Laura Leiva & Horace C. White

Modern Tokyo Times

Jami Laes has been named as the EVP of Games for Rovio Entertainment, the company announced April 18. Laes’ extensive experience in the gaming industry makes him an ideal choice to head the game division and Rovio Entertainment is using Laes’ knowledge and expertise to develop and support the company’s growth in gaming operations. Laes’ lengthy resume creates plenty of growth possibilities for Rovio. During previous stints with Digital Chocolate and Electronic Arts, Laes has worked hard to provide gamers around the world with quality mobile and social games. His international networking, which includes working with Japanese and Chinese studios, will help elevate Rovio Entertainment even further on a global level.

Rovio Entertainment has had its share of success this year by publishing the company’s first free-to-play game and creating an in-game animation distribution channel. With a firm footing in the entertainment gaming industry, Rovio is expected to continue growing and strengthening with the addition of Jami Laes’ background. According to Rovio Entertainment’s CEO Mikael Hed, the collaboration with Laes is sure to be a fruitful one. Hed explains that Laes’ international background, leadership experience and creative knowledge will help propel Rovio into the hands of more gamers.

Rovio Entertainment isn’t the only company entertaining gamers around the world. Nexon, which introduced the first MMORPG, The Kingdom of the Winds, in 1995, is a competitive player in the gaming industry. Games developed through Nexon have reached world records in countries such as China and South Korea and provide users with an innovative experience – playing games for free with the option to make in-game purchases for customization and playing enhancement. Nexon’s assortment of social and mobile games and number of users prove that online games are enjoyed by a vast demographic of people and not just hardcore gamers.

Nexon’s investment in 6waves will advance the company’s influence on even more gamers. Starting through Facebook, 6waves is now the leading publisher of independent games found on mobile platforms and social networks. By teaming up with international developers, 6waves has extended its reach to millions of users in countries such as China, Japan, United States and Russia. 6waves is responsible for developing interactive, entertaining games on multiple devices and platforms such as Mystery Manor, Township and Mafia Farm.

While Rovio Entertainment has garnered international success with the popular puzzle game, Angry Birds, its future is looking even brighter with the addition of Laes. New developments within the company ensure it will be a competitive match to established giants like Nexon.

http://www.rovio.com/

http://www.nexon.net/

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Laura Leiva & Horace C. White

Modern Tokyo Times

Innovative companies and designs are changing the way we live – bringing opportunity and development right to the fingertips. Companies around the world strive to offer the best and newest devices or tools into daily use, whether it’s help finding the next best job or eliminating useless steps out of already busy lives. Three new services provide everyday citizens with marketing, technology and interactive capabilities to create a unique experience that will take industries to a higher level and standard.

Quirky (www.quirky.com) – Have you ever had an amazing idea, but didn’t have the means or finances to go through the lengthy patent or marketing process? Quirky is quickly rising to be an innovative service that allows everyone to have a chance at creating the next biggest service or gadget. Users submit an application about an idea or product they want to develop and the community on Quirky will evaluate the idea. At any point during the process, the marketing and development team at Quirky will research, evaluate and brand the idea if it’s a good fit – if it is, your idea or product hits stores within months. Websites such as Quirky allow everyone the same opportunity in creating that life-changing product, regardless of financial status or networking.

SkoutMe (www.skoutme.co) -  Searching for a job at a time when the market is flooded with resumes and applications is frustrating, which is why SkoutMe is an innovative application designed to bring information about open positions from around your area directly to your smartphone. The way in which SkoutMe works is it creates a profile for you to show off skills or experience, much like a resume. The app locates available jobs around you based on a map and employers in the area have the ability to bid on you for employment. SkoutMe brings the employer and (future) employee together in a unique platform where everyone benefits!

MYO (www.getmyo.com) - Being tethered to a computer or phone is not always practical, so MYO has created groundbreaking technology to design a device that uses the electrical activity in the muscles to interact wirelessly with digital gadgets. This new form of technology allows users to control presentations, play the latest video games and browse the web without needing the use of a keyboard or controller.

