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)

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.

10 winners of CNET Japan's Tech Venture contest

Last week, CNET Japan held a Tech venture contest and a total of 10 companies were awarded with prices. The event drew a lot of attention in the Japanese web and IT world.

Companies awarded which have an English website (unfortunately only three do):

- Community Engine
(development of network middleware and applications among other things)

- Utagoe
(broadcasting service)

- Enigmo
(online video commercials through collaboration with consumers, their Rollmio service is available in English)


Companies which offer information in Japanese only:

- Niwango
(operation of i.e. Nico Nico Douga online video platform (my review))

- PTP
(digital TV recording service)

- i-Broadcast
(mobile platform for videos and photos)

- Entermotion
(mobile marketing)

- aucfan.com
(online auction services)

- J-Magic
(face recognition for mobile devices)

- Cirius
(mobile ads)

More information on the winners is available on Akihito Fujii's blog. Akihito-san is working for Sun Microsystems Japan and thankfully provides a detailed write-up about Tech venture 2008 in English (part 1, part 2).

He also acted as a judge for the contest.

Mobile browser from Japan: Jig

Jig is the name of a genuine Japanese Internet software product, a mobile web browser. There is also an English version available which is very welcome. The best point: For overseas customers the usage of jig is completely free!

A few days ago, Taisuke -who is CEO and CTO of the Tokyo-based company of the same name- demonstrated jig to me personally. And I really liked it!

Jig is actually "just" a proxy browser. The Java application reshapes web sites designed for PCs so that they can be displayed on mobile phones. When installed on a handset, (almost) any given web site can be surfed via the "jig browser mouse". The so-called mouse is actually an arrow which users can scroll across web pages and click on items with.

Video: The jig browser in action (direct link and more videos)


The application supports three views: original PC mode (PC view is taken over without modifications), mobile mode or overview (the web site is shrinked to a single screen on the handset). Tabbed browsing is possible. All three major Japanese mobile phone carriers are supported.

Moreover, jig offers mini-applications called jiglets. These include an RSS-reader, a digital clock, a scheduler and many more. It is also possible to install a mailer jiglet with which you can handle PC mail. Jiglets can be developed by the users themselves as well!

Users can also view Flash videos, WMA and WLV files on their handsets.

Downloading the full browser application costs 630 Yen a month (5.80 USD/4 Euros) or 6,000 Yen a year (55.50 USD/38 Euros). It is also possible to install a slimmed-down version for half that price or download a trial version for free. The overseas version is completely free!

Active company
Jig has been around since 2003 and is now competing with other mobile browsers such as Opera Mini and Skyfire.

The company is really active in improving its services. For example, jig won an award at the "Global Mobile Content Awards" held in Korea in 2007 for its "jig movie" application which enables users to view streaming videos (i.e. live content and movies) on their mobile phones. Last December, Yahoo! Japan decided to include a technology developed by jig to include in their mobile widget service "Yahoo! Desktop".

Not bad at all. It is good to see a Japanese company being in such a good position in a very interesting market.

Japan's Information Grand Voyage Project

Western academics in Japan-related research often use the term "iron triangle" when referring to a nexus of power which they say comprises private business, the bureaucracy in this country and its mightiest political party LDP.

If the iron triangle really exists, the boldly titled "Information Grand Voyage Project" (情報大航海: Jouhou Daikoukai) must be one of its offsprings in the IT field. This is the English site provided by the initiator, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (unfortunately the link at the bottom of the page is dead). This ministry (aka METI) is by far the most influential political institution in Japan.

Information found in Non-Japanese media about the Information Grand Voyage Project is curt to say the least. In other words, almost no one outside Japan knows about this initiative although it is planned to last 3 years and involves the METI and major Japanese technology companies. Thus it makes sense to shed some light on this project in the scope of this blog.

Here is Hitachi Consulting's more useful site on the project in English.

Key points and goals
- project began in 2007, lasts until the end of fiscal 2009 covering different phases from development, testing to deployment of innovative technologies
- parties involved: METI, Hitachi, JAL, NTT DoCoMo, Oki Electric, Blogwatcher and other companies
- main principles: user orientation, global contribution and use of open source technology

METI claims the goal of this project is to categorize the amount of information worldwide which exploded in recent years due to advancements in Information Technology and make it usable for human beings. The project partners aim at developing a new kind of search and analysis technology which helps filtering information specifically tailored to the individual in question.

