Japan Business

If you are like a lot of guys, not only might your computer or touch panel need some cleaning, but your stuff may not be smelling as fresh as it could. Now, there may be something for you. Elecom is releasing a touch panel cleaner with fragrance in late May. There are 2 kinds: - “Spray type” (P-FCS) - “Tissue type” (P-FCT5P) These cleaners remove finger prints, dirt, etc. from screens, tablets, smart phones, etc. and also add some refreshing scent to your screen. 10 kinds of scents are available. Fragrance types: rose, lavender, grapefruit, lemongrass, fresh fruit, musk, fruity vanilla, green tea, wood, soap Spray type (P-FCS series) Price: ¥1,323 (including tax) Tissue type (P-FCT5P series) Price: ¥640 (including tax)

Yes, everything is small in Japan but this is extreme! Thanko released an extremely small functional camera that looks like a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. Despite it’s super small size (38x33x28m, 17g), it is capable of taking photos and movies. Photos and movies can be saved on a microSD card. Battery charge is done via a USB port. It also features a strobe that detects darkness and flashes automatically and a “Motion-sensing” function that starts taking about 2 minutes of video by detecting body movement. It’s a more useful camera than expected. Price: 5,980 yen (including tax) Size: 28 x 33 x 28mm Weight: 17g Accessories: USB cable, strap, small bag for the camera Saving format: Movie – AVI, Photo – JPEG Resolution: Movie – 1280×720, 1 mega pixel, Photo – 2560×1920 The Thanko miniature camera can be ordered here.

Sony has developed an A4 sized equivalent 13.3″ digital paper notepad. The display is the first in the world to use E Ink Mobius, a new flexible electronic paper display technology developed by E Ink in collaboration with Sony. Technology developed by Sony for forming high precision thin film transistors on plastic instead of glass has been used, making the display flexible and light. It is scheduled for mass production this year. “We’ve succeeded in mass-producing these large flexible panels, by combining E-Ink’s flexible paper technology and Sony’s mass-production technology.” “Usually, devices are made by sandwiching TFTs between glass sheets. But these panels use plastic instead of glass, so they’re much lighter. Another feature is that, unlike glass, these panels are very durable.” This prototype digital notepad weighs 358 g and is 6.8mm thick, with the 1200×1600 pixel display itself weighing around 60g, 50% less than if glass was used. The prototype also features a battery life of approximately three weeks. “This is a PDF document. You can page through it with your finger. Of course, you can also write comments and draw lines in the PDF document. Also, if you choose the marker, and move your finger over text, you can highlight text like this.” “This is still at the prototype stage. But we’re designing it to work smoothly. Also, with paper, you can rest your hand on it while you write, but with a tablet, you can’t always do that. This digital paper makes it possible to write while resting your hand on the panel.” “We’d especially like this to be used in universities. From the second half of this year, we’re planning to do trials with Waseda, Hosei, and Ritsumeikan Universities. We also plan to release a commercial version during this year.” Event: Educational IT Solutions Expo This Video is provided by DigInfo.tv, AkihabaraNews Official Partner.

Toshiba Corp will announce the details of its transmissive OLED panel at SID Display Week 2013 (SID 2013), an academic conference on display technologies, which will run from May 20, 2013.

Fourteen years from now, when Japan’s magnetically levitated, approx. 300MPH/482KPH Chu? Shinkansen comes online, it’ll be among the world’s coolest people movers – maybe even top of the list. And the world’s most fantastic train should have equally fantastic train stations, yeah? Maybe not. While the existence of this train is old news, released just last week were Japan Railways’ design proposals for stations on the initial Tokyo to Nagoya route (with eventual extension to Osaka). Suffice it to say, as proposed these supertech trains would be stopping at stations that aggressively bypass any notion of post-modern minimalism and instead land somewhere in the vicinity 1970s Soviet chic. They’re basically elevators, stairs, automated ticket counters, toilets, and tracks. Those interested can see the plans here & here (PDF; Japanese only). Train Stations are Not Just Train Stations (in Japan) For one who’s never traveled here, this might not seem like such a big deal. Because it’s just a train station, for a very fast train at that, so who’s looking to linger? Well, the thing is, in Japan even medium-sized and smallish train stations can be the nuclei of entire neighborhoods or city wards, and they’re often social & economic ecosystems unto themselves; think variably sized multilevel shopping malls where trains happen to stop. This is particularly true in places like Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka where rail stations serve literally millions of passengers on a daily basis. Japan Railways is calling the designs “modern” and “revolutionary,” but here in rapidly aging, often techno-contradictory Japan (yes, the rumors about ongoing fax machine usage are true), dispensing with the niceties and familiarities of strongly analog and strongly full-service rail travel culture might be too tall an order – the natives might revolt… which basically just means they’ll demand that their local municipalities cocoon the stations with restaurants, convenience stores, souvenir shops, coin lockers, and little out of the way cubbys with those stand-up irons to press your pants. That’s probably what’ll happen, but we’ll keep you dialed in as things unfold. Addendum on Nomenclature: Oh, by the way, the ultra utilitarian stations aren’t the only thing that could use a bit more thought: “Chu? Shinkansen” might sound exotic and Japanesey, but it really just means “Central Shinkansen.” And, though the name’s gained a domestic and international cache of high-tech coolness, “shinkansen” just means “new main line.” Sure, a dead-sexy maglev bullet train is a concept that sells itself, but let’s hope the name gets some polish. Calling this thing the “Central Shinkansen” would be like naming the latest Ferrari “Red Car.” • • • Akihabara News Contributor Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com. Via RocketNews 24 via IT Media (Japanese)