These new devices and services bring endless possibilities to users of technology around the world. Whether you want to share your great idea, need helping landing that perfect job or want to complete a presentation without needing a laptop, these three new platforms promote original ideas and user-friendly accessibility.

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Laura Leiva

Modern Tokyo Times

The use of social media continues to grow each year and most users have accounts in various platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Flickr. Instead of uploading photographs taken by an iPhone or iPad and stored in the camera roll or individually uploaded to different photo sharing applications, a new solution integrates photographs found in multiple locations on a smartphone or tablet and shares them in a single space. Cooliris is quickly becoming the app of choice when it comes to Lifestyle applications – it’s reached the #1 iPad and iPhone spot in 75 countries in the Lifestyle category and numbers over three million installs to date on the iOS.

Taking a quick look at the application, here are a few features users can expect with Cooliris:

• The use of Dropbox makes sharing photos even easier
• Favorite social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook and Flickr are blended into a single location
• Quick save feature allows users to easily save multiple images in Dropbox and Google Drive

Social media (http://www.cooliris.com/) users in Japan are quickly joining and using Cooliris to save and share images. Japan is the second largest market for total installs of the app –two-thirds coming from iPhone users and one-third from iPad. With the recent addition of Dropbox in the newest update, developers of Cooliris are expecting the number of users to increase significantly. So how does Cooliris differ from other photo-sharing applications? Pinterest and Instagram are two popular ways to share personal and public images between users, however, the limited communication between users may create an impersonal experience rather than conversations or in-depth commenting capabilities.

Two main sources of photo sharing for Cooliris are Instagram and Apple’s camera roll. Users who share and save images from these sources to Cooliris will experience enhanced navigation and discovery between friends and followers of these various social media applications. Bringing multiple photography platforms together in a single applications means users can connect with other users, discover new images and share photos from any of their selected locations. Want to keep conversations private between users?

The Cooliris application makes it possible. Whether users have only a few social media applications or store images in multiple sources, the Cooliris app provides a single space in which to view images directly from the camera roll or photos stored in folders on Facebook. Each user may customize the app to add even more platforms to the experience – Dropbox, Renren, SmugMug and Yandex.Fotki are also available for users.

https://twitter.com/Cooliris Cooliris on Twitter

http://www.cooliris.com/

https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/cooliris/id294479487?mt=8

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Joachim de Villiers and James Jomo

Modern Tokyo Times

The information war is gathering apace in many areas and the importance of social networking is going from strength to strength. It does appear that Google is doing a noble thing by protecting individuals from state-sponsored attacks. However, the initiative does raise some important questions because will this be used against all nations?

In the age of technology and social networking new areas are opening up and the ongoing chaos in Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Tunisia; is a witness to the power of social media and the internet. However, in nations which are extremely modern like Israel or in countries which are on great terms with America, for example Saudi Arabia, it is clear that you have had little impact from all the regional chaos.

Obviously the factors will be very different because one nation is democratic while the other is despotic. Despite this, the Palestinian question remains within the body politic of Israel. Similarly, in Saudi Arabia you would have thought that the so-called “Arab Spring” would have hit this nation given the draconian nature of this country. Despite both Israel and Saudi Arabia facing the rise of social networking and at least “some awakening” in certain areas, relatively little appears to have happened.

Therefore is social networking being used and manipulated against governments deemed unfriendly to the interests of America and important regional nations like Saudi Arabia?  This is the problem because all nations have unique factors and the development stage is very different. Of course, Google may state that they aren’t targeting specific governments and supporting any personal agendas but questions are being raised by this new initiative.