However, the METI is not reluctant to say there is one more intention behind its initiative: proactively boosting Japan's global competitiveness in the IT industry.

There have been LOTS of other projects comparable to the Information Grand Voyage Project in the past (many of them not rooted in the technology sector). Usually, these programs are established to improve infrastructure, enhance competitiveness or to pave the way for revitalization of selected regions or industries in Japan.

How is this abstract project plan turned into concrete activity?
The project covers a number of seperate "mini-projects"/experiments which in the end should lead to the "establishment of an innovative environment". This would just mean bla-bla in a lof of other countries but as usual the Japanese mean it.

One example for such a "project within the big picture" is the "My Life Assist Service" jointly developed by NEC and NTT DoCoMo.



Testing by approximately 2,000 volunteers began last month. Testing sites include Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba. The experiment is scheduled to stop at the end of next month.

Using the GPS function in mobile phones, the service provides users with filtered/useful information specific to their location.

This is not really sensational news but there is more to it. Based on inference technology developed by the University of Tokyo, the My Life Assist Service also takes into account the individual's Web browsing behavior! By combining a user's location with the analysis of (let's say guessing of) his or her tastes and preferences based on web sites previously accessed, the service is presumably able to offer highly individualized information.

I read an interesting example here [j]. If a user listens to a particular song from a movie soundtrack (via his mobile phone-not unusual at all in Japan) very often, the service can recommend trips to sites where the corresponding movie was shot. Another example: If a person seems to browse through sites for vegetarians a lot, the system could display suitable restaurants in the user's vicinity during lunch time.

Cool and bold ideas but some serious privacy issues have already been raised. The companies involved are working on solving the problem though. That may be one of the reasons the My Life Assist Service is still called an "experiment" [j] by DoCoMo itself.

The Japanese government will evaluate which systems (as said above, other companies are developing projects as well) turn out to be worth integrating into the big picture.

While some of the "experiments" sound promising the budget for the Information Grand Voyage Project as a whole is a mere 40 million USD.

Google aims at conquering Japan through the backdoor

Google is the world's No. 1 search engine but here in Japan, Yahoo is the undisputed king - not only for Internet search but also as a very comprehensive portal.



Today it came to light Google Japan will cooperate with Japan's leading telecommunications company and cell phone carrier NTT Docomo. In fact, NTT Docomo is the world's biggest mobile communications company. In Japan, the wireless market is clearly dominated by DoCoMo. The company served more customers in 2006 (51.1 million) than KDDI (25.4 million) and Softbank Mobile (15.2 million) combined!



So Google Japan's choice is not too bad and the Shibuya-based subsidiary surely has the pocket money to get a deal like that financed. The Tokyo Stock Exchange liked Docomo's idea. Docomo shares rose to a five-months high today!

In detail, Docomo plans to integrate Google's search engine, scheduling service, Gmail and other Google functions into its i-mode mobile Internet services.

That's not all. NTT Docomo is part of the Open Hand Set Alliance of Google's Android open source platform for the development of software for handsets. While the integration of Google services into i-mode is scheduled for this spring, Docomo aims at introducing a mobile phone based on Android in the second half of 2008. For example, joint development in the area of localized store information and navigation on mobile phones is planned.

Yahoo Japan is dominant also on handsets
i-mode users can already access Google search with their handsets. My guess is that Google will be featured more prominently on and in Docomo's handsets. For example, my Japanese handset features a "Y!" button with "Y" standing for Yahoo. After pressing it, I am connected to the Internet: The starting page is Yahoo Japan...

So maybe one day there will be a "G" button on Japanese phones and Google can finally conquer this difficult market here ;)

Event report: Firefox Video Awards in Tokyo

Yesterday I attended the Get Firefox Video Award Show (Japanese only) in Azabu, Tokyo. The aim of the event was to promote Firefox in Japan. So far, my favorite browser conquered a 16% share of the market in this country.



(all pictures in this posting courtesy of my friend Thor Asmund)

Mozilla received over 100 video clips from artists from all over Japan. I am not an artist but I would say the overall quality was very good!

