Archive for: japan
Once again Apple is going above and beyond in showing their generosity by announcing (Japanese Website | Japanese-English Website) free hardware repairs (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, Cinema Displays and Mac) for all victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 11th earlier this year — specifically, victims whom live/lived within land covered by the Disaster Relief Act of 2011.
If you recall, immediately following the earthquake and tsunami back in March, Apple opened up their Japanese stores and allowed residents to use all store computers to chat, email, and FaceTime friends and loved ones. On top of that, various iOS developers donated much of their proceeds to aid efforts for the stricken country.
+1 to Apple.
In wake of the horrible events occurring in Japan over the past week, Apple has decided to delay the launch of their 2nd generation iPad so that cities, families, and individuals can get their lives back on track. Per Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris:
“We are delaying the launch of the iPad 2 in Japan while the coutnry and our teams focus on recovering from the recent disaster”
At this time, Apple has not made any mention of a new release date.
News of iPad 2 launch delays may be more the norm than originally planned. Earlier today, it was reported that the ship time for new iPad 2 devices has been pushed back to 5 weeks.
- November 23, 2010 10:11 pm
The Japanese game market, specifically the hardware market, has never been Microsoft’s forte. Sure, they’ve tried. But time and time again the hype stateside hasn’t materialized into boast-worthy numbers in the land of the rising sun. Though the Kinect looked like it could finally change Microsoft’s fortunes as motion gaming is huge right now. Apparently it has not…
While I do find myself inside, sitting in front of a computer for many hours of the day, I’m also an avid nature freak. I love the great outdoors — and I mean the way out there, never going to get a signal for your life outdoors. In Japan, they is some very unique areas of urban environment that are also very close to those outdoors that I love oh so dearly. But what’s different from the wilderness here in the states and that of wilderness in Japan all has to do with bikes.
Located in Washuzan Highland Park, the “Sky Cycle” pictured here is the most cherished form of transportation. For good reason though — the views look to be awesome! Then of course there’s the whole benefit of actually powering your own progress through the park, helping your heart and waistline at the same time. Perhaps the U.S. could use a few Sky Cycles of their own, no?
Video right inside…
Riding a bike can be exhilarating. It can also be a death sentence, especially at night. All too often I’ve found myself driving at night and out of no where a dude on a bike pops up in front of me. Whether in the city or country, bikers are hard to spot — even with some flashy vests and reflectors.
That’s why accessories such as LED Spokes need to be implemented. I can see such things getting pretty garish if taken too far. But in the name of safety, at least a couple of LED strips wouldn’t hurt.
What’s particularly interesting about the LED outfit desgiend by Japan’s Suns and Moon Laboratory shown above is that these LED strips can actually display messages in addition to keeping you alive.
Frivilous? Perhaps. But living to ride another day is more than worth it I’d say. Jump inside for a video of the LED light show in action…
Elevators aren’t normally something we’d gush over here at Gadgetsteria. But these new “uber” elevators located in an Osaka, Japan department store bring a new meaning to the word “glorious”. The elevators apparently move customers to and fro between Hankyu Department Store’s Umeda store and several floors of offices.
The dimensions of these goliaths are 12′ long by 9′ wide by 8.5′ tall — definitely bigger than your average elevator. Even more impressive is the 80 passenger limit and “wall of windows”.
I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t mind elevators as big as living rooms and with spacious walls full of windows shuttling me about.
Hmm, usually when I’m in search of some new gadget to temporarily fulfill my undying lust, I look at actual gadgets…for myself. Some are less selfless than I though (aren’t you noble) and actually think more about others first. Why I certainly have my noble moments too, when it comes to gadgets, most of the time it’s all me. So, let’s jump straight into this one. Forget yourself for a moment and think about your four legged animal friend. What type of gadget would they want if they could talk to you? What about a pet washing machine?
Ya, I kind of blind sided you with that one. It’s definitely weird but apparently all the rage in Japan right now with countless “kiosks” positioned around the city where animal lovers can give Scruffy and Sylvester a quick wash and blow dry. What’s nifty about this seemingly odd tech/gadget is that it’s actually cheaper than going to a normal animal groomer — $5 vs. the typical $30. At that type of discount, I’ll cram my dog into a small box and blow them to hell alllll day.
Will you be installing one of these in your house….?
Fark > APP
- February 15, 2010 8:02 am
While most “normal” computer users creep along with USB 2.0, the geeks in the world are intently fixated on USB 3.0. 2010 is the year that it will finally go mainstream. While pretty much all mobile electronics are still being released as USB 2.0 only, getting the necessary end user equipment ready for the big change is a task worth undertaking sooner rather than later to avoid heartache and slow speeds. To help you make the transition, Buffalo is here.
Labeled as “World’s First USB 3.0 4-port hub”, the BSH4A03U3 is your standard looking 4-port hub that will be available in either black or white and feature not only USB 3.0 support, but backwards compatibility for USB 2.0 and 1.1 as well. In case you needed a refresher as to why USB 3.0 matters, transfer speeds *theoretically* top out at 5Gbps — a far cry from USB 2.0′s (also theoretical) 480Mbps. If you do a lot of large file transfers, you need USB 3.0.
Look for this miniature beaut to hit Japan come March for $88 USD and the rest of the world sometime thereafter (US release not yet known).
CrunchGear
- November 18, 2009 9:54 am
Update: Got a couple dates mixed up. Sorry ’bout that.
Living in Japan presents itself with several pros and cons. On one hand, because the land of Japan is so small, the ever growing population is finding itself having to cram into tighter and tighter spaces. On the other hand, if you happen to care about mobile technology, Japan is a hot bed of activity. Part of that success is due in part to the close quarters. Further increasing in mobile technology is that a majority of the population lives on a small part of the overall land meaning cellular networks can upgrade large swaths of coverage area relatively quickly and cheaply when compared to U.S. counterparts.
Examples of this speedy rollout can be highlighted by detailing how Japan started their 3G rollout years before the U.S. and are planning to have a fairly extensive 4G network in place by December of 2010. Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about 4G efforts stateside — they’re coming, but not near the speed or coverage area that Japanese 4G networks will be enjoying come this time next year.
This move to 4G and quick rollout of wireless technologies over all combined with rather swift uptake by the public meant Japan could flip the switch on 2G cellular networks as soon as December March 2011 — much sooner than the U.S. Perhaps they’re just sick and tired of 2G’s god awful everything and/or enough peoples have abandoned 2G use all together as NTT DoCoMo has announced that instead of December 2011, they will be killing 2G network support several months earlier with 2G network shut down coming as early as in March 2011. But what good is a 4G network without devices to take advantage of it? Check. DoCoMo is planning on releasing 4G data cards in late 2010 with 4G handsets to follow in early 2011.
Living in a country with considerably more land to cover, it’s hard to imagine a world without 2G here in the states as driving an hour or so from your house (in many instances even much less than that) results in your 3G coverage giving way to the antiquated 2G networks. Keep driving and you’ll eventually find a big, nasty network hole. Current U.S. network troubles aside, living in a more technologically advanced city and society is a tech lovers dream. How’s your stomach for sushi and your ability to decipher Japanese? I’ll be needing a roommate…
PhoneScoop > Yahoo