Harel Chorev, Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, comments that “The unfolding of the Arab Spring protests sheds light on the significant role of social media in the Middle East’s contemporary political arena.  The emergence of Social Media has been a groundbreaking development that has made a crucial contribution to regime transformation in some cases, and on some of the post-revolutionary countries’ political culture. Still, it must be understood that Social Media is not the reason behind the Arab Spring uprisings; rather, it is a powerful tool for the organization of protests. The root causes of the uprisings are the social, economic and political issues in each country, along with global problems such as the rising prices of essential products. In addition, it should be noted that the weight and patterns of the Social Media phenomenon differ from one country to another.”

Harel Chorev also comments that “Currently, and as shown during the overthrow of both the Egyptian and Tunisian presidents, SNS can serve as a foundation for coalitions which cut across social and political lines and which are built around a unifying goal — e.g. ousting the regime — even if the members are not unified on any other issue. Further, the individual SNS user, sitting alone at home or in an internet café, can see the multitudes who share his views. The notion that so many others share the same goals empowers the individual to take action, e.g. to participate in street protests. This internalization process, occurring in millions of users, can be the final push that releases masses of protestors to the streets.”

Therefore, while the alerts against “state-sponsored attacks” can be used for noble reasons, it can also be manipulated by governments which have an interest in gaining from this new approach. Also, some nations will deem this new “internal social tool” to be a threat to internal national security. This means that Google may be viewed to be “an outside agent” which is protecting anti-government individuals (other important areas) from being pursued – this raises many questions because will unfriendly governments and organizations also be protected and so forth?

Eric Grosse, Vice-President of Google’s security engineering, comments “You might ask how we know this activity is state-sponsored…We can’t go into the details without giving away information that would be helpful to these bad actors, but our detailed analysis – as well as victim reports – strongly suggests the involvement of states or groups that are state-sponsored.”

In an article by Josh Rogin (Foreign Policy–The Cable) it is stated that “While last week’s announcement and this week’s announcement are both being presented by Google as user based initiatives not directed at foreign governments, Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been speaking out publicly and forcefully in recent months about the potential negative role governments can play in circumventing internet freedom.”

“While threats come from individuals and even groups of people, the biggest problem will be activities stemming from nations that seek to do harm” commented Eric Schmidt.

Individuals will be divided by this relatively new feature by Google. The same applies to nations which will welcome this new initiative and other nations which will view this with suspicion. It is clear that the internet and social networking can bypass many traditional areas and be manipulated by so-called “progressive forces” and “dark forces.”

Therefore, Google is either enhancing the rights of individuals and organizations which seek to challenge the status quo by informing them of current dangers related to security. Or alternatively, Google may be deemed to be a “shadow agent” which is following their own internal objectives. After all, will Google warn individuals and governments being attacked when it clashes with areas they disapprove? Also, what is the definition behind what is deemed to be “state-sponsored attacks” on the one side and “national security” on the other side?

Lee Jay Walker provided support to both main writers

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/06/05/google_to_warn_users_targeted_by_state_sponsored_attacks

http://moderntokyotimes.com/2011/10/20/social-media-and-other-revolutions/

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Laura Leiva and Horace C. White

Modern Tokyo Times

For some entrepreneurs, expanding into the Asian market is on the list of goals, but in order to carry business to a country like China, one must be willing to take risks and bridge cultures to create successful working relationships. As one of the fastest growing markets, China’s large and expanding economy offers business owners an array of opportunities and sales; however, without the proper knowledge in language, customs or cultures, the business might not take off as hoped. Thanks to technology, there are plenty of smartphone apps to help make the path a little smoother. Here are some of the best iPhone apps to help prepare any entrepreneur for an expansion into the Chinese market:

Dodo China (http://www.morechinese.cc) – MoreChinese (MC) has created an entertaining and eye-catching application to learn and write Chinese characters. This interactive application offers a beautifully designed story to educate readers on the cultures and characters of China. Additionally, Dodo China provides step-by-step instruction on writing some of the commonly used Chinese characters and how they pertain to the culture.

