Tag - apps

 
 

APPS

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has said the 50-50 control of LY, the operator of the Line app, by SoftBank and Naver leaves the messaging app vulnerable to cyberattacks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2024
SoftBank and Naver to sell down stake in Japan’s Line app
The tender comes as the capital structure of the operator of Japan’s biggest messaging app Line threatens to become a diplomatic flash point with South Korea.
A 28-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of deceiving a man she met on a dating app into paying her cash for sexually transmitted infection tests.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
Tokyo woman arrested on suspicion of STI test fraud
Police said Misaki Watanabe asked a man to pay for tests before engaging in sexual relations, but ceased all communication after receiving the money.
Ryo Ogawa (right), chief executive officer of Timee, and Tomoaki Yagi, chief financial officer, strike the trading bell during the company's listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2024
Shares of job app firm Timee jump in Japan stock trading debut
The stock surged to as high as ¥1,855 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Growth market.
Tokyo police have arrested four people for allegedly luring their targets into multilevel marketing, using dating apps, last year, despite orders for the suspension of network marketing-related business.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024
Four arrested in Japan over multilevel marketing using dating apps
The police believe that the four collected a total of some ¥850 million from about 2,000 people in 42 prefectures, including university students.
LINE, the app at the center of a tug-of-war for control. Line was introduced in Japan in 2011 by Naver, the operator of South Korea’s leading search engine.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 24, 2024
Japan and South Korea are fighting over an app at a tense time
Leaders on both the Japanese and South Korean sides appear determined to prevent the quarrel over Line from escalating.
Mayumi Kitakata uses "CatsMe!," an AI-driven smartphone app that purports to tell when a cat is feeling pain, near her 14 year-old male pet cat Chi at her home in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2024
Japan's beloved cats get health care help from AI
The CatsMe! app has been used on 6,000 pictures of cats and by more than 230,000 customers since its launch last year.
A growing number of local governments in Japan are selling reusable oversize waste collected from households on marketplace app Mercari.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2024
Japan local governments using Mercari app to recycle oversize waste
From clothing boxes to furniture, the initiative aims to raise awareness of reusing goods while reducing carbon emissions from incineration.
A person uses a tong with a camera and GPS system attached to pick up litter, part of an initiative to boost participation in collecting trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 16, 2024
Japan’s gamified environment apps target a greener mindset
Government funding has helped drive a boom in environmental and social app development.
The iAEON app allows users to view their shopping history and save e-receipts on their smartphones to facilitate returns and act as proof of purchases.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 14, 2024
Aeon to roll out e-receipts nationwide
Customers can opt for e-receipts instead of paper ones when shopping by using the group’s iAEON app at participating stores.
Tomiji Suzuki (back) attends a workshop in Tokyo. The 89-year-old is now making apps for the fast-growing elderly demographic, using ChatGPT to fine-tune his skills.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2024
ChatGPT a mentor for 89-year-old app developer
So far, Tomiji Suzuki has developed 11 free iPhone apps to help Japan's aging population.
The NewsBreak company logo adorns a sign at a corporate office building in Mountain View, California, on April 26
WORLD
Jun 6, 2024
Top news app in U.S. has Chinese origins and ‘writes fiction’ with AI
NewsBreak launched in the U.S. in 2015 as a subsidiary of Yidian, a Chinese news aggregation app.
Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2024
Why Line, a superapp, sparked a diplomatic dispute
Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is launching its own dating app to support people who want to get married.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2024
Tokyo government to launch dating app in bid to boost birth rate
Users will be required to submit documentation proving they are legally single and sign a letter stating they are willing to get married.
The Telegram app has become a key weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts to spread disinformation aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 29, 2024
Too small to police, too big to ignore: Telegram is the app dividing Europe
The messaging app has become a key weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts to spread disinformation aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
The main targets of a new bill on smartphone software are the app stores provided by Google and Apple, as consumers effectively have only two choices for smartphone operating systems: Apple's iOS or Google’s Android.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2024
Japan aims to curb Apple and Google's smartphone app duopoly
A new bill would compel dominant platforms to allow third parties to launch their own app markets and to offer more payment options.
Meta's board of experts is seeking public comments regarding a post criticizing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on its Threads text messaging app.
JAPAN / Society
May 17, 2024
Meta seeks public opinion on Threads post criticizing Japan's PM
This is the first time the board has examined a case related to Threads.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits a child care support facility in Hiezu, Tottori Prefecture, in July.
JAPAN / Society
May 12, 2024
Government plans nationwide database to enhance child care support
Child care support measures and ways to apply for them differ according to each municipality.
As of last Sunday, ride-hailing services, which use personal vehicles to offer paid rides, had been used a total of 12,628 times in five areas.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2024
In first month of operations, ride-hailing services used more than taxis in Tokyo
The services, which were launched in April, have been used more frequently than traditional taxis so far, a transport ministry report has shown.
China is likely around two years behind the United States in developing its own AI software.
WORLD / Politics
May 9, 2024
U.S. eyes curbs on China's access to AI software behind apps like ChatGPT
Preliminary plans the Biden administration has include placing guardrails around the most advanced AI Models, the core software of AI systems like ChatGPT.
A man films with a smartphone in front a placard for the German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party during a campaign event for the upcoming European Parliament elections, and ahead of Saxony's municipal and state elections, in Dresden, eastern Germany, on May 1.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024
German far right's TikTok success sparks rush to platform
Germany's political heavyweights have been spooked by the successes in reaching youth voters ahead of June's European elections.

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