Japan has emerged at the top when it comes to app revenue, beating the US in the process. The achievement is sensational as just about a year ago, consumers in Japan were found to have spent 40 percent less than their US counterparts in app spending. The trend has since been reversed as Japan has beaten the US by spending 10 percent more on apps in October, revealed app tracker … [Read more...] about Japan Surpasses USA in App Spending
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Rakuten, Aquafadas Provide Digital Services for Japanese Publishers
The e-commerce giant Rakuten and the digital publisher Aquafadas have joined forces to provide a suite of services for Japanese publishers who want to go from print to e-books. In a nutshell, the publisher provides the content, Aquafadas converts it to digital format, and Rakuten sells it. The partnership is part of the Aquafadas Global Partner Network Program, and one of the … [Read more...] about Rakuten, Aquafadas Provide Digital Services for Japanese Publishers
Japanese Publishers and eBook Retailers Protesting Consumption Tax Hike, Demand Foreign Vendors be Taxed Too
Publishers and distributors of e-books in Japan have voiced concern over the proposed hike in consumption tax from the current 5 percent to 8 percent by April 2014. However, while the taxation would apply to ebook publishers and distributors in Japan, the same when sourced from overseas vendors enjoy immunity from the tax net. As such, retailers such as Amazon or Rakuten’s … [Read more...] about Japanese Publishers and eBook Retailers Protesting Consumption Tax Hike, Demand Foreign Vendors be Taxed Too
Kisai Rorschach Smartwatch Uses Cryptic Inkblot Marking to Depict Time
Tokyoflash Japan is the newest entrant to the rapidly emerging smartwatch segment. However, the Kisai Rorschach smartwatch is unlike any other smartwatch currently available in the market. While the others in the game are busy wooing buyers with tech bits or the unique features that their smartwatch devices are capable of, the Kisai Rorschach stands out miles away from the rest … [Read more...] about Kisai Rorschach Smartwatch Uses Cryptic Inkblot Marking to Depict Time
eBooks Sales in Japan Still Lagging Behind Printed Books
Notwithstanding the rapid proliferation that ebooks have made among the reading community the world over, Japan has emerged as a slow adopter of the digital versions. Conventional books continue to be used among the majority of Japanese citizens, even though ebooks have made serious inroads in the market of late. eBook sales have shown a positive growth during the last few … [Read more...] about eBooks Sales in Japan Still Lagging Behind Printed Books
Pottermore Announces Expansion into Japan
The online interactive world of Harry Potter is reaching an entirely new audience, as Pottermore announced today the launch of the site in Japan. What is most interesting about that news is the fact that it took this long, considering that Japan is the largest market outside of the US for Harry Potter, beating out even the author's home base in the UK. In addition to the … [Read more...] about Pottermore Announces Expansion into Japan
Amazon Still Awaiting Its Indian eBook Store to Click
Amazon is yet to build the kind of success it might have expected out of its India operations, but that is because i'ts only now that tablet devices have started to emerge as the preferred mobile computing platform. eReaders, for their part, never enjoyed the popularity in India that they did in other reading markets. Another reason for Amazon to lag behind in ebook sales in … [Read more...] about Amazon Still Awaiting Its Indian eBook Store to Click
KDP Select Launches Lending in Japan, What That Means for Authors
Amazon announced this week that it has now extended its Kindle ebook lending in a new market, Amazon.co.jp. The Japanese Kindle store will now let its users borrow ebooks that have been placed in Amazon's exclusive KDP Select program. Indie authors have often confused KDP Select with Amazon's typical ebook publishing platform, Kindle Direct Publishing. eBooks uploaded … [Read more...] about KDP Select Launches Lending in Japan, What That Means for Authors
Seniors in Japan More Likely to Adopt eBooks
A survey to ascertain the pattern of ebook usage in Japan has demonstrated some startling results. What has come to light is that it is the older generation of readers and not the younger ones who has been found to be more comfortable adopting to the digital version the books. The survey was conducted by the e-book section of Toppan Printing Co. and covered 826 individuals … [Read more...] about Seniors in Japan More Likely to Adopt eBooks
Asus Transformer Book Now on Sale in Japan
The Windows 8 based 13 inch Transformer Book that Asus had launched long back (at the June 2012 Computex to be precise) is now finally ready to make it to the store shelves. However, that is a Japan only phenomenon as of now and Asus hasn't revealed when it is going to be extended to the rest of the world. About the tablet, the Transformer Book lives up to what the … [Read more...] about Asus Transformer Book Now on Sale in Japan
Microsoft Surface RT Tablet Available in Japan, Soon
Microsoft intends to launch its Surface RT device in Japan soon, or as Nikkei news has reported, it can happen as early as next month. However, no specific dates are mentioned and the most that Microsoft has confirmed to CNET is that "Surface will be coming to Japan in the near future." As for the tablet's pricing, it is speculated that the base 32 GB version of the Surface … [Read more...] about Microsoft Surface RT Tablet Available in Japan, Soon
eBook Challenges in Japan
An article in Fortune.com is entitled "Why Japanese readers don't like ebooks" is a bit silly. It correctly states that ebook adoption in Japan is fairly low, but then it somehow equates the fact that publishers in Japan have produced very few ebooks with the fact that readers aren't reading ebooks. How can readers read something that doesn't exist? The publishing industry … [Read more...] about eBook Challenges in Japan
Toshiba Launches Regza AT501 Jelly Bean Tablet
Toshiba has launched a new tablet in Japan that sports decent specs, which explains its not too indecent price tag. Dubbed Regza AT501, the tablet does look a lot like the AT500 that the company had launched last year. Build around a 1.3 Ghz Tegra 3 quad core chip and a 1 GB RAM, the new AT501 sports a 10.1 inch 1280 x 800 pixel display and runs Android Jelly Bean. The tablet … [Read more...] about Toshiba Launches Regza AT501 Jelly Bean Tablet
Google Nexus 10 Launched in Japan
The Google Nexus 10 tablet has now reached Japanese shores a few months after it was originally planned. Prices mentioned are 36,800 yen and 44,800 yen for the 16 GB and 32 GB models of the tablet respectively, both of which tallies well with the tablet’s US pricing of $399 and $499 for the two versions. However, there is still a delay of 1-2 weeks to be endured to get your … [Read more...] about Google Nexus 10 Launched in Japan