This video called "The Night" (done by an artists group called Pantograph from Kanagawa Prefecture) won the Grand Prix (direct link):


The 3 gentlemen on the right are the proud winners:



The videos which won in other categories (like CG/Anime) can be viewed here.

Very artsy atmosphere
The event itself and the venue (Club SuperDeluxe) were really cool but unfortunately, not too many people from the IT industry were there. As expected, Joi Ito was absent. I would have liked to talk to him.

Gen Kanai who is Director of Marketing at Mozilla Japan was the MC and did a great job:



By the way, Gen mentioned that Mozilla organized a similar event last year in the USA. Although entries were accepted from all over the world not one single video reached American shores from Japan or Asia! After seeing the quality of the works yesterday I can say this is a real shame.

PS
Thor uploaded some more photos of the award show here.

Japan's IT industry vs the world

I regularly speak with a lot of Japanese IT experts and insiders personally: software developers, programmers, IT company owners, web designers, bloggers etc.

Regardless of the size of the companies they are working for (some are self-employed) I am constantly impressed about their openness when they talk to me. Usually, they have very critical views on the Japanese IT (software) industry as a whole.

The bottom line is usually this:
From a global perspective, Japan's software industry is weaker than it has to be. For example, there is no web service coming from Japan which people worldwide use.

Basically I agree with this diagnosis. Especially the second statement is true.

You could probably multiple dissertations about this topic. However, a couple of very interesting articles about the current status quo of the Japanese IT industry I stumbled upon sum up major critical points I have heard over the last months.

I believe these articles are worth a read for my Japanese readership as well. The emphasis lies on the factor that counts the most: the professionals working in the IT industry.

1) Newsweek (December 10, 2007 issue)
"Why Apple Isn’t Japanese" is the title of an article in a recent issue of Newsweek International edition. Worth a read although the author puts emphasis on the hardware side.

Essentially the author argues that Japan is falling behind in the global technology race because of out-dated corporate administration systems, lack of innovation, political incompetence and a disconnect of universities and the industry.

He cites Docomo's failure to globally launch its proprietary mobile Internet technology i-mode as an example.

2) JapanInc (Spring 2007 issue)
James Mok, a graduate of Stanford University, is writing an interesting piece on why the Japanese enterprise IT sector can be regarded as relatively weak in his eyes: "My struggle at the Frontline of Japanese Enterprise IT".

Mok's main question:
"Why have Japan’s strengths and its competitiveness in manufacturing not been extended to the Enterprise IT industry?"

His analysis is very deep and deserves special attention because of his working in this very industry in Japan himself.

3) JapanInc (November/December 2007 issue)
In his second article for JapanInc, James Mok asks "How the Japanese IT Industry Destroys Talent".

This is a huge problem for Japan's IT industry. Mok cites a Nikkei Computer survey according to which 70% of all IT people in this country think negatively about their working conditions.

Again, Mok delivers a thought-provoking analysis of the industry and points out why in the current situation even the most skilled Japanese IT engineers can't fully put their potential to good use.

4) Various articles written in Japanese
A reader of my blog (an IT industry insider) pointed me to a couple of articles written by Japanese IT engineers working in this country (sorry, Japanese only).

In these articles/survey results (1,2) and blog postings (1,2) which are (relatively) new some harsh criticism comes to light. The blog postings and surveys are partly connected and refer to each other content-wise.

The surveys reveal that (web) software developers are getting significantly lower salaries than other professional categories. They also have lower chances of getting into highly-paid positions.

One of the bloggers begins his article by writing "日本のIT業界は救いようがない。: Nihon no IT gyoukai wa sukui you ga nai." which translates to "The Japanese IT industry cannot be saved." However, the writer stresses he specifically refers to the system integrator industry (system integrators or "SIer" as an abbreviation in Japanese-English).

Multi-layered topic

Indeed, there is not only ONE software industry but many layers and sub sectors existing within that field. The situation in Japan's game industry is vastly different from the one producing enterprise software, for example.

And there is a high number of talented and powerful programmers in Japan as well of course. For example, the programming language Ruby (on which Ruby on Rails is based) was invented in Japan by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto.

