www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu1WroT_kOE

I didn’t think this day would ever come. The ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga) for iPhone and iPod Touch is complete, as reported by ascii.jp! The video above shows many of the features. Basically, it looks to be a nice experience overall, with rankings, search, and of course the ability to comment. You’ll also note, they don’t show comments actually over the video until the very end. I was freaking out. I mean, without the comments, ニコ動 is nothing.

In any case, now they are just waiting for approval from Apple. More will be revealed in the April 7th issue of Weekly Ascii magazine. The second I find a copy of that or the app is actually released, I will be doing everything in my power to bring you guys the juicy details!

NicoNicoDouga 4 life!!!

Technorati Tags: app, Apple, ascii, ニコニコ動画, cell phones, iPhone, iPod Touch, mobile, mobile video, nico on youtube, NicoNicoDouga, nicovideo

Anyway, $2.99 is pricey, but it really is a must have for Eva fans. It is the first (although it says vol.2, I dunno what happened to vol.1) in a series of Evangelion movie tie ins.

The other eva app puts eva stuff in a picture, which is silly and fun, but not as urgent.

They also make a katana app… but it feels racist somehow. Watch the video and tell me what you think.

Technorati Tags: anime, app, cell phones, clock, eva, Evangelion, iPhone, timer

There is a catch however. You have to be a Softbank user sending things to other Softbank users.

And we cry…

UNLESS you are a l33t haxor. If you phone is jailbroken, you can tweak a file or just download the springboard update by searching for “emoji” in Cydia (what I did, cause I’m lazy). After that, you go into Settings ⇒ General ⇒ International ⇒ Keyboards ⇒ Japanese ⇒ Emoji (turn in ON). After that, when you hit the little globy thing, it will cycle to 絵文字 eventually. It even has a commonly used 絵文字 section!

And it works. I sent the mail shown in the image to my gmail and got this:

「えもじ」

If you see 絵文字 above, you are a mad haxor with 絵文字 fonts. Reveal your secrets! I see little squares (on PC, when browsing on my iPhone, the above showed up as their 絵文字 counterparts). However, on my iPhone, they arrived safe and sound, even when I sent those boxes copied and sent from gmail.

In anycase, if that isn’t reason to jailbreak your iPhone, I don’t know what is.  (It’s a 絵文字, I swear.)

Technorati Tags: Apple, cell phones, cydia, 絵文字, email, emoji, firmware, hacking, iPhone, jailbreak, jailbreaking, Japanese language, pwnage, smilies, technology, texting

さらに、iPhone 3Gでもニコニコ動画を視聴できるように開発を進めていることも明らかになった。ニワンゴ代表取締役社長の杉本誠司氏は、具体的な時期や内容は語らなかったものの、「ニコニコ動画らしいものができるように開発を進めている」と述べている。

[My translation]
Additionally, it has been announced that development is progressing so that NicoNicoDouga can be viewed on iPhone 3G as well. Niwango’s representative director, Mr. Seiji Sugimoto, explained that while we cannot give specific details as to when and how this will happen, he did say that, “Development is progressing so that we can make something that is wholly like the NicoNicoDouga experience.”

Yes! But, no… development progresses, but it won’t be available on Nov. 4th. And there’s no guarantee that it will work on my old iPhone, or that it will even work in America. BUT, I still have hope that someday, I will be watching and commenting (yes, that is possible on mobile ニコニコ動画 as well) on videos anywhere I want!

Technorati Tags: Apple, ニコニコ動画, cell phones, CNET Japan, iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone Apps, mobile, NicoNicoDouga, Niwango, Seiji Sugimoto, softbank

I really hope so. But, the fact that the iPhone wasn’t really as big in Japan as people had hoped is not really giving me much hope that it will EVER happen…

We will see though come Thursday! Watch this site for results!

Technorati Tags: cell phones, gadgets, Internet, iPhone, NicoNicoDouga, softbank, tech, video

It is about freaking time. They are adding 絵文字 (emoji) to the new iPhone firmware. Which means that all of us JP loving folks can put a little picture of a beer next to our 「今夜飲もうよ！」 emails.

I’m particularly excited about this because, as a pseudo-Japanese-expat, I love that I can send Japanese on my American iPhone. The addition of 絵文字 is just icing on the cake. And judging from the fact that Japanese people send more emails on their phones than SMS texts, that means they have to work in email too. That being the case, there is a good chance I will never write an email on a computer again.

So, they obviously are listening to the people about this… or at least the Wall Street Journal. Does this also mean a ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga) viewer app is on the way? Only time will tell…

[Via MacRumors]

Technorati Tags: Apple, cell phones, 絵文字, email, emoji, firmware, iPhone, Japanese language, smilies, technology, texting

I am willing to be that this is the exact reason why the iPhone didn’t take off in Japan. Or, at least, if they had added a ニコニコ動画 (NicoNicoDouga) player, they would have had one rabid fan base right off the bat.

Well, TUAW is announcing that Adobe really wants to bring flash to the iPhone. I am all for it. Of course, right now, when I visit the ニコニコ動画 site on Safari, it crashes… so who knows, maybe I’ll never get to have the joy of commenting “wwwwwwwwwwwww” in front of my favorite videos while on the bus.

Technorati Tags: Adobe, Apple, ニコニコ動画, cell phones, flash, iPhone, NicoNicoDouga, Safari, technology, video, web