Although we got a preview of it at PauseTalk Vol. 39 earlier this month, it’s nice to see that Hawken King’s first iPhone app, Facemakr, is now out and for sale on iTunes App Stores around the world. An extension of the service he previously offered — making icons based on photos you would send him — the app puts the creation process in your hands, and it’s actually quite versatile, especially when it comes to repositioning and enlarging certain parts of the face.
Above, what I think I look like these days, but maybe I should have looked at a photo while making it. Great fun though, and definitely worth the $3 he’s charging.
Craig Mod posts a terrific write-up on his experience with the Panasonic Lumix DMC GF1 — a camera I’ve been lusting after — during 16 days in the Himalayas.
It may not have come out in November as promised (it will soon though), but here’s a sneak peek at what the startup screen for Tokyo Art Beat’s iPhone app will look like. The image was created by AQ’s Eiko Nagase.
The Japanese Index Typewriter MAC M-40, otherwise known as the “Panwriter.” What a beautiful device, and it’s available for purchase on eBay.
This is a Japanese typewriter “Panwriter.” Manufactured by Nippon Typewriter Company. This machine still works. Japanese can be printed very clearly.
The character about 2000 or more is usually used in Japan. Each the character has the meaning. This machine has the character of 2205. It is a surprise that has a lot of characters like this. These characters can be exchanged if necessary. The ribbon almost remains. It is a very beautiful and good condition.
Matt Alt and Alen Yen have teamed up to form Incubot Productions, a company that plans to release retro robot collectibles. First up are the Nekobot USB robots (pictured above), with a 2GB capacity, and now on sale through their site.
When it comes to searching on the web, Google is king pretty much everywhere in the world, but not Japan. Nope, here, Yahoo! still reigns supreme, and Google has just started a new big push in the country to try and get more people using the G-rated search engine. The new campaign includes of course plenty of TV commercials (like the one above), but also free wi-fi access in a few participating chains (Tully’s, Pronto, and Lotteria) in Tokyo and a few others places — but the catch is that you only get 30 minutes of use. Japan Probe has more.
Yamaha has introduced a new model of its TENORI-ON digital musical instrument, originally developed with media artist Toshio Iwai. The new version is stripped down to bring the price down (now around $1,000), and features orange lights. Via Designboom.
Update: $1,000 is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, but the street price for the device should be under $800.
Here’s a video of Yuki Yamamoto’s Spica, a speaker that uses water and light to give you quite the show as you listen to your favorite tracks. It was on show at this year’s DesignTide, and I can confirm that it looked just as good in person as it does in the video. Via Designboom.
Anyone who has tried to find some free wi-fi spots in Tokyo will know just how big a deal this is: Starbucks is set to offer free wi-fi in 94 of its stores in Japan starting November 1, with plans to expand after that. Tokyo web workers rejoice. Via Jason Jenkins.
Update: The service may not be as free as I had hoped, and may be limited to customers of NTT’s Flet’s.
Update 2: Some good news — it’s been confirmed that the service is indeed free.
Update 3: Well, looks like we were wrong. The service is indeed only for customers of Flet’s and Mzone — here’s the press release from Starbucks.
Something else I should have posted ages ago: the release of Takayuki Fukatsu’s TiltShift Generator for iPhone (it was previously released as a desktop app). I’m a huge fan of all of Fukatsu’s iPhone photo apps, and have been having fun with this one as well.
Here’s a pretty interesting project in which Tokyo-based Ubiquitous Entertainment put together a navigation system that mounts an iPhone on a cycling helmet, with the display running into an eyepiece. Thanks to the device’s compass — if you have a 3GS that is — everything orients correctly as you move your head around. Via Core77.
The Japan Times has an article that takes a good look at the arrival of the Kindle in Japan, and the challenges it will face in getting Japanese publishers to contribute to the device. Via Japan Probe, which also includes a bit on how to avoid the international book price mark-up.
What do you do with a bunch of COOLPIX S1000PJ cameras, that have the added function of projecting images? If you’re GT Tokyo’s Naoki Ito, you strap them on the Helicopter Boyz and produce the performance seen below. Via Creative Review.
You may have already heard the news, but if you haven’t, the Amazon Kindle is coming to Japan (and 99 other countries). While you’ve always been able to buy one wherever you are, this new international version means that you’ll able to use the 3G access to buy books anytime, anywhere. For the time being, purchases can only be made from the Amazon US store, but that’s not much of a problem, since it’s aimed at all of us expats (who have to deal with high import costs on books). So at first, this looks pretty good — especially the chance to buy books at a very good price — although keep in mind that there are hidden costs. Japan Probe posts all the details on exactly what the device has to offer.
For me, it means that I’m actually interested in the device now, although the price tag is still a bit of a turnoff ($280).
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