Digital World Tokyo

Face recognition machines to stop under-age smoking - not!

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:21:00 GMT

Everyone knows that smoking causes the skin to age unnaturally and lines to appear around the eyes prematurely, but who could have guessed that smokers would one day be thankful for their...

Biometric face scanner tells identical twins apart

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:13:00 GMT

Should Homer Simpson ever try to smuggle his unqualified identical twin brother into work in his stead, a new biometric identification system that will be used to secure nuclear plants is sure to...

Buckyballs power tiny fuel-cell powerhouse

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Exotic molecules like carbon buckyballs may soon become part of our everyday lives if the latest prototype fuel cell from Sony ever makes it to the stores.

Japanese RFID tech batters down doors in West

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:51:00 GMT

We recently lifted the lid on just how useful - not to mention pervasive - RFID technology is in Japan, so it's with a glad heart that we bring you news of a move that's sure to help it spread more...

Cool Japanese blog widgets add a dash of color

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:33:00 GMT

We've had a bunch of emails over the last few days asking about that little Flash widget down there at the bottom of the right sidebar (take a look waay down there), usually from readers asking what...

Electrical eyeballs controlling our gadgets

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:54:00 GMT

The field of disability aids has seen many devices controlled by computers that visually track the eye movements of paralysed people, but none that reads the electricity given off by swiveling...

Mumbling robots more pleasing than the silent type

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:16:00 GMT

Robots are good for plenty of things, but having a meaningless chat generally isn't one of them - something that has to change if a group of Japanese researchers are to be believed.

Display 2008: The e-paper that begs to be caressed (now with added video!)

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:07:01 GMT

One of the more low-key exhibits at the Display 2008 show in Tokyo was a new kind of e-paper that promises an electronic experience far closer to real paper than anything we've seen before.

Display 2008: The e-paper that begs to be caressed

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:07:00 GMT

One of the more low-key exhibits at the Display 2008 show in Tokyo was a new kind of e-paper that promises an electronic experience far closer to real paper than anything we've seen before.

Display 2008: E-paper makes move for big time (with video)

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:04:00 GMT

Aside from flashy 3D displays, the other big draw for fans of future tech at Display 2008 in April was electronic paper in at least 57 flavor-packed varieties.

Display 2008: 3D displays dump the silly glasses

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:46:00 GMT

Flat-panel displays are so mainstream these days they have an entire massive exhibition dedicated to them - the Display Expo in Tokyo. That's where the technologies we're likely to see in the shops...

Smaller hydrogen pumps mean more fuel-cell cars

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:30:01 GMT

Alternative fuel is all very well, but it's pretty damn hopeless, regardless of good intentions, when all you can get on Main Street is regular gasoline by the liter.

RFID in Japan: Japan’s experience with RFID phones and contactless cash

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:57:01 GMT

Beating leukemia for Emru and thousands like him

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:39:01 GMT

Here at DWT we don't ask for much, but just this once we'd appreciate a few minutes of your time that might make a heck of a difference to the lives of a lot of people in general and our pal and DWT...

Video: World’s first full-size e-paper newspaper

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Ever wondered what we'll all be reading on the hover bus in The Future?

London Dimensional Manga signing today – get ‘em while they’re hot

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:03:00 GMT

It's kinda late notice (understatement and a half, eh?), but our pals at Orbital Manga in London have an in-store event today to mark the launch of Demon Prince: Children of Gaia from Dimensional...

Interview with Akira Tochigi

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 06:16:00 GMT

The To the Source of Anime retrospective ends its run today at the Cinémathèque Québécoise with a tribute to Noburo Ofuji. The "Wartime Japanese Animation" programs...

Mobile barcodes now speak to us – quite literally…

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:14:00 GMT

Like many Far-Eastern technologies, Japan's QR Code gets attention in the West more for being exotic than for any real benefit it brings, so we fully expect the latest all-singing version of the 2D...

Oki stretches gigabit-class fat data pipe to infinity

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:07:00 GMT

Most of the breakthroughs in high-speed data connections that we hear about are of purely theoretical value in the short term, but Oki Japan seems set to buck the trend by committing to making its...

More Early Anime Unearthed

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:01:00 GMT

"It all started with Osamu Tezuka" or "It all started with Astro Boy" have been common ways to start describing the history of anime for years, even though a moment's sober reflection would reveal...

Apple secures Japanese iPhone naming rights - 3G release all but certain now

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:50:00 GMT

A seemingly insignificant press release from a Japanese company we've never even heard of has suddenly set tongues wagging about everyone's favorite rumor - the fabled 3G iPhone.

Japanese phone armada sets sail Westward, but does it have a map?

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:33:00 GMT

The myth that Japanese mobile phones are the best in the world is typically perpetuated by overseas observers obsessed with the cutting-edge services on offer there and confusing those with what are...

Geeky Google (Maps) goodness in Tokyo Bay

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:30:00 GMT

So, there we were on a jetfoil in Tokyo Bay the other day, cruising back from a DWT jaunt to Kozu-shima when we spotted this rather attractive monolith in the ocean just to the southeast of Haneda...

Thin, cheap Windows subnote steps up to MacBook Air

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:14:00 GMT

Laptop fans who aren't mad keen on shelling out the best part of £1,200 for a MacBook Air might want to get themselves over to Japan for a slice of tasty subnote pie that's every bit as sweet...

Electric TV scaffold helps gamers Wii standing up

editors@digitalworldtokyo.com — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:52:00 GMT

If you're in Japan, a Wii fan and have ¥69,800 ($675) to spare, you might want to bung it towards the chuckle brothers who run Thanko, that great purveyor of all things ridiculous.