Moreover, some star entrepreneurs do exist in Japan, most notably the members of the 76ers generation (nanaroku sedai: ナナロク世代). All of them are born in or around 1976. These IT-savvy turned company owners include "celebrities" like
- Kasahara Kenji (31, billionaire and President of Japan's No. 1 SNS Mixi)
- Naito Yuki (29, President of web service company Drecom)
- Tanaka Yoshikazu (30, President of SNS GREE)
- Kondo Junya (31, President of web service company and geek heaven Hatena)
and a few others.

As said above, I could write on and on about this very complicated topic. Please keep in mind within the scope of this posting I can only provide my readers with a very rough (and surely incomplete) overview of selected mega trends in the Japanese IT industry.

Web 2.0 event in Tokyo: Learn about Zooomr, Artistsweb and FF3

Yesterday I attended a Tokyo2point0 event in Omotesandou/Tokyo for the first time. Tokyo2point0 is a social network set up by Tokyo-based Englishman and IT fanatic Andrew Shuttleworth. However, members of this community also meet in real life on a regular basis.

You can sign up directly on the site itself, go to Tokyo2point0's Facebook group or get some information on Mixi.

The event yesterday focused on networking and three presentations two of which were hold mainly in English. I really hope all Japanese people in the room understood everything (I couldn't talk to all of them to "check" their language skills).

1) Zooomr.com
Zooomr.com is the name of a rather famous web service which is regularly featured on sites like Techcrunch or Mashable. In its simplest form, Zooomr is a photosharing site. After the event,I talked with Kristopher (the founder and CTO) on Skype and he told me they are not competing with companies like Flickr.

Why? Zooomr in my opinion heavily focuses on social network aspects. Moreover, the site seems to offer more functions than Flickr or other similar products (i.e. Zipline which is kind of an Instant Messenger!), is translated into 16 languages and designed very mobile Internet-friendly (VERY important in Japan).

Also, Zooomr is essentially a JAPANESE web service. The HQ is located in Shibuya, Tokyo and all key people (including Kristopher himself) are based in Japan!

Kristopher also talked about "OpenTransit" which is essentially an open source routing navigation engine for Web Developers. Very cool idea. I hope we can see some great products coming out of that!

Here is the video of Kristopher's presentation (direct link):


2) TheArtistsWeb
Chris Kirkland gave an interesting presentation about his e-commerce platform "The Artists Web". On the site artists from all backgrounds can sign up for a certain yearly fee, set up their own web site (gallery) and then are able to sell their works online to buyers from all over the world. What is sold is not a tangible product but electronic files that can be printed out later.

Chris told me prints are selling particularly well. There are over 27,000 works of art online at the moment!

The company is run from England and Japan with Chris being the owner and based here in Japan.

He also shared his experiences with Facebook and the way they handle developers of FB applications. Bittersweet stories;). Chris is a pretty busy guy: He also runs a gaming network called "The Sentence Game" which almost 30,000 users subscribed to. Wow!

For more information, check out his video (direct link):


3) Firefox 3
The launch of Firefox 3 is not exactly Web 2.0-related but Gen Kanai's presentation and demo was very interesting nonetheless.

Gen is director of Marketing at Mozilla Japan and passionate about pushing Firefox in the Japanese market. Actually he also was responsible for setting up the new Mozilla China (Chinese only) office in Beijing (more on that here).

You can see his cool presentation here (direct link):


Also, please check out Gen's personal site. His blog (written in English) is excellent!

Japan develops software against pirated movies

We all know how it works: Somebody smuggles a video camera into a movie theater, tapes it off the screen and uploads it on a torrent site, Emule, Winny (a Japanese P2P system) or wherever and anybody can download the file later.

In my opinion, Japanese people tend to refrain from illegal downloading. That doesn't mean it isn't happening but I feel the problem is bigger in the US and Europe.

Yesterday, Japanese TV network and relentless innovator NHK and Mitsubishi Electric presented a new system to prevent distribution of counterfeit video material over the Internet. The companies hope their jointly developed watermark technology will enable movie producers to trace illegal copies of their products on the Internet.

If someone copies moving pictures, the camera will tape watermarks embedded in the source material at the same time. Those signals are invisible to the human eye but allow copyright holders to identify their stolen works online by using specially designed software.