Surround App (http://www.surroundapp.asia)　– Social media is a necessary feature in many businesses and the Surround App is perfect for non-Chinese reading users to interact with the Chinese social media platforms. This mobile app provides real-time reading and writing translation on social media platforms such as WeChat, QZone, QQ and Sina Weibo. As one of the largest economies and populations in the world, communication with the Chinese is essential on a professional and personal level.

PaiShouBa (http://www.88tc88.com/paishouba.htm) – Those interested in international games, apps, eBooks and music will need to use PaiShouBa to access the Chinese marketplace. Whether you are a musical artist looking to distribute music or an app developer wanting to enter the largest mobile market, PaiShouBa is the fastest way to reach millions of users in a short amount of time.

Waygo Visual Translator (http://waygoapp.com) – Planning on making a trip to China and haven’t had time to learn Chinese? Finding your way around the city or even a restaurant menu is now easier thanks to the Waygo Visual Translator. This app instantly scans and translates signage or restaurant menus – an essential tool when you are visiting locations that use only Chinese characters to describe locations or food dishes.

Expanding into international markets is important for businesses of any size and with the frequent growth and positive economic forecasts in China, understanding the culture, language and customs is necessary to build a working relationship. While learning Chinese words and characters are ideal for the long-term, these simple apps help make the initial business trips to China even easier!

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Horace C. White

Modern Tokyo Times

Not since the most recent Lebron James pre-game　”acrobatic dunk” have web watchers been so captivated in the possibility of “King James” entering the Slam Dunk contest that we often overlook the rise of Samsung, Lenovo (LNVGY), and Huawei, taking that fast break every step of the way by alley-ooping on team USA tech.

While Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer bickers over bringing her staff back to the office place vs. telecommuting, the popular Line app made by South Korea’s Naver Corp. (KRX: 035420) has achieved 100 million users, and steady raising in Asia for that ultimate free throw chance from the line.

Meanwhile, Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) appears to be tapping the board all around Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) by forcing it out of the Chinese market and causing its chairman Eric Schmidt to call time out for “The New Digital Age.” No wonder D-Wade (Dwayne Wade) dropped the Nike Jordan brand in favor of Li-Ning.

At the same time, Rakuten Japan (JASDAQ: 4755) is using a pick and roll strategy to out maneuver Amazon Japan. With Rakuten’s recent purchase of Buy.com, along with its Kobo Glo e-readers, placed strategically throughout Japanese bookstores, movie theaters, etc., perhaps, team USA tech should come up with a new motion offense that even Derrick Rose could be proud of.

In Singapore, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) co-founder Eduardo Saverin is positioning for greater tech investment in Asia. However, does Mark Zuckerberg really understand the play? Surely, SingTel (SGX: T48) is heading for a 1-3-1 offense with its acquisition of Amobee. Hopefully, a new Firefox phone will allow Zuckerberg to come out from the side lines, move to the floor, and put some pep in his step causing team USA tech to score.

Lo and behold, North Korea through Koryo Tours has produced their first video game. Can we really blame “The Worm,” Dennis Rodman for stating to North Korea, “I come in peace?”

Surprisingly, Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) Tim Cook appears to be on the bench after having his first Apple maps shot blocked for being a flop. Luckily, a world audience is still rooting in favor for the iWatch.

Whatever side you cheer for, team USA tech can do more. Let’s all watch from our virtual bleachers as the game of tech continues on.

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Laura Leiva

Modern Tokyo Times

The iPad has proved to be a resourceful tool for people of all ages and The Legend of Momotaro is a perfect example of how technology and literature come together to create a fascinating application for young children. Ghost Hand Games, LLC has created this beautiful app as a way to introduce Japanese culture and language to young, English speaking children through the heroic fairytale of Momotaro.

Winner of such accolades as Best Apps for Kids Editor’s Choice, Best of 2012 iPad Book App by Kirkus Reviews and Critic’s Choice by Kirkus, The Legend of Momotaro features interactive options for children to learn Japanese words and culture. Crisp illustrations, clear audio effects and touchscreen capabilities surely entertain and educate children all at the same time. There are two ways in which to enjoy The Legend of Momotaro – parents or children either may read the story themselves with the easy scrolling function or may follow along with authentic narration, which brings the story to life. As the story progresses, illustrations move within the narrative to complement the text and sound effects engage readers in the story.

