Coming very soon: Common Web TV standard in Japan

I guess there is no doubt that in a couple of years, the link between Television and the web will be much stronger than it is now.

Here in Japan, TV sets featuring direct Internet access are expected to be sold as early as next year. In preparation of this move, manufacturers and web TV providers are currently trying to agree on a common technical standard. Their obvious aims are to avoid making end customers decide between different solutions and getting into a format "war".

Makers like Sony and Matsushita are on the forefront of the hardware side whereas the Internet service providers include companies like acTVila (some info from me about acTVila and web TV in Japan can be found in an earlier post).

It is remarkable (at least in my view) that
a) this development is almost not covered in Non-Japanese language
b) the Japanese companies involved are trying to come to an agreement as early as next month
and
c) they are likely to call on the International Telecommunications Union to make the "Japanese way" the global standard.

Let's see if this will happen!

Japanese geek uber-blog Netafull now available in English

There is a huge interest in Japanese geek and otaku culture in the west and I feel it is even growing.

Now, one of the most influential and famous geek blogs of this country, Netafull, decided to establish an English version. In my "Top 50 blogs of Japan" ranking from January, Netafull secured an excellent 7th rank (of all blogs - not just Tech). When I accessed the Technorati Japan ranking today, Netafull was even ranked as No. 6 (I am aware that Technorati hitlists are not really reliable).

Netafull centers on various topics such as video games, gadgetry, Japanese web culture, computers, anime, movies etc. The person responsible is Masato Kogure-san.

The Japanese version of the blog is updated daily with LOTS of new posts. As of now, the English Netafull is somewhat "thinner" but there are several interesting articles online already.

Anyway, I think the blog is really cool and you should check it out.

Report: 300 blogger conference in Akihabara/Tokyo

300 people attended what is sure to be one of the biggest get-togethers of bloggers in Akihabara, Tokyo's (no: the world's) geek paradise, yesterday. I took part as the only gaijin in the room ;).

The 3-hour conference which is named "スタート×キッカケ×ブログ" ("start x chance x blog") was perfectly organized by Japanese staffing and recruitment company Pasona Tech.

The presentations and panel discussions were held completely in Japanese by a total of 9 high-profile bloggers, two of which I know personally. Topic-wise, the event was centered on different aspects of writing popular blogs: reasons, motivation, hints, problems, how is blogging connected with the speakers' jobs etc.

The conference was divided into three sections (please note that all following links are in Japanese):

Session 1:
Presentation by Chika Watanabe (blog)

Session 2:
Panel discussion led by Motohiko Tokuriki (blog)
Panelist: Hiroumi Mitani (blog)
Panelist: Jin Uehara (blog)
Panelist: Waren Oshou (blog)

Session 3:
Panel discussion led by Takamichi Horikawa (blog)
Panelist: Etsuo Ohashi (blog)
Panelist: Masatake E. Hori (blog)
Panelist: Mitsutoshi Masuda (blog)

Pictures: Blogger event in Akihabara, April 19th, 2008 (click to enlarge)

Founding a web-centered company in Japan as a gaijin

As many people reading this blog, I am very passionate about the Internet, both from a technological and from an economic perspective. It was clear to me for a long time to turn this passion into a profession and that time has come ;).

Founding a web-centered company in Tokyo
As a person with a clear business background (after getting my MBA in Germany, I currently am in the process of becoming a PhD in business administration), I will try my best to promote and ultimately sell Japanese web technology and services to the world.

There are many, many web software products, services and companies in Japan ready for conquering Western markets. Japan is in my eyes a country totally underrated in the Internet world - however, the potential to be a top player does exist.

The company which is currently in the process of incorporating is aimed at exposing Japan's web industry to the world - just like Tokyotronic and Asiajin proactively do for quite some time now.

However, the company's focus will likely be broadened in time to cover more possibilities to bridge the gap between Japan and the rest of the web world. My two Japanese co-founders are as bullish as I am - I have no doubts we can make a substantial difference, even as a startup!

The future
I will keep the Tokyotronic readers up-to-date with any news that I hope are interesting in the incorporation process of the new company. There will be no photos of "our new IKEA office shelves-look!", no boring alibi stories or copy/paste stlye press releases - promised.

Tokyotronic will be turned into the official company blog at a later time. However, providing my readers with substantial news about the Japanese IT/web scene will remain the prior purpose of this blog!