NHK and Mitsubishi said stolen material can even be traced even if a part of an image is put on the web! Moreover the system makes it even possible to trace at which cinema and at which time the illegal copy was made. Not bad!

This is not the first time some company claims it has the ultimate weapon to combat online piracy.

However, especially NHK is a power not to be underestimated. NHK is not only Japan's public TV station but also a pioneer in broadcasting technology.

For example, NHK is currently developing "Super-Hi-Vision" which is supposed to succeed HD-TV in 2025. The Super-Hi-Vision format with a resolution of 7,680 × 4,320 pixels is four times as wide and four times as high (!) as HD-TV...

So one can expect this new technology to work in one way or the other.

How to use and register for KakikoTV

Following the review, here is some more information about KakikoTV. I will break down this posting into two parts:

I) How to register
II) How to use KakikoTV

Let's begin by
I) How to register
The sign-up process is very easy as displayed in the JPEGs below.



After confirmation, you are logged in (your name is displayed on the top right of the screen). You will also get a "Thank you"-email (without an activation link by the way).

II) How to use KakikoTV
You can choose between two ways to get videos from Youtube as seen in the following image.


After choosing a video the following screen appears:


Confirm and you get to the following page:


Confirm again and now you can start modifying the video:


The container on the right displays a list of all effects added to the video so far (in the JPEG above, there are two).

The main menu consists of the following functions/effects you can add (left to right):
- text
- subtitles
- speech balloons
- shapes (arrows, squares etc.)
- insert an image
- insert an animation (from a list: smiley, glowing light bulb etc.)
- insert a link to a Yahoo auction (!)
- insert a sound effect (from a list)
- insert sound freely
- show a list of all effects added (also to be seen in the container to the right of the video)

I could write on and on about each of these functions but that would lead too far. I suggest you try it out. It's very easy to use!

Here is an example for the options you can choose from after selecting the text function. You can alter text size, color, font, position on the video etc. etc.!


Confirm every effect by clicking on the floppy disk icon on the small menu appearing above the main menu (see JPEG above). It will be then added as a new effect to the list just like the text box in the example:


At the end, KakikoTV saves the video with all effects included automatically. You can access your "work" later, edit/delete each effect, put modified videos on display for other people and mail them to friends (see JPEG).

I think this information is enough to make good use of KakikoTV for Non-Japanese speakers ;).

Review: KakikoTV lets you modifiy videos and photos online

KakikoTV is the name of a relatively new service which has so far been exclusively marketed in Japan. I listened to the interesting presentation of the maker during the Web 2.0 Expo in Tokyo recently (my short article about the expo is here).

Essentially KakikoTV enables users to modify videos and photos online by integrating a range of visual and sound effects, comments or subtitles.

This is the official KakikoTV demo video (direct link).


There is no information in English about KakikoTV anywhere on the Internet so I decided it is time for a write-up from my side ;). Learn how to use and register for KakikoTV as a non-Japanese speaker in a separate post. Please notice I focus on modifying videos in this review (not pictures).

I will review KakikoTV in the following order:

I) General Info
II) Starting Page
III) Functions and Features
IV) Business Modell
V) Opinion


I) General Info
The site is a product of Eviry Inc. (this and most of the following links are in Japanese only) which was founded October 2006. The company is located in Tokyo.

KakikoTV is Eviry's main service and was introduced in March this year. The presentation at the Web 2.0 expo Tokyo promoted Intra Kakiko however, the company's new product which was released just last month. While KakikoTV is B2C, Intra Kakiko is aimed at the B2B market only. In this review, I focus on KakikoTV since this is more of interest to most of the readers of this blog.

II) Starting Page
Please click on the JPEG below in which I translated the main contents of the starting page into English.


The starting page is very clear and almost self-explanatory. The page's third row features a box in which users can type in a Youtube URL to get the video they want to modify. Alternatively, a search term can be entered. KakikoTV then accesses Youtube's data base and presents related videos in grid format (on their own site).

III) Functions and Features

There are a lot of options to modify videos via Kakiko. Please look at my tuturial for details.

This is the page where you can work on the video you chose:


Mainly, users can integrate sounds, pictures, icons, text and animations into videos. You can use the effects given by the site but also add your own!