Throughout each page, there are dozens of hidden surprises for children to discover along the way. As a child reads, they are encouraged to tap a range of objects within the story, which provides additional learning – this innovative feature allows children to touch familiar objects within the fairytale to learn the equivalent Japanese word or Japanese kanji. Shaking the iPad gently releases dozens of hidden objects for children to explore during the story.

The Legend of Momotaro tells of a fairytale in which an old married couple who never had children wishes they had the one thing that would make their life complete, a child. One day, as the old woman is doing laundry by the river, a large peach begins to float past her and she desperately wants the peach because it would make many delicious meals. As it floats away, she creates a poem to will the peach back – and it floats against the tide back to her. After taking the peach home, she waits until the old man is back and they begin to slice the peach open, only to discover there is a small child inside.

The small child grows up into a special boy, respected and loved by all in the land. One day, a squirrel tells him that ogres are pillaging villages and taking everything from the residents and Momotaro knows he needs to stop the ogres. He leaves home to go on a journey to the remote villages, and along the way meets special friends who will help him defeat the ogres. Momotaro and his friends defeat the ogres and obtain all of the gold and belongings of the villagers to return to them.

The Legend of Momotaro is educating and entertaining all at once. Beautiful images and hidden objects will provide hours of exploring and reading for children. The app is reasonably priced and an ideal application for any iPad or iPad mini.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-legend-of-momotaro/id553938013?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snow-brawlin/id342155750?mt=8

http://www.ghosthandgames.com/　

https://twitter.com/ghosthandgames　Ghost Hand Games on Twitter

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Tomoko Hara and Sarah Deschamps

Modern Tokyo Times

Rakuten Inc. is intent on revitalizing Stylife Corp. by increasing its current 32.5% stake in this company, in order to make it a subsidiary which is owned by Rakuten. It was reported several days ago that the next two main shareholders of Stylife would accept the offer by Rakuten. This applies to Burnedest Japan Ltd. and Parco Co. therefore it appears that things are running smoothly with regards to the takeover.

The main purpose for Rakuten is to strengthen its hand in the online fashion market and to utilize the respective strengths of Stylife and Rakuten Ichiba. After all, the virtual shopping mall of Rakuten Ichiba and Stylife overlap in many areas. Also, it is hoped that the cooperation between the two companies will strengthen both entities because this sector is extremely competitive.

Indeed, in 2012 it is reported that sales at Stylife dropped by a significant 17% and clearly all major investors in this company want to find a solution. Of course, for Rakuten it is also about consolidation within the online fashion sector and to rejuvenate both entities in order to find a right balance. Not only this, the respective areas which overlap should also help in the area of being more cost effective and expansive at the same time. Therefore, Rakuten believes that a golden opportunity exists whereby the strengths of both entities can reshape the online fashion market.

The fashion sector is enormous in Japan and major cities like Tokyo and Osaka are blessed with the crème de la crème of Japanese and international boutiques which would grace any major city in the world. At the same time, Japanese people are blessed with being able to utilize cutting edge technology in order to buy goods easily and quickly. This means that online fashion is a very powerful market and in recent years the competition is heating-up. For example, major fashion companies are also increasing their focus on online sales, social media, utilizing cutting edge technology related to smartphones and other areas.

International fashion companies which have entered the Japanese market fully understand the uniqueness of competition within the fashion sector in this nation. American Apparel is a fashion company which is hitting all the right vibes in Japan because in many fashion surveys by Modern Tokyo Times related to female fashion, this company was selected by many Tokyo females because of its adorable fashion. Yet, the complexity of the fashion market in Japan meant that American Apparel needed to reach out to new customers and to please their loyal clients even further.

