After using it, I can safely say it is better than I expected. I guess the wait was worth it after all.

I have a lot to say, but for those of you with limited blog reading time, here are the main points:

1. Views NicoDou videos
2. Shows comments
3. Publishes comments
2. Available on US iTunes Store
3. Runs over Edge, 3G, and WiFi

Go get it! (iTunes Link)

Remember, you need a NicoDou account to use this app. If you don’t have one, go get one here!

Full review and lots of screen shots after the jump!

Where to start? This program really was worth the wait. From every angle, the app seems to have really had a lot of work put into it. In fact, they also conveniently updated their flash player at the same time the app was released (approved?). I’m guessing they were saving the flash update to go with the app since they share a new design look and some new functions. So rather than thinking of this as just another app, this seems to be a part of their push to move NicoDou to a wider audience.

For those of you who haven’t heard anything about it yet, but are familiar with NicoDou in general, the app is what you would expect; a way to watch NicoDou videos with comments. One thing people were very curious about was whether it would support adding comments.

Click コメントする

Enter your comment

Choose positon, size, and color.

Even on the actual site, people can see your comment!

As you can see, it does let you put in comments, and that’s really the worst thing about the app. It stops the video and opens up a new screen where you can publish the comments. So, what you lose in real time, you gain in function, since you can do all the colors and variations that are normally available as well.

The thing that really surprised me, well, the first thing that really surprised me was that it was freely available on the US iTunes store. I was so worried I would need a Japanese iTunes account to download it. This saved me a lot of worry! So, peoples of the world, can you download it?

Remember, you still need to enter you account info to sign in. This is accomplished by clicking the 設定 (settei, lower right hand corner).

Then click カウント設定

Enter your mail address and password, and hit 確認 in the upper right.

Last, the thing that really surprised me… It works over edge. See, in Japan, the iPhone wasn’t released until the 3G, so they don’t have the 1st gen iPhones to worry about. Even the user interface tells you if you are on 3G or WiFi. And, since I am on really crappy hacked T-Mobile edge, I would pretty sure there would be no way in hell I could watch videos over edge. I was wrong. It works, even over my stupid edge. The YouTube app doesn’t even work over my edge connection! This is the thing that makes me the happiest man on earth. I can now NicoNico wherever and whenever I like. It is a dream come true.

Using it over Edge, which shows as 3G

One last odd thing I noticed was that one of my videos I uploaded “wasn’t available to non-premium users.” I’m not quite sure what that is about, but I’m guessing they restrict unpopular videos for some reason… further research is needed!

Wow. Why aren’t you playing with it, right now?!

Technorati Tags: app, app review, Apple, ニコニコ動画, Dwango, edge, gadgets, iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone Apps, NicoDou, NicoNicoDouga, screenshots, ss, technology, wifi

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

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

The Norton Fighter!

Oh man… Japanese marketing at its best.

しょこたん (Shokotan, Realname 中川翔子, Nakagawa Shoko) is known throughout the JP world as the most prolific blogger ever. Apparently, that’s how she rose to fame in the Akiba crowd, posting numerous times throughout the day.

Anyway, Norton Antivirus now has her and Norton Fighter (some sort of ultraman/power ranger-like hero) as their image characters. It’s so obviously targeted at the otaku crowd, it’s not even funny. On the website, there is even a “live” video from her room. It’s actually really, really weird videos of her and the Norton Fighter interacting… very strange.

And some obligatory videos:

In this one, she is listening to some disembodied voice talk about the benefits of new norton:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDz9wNqPvuc

And then this one is like an interview about here computer experiences:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDSfjEUeNXw

I admit it. She’s cute and her casual speaking is all too appealing, but I’m still not installing Norton! ><;

Technorati Tags: Akiba, Akihabara, anti-virus, アキバ, blogs, 秋葉原, girls, hero, Japanese girls, models, norton, otaku, technology, video

Let me give you some background. Yamaha came out with a singing virtual vocalization program. It was released in Japan as Vocaloid. People started to make videos of it singing things, associating it with a cute anime girl character, and now all of this is exploding on ニコ動.

Imagine all those people who do karaoke on YouTube, but with a sense of shame. Why not have a virtual proxy sing songs for you. It’s so meta.

I’m still amazed that they can even get a computer voice to sing. And the fact that this idol is a community created thing and not some corporation’s mind control world domination plan (yet…) is something that makes me feel good about the world. The future really is here!

Here are a few of my favorite 初音ミク songs:

1. ワールドイズマイン / World Is Mine (an original song)

2.　みくみくにしてあげる♪ / MikuMiku ni shite ageru♪ (an original song)

3. Ievan Polkka

4.　ﾄｩﾙﾄｩﾙ☆ﾀﾞﾀﾞﾀﾞを初音ミクが歌って踊る / Hatsune Miku does Tunak

There are lots of covers and original songs, so go seek out your favorites!

Technorati Tags: anime, character, cute, music, nicovideo, technology, video, vocaloid

Seriously, this program is a life saver for 漢字 (kanji) impaired people like myself. Give it a shot and then go try and read the perfume blog!

Technorati Tags: language, nihongo, software, technology