JAPAN RETAIL NEWS - Inside consuming Japan: Japan retail, Japan market, Japan economy, Japan trends, Japanese people, Japan brands, Japan tech
 
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It's not TV so it's Nottv. The smartphone broadcaster aims to air shows with live commenting and send magazines and games to handsets. A subsidiary of NTT DoCoMo Inc. on Sunday 1st April began offering the first TV channels aimed exclusively at users of smartphone and tablet computers. Mmbi inc.'s Nottv service offers access to three channels of programming for ¥420 a month in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas and other locations.

 
 
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Japanese women are so fond of their phones, they even use them in the shower, say manufacturers. This makes waterproofing a must -- also good against rainstorms and accidents while texting on the toilet. Panasonic and Fujitsu are touting their waterproof and dust-proof phones as they seek to charm the overseas market at the world's biggest mobile phone show in Barcelona this week.

 
 
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It appears Disney's mobile efforts in Japan are going pretty well, and with the help of carrier NTT DoCoMo they're expanding under the joint "Disney Mobile on DoCoMo" brand name. The partnership is kicking off with two new Android-powered handsets launching over the next couple of months that pack in access to exclusive content from Disney like full-length animations, games, wallpapers and more.

 
 
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Last winter, enterprising South Koreans reportedly found a low-tech answer to a first world problem: To avoid operating cell-phone touchscreens without gloves in freezing weather, they used mini sausages as finger surrogates. Whether or not you choose to believe that people were actually using the so-called meat stylus, it did make the news in Japan. A year later Japanese retailers obviously did read the hand signals for help. Special gloves with conductive fingertips that let people to keep their digits warm and still operate phone and tablet touchscreens are the new hit!

 
 
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Android is poised to receive a significant boost in Japan after Yahoo revealed plans to build a dedicated app store for the Google mobile operating system next year, according a report from Japanese tech blog Asiajin. The ‘Yahoo! Market’ store will allow Japanese Android smartphone owners to download applications directly from its site, while local developers will be able to upload apps to the store bypassing Android’s official app store altogether.

 
 
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NTT Docomo demonstrated a cloud based automatic interpretation service which is currently in development, at Wireless Japan 2011. In this demonstration, docomo staff at the company's research center in Yokosuka read a newspaper article in Japanese, which is then interpreted in real-time and sent to the receiver at the exhibition hall. 

 
 
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NTT DoCoMo on Tuesday unveiled its 2011 winter - 2012 spring product lineup of 24 models for launch in or after November, including 14 smartphones, the largest and most diverse collection ever released by DoCoMo. The new smartphone lineup meets a broad range of needs for users in Japan, including smartphones for DoCoMo’s extra-high-speed next-generation LTE service, Xi, for mobile data communication at up to 75 Mbps; and smartphones equipped for mobile-wallet, infrared-based data exchange, one-seg mobile TV and tethering.

 
 
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NTT DoCoMo Inc. has taken the wraps off two tablet computers that will be compatible with Xi, its high-speed data communications service. The gadgets should hit the market next month. The Galaxy Tab boasts a 10.1-inch display and a thickness of just 8.6 mm, while the waterproof Arrows Tab can be used in the bathtub.

 
 
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When iOS 5 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is released later this year, it will include a tie-in to Japan’s earthquake early warning notification system. Earlier versions of iOS don’t include the feature, making iPhone owners in Japan rely on third-party apps for earthquake alerts. Users will be able to choose whether or not they want to enable the feature, according to 9 to 5 Mac, just like other iOS features such as Location Services.

 
 
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In "Super Mario 3D Land," Nintendo Co. will make its iconic Italian plumber battle turtle-like Koopa Troopas on its 3-D player. The company instead should develop titles for Apple's iPhone, investors say. The rift highlights the dilemma President Satoru Iwata faces as consumers shun Nintendo devices to play games on iPhones, iPads and Facebook Inc.'s website.