Therefore, despite American Apparel being based in Los Angeles this company decided on launching its first mobile store in Japan. This decision makes complete sense because the utilization of technology in areas related to fashion – and within other markets – is well in advance in Japan compared with other nations which still lag behind. Mobile technology therefore enables people to enhance their quality of life because the convenience angle, bringing the latest fashion vibes directly to the respective individual and other perks appeal greatly.

Don Charney, CEO of American Apparel, stated in 2012 about the mobile market in Japan that “Mobile marketing is more important in Japan than in any other region. It was clear that this would be a great new way to serve our Japanese customers in a way that they’ve come to expect from other retailers.”

Therefore, American Apparel is in tune with the reality of the land of the rising sun because many retailers have entered the same line of thinking. American Apparel also focused on the Tokyo and Osaka angle when entering the fashion market of Japan therefore the approach was well thought out. Likewise, the mobile launch by American Apparel can reach fashion lovers throughout the country and reach new clients. At the same time this company can enrich their respective clients which utilize this method in order to buy fashion goods and to check the latest vibes.

Online retail, mobile launches and other areas of the modern world are increasingly impacting on individuals in Japan. Of course, this angle is growing throughout the world but the importance of this angle seems much higher in Japan. Therefore, mobile technology and other areas focus on various dynamic angles in order to cater for Japanese sensibilities.

It remains to be seen if Rakuten can revamp Stylife and restore profits to this company in the short term. After all, this market is very competitive and traditional boutiques are also focused on modernizing many areas in order to reach their traditional client base and to entice new clients. However, if the respective strengths of Rakuten Ichiba and Stylife create a new synergy and fashion buzz – then it is more than possible that Stylife can rebound especially given the strengths of Rakuten in the field of finance, creativity and other powerful areas.

Lee Jay Walker gave support to both main writers

http://www.americanapparel.net/

http://www.stylife.co.jp/

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Horace C. White

Modern Tokyo Times

With today’s rapidly changing technology coming from all parts of the world, and only a handful of Japanese companies such as Komatsu Ltd. (TYO: 6301), NTT Data , Marubeni (TYO: 8002), and GREE (TYO: 3632) willing to take the helm to lead Japan to a more global standard, Japanese end-users seem to be moving towards technology services and gadgets that are simple and more internationally geared.

Brand name companies like Sony (TYO: 6758), Panasonic (TYO: 6752), and Sharp (TYO: 6753) that once held high prestige and was known for creating the greatest high-quality, innovative, high-tech products and services around the globe, are now gradually being replaced with Apple (NASDAQ: APPL), Samsung, and Lenovo (SEHK: 0992) products.

Likewise, in the 1990s, Yahoo Japan! (TYO: 4689) emerged victorious as the top web portal for Japanese. Packed with tons of information, services, and news at a glance, Yahoo Japan! (TYO: 4689) was the Japanese preference for search compared with HotBot, Excite, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Although Yahoo Japan! (TYO: 4689) still dominates the Japanese market with 57% of the market share as oppose to Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) 30% and rising, today’s young Japanese adults tend to be moving away from the traditional norms of search to a more simple textbox style of searching in which Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) provides.

According to a new survey conducted by Comnico, Nifty, and LifeMedia, 776 young adults in Japan (425 females and 351 males) claim that their top social media choice is Twitter (42.5%), Line (16.9%), and Facebook (13.0%). Surprisingly, Mixi (TYO: 2121) that once held center stage over social services in Japan with more than 80% market share is now struggling to survive. Therefore, are the Japanese today moving towards tech and social media with a KISS?

The acronym “KISS” for “Keep It Simple Stupid,” which was coined by Kelly Johnson, asserts that systems work best if they are “kept simple” rather than complex. With Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) having only a textbox for entering search terms and keywords on its homepage, and Twitter allowing 140 characters to be entered into a tweet, coupled with the simplicity of Apple (NASDAQ: APPL), Samsung, and Lenovo (SEHK: 0992) with their internationally style products, are the Japanese today switching to technology gadgets and services that are more globe and simple to use.

