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Sony officially discontinues the PlayStation Vita
You knew the PlayStation Vita wasn't long for this world, and now it's official: Sony has discontinued the last two Vita models. The move marks the last step of a long, gradual phase-out that included a halt on first-party games in 2015, the discontinuation of physical games and the end to PS Plus freebies. If you're looking for the handheld, you'll either have to get lucky at a retailer (if there are any units left) or track down a second-hand model.
Japan's Hayabusa2 lands on asteroid Ryugu to collect samples
Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has successfully touched down on the surface of asteroid Ryugu to accomplish one of its ultimate goals: collect samples for scientists back on Earth. The probe has briefly landed on the asteroid to fire a bullet into its surface and kick up dust, rocks and any other debris that it can collect. Hayabusa2 has been hovering around Ryugu since mid-2018 and even dropped two landers on the floating rock to study its surface and take photos.
Toyota's car subscription service rewards you for safe driving
Toyota has teamed up with Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service Company to launch a new car subscription service with gamification elements in Japan. The program is called Kinto, and it'll offer two tiers: the first, called Kinto One, will allow you to drive one Toyota vehicle over a three-year period for anywhere between $420 and $900 a month. When the tier becomes available on March 1st, you can choose from the available Prius, Corolla Sport, Alphard, Vellfire and Crown models. The other tier called Kinto Select will give you the power to drive one of the available Lexus-branded vehicles for $1,630 a month for three years.
Walmart opens its first online store in Japan
Walmart has opened its first online store in Japan with the help of local e-commerce giant Rakuten. Over 1,200 items will be available to Japanese customers on the "Walmart Rakuten Ichiba Store," including clothing, outdoor items and toys from US brands. It marks the latest step in the duo's strategic alliance, announced in January, which also spans an online grocery delivery service in Japan and the sale of e-readers, audiobooks and e-books from Rakuten-owned Kobo in the US.
Sony and Rhapsody prep an audiophile streaming service for Japan
It's notoriously difficult for streaming music services to get a foothold in Japan -- this is a country where CDs still reign (72 percent of music revenue was for physical media in 2017). All the same, Sony and Rhapsody are giving it a shot. They're launching Japan's first audiophile-grade streaming music service, Mora Qualitas, in early 2019. Pay ¥1,980 (about $17.50) per month and you can listen to lossless FLAC files at up to 24-bit/96kHz quality as long as you have the audio hardware to do it justice.
Network outages affect millions of mobile customers in the UK and Japan
Mobile phone customers in the UK and Japan were affected by a network outage today, one that impacted millions of users, the Financial Times reports. A number of SoftBank customers in Japan lost connectivity in the early afternoon, which was reportedly restored just after 6PM local time. However, O2's 4G network went down around 5AM local time in the UK and service has yet to be fully restored. The issue appears to have stemmed from a software problem on the part of Ericsson.
Pager service in Japan is finally coming to an end
After nearly five decades, Japan is finally ending pagers for good. The last service provider in the country, Tokyo Telemessage, announced that it will terminate its service in September 2019, according to SoraNews24. The company said about 1,500 people still use pagers in its service area, which covers Tokyo and several neighboring regions.
The first 8K satellite TV broadcasts launched today in Japan
As scheduled, at 10 AM local time on December 1st Japanese TV networks began publicly broadcasting 4K and 8K channels via satellite. Even after a couple of years of testing, NHK is currently the only one pushing content at 8K with 22.2 channel sound. The first movie listed in its TV guide is 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the BBC reports that Warner Bros. rescanned the film's original 70mm negatives specifically for this broadcast.
Federal Trade Commission agrees to investigate loot boxes
The Federal Trade Commission has agreed to investigate loot boxes in games, along with their impact on kids. The agency's commissioners committed to the probe after Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) raised the issue at a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee hearing. Loot boxes offer players in-game items, but because you can often buy them with real money and the virtual goods within are awarded at random, some claim they're tantamount to gambling.
NTT DoCoMo and Mitsubishi hit fastest 5G in-car speeds yet
With the first 5G phones expected in 2019, carriers in the US and abroad are busy laying the groundwork for faster data speeds. Japan's three biggest mobile networks are aiming for a similar timeframe, a year ahead of their original 2020 schedule, to coincide with the Rugby World Cup. One of the country's leading carriers, NTT DoCoMo, has now announced a 5G milestone with the help of Mitsubishi Electric. Together they hit 27Gbps during outdoor trials in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture.
WSJ: Apple will discount iPhone XR in Japan
Apple is readying discounts for the iPhone XR in Japan by way of subsidies for local carriers, according to The Wall Street Journal. The markdown for the cheapest of its new batch of iPhones could come into play as soon as next week. Though price cuts from Apple aren't unprecedented (it's lowered the price of devices on occasion in specific regions) they are rare. So don't go expecting the change to be reflected on this side of the world.
Sharp thinks two phone notches are better than one
If the thought of one notch on a phone makes you apoplectic, you might want to sit down before you read this. Sharp has unveiled the Aquos R2 Compact, a 5.2-inch handset that crams in two notches -- one for its front 8-megapixel camera and another for its fingerprint reader. The design helps make the most out of a relatively small body, but this is destined to give you fits if you dislike components jutting into the screen. It's not even symmetric, either.
Japan's new cybersecurity minister admits he's never used a computer
Whichever way your political ideology lies, there's no doubt that we live in interesting times. A lot of us have opinions on which political figures are qualified to do their jobs -- and which definitely aren't -- but we can probably all agree that if you're going to put someone in charge of, say, cybersecurity, they should probably at