ASUSTOR will be attending Computex 2013 and exhibiting a brand new series of NAS devices featuring the latest Intel® Atom™ processor along with its new-look ADM 2.0 operating system and 2 new mobile apps, AiData and AiMaster. ASUSTOR sincerely welcomes everyone to visit them at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, 4th Floor, Booth L0404, from June 4th – June 8th, 2013. Taipei, Taiwan, May 8th, 2013 – ASUSTOR Inc., a leading innovator and provider of network storage solutions, has announced today that it will be exhibiting at Computex 2013, the second largest consumer electronics show in the world. At the exhibition, ASUSTOR will be showcasing its award winning high performance AS 6 Series NAS devices (AS-602T/ AS-604T/ AS-606T/ AS-608T/ AS-604RD/ AS-604RS/ AS-609RD/ AS-609RS) as well as introducing a brand new series of NAS devices designed for home and SOHO users, the AS 3 Series. The new 3 Series uses the latest Intel SoC (System on Chip) which is designed for home multimedia use. It also features an HDMI interface along with a built-in infrared receiver that allows for it to be used with a remote control. The available models in this series are the 2-bay AS-302T model and the 4-bay AS-304T model. ASUSTOR will also be unveiling its newly styled ADM 2.0 operating system along with 2 new mobile apps. These 2 apps are AiData, which can be used to remotely browse and access data on an ASUSTOR NAS and AiMaster, which can be used to remotely monitor and manage a NAS. The 6 Series All of ASUSTOR’s AS 6 Series devices come equipped with an Intel® Atom™ 2.13 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of DDR3 memory (expandable up to 3GB). The devices also feature SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and eSATA ports along with support for SATA III and SSD hard disks. Dual GbE Ethernet ports provide support for link aggregation and blazing fast transfer speeds of over 200 MB/s. All devices in the series are also verified as being VMware, Citrix and Hyper-V ready. Business-ready features such as two-way transfer support, AES-256 bit shared folder encryption, and video surveillance make the 6 Series an optimal choice for small to medium sized businesses that are looking for a flexible and cost-effective virtual storage solution. The 3 Series The 3 Series features a new platform that is based on the latest Intel SoC (System on Chip) which integrates a dual-core Atom™ processor with a handful of media processing units and communication interfaces. The devices also feature an HDMI interface that provides HD audio-visual output which allows the NAS to become a high quality multimedia player. The built-in infrared receiver allows users to use a remote control to control the multimedia playback on the NAS. Further pairing the NAS with a stereo amplifier truly allows users to create a one-stop home entertainment center. Users can also download any NAS Apps of their choice from ASUSTOR’s App Central. App offerings include: Download Center, iTunes Server, Surveillance Center, Dropbox, SABnzbd and more. In addition to being used as a digital entertainment center, the 3 Series can also be used as a full featured private cloud storage server that is able to safely store all of the users’ ever-expanding digital multimedia content.   ADM 2.0 ADM (ASUSTOR Data Master) is an operating system designed exclusively for use with all ASUSTOR NAS devices. Different from traditional NAS operating systems, ADM was designed using an App-based concept that provides a user experience closely resembling the simplicity that can be found on most tablet computers. It features an elegant web-based user interface that is intuitive and easy to use, bridging the gap between user and machine. ADM provides users with a bevy of convenient features such as Dr. ASUSTOR which performs health checkups on the NAS, automatic firmware updates, and Cloud Connect technology which allows users easily connect their NAS to the internet, creating their own personal cloud. Newly updated version includes: Fresh

Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd unveiled an SiC MOSFET and a so-called "full-SiC" power module using the MOSFET and an SiC Schottky barrier diode.