Effects can be changed in size, appearance (i.e. angle) and color. Users are free to integrate these elements at any given time into any given Youtube video.

More on this in my tutorial on KakikoTV.

IV) Business Modell
There are no advertisements on the site. Also, there are no premium memberships. The company makes money solely with sales of its B2B solution Intra Kakiko.

Youtube could use a service like this and let users pay for it. I am sure that this would be an idea worth trying out.

V) Opinion
A comparison with Youtube's own editing feature "Remixer" (made by Adobe Premiere Expresss) is impossible since at the time of writing I couldn't get it to work on my PC. It is still in Youtube's "Test Tube" section anyway meaning it's not an official service yet.

Pros:
1)
The whole site is very clear in layout and style

2)
The service is easy to use

3)
No need to download and install software of any kind

4)
Clear focus on a selected service (modification and amplification of online videos and pictures)

5)
As a whole, KakikoTV "makes sense", is fun and a useful tool

Cons:
1)
An English version would be good

2)
More functions/effects are always welcome

I think two things about the Internet are true: Firstly, the game for videos is big already and will grow in the future. Secondly, uploading and viewing videos and pictures online for fun or professional purposes is here to stay. This means potential for services as KakikoTV or IntraKakiko is huge.

What I like best about KakikoTV is its usability. Japanese people love the Kantan-principle (kantan (簡単) means easy). And KakikoTV delivers in this respect. Everything is thought through from the users' point of view.

Make sure to read my 2nd posting about KakikoTV in which I analyze the functions and explain how to register (in English).

Overall: Well done!

How to register for Nico Nico Douga (English)

My review of Japanese Youtube "killer" Nico Nico Douga has you hooked?

Learn here how to register for the site in English. Please follow the instructions given in the screenshots below.



Also, please remember:
At certain times, Nico Nico blocks registration for basic membership. In that case try a few hours later.




As for your location, please choose "その他(海外など)" which means "Other (outside Japan)".

After the final step, a page appears stating you have to confirm the registration within 24 hours by clicking on the link the service sends to you via Email after this registration process.

After clicking the confirmation link you will be directed to a "welcome" page. Make sure to choose the link on the right as shown in the screen shot below.


Do so and you are ready to go!

You can find more information on Nico Nico Douga on Joi Ito's Web Log in Fumi Yamazaki's excellent article.

Review: Japan's Youtube killer Nico Nico Douga

It's insane. It's very successful. It's very Japanese. It's a cooler video sharing site than Youtube. It's Nico Nico Douga (web site is Japanese only).

In my guest article for German blog zweinull.cc I briefly described the site in Deutsch (I am a German).

In this post, I will extensively review Nico Nico. Click here for my explanation of how to register for Non-Japanese speakers (this post is long enough).



I will review Nico Nico in the following order:

I) General Info
II) Starting Page
III) Functions and Features
IV) Business Modell
V) Opinion

I) General Info
Nico Nico Douga (ニコニコ動画) roughly means Smiling Videos. The site launched in January this year and since then turned into nothing but a huge success story. And no one knows about it outside Japan but that is what this blog is about, right?

Basically the site works like Youtube. People can upload, view, share and comment on videos of any kind. Basic membership is free.

The user base stands at approximately 3 million (data for October 2007, according to Niwango which is the company behind the site). There are almost 600,000 videos uploaded.

II) Starting Page
Please click at the JPEG below for an English description of the key elements of the starting page.


The whole site may look wild and crazy to Western eyes but lots of Japanese people (and me) love the design. Not long ago, Nico Nico even won the prestigious Good Design award (Japanese only).

In contrast to Youtube, you cannot even view videos without an account. That means you have to register to go further than the starting page.

III) Functions and Features
The biggest difference between Youtube and Nico Nico is the way users can communicate with each other. Youtube users usually write private messages to each other or share their opinions via the comment function just below the videos.

With Nico Nico however, people can actually communicate WITHIN the videos themselves! Users can write comments about a particular part of a video. The comments then "float" across the screen from right to left (easier for Japanese people to read) at a time users are free to choose. Now it happens that some videos feature hundreds of comments from hundreds of users overlaying the picture. Please see the video below for an example.


