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Japan’s Studio Ousia to launch new affiliate solution for bloggers

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Studio Ousia is the Tokyo-based startup known for its smartphone browser add-on Phroni. That service scans whatever website you’re browsing and augment the keywords with links to useful information resources such as Wikipedia or YouTube. The startup is currently developing a new affiliate solution for bloggers called Linkplaza, which is scheduled to launch by the end of the year. Today the startup began gathering 100 beta users who can try out the technology and give feedback. The new service is a server-side solution instead of what they’ve been doing with Phroni on the client-side. For media publishers or bloggers, you can easily add affiliate links to texts in your post by inserting a few lines of code to your blogging application. When your reader mouses over any of the links, a menu featuring supplementary links will be pop up on screen. In this space, we’ve seen several competitors develop similar technologies, such as Skimlinks and Viglink. Back in April, Kyodo News Agency reported that Skimlinks had raised an unknown amount of investments from NYC-based Greycroft Partners, Texas-based blog network Forum Foundry, Japanese angel investors Hiro Maeda, and Ryota Matsuzaki to expand to global markets, including Japan. This seems to indicate…

logo-linkplaza

Studio Ousia is the Tokyo-based startup known for its smartphone browser add-on Phroni. That service scans whatever website you’re browsing and augment the keywords with links to useful information resources such as Wikipedia or YouTube. The startup is currently developing a new affiliate solution for bloggers called Linkplaza, which is scheduled to launch by the end of the year. Today the startup began gathering 100 beta users who can try out the technology and give feedback.

The new service is a server-side solution instead of what they’ve been doing with Phroni on the client-side. For media publishers or bloggers, you can easily add affiliate links to texts in your post by inserting a few lines of code to your blogging application. When your reader mouses over any of the links, a menu featuring supplementary links will be pop up on screen.

In this space, we’ve seen several competitors develop similar technologies, such as Skimlinks and Viglink. Back in April, Kyodo News Agency reported that Skimlinks had raised an unknown amount of investments from NYC-based Greycroft Partners, Texas-based blog network Forum Foundry, Japanese angel investors Hiro Maeda, and Ryota Matsuzaki to expand to global markets, including Japan. This seems to indicate that the space will pick up momentum in the Japanese blogsphere soon as well.

Studio Ousia is an standout graduate from Keio University SFC’s incubation program. The company raised 70 million yen (about $864,000) from Nissay Capital back in February of last year.

link plaza

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.