CategoryMiscellaneous

I have written an extensive blog post on this question in April: ; Basically, what people in Japan and elsewhere define as a smartphone is vastly different. In the US, for example, it’s a phone with advanced functionality, for example web browsing capability. In Japan however, even the...

With 195,000 employees, you’re looking at one of Japan’s biggest companies. Basically NTT is a parent company of five: NTT East, NTT West, NTT Communications, NTT Data and NTT DOCOMO: NTT East and West are to cover Japan from a regional/geographical perspective. NTT Communications...

Web/software startups worth mentioning in this context (apart from the ones listed up above) are: (picture bookmarking service) (Twitter-based content aggregation and communication tool) (TV program recording and viewing service for mobile devices) (video editing software) (mobile browsing and...

Broadly speaking, Japan has invented the mobile web as a whole, i.e. if you look at factors like: NTT Docomo’s imode full PC web browsing on cell phones first app platform created in 2001 QR codes online billing and payment offline payments through cell phones (e-wallet) first 3G networks...

Here is the link to a column I wrote on the success of the iPhone in Japan for the journal for the American Chamber Of Commerce in Japan. Excerpt: For years, Japan has been known as the world’s leader in mobile technology. The country’s cell phone makers still churn out over 100 super-advanced...

Here is the link to a column I wrote on Japan’s green energy sector for the journal for the American Chamber Of Commerce in Japan. Excerpt: When it comes to saving energy, Japan has a lot to teach other industrialized countries. The resource-poor nation was swept up in energy conservation...