Please don't hesitate to address any questions to me at totoserkan (at) gmail.com

Report: Gaijin-lead Web 2.0 service iknow! event in Tokyo

Last Wednesday, I attended an event at the Tokyo 21 c Business Club in Marunouchi focusing on the relatively fresh Japanese web service iknow! (link leads to an English page).

iknow! is marketed as a social learning web service for Japanese users interested in studying English. On the site, teachers can connect to students and students can interact with each other to improve their English skills. However, that's not all.

In fact, iknow! is a full-fledged web site featuring TONS of functions which are useful also for completely individual training: dictations, vocabulary tests, quizzes, brain stimulation games etc. When the service launched in October last year, I was actually VERY impressed with its high quality and the team is working on improving and expanding iknow!.

Cerego, the US-based company running the service uses, chose "learning technologies" as its slogan. In fact, Cerego's CEO Eric Young told me several scientists were hired to make sure iknow! is being developed in Japan based on the most current methodologies of learning and teaching languages.

The event itself centered on the main functions iknow! offers to users and a Q&A which followed after the presentation. Eric and Andrew Smith Lewis (CEO of Cerego Japan) answered several questions from the audience which included iknow! users who were not from the web industry or press. I found that very cool!

The language education industry in Japan is a multi-billion dollar business. I am eager to see how iknow! will try to monetize its service in the future. Although Cerego employs a huge team, iknow! is completely free at the moment! The CEOs said the main focus at the moment is to attract as many users as possible.

And the initial numbers are more than impressive: According to information given during the presentation, 100.000 users are currently registered. This service is going to be a huge success, I am sure!

Pictures: iknow! event at Tokyo 21c Business Club (click to enlarge)

Report: Tokyo Venture Beat Networking Event

I was invited to take part in the so-called "Venture Beat Monthly Networking" party in Harajuku/Tokyo on this past Wednesday. The event is organized by a couple of influential IT organizations such as CNET Japan or IBM Japan. Hisashi "Sam" Katsuya from the latter company hosted the event. By the way, IBM employs over 25,000 people in Japan!

Although the entrance fee was a whopping 6,000 Yen, I was positively surprised by the high "quality" of the party. So this was my first but certainly not last time attending it.

I found the following points very interesting:
- the venue was filled with "high-profile" people such as CEOs, presidents
- as expected, I haven't met any people with "just" a technical background (some of the company big men were engineers though)
- the atmosphere was very relaxed, casual and inviting
- Japanese entrepreneurship in the IT sector is very much alive
- it was very easy to network so the party does deserve its name

From a foreigner's perpective, I found it remarkable that I was joined only by two more of my kind during the event.

Below you can find some pictures I made during the party. You can find the "official" blog article on the report written in Japanese here (and I am mentioned in it ;)).

Pictures: Venture Beat Networking Event March 2008

Japanese company releases new tool for use in Second Life

I personally believe the basic concept behind the idea of Second Life (the existence of "virtual worlds" in 3D populated by avatars) will be here to stay in the web world forever.

In Japan, people took a liking to Second Life particularly after Linden Lab decided to translate the site into Japanese last year. In November, major TV network Nihon TV broadcasted the world's first show recorded in the virtual world (as reported). And the show is still on.

Japanese company offers Second Life services
There are quite a few companies which exist only because there is Second Life. MagSL (Magazine Second Life) for example is a Tokyo-based provider for various services related to Second Life. The company offers auction tools, construction, advertising and other services tailored for that virtual world.

Since late February, MagSL added an ASP solution to analyze behavior of avatars in 3D environment to their product range. In the corresponding press release, the company says it distinguishes user behavior on 2D web pages from the way people act in 3D worlds. According to MagSL, this difference justifies specialized behavior analysis software. Well, that makes sense.

MagSL is (naturally) marketing their new product as a pure B2B solution. Companies represented in Second Life can use the software to find out how avatars in Second Life react to their Marketing efforts, i. e. to promoting events.

I think more and more software focused on "virtual worlds" on the web will be released in the future. And interestingly, Japanese companies in particular seem to be pioneering this field.

Sony is soon offering "Playstation Home" for their Playstation 3 video game system while Japanese web powerhouse Transcosmos views its self-developed virtual world "meet-me" as a potential Second Life-Killer.