Whatever the case might be, with Amazon Lockers (NASDAQ: AMZN), mobile SGI ICE Cube data centers (NASDAQ: SGI), Tobii, Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), Displair and a whole range of other technology products and services created every second from around the world, it may be wise for Japanese companies that have focused solely on the Japanese market for introducing new technology products and services to take into consideration these new Japanese generational trends.

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Kanako Itamae and Pierre Leblanc

Modern Tokyo Times

Shinzo Abe, the newly elected Prime Minister of Japan, is intent on restructuring the economy in order to kick start 2013. Therefore, he is hoping that the newly created headquarters for economic revival will be a fresh start. This newly created “control tower” is hoping to enhance both the public and private sector by utilizing the knowledge of specialists.

Abe is clearly focused on shaping a vibrant image and it is abundantly clear that economic factors swayed many people to vote for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Of course, the self-destructive Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) helped greatly but despite this Abe did hit a chord with his no nonsense approach. Also, he appears to have nipped the nuclear issue in the bud by also promising to kick start this important source of energy.

Abe commented that “We will do our best to make people look back and that the nation’s economic revival began today…All members (of the newly created economic revival headquarters) will join forces to make a jump start.”

It is noticeable that Akira Amari is the deputy head of this newly formed headquarters with Abe being the head. Akiri Amari is the minister who is being entrusted with economic revitalization. This implies that he is Abe’s right-hand-man when it comes to economic issues related to revitalization. Overall, this headquarters will work with powerful individuals in the private sector, the governor of the Bank of Japan, powerful economic related ministers and in liaison with the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.

Meanwhile on the business front Sony announced the Xperia Z smartphone whereby a major feature is that this smartphone is water-resistant. It is reported that around 10% of all mobiles are dropped down the toilet at one time or another. Of course, other features of the Xperia Z must appeal because this market is extremely competitive. Therefore, other powerful areas like being able to record high dynamic range (HDR) will appeal to many end users alongside the water-resistant angle.

Toshiba Corp. is hoping to boost nuclear opportunities outside of Japan because the Fukushima nuclear crisis continues to hinder the nuclear sector in this nation. In saying this, the nuclear sector should bounce back under Abe. Therefore, Toshiba increased its stake in Westinghouse Electric Co. to 87% in order to improve its international leverages.

Toyota on the other hand is focused on consolidating its current plants instead of building new plants over the next three years. This applies to cost cutting measures and improving on productivity levels. It appears that the current market conditions and the changing economic sands which began in 2008 are behind this cautious approach.

Lee Jay Walker provided background support to both main writers

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Laura Leiva & Horace C. White

Modern Tokyo Times

The rise of social media is evident in many countries around the world – almost half of all adults in the United States and beyond use some form of social media on a daily basis. The concept of social media is not new, but there is still continued growth when it comes to social networking – smartphones and mobile apps are two of the leading factors in the growth of social media. Most people are familiar with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – but new options are constantly being developed and tested with users around the world. Here are three social media platforms that may not be as popular as Facebook or Twitter, but still provide plenty of benefit to users:

RebelMouse (www.rebelmouse.com) – After a successful launch in 2012, it’s fast becoming a combination of the social platforms most users know and love. The social platform pulls together photos, links and other online content from your social media accounts and creates a social dashboard for users all over the web to see your information, tweets, updates and news.

Most anyone will benefit from using RebelMouse – most notably independent journalists or those with a large social media presence. Unlike other social media platforms, users don’t have to spend much time maintaining a RebelMouse page, as various settings allow you to update the dashboard automatically with tweets using certain hashtags or usernames.

Stockr (www.stockr.com) – When you combine social media and the stock market, you get Stockr. Typically, those involved in the stock market like to delve right in and consume information about companies, stocks and trading advice – and that’s where Stockr comes in. It provides an outlet for users to find relevant, up to date information about stocks and allows them to interact with other users, obtain news items and press releases, and set up watch lists.