It may sound stupid but Nico Nico users particularly love this feature. It is the point of the service actually. As of November 22nd, almost 600 million comments were made (!).


Now, please click at the JPEG below for an English description of the overview page you see after logging in.

The main categories of videos can be found in two rows (the grey buttons). Categories marked with an "*" are explained separately.

1st row (left to right):
ALL MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT ANIME GAMES SURVEYS* RADIO* SPORTS POLITICS CHAT* SCIENCE HISTORY COOKING NATURE

In the "surveys" category, users can start video surveys. For example, users can ask the Nico Nico community which star they prefer in a 1on1 "duel". See the screen shot below for an example.


In the "radio" section, one can listen to and comment on radio programs recorded and shared by Nico Nico users! It sounds weird to have a function like that on a video site but people seem to like it.

Videos uploaded in the "chat" section give users the opportunity to communicate more easily. The videos here usually just serve as a background.

2nd row (left to right):
VLOG ME DANCING* ME SINGING* ME PLAYING AN INSTRUMENT* NICO NICO TIPS* PREMIUM USER AREA TAIWAN* MISCELLANEOUS TEST VIDEOS RESTRICTED-18* COMPANY VIDEOS*


In the "Me dancing/singing/playing an instrument" sections Nico Nico users can show how they can do just that. There is a lot of fun stuff to be found here.

In the "Nico Nico tips" section users can provide other users with hints on using the service.

For some strange reason Nico Nico is popular in Taiwan. This is the reason for setting up this special category.

The "Restricted 18" section is particularly interesting. Things get steamier here but there is no really "hard" stuff if you know what I mean.

The "company videos" category features commercial material. At the moment, especially music companies use Nico Nico to present the latest mucic clips from their artists.

IV) Business Modell
There are various ways Nico Nico makes money.

Firstly, there are advertisements on the site.

Secondly, Nico Nico aggressively promotes its premium accounts. The upgrade costs 525 Yen (4,85 USD/3,26 Euro) a month. Premium members get more bandwith, access to Nico Nico on their mobile phones, 2 GB more storage (4 GB total), additional comment colors etc. In October 2007, there were 86,000 premium account holders.

Thirdly, there is the Nico Nico market. Users can choose products from Amazon related to a certain video and put the corresponding links below it. Nico Nico gets the commission.

There are no advertisements embedded in the videos.

V) Opinion
Pros:
1)
Cool design (mangaesque characters, crazy appearance, I love that)

2)
Very good usability (good interface, clear selection of categories, simple navigation etc.)

3)
Videos load really fast

4)
No time restriction on the videos

5)
Very good selection of high quality, crazy and "exclusive" videos

6)
New and fresh concept (comments streaming over the screen leading to a new and direct way of communication between users)

Cons:
1)
Limitation of access at certain times for Non-premium members

2)
I want an English version really fast ;)

3)
Amount of videos still limited compared to Youtube

If Youtube is the king of quantity then (at least for me!) Nico Nico is king of quality and fun. Actually, one can't compare the sites. I wouldn't necessarily put family videos on Nico Nico. That's what Youtube is there for. Nico Nico is meant to be crazy and entertaining (for the most part). And I think they really achieve that goal.

Nico Nico is not worse or better than Youtube but -as I said above- certainly cooler.

Here is my explanation in English of how to register.

PS
There is a Taiwanese version of Nico Nico available already. Maybe there will be an English Nico Nico soon?

Japanese online game market grows rapidly

I just stumbled upon a fairly interesting article from Japanese news agency Kyodo.

As an Ex-Videogame-Otaku (I still love Sega, Konami and Capcom) I found it pretty interesting.

Maybe you agree. The article from last month is very short and not really deep but a quick read.

As Japan is the No. 1 country in the world as far as producing high quality game content is concerned, there should be lots of chances for Japanese online game companies to make money by internationalizing fast.

Hmmm, maybe I can help some of those companies since I both love games and have a deep knowledge of the gaming culture and business.

Get the LebWeb3 admission code I won at Blognation Japan's Web 2.0 party

Just yesterday I blogged about Blognation Japan's launch party to be held in Tokyo after the Web 2.0 Expo's 2nd and final day.

And I won the big prize: An admission code for Europe's biggest Web exhibition, the LeWeb3 which takes place in Paris, France on December 11 and 12, 2007! Value: 1,000 USD! That's quite cool, isn't it?

