Trend: Buble Wrap Videogame

Bubble-bursting stress toy launched in game version.

Given our infatuation (and newsbreaker status) with the entire Puchiverse, we can’t quite figure out how we missed the news about a new video game based on the Mugen PuchiPuchi virtual bubblewrap toy.
Ouchi de Mugen PuchiPuchi Wii (Infinite Bubblewrap at Home Wii) is a game where you pop virtual […]

Trend: Japanese Green Home Gadgets

Innovative household products follow the green trend in Japan.
The current mania for all things eco is producing a fair number of impressive innovations in addition to the expected gimmicks. An example of the former is “Eco Tokukun” from Kankyo Souken, a product to make your household fish grill more environmentally friendly.

These small stones, […]

Trend: Japanese Beat Bots

Sega Toys’ cut-price ODO feels the robo-rhythm.
In the wake of the Sony Rolly, the original iPod dock on wheels Miuro from ZMP has collaborated with Sega Toys to produce Music Robot ODO, a Miuro-like speaker robot that costs significantly less than the original but still bumps out the tunes.

Music Robot ODO […]

Trend: Japan’s Wacky Widgets

Crazy code and wacky widgets for Japan’s blogging generation.
The CScout Japan team have just started a weekly series of their favorite “Blog Parts” (ブログパーツ), the name given to all of the strange and wonderful widgets made for the blog-hungry Japanese public (See the Uniqlo Uniqlock).
The iTunes Weekly Chart blog part highlights the top […]

Trend: Nokia asks Chinese Consumers to Design Phones

Nokia asks consumers to contribute ideas for new internet handsets.
A predictable mega-trend this year is the booming of the mobile internet, which will see more of us online for longer while on the move. Nokia responded to this trend in China by launching its Design My Internet Life competition last December, aiming to attract […]

Trend: E-paper Bracelets from China

Concept jewelry highlights trend toward digital accessories.
The Shenzhen-based Chocolate Agency is out to make slap bracelets cool again with a digital re-take on a popular design. The agency’s innovative e-paper slap bracelets, which are still at the concept stage, are made from a thin, flexible, high contrast screen that can display images. The length […]

Trend: Mystic Mobiles

Innovative feng shui software brings fortune telling to China’s mobile generation.
One of the things that gives China its mystic charm is the country’s long history of fortune telling. In the past geomancers used elaborate magnetic compasses to determine the favorable flow of vital energy and how best to ward off destructive evil forces […]

Trend: QR Codes Go Global

Spreading 2D barcode technology set to enrich the mobile experience.
Trend Description
QR codes (quick response codes) are graphics that can be scanned with mobile phones to hyperlink to digital content – they’re already heavily used in Japan and Korea, where the majority of phones are fitted with the requisite code scanners. In fact, 41.7% of Japanese […]

Trend: 3D Menus

TEC Japan brings food to life with three-dimensional, touchscreen menus.
Want to see what your food will really look like before you order? Sometimes a two-dimensional menu picture just won’t cut it, so TEC Japan has created the Tobidasu Menu (pop-up menu) to embed into restaurant tables. Customers can browse the digital menu […]

Trend: Mobile Novels

Paperless novels become popular with tech-savvy readers and writers.
Trend Description
In Asia the popularity of user-generated content has spilled over in a big way into the publishing world. In countries such as Japan and China, high mobile phone penetration rates, language characteristics, and the development of a pervasive cellphone culture has given rise to […]