One way Stockr has attempted to cut down on “trolling” or “spamming” found in many other social networks is to directly tie each account with an actual identity. Now, users in Stockr can see the actual people making comments – and aside from reducing the amount of trolling that takes place, it allows users to follow such people or track comments left by a user in other areas of the platform. If you find that you are interested in a person’s expertise, this feature helps you stay on top of their opinions or comments.

Google + (plus.google.com) – Also known as Google’s answer to Facebook, Google + hasn’t taken off quite as expected, but there still are many users who have migrated from Facebook to this newer social network. As with any growing platform, there are usually pros and cons to a network, and since Google + is still relatively new there could be new updates on the horizon. According to users of Google +, the user interface is sleek and easy to use – but one con is the amount of noise on the stream – any time a new comment is made, it finds its way to the top of the stream and some users prefer to keep only top stories there.

Users of Google + seem to be in favor of ‘Circles’, an innovative system for helping users keep friends in groups – that way you can easily share appropriate information with certain users. Another positive interactive feature is ‘Hangouts’, which allows up to ten users to video chat simultaneously. The searching feature in Google + is a con for many – despite being a well-known and used search engine, it’s not easy to find content shared by friends, and it’s one of the few updates users are calling for.

These three social platforms streamline online content and networking into user-friendly interfaces – check them out and see how you can implement them into your daily routines.

http://moderntokyotimes.com

James Jomo and Jay Doggett

Modern Tokyo Times

For many decades the name Sony meant dynamism and a tech giant which could challenge the most potent of international competitors. Yet in recent times the global power of major Japanese companies are often hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons. This relates to new competitors either challenging major Japanese tech companies in similar markets, or based on falling behind when it comes to new innovations and then relating these products to the demands of perspective buyers.

Therefore, when recent figures were released which stated that Sony had reached third position in the rankings of sales based on shipments, related to smartphones, then it appeared that a ray of sunshine was being announced. Yet despite improving from sixth position to third in 2012, the results are not so dramatic when focused on why.

Indeed, a year earlier Sony shared 5% of the global market in this sector but despite rising to third position, the market share is down to 4.8%. This in itself indicates that other companies are struggling to maintain their momentum. Likewise, it is further evidence that Samsung and Apple are dominating this market because both companies are continuing to consolidate.

In saying this, it could also be stated that at least Sony isn’t leaking like Nokia Corp., Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) and HTC Corp. RIM, which makes BlackBerry handsets, is down from 9.6% to 4.2% and Nokia is also down from 13.6% to 3.4%. Similarly, HTC is witnessing a declining share of the market because now they currently hold 4.7% compared with 10.3%. This in itself means that at least Sony is not stagnating to the same degree and given the history of this company then this is something to build on, providing they can utilize technology in the higher end of the market.

China is also going to shake up the smartphone market and impact greatly on the share of the market for major companies. Therefore, Lenovo moved up the rankings from its very low base because now this company shares 3.7% of the smartphone market from a very small 0.37% prior to this. It is known that China will soon become the largest market for smartphones in the near future. However, it remains to be seen if Lenovo can impact strongly in the high end market.

Mark Newman, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, states that “The smartphone market is increasingly bifurcating into premium (above $450) and low-end (below $200)…All the industry profits go to the premium segment and most of the growth is in the low-end, with the mid-end unprofitable and relatively shrinking.”

Apple increased its share of the market from 13.8% to 14.6% but Samsung really consolidated because their share of the market jumped from 22.7% to 31.3%. Sony is clearly well behind both Samsung and Apple. However, this ever changing market is still open to Sony provided this company can regain its vitality and fuse technology alongside the demands of the consumer. Yet clearly Samsung and Apple have stolen a march on all their rivals. Therefore, over the last 12 months both these companies are consolidating their stranglehold on the smartphone market.

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

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