Here is your chance: I cannot make it to Paris although I would really, really like to. So grab the code for a mere 500 USD. Just write me an email: serkantoto (at) gmail com.

The party itself was great fun. I got to know lots of interesting people, for example Naotori-san who is CEO of brandnew Japanese web start-up 7ns.

Naotori-san won the Mash-Up award from Sun Microsystems Japan (both links are Japanese only) a couple of weeks ago. Check out his cool and useful application here. The service (designed and programmed by him alone!) is also available in English!

The party lasted 4 hours (although only 2 hours were planned) and Robert did a great job hosting it although he had to entertain approximately 25 people ;).

Yahoo Japan brings the web to HD-TVs

Japan is a leading producer of TVs. Everyone knows that. Also, everyone heard a lot of marketing bla-bla in the last years about "merging technologies", "bridging digital gaps in the living room" and, of course, browsing the web on TVs. Obviously, this will be the case one day.

And Japan might be on the forefront of this development. And people here really mean it. In September, a high definition video-on-demand service was launched on the Japanese web TV site acTVila (Japanese only). acTVila is backed by the Japanese government, Sony, Matsushita, Sharp, Hitachi and Toshiba.

Screenshot: acTVila home page


Yahoo aims for HD TV
Now, Yahoo Japan is aiming specifically at the HD TV market. The company plans to launch an Internet portal designed for display on HD televisions as early as this Japanese fiscal year (ending March 31st, 2008).

Yahoo is working together with electronics giant Sharp on "Yahoo! HD for AQUOS" for big-screen TVs in "full HD"(1.980x1.080 resolution).

I saw a demonstration myself at CEATEC in Tokyo 2 weeks ago. The companies displayed selected content from Yahoo Japan's web site on a Sharp Aquos HD-TV. The content could be browsed smoothly by using an Aquos remote controller.

Now, displaying photos, maps, restaurant info etc. from Yahoo Japan's own web site on a large TV screen might make sense but it doesn't sound too sexy (for screen shots and technical mumbo jumbo, please click here).

However, this is only a first step. In an obvious second move, Sharp and Yahoo will add video distribution to the service later. Does this mean Japanese users will be able to watch Joost on their HD-TVs soon?

The companies are also hinting at integrating social networks and instant messaging as a third step! As of now, its unclear if this plan includes Yahoo-only services like Yahoo 360 or if there will be Facebook or MySpace in HD.

Interesting prospects but I am not sure if users want to browse the web on their TV sets in the first place. However, Yahoo Japan, Sharp and those technology-crazy Japanese people: This is one combination that might work. Accordingly, Yahoo Japan plans to acquire no less than 1 million users per month by the end of next year. I will keep you posted on this topic.

Yahoo Japan rules the Japanese internet
In Japan, Yahoo is by far the most popular web site. Some people even claim Yahoo Japan is the Japanese internet.

The company is controlling some 65% of the search market here. The Yahoo portal had 41.1 million uniques in August 2007 while Google Japan only had 30.9 million. The ROC in the last 5 years is 43% annually on average. Sales climbed 47% to 1.8 billion USD last year and profits surged a whopping 59% annually since 2001.

Interestingly, Japanese telecommunications giant Softbank holds 41% of Yahoo Japan while Yahoo itself controls 34% and is thus a minor shareholder!

New device to limit web access for Japanese children

Japanese toy and entertainment giant Bandai released a new product past Friday.

With this gadget -which is basically just a special kind of USB stick- parents can make sure their kids do not surf "dangerous" web sites anymore. The stick is 9 centimeters long and is called "Pasokon Kids Key" (Pasokon is the Japanese abbrevation of the term "Personal Computer"). It costs 3,480 Yen (30 USD).

Pictures of the device can be found here (descriptions in Japanese only). Its design features Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. Disney is very popular in Japan, too.

After inserting the key, the PC will change into a "kids mode". Children then can access the Internet only through a specially designed portal. Actually the whole OS is simplified, i.e. less and bigger buttons are displayed.

The so-called "i-Filter" makes sure kids only access sites viewed suitable for them. It is free for use for the first 90 days after which a small monthly fee is charged.