Japan - SlashGear

Sharp’s Aquos R Compact barrows the Essential’s camera notch

Adam Westlake | Oct 21, 2017

It's been less than half a year since the Essential Phone debuted with a camera cutout in its display, introducing us to the soon-to-be-ubiquitous "notch." Apple's iPhone X was next, of course, and now the design is making its way to Japan's domestic market smartphones. Sharp has announced its latest Aquos model, complete with barely-there bezels on three sides of the display, and a camera notch that's just like the Essential Phone's.

Japanese banks prep J-Coin digital currency in move against cash

Brittany A. Roston | Sep 27, 2017

Cash is king in Japan, but the nation's biggest banks are hoping to change that. A new report out of The Financial Times reveals that Japan's central bank is planning to launch a cryptocurrency called J-Coin, one that will be based on blockchain technology. Assuming everything goes according to plan, J-Coin will co-exist alongside yen with a one-on-one value.

Japanese invent robot dog to sniff out stinky feet

Shane McGlaun | Sep 15, 2017

We've probably all seen the commercial on TV for Febreze that talks about going nose blind. My son has this problem, his room smells like an armpit's, armpit and will make your eyes water whilst he happily plays Destiny 2 oblivious to the stink. At least if your room stinks, you can leave, but if your feet stink the smell follows you around.

GIANT ROBOT DUEL is real: see USA’s Eagle Prime bot roll out

Chris Burns | Aug 7, 2017

Today the robot-creators at MegaBots revealed their fully-built and painted battle robot: EAGLE PRIME! This Giant Robot Duel (the first of its kind) was scheduled earlier this year between the United States and China (AND JAPAN!), and MegaBots will represent with the most patriotic mecha-robot ever built. Today you get to see it, the first MK3-class MegaBot ever created.

Japan’s space robot will steal your heart from the ISS

Brittany A. Roston | Jul 17, 2017

Japan's space agency has an adorable ball-shaped camera that looks like something from Wall-E, and it is live on the International Space Station right now. The camera, which is called Int-Ball, comes from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and it qualifies as a camera drone of sorts. Despite its location in space, operators can control this camera drone from Earth.

Pokemon GO STADIUM event will make you NEED to move to Japan

Chris Burns | Jul 14, 2017

For Pokemon GO this week the folks at Niantic have reminded us that they've got a MASSIVE event coming up in Japan. This sort-of-secret but very much public event will take place in Yokohama Stadium in Japan, and it's going to take place at the same time as the CUTEST holiday of all time. That is the PIKACHU OUTBREAK where they suggest "a special Pokemon GO experience is taking place."

Japan announces plans to put its own astronaut on the moon

Adam Westlake | Jul 2, 2017

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA — the country's equivalent of NASA) announced earlier this week that it was developing plans to put a man on the moon by the year 2030. While the proposal is yet to be approved by the nation's government, if successful it will be the first time a Japanese astronaut is sent on a mission beyond the International Space Station.

Sony signals the end of PS3, ending production in Japan

Eric Abent | May 30, 2017

Earlier in the year, Sony indicated that it planned to end PlayStation 3 production in Japan. Though production continued on for a couple of months after that, Sony has finally decided to pull the plug. The company has listed the status of the last remaining PS3 model in Japan as "shipment complete."

Persona 5 Quiz Answers Walkthrough: Easy Guide Time!

Chris Burns | May 29, 2017

The game Persona 5 was released in the United States this month and this week we've attained the full "Quiz Answers" from within. This game is long - extremely, super, almost-impossibly long. It can get infuriating too, if the player only wants to play a certain extra-fun part of the game. Today is the first day the entirety of the Persona 5 test answers list has been released - good news to us, good news to you.

See the HTC Link, a semi-secret Japanese VR headset with LIGHTS

Chris Burns | May 25, 2017

The headset that's appeared today, made by HTC, won't necessarily be available to everyone in the world. In fact it's slated - for now - to be available only inside Japan. This headset was designed to fit one smartphone in the world - the HTC U11 - and will be able to roll with 6DOF (6 degrees of freedom) which is intense for a phone-based VR headset, if not entirely unique to this one.

PS4, Nintendo 2DS XL get Dragon Quest XI special editions in Japan

Adam Westlake | Apr 29, 2017

There's a new Dragon Quest game coming out this summer in Japan, number 11 to be specific, and as one of the country's single most popular game series, it's getting not one but two special edition hardware treatments. The Square Enix-developed RPG is coming to both the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo 3DS handheld, so each system will be getting a Dragon Quest XI-themed design.

Nintendo Switch sales eclipse PS4 launch in Japan

Eric Abent | Mar 30, 2017

The Nintendo Switch seems to be off to a strong start in Japan, selling a half million units in its first weeks of availability. This, notably, means that the Switch is selling faster in Japan than the PS4 did during its own launch. Obviously, it's too early to call, but with the PlayStation 4 being the best-selling home console this generation, it's definitely an encouraging sign.