Some cars simply epitomize their makers, and the Toyota Century is just such a vehicle. The Japanese-only luxury sedan has become a mainstay of executive transportation since it debuted in 1967, a singularly unique play for very specific local tastes. Now, Toyota has given the Century its first complete redesign in more than two decades.
It's possibly every traveler's worst nightmare: that perfect, affordable Airbnb you booked gets unexpectedly cancelled. Now it's the headache facing thousands of visitors to Japan, with Airbnb forced by the government to axe upcoming reservations over a new registration process.
The Nintendo Switch is so popular that your sibling or maybe even your parents might want one of their own. Especially with the family subscription for the Switch Online service nearly in full force. But with one Switch already in the family, the purchase of additional consoles could easily get out of hand. Nintendo's solution is a more affordable "second set" Nintendo Switch bundle that lacks some essential accessories. Unfortunately, there might be too many caveats to make it worthwhile for some aspiring owners.
Earlier this week, Sony dealt a blow that we all knew was coming. The company revealed to developers that it will stop producing physical game cartridges for the PS Vita, a move that marks the beginning of the end for the handheld in a lot of ways. While Sony might be ready sunset the PS Vita in the US and Europe, it looks like the handheld is being saved from a similar fate in Japan.
Almost everyone knows how popular Nintendo's NES Classic Edition and SNES Classic Edition have been over the last two years, with the miniature, pre-loaded consoles selling out almost as soon as they hit shelves. It seems Sega has finally wised up and decided to get in on the trend, as the Japanese game company has unveiled the "Mega Drive Mini," a tiny version of its iconic 16-bit console — known as the Genesis in the US.
In Japan this week was a tip about Japanese exchange Monex moving to take over the exchange known as Coincheck. Said takeover would be a muilti-billion-Yen bid, and a big bump to public confidence in bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. Monex is a regulated public company. As such, Monex tossing billions at a cryptocurrency exchange is nothing to scoff at.
The current running Pokemon TV show, Pokemon Sun & Moon, Ash seems to have caught a new Pokemon. This Pokemon is purple and pink, and this Pokemon is extremely adorable. You are going to need to learn how to cope with this Pokemon as soon as possible, because it's about to take over your super kawaii user feeds, social networks, and etcetera - SOON.
HORI made a new controller connector for the Nintendo Switch that makes it better than it was before. You know HORI, the brand that brought you such hits as the Fighting Commander controller for Nintendo Classic Mini Super Nintendo, right? The controller add-on they've made turns the arrow buttons on the left-side mobile connector on the Switch turn into an actual cross, like it very well should be and should have been in the first place.
Almost all of the major annual tech shows, like CES, MWC, and IFA, happen in the West, though, of course, their audience and exhibitors come from all over the world. There are, however, other equally big IT gatherings on the other side of the globe that also give important insight on the trends and developments in those regions. In two months’ time, Japan will be holding the country’s and one of the region’s largest trade show, Japan IT Week Spring, and its lineup shows just how much AI and IoT have spread throughout the world.
This week the Bitcoin market stuck in around $9k just after reaching down to $7k less than a week ago. Back at the tail end of February, Bitcoin price in USDT hit above $11k, and promptly fell to 10, 9, and 7 over the next week. Now we're seeing a bit of news that'll likely lead to a new rally.
This week Professor Stephen Hawking produced a lecture on the beginning of time, available free on the internet. In this lecture, he mentioned an event in his recent history in which he was asked to exclude part of a talk he'd been scheduled for. The part he'd been asked to exclude was on the possibility and timing of the end of the universe as we know it.
A brand new kind of tardigrade was discovered in an apartment parking lot in Japan. A tardigrade is a little weirdo of a life form that's been found to be unusually hearty under many conditions. This newest version of a tardigrade is even stranger than the ones known before it - even stranger, indeed.