type of ninjitsu or special skill. When the fighting gets a little tight, you can activate these using the menu on the bottom.

If you’d like to learn more, you can check out our short ideo demo above. Or go download the game for free (it’s ad supported) over on the App Store.

shinobi-vs-zombie-2 shinobi-vs-zombie-1

shinobi zombie

With strong iPhone sales, Apple’s biggest regional revenue growth was Japan

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Apple reported its Q3 2013 earnings yesterday, showing a record June quarter for iPhone sales, helped by very strong sales in Japan in particular, which grew 66% over the same period the year before. In fact, amid sluggish international revenue growth for the Cupertino company, Japan represented the biggest regional yearly revenue growth, up more than 26 percent while most other regions dropped (see chart above). Overall Apple’s quarterly revenue was $35.3 billion, up 1% on the year before. iPhone sales were up 20%, and in addition to Japan, the U.S., UK, Japan, Brazil, Russia, India, Thailand and Singapore all grew well. On the earnings call, CEO Tim Cook was asked if he thought smartphone markets were reaching saturation on the high end. Cook expressed confidence that, at least for Apple, they are not: From a growth point of view for Apple our key catalysts will be always will be new products and new services, and these are above in existing categories. […] And I don’t subscribe to the common view that […] the smartphone market is at it’s peak. I don’t believe that, but we will see and we will report our result as we go along. For Apple…

apple-regional-growth-japan

Apple reported its Q3 2013 earnings yesterday, showing a record June quarter for iPhone sales, helped by very strong sales in Japan in particular, which grew 66% over the same period the year before. In fact, amid sluggish international revenue growth for the Cupertino company, Japan represented the biggest regional yearly revenue growth, up more than 26 percent while most other regions dropped (see chart above).

Overall Apple’s quarterly revenue was $35.3 billion, up 1% on the year before. iPhone sales were up 20%, and in addition to Japan, the U.S., UK, Japan, Brazil, Russia, India, Thailand and Singapore all grew well.

On the earnings call, CEO Tim Cook was asked if he thought smartphone markets were reaching saturation on the high end. Cook expressed confidence that, at least for Apple, they are not:

From a growth point of view for Apple our key catalysts will be always will be new products and new services, and these are above in existing categories. […] And I don’t subscribe to the common view that […] the smartphone market is at it’s peak. I don’t believe that, but we will see and we will report our result as we go along.

For Apple here in Japan, the most obvious opportunity for growth lies specifically in the 61 million Docomo subscribers that its handsets currently do not reach. Apple has partnered with rival carriers KDDI/au and Softbank, but Docomo remains a staunch holdout.

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Apple quarterly revenue (millions)

New lineup of iPhone underwear now available, includes mosaic censor sticker

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Readers may remember that we previously featured Bandai’s wondrous home button protector that comes in the form of smartphone underwear. If you enjoyed that story will be pleased to hear that there is now a second generation of these awesome ‘Smart Pants‘, available in all new styles and colors. With this new lineup of smartphone underwear, a home button seal is also now included in case your underwear happen to come off (see below). And in true Japanese style, it takes on a pixelated/mosaic style – ostensibly a reference to censored Japanese porn [1]. You can see all the underwear and mosaic stickers over on Gashapon.jp. The banana pattern underwear shows a simple banana instead of a mosaic, which is pretty a humorous touch. There’s also Mount Fuji underwear, just in time to commemorate the mountain becoming an official World Heritage site. If you’re in Japan, keep an eye out for these new underwear styles at the many Gashapon vending machines throughout the country! People tell me that Japanese porn is censored in this way, but being completely pure of mind and spirit, I have never actually witnessed this phenomenon first hand.  ↩

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Photo via Gizmodo.jp

Readers may remember that we previously featured Bandai’s wondrous home button protector that comes in the form of smartphone underwear. If you enjoyed that story will be pleased to hear that there is now a second generation of these awesome ‘Smart Pants‘, available in all new styles and colors.

