Japan

The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics have officially kicked off, albeit a year late and without live spectators. Gamers who watched the Opening Ceremony of the event and the Parade of Nations were greeted by something they probably weren't expecting: a soundtrack filled with video game music. Many took to Twitter to call out songs they were familiar with as tracks from games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Dragon Quest played during the event.

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Astronomers have been studying various planets in our solar system for generations. While modern scientific instruments and telescopes have given us detailed information on planets, such as Venus, some aspects of planets in our social system have remained a mystery. One example is nighttime weather on Venus.

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The need for speed on the Internet has never been greater than before, and not just because of video streaming or game streaming. From mass video conferences to real-time collaboration on a multimedia project, much of today's society has become dependent on the Internet. While network operators and carriers push 5G and WiFi 6 forward, computer scientists and engineers are setting their sights on even bigger numbers, numbers for which Japan's National Institute of Information and Communication Technology or NICT just set a record.

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No spectators will be allowed at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the latest twist in the 2021 saga as Japan puts its capital city back into lockdown. The Government of Japan has announced a new state of emergency in Tokyo amid rising COVID-19 cases, with a big impact on how the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be held.

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Today is a Pokemon Company-invented special holiday called Bidoof Day. This is the first year where The Pokemon Company has suggested that it is a holiday, and it won't likely be the last. Given the seemingly-endless array of Pokemon that now exist in the Pokemon universe here in 2021, one could ask: Will The Pokemon Company assign a Pokemon to every single day of the year, starting on July 1 with Bidoof?

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There's a release date for the highest-grossing film of the Evangelion franchise now with Amazon Prime Video. This movie was first released on March 8, 2021 in theaters in Japan. It was then given an updated release version with the title Evangelion:3.0+1.01 THRICE UPON A TIME on June 12, 2021. It is that version that we'll see appear on Amazon Prime in the very near future. This new version of the film has "updated cuts" of a variety of scenes.

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The year 2021 may finally be the year that Google made their smart TV platform too affordable to avoid. The Google Chromecast with Google TV is already $50 - a highly reasonable price for what it delivers. But Anker is the sort of company that's positioned to deliver just-good-enough products at low-as-possible prices. With the Anker Nebula 4K Streaming Dongle, the company may get that Google TV experience - starting with an Android TV experience - down to a price that can compete with Amazon's Fire TV.

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The Sharp Aquos R6 was revealed today with a set of features that make the rest of the smartphone world look silly. The Aquos R6 works with a 6.6-inch WUXGA+ IGZO OLED display with Dolby Vision, 2000 nit brightness, and the ability to reach up to 240 frames per second (image refresh rate). This device was co-engineered with Leica, which means we've got some intense camera power in the mix, too.

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During the company's full-year financial results revealed this week, Nintendo tipped a drop. The company said that potential issues could arise over the coming year with component procurement. As a result of these issues, Nintendo expects that sales of their Nintendo Switch console could have a 12 per cent drop in sales.

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When a company as massive as Adidas starts using a certain sort of technology in their shoes, you know said technology is... pretty much here to stay. Such is the story with 3D printing and the 4DFWD shoe. This isn't the first shoe to use 3D printed parts, but it is very likely the new widest release of a shoe with 3D printed parts. And every new release with 3D printed parts means we're further and further into "here to stay" territory.

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There's a website called Original Stitch that has a relatively unique proposition for clothing buyers and collectors. They have a limited amount of custom-made Pokemon fabric made for each Pokemon. They do not have every single Pokemon ever made, but they do have the first 151 from Kanto, as well as Hoenn, Johto, and Galar. It's interesting to see, here, which of the Pokemon from these sets were sold out first - some you might never have expected.

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Google may have ditched its Daydream VR platform but it's still holding on to augmented reality, at least without the headset. Google recently released WebXR, short for Extended Reality, experiments that showcased more practical uses for AR on your phone but most of its AR experiences really revolved around entertaining or sometimes educational experiences instead. Google's mobile Search, in particular, has been putting virtual objects in the real world via your phone's screen, and its latest trick is to call forth Japan's most iconic characters, wherever you are in the world.

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