ZMP Inc released the "RoboCar MV2 Autonomous Driving Package," a single-seat robot car equipped with a function to create routes for autonomous driving.

Announced last Friday in Japan, JVC’s new powerful camcorder the GC-P100 is the sport oriented or action amateur filmmaker dream comes true! Indeed thanks to JVC’s Falcon Bird technology the GC-P100 is capable to shoot by default Full HD 60p videos in 36Mbps as well as stunning 600fps ones in 320×176! Announced at around 130,000 Yen and set to arrive in Japan at the end of May, the GC-P100 comes with a 12.76Mpix CMOS sensor, a JVC HD GT Lens with a 10x optical zoom, IS, Zoom Position Memory, a 3″ Monitor and additional 0.24 Viewfinder and support both SDHC and SDXC Cards. Finally one more interesting feature on the GC-P100 is its 4sec shutter speed function design to give you stunningly clear videos at night without suffering from too much visible noise. JVC GC-P100

This week it’s American gas, Japan’s lack of startups, and J-tech to make horses happy! Welcome to Japanese Technology from the Future Friday: It’s already Friday west of the international dateline – here in Japan, it’s totally the future. The weekly JTFF is our somewhat technosnarky coverage of 2-5 particularly important, specifically Japan-related tech stories. Get yourself hip to the micro & macro that went down while North America was sleeping – check in with Akihabara News every Friday morning and BOOM! Ahead of the game, you win. :: JTFF – May 17, 2013 :: • Japan Wants American Gas (the natural kind – from the U.S. Shale boom, that is) The combined monetary instruments of Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi, and Nippon Yusen (a global shipping giant in Mitsubishi’s pocket), along with some French cash, have secured an almost 50% interest in a US $10 billion Louisiana LNG venture. The why of it is that, outside of nuclear expertise and reserves of favorable public sentiment toward cleaner technologies, Japan doesn’t have much in the way of domestic energy resources. As such, and as mentioned in the JTFF two weeks back, Japan’s very necessarily been making global rounds to secure energy deals & resources. Not much choice, really – since the 2011 Tohoku disaster allowed neo-J-Hippies to successfully monkey-wrench the nuclear energy industry, importing fossil fuels is pretty much all that’s keeping the lights on here. [JAPAN INVESTS LOTS OF CASH IN U.S. SHALE GAS - FINANCIAL TIMES] • Where are Japan’s Startups? Very decent discussion/overview of why startups can’t (yet) get a lot of traction here in Japan. Both domestically and in the pan-mutally co-dependent economies of planet Earth, the question of J-startups comes up a lot because 1. basically every other advanced economy has a healthy startup culture, and 2. Japan is just not innovating like it used to. What makes the most sense is that the lumbering giants of J-tech, your Sony, your Sharp, your Panasonic, etc., have reached a point of monolithic immobility that makes them either oblivious to the need for or incapable of re-working a pervasive corporate culture that rewards staying the path and profoundly undervalues initiative and innovation. Decent read. It should be translated and printed on the front page of every major J-newspaper (yeah, they still have those here). [IN SEARCH OF JAPAN'S MISSING STARTUPS - FORBES] • How Much Human and Human Stuff Can a J-Horse Comfortably Carry? Uhhh… reasonable question, if somewhat amusing. Like, remember back in the day when that American research team was totally belittled and ridiculed for studying cow flatulence – but then we learned that one single cow farts out more greenhouse gases than a full-sized truck left running all day? It is curious though, that until now no one ever bothered to get horses up on treadmills and do this kind of research. Even more curious that it was undertaken here; Japan ain’t exactly lousy with horses. Well, this J-tech development might not do much for global warming, but horses will dig it – and it goes to show that applying science & technology to stuff that might seem inane and ridiculous might just have some merit. Oh, and there was probably a “horse sense” pun to be used there, but the JTFF is better than that. See what just happened there? And also probably nobody knows what that means anymore. [HOW MUCH WEIGHT CAN A HORSE COMFORTABLY CARRY? - THE HORSE] That was the JTFF, and live from the future – that is all! _________ Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com, where the JTFF was born. Tokyo at Night image via PhotoEverywhere.