With this new lineup of smartphone underwear, a home button seal is also now included in case your underwear happen to come off (see below). And in true Japanese style, it takes on a pixelated/mosaic style – ostensibly a reference to censored Japanese porn [1].

smartpants

You can see all the underwear and mosaic stickers over on Gashapon.jp. The banana pattern underwear shows a simple banana instead of a mosaic, which is pretty a humorous touch. There’s also Mount Fuji underwear, just in time to commemorate the mountain becoming an official World Heritage site.

If you’re in Japan, keep an eye out for these new underwear styles at the many Gashapon vending machines throughout the country!


  1. People tell me that Japanese porn is censored in this way, but being completely pure of mind and spirit, I have never actually witnessed this phenomenon first hand.  ↩

Japanese e-commerce platform provider Base introduces new iPhone app

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See the original story in Japanese. Base is an e-commerce platform provider startup from Tokyo. It was born out of Project Liverty, a tech savvy team led by serial entrepreneur Kazuma Ieiri. In contrast with their competitor Stores.jp, the Base team has been pretty quiet recently. But they have released a new iOS app today, which allows merchants to build and manage their online shops entirely on mobile. In addition, the company has added a new feature called ‘Base Curation,’ which has an interface resembling an online shopping mall, curating featured shops. It displays users’ shops which have been selected by the company’s management, and if you would to like them to feature your shop in the menu, you can make a request via the dashboard. I asked the startup’s CEO Yuta Tsuruoka if the curation menu is a special business strategy for Base — but he said that this wasn’t quite the intention, explaining: Unlike other mall platforms (which have many tenant merchants), our service does not provide a way to find a specific shop on the platform. We want to see how we can encourage merchants to set up their online shop on our platform. When you launch…

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See the original story in Japanese.

Base is an e-commerce platform provider startup from Tokyo. It was born out of Project Liverty, a tech savvy team led by serial entrepreneur Kazuma Ieiri. In contrast with their competitor Stores.jp, the Base team has been pretty quiet recently. But they have released a new iOS app today, which allows merchants to build and manage their online shops entirely on mobile.

In addition, the company has added a new feature called ‘Base Curation,’ which has an interface resembling an online shopping mall, curating featured shops. It displays users’ shops which have been selected by the company’s management, and if you would to like them to feature your shop in the menu, you can make a request via the dashboard.

base_iphoneapp04 base_iphoneapp05

I asked the startup’s CEO Yuta Tsuruoka if the curation menu is a special business strategy for Base — but he said that this wasn’t quite the intention, explaining:

Unlike other mall platforms (which have many tenant merchants), our service does not provide a way to find a specific shop on the platform. We want to see how we can encourage merchants to set up their online shop on our platform. When you launch an app, it shows you a number of online shops where you can quickly jump in to purchase something you want, but you can also [just as] easily establish your own shop from the menu.

Placing pictures of products, changing design, inventory management, etc. – all these tasks can be completed with the smartphone app because we really want to give more people opportunities to build up their own “economic block”.

Base is not trying to be a big e-commerce portal, but a rather platform where people can easily repeat transactions, buying and selling items by leveraging their social connections, and accelerating long-tail businesses.

According to Mr. Tsuruoka, almost 60% of their purchasing traffic comes from mobile devices.

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Co-founder Kazuma Ieiri using the app

Of course, all these updates are very likely a direct result of Ieiri’s own philosophies. I asked him how they plan to compete against various competitors, including major e-commerce platforms, shopping cart ASPs, and other similar services. He answered me directly, not hiding his intentions of taking the fight to his competitors:

They are elephants or capybaras [1], but we are mere ants, in contrast. For ants, even if you join forces with capybaras, there’s no way you can defeat elephants. Therefore, you must dig up the ground so that you might trip up the elephants. Understand?

The Base team is expecting to see 500,000 downloads of their iOS app by the end of this month. Let’s stay tuned to see how they do!


  1. The capybara is the largest rodent in the world according to Wikipedia. Editor’s note: Ieiri’s metaphor is a little strange, but it seems capybaras might be a less obscure animal among Japanese people because it is cute, and has been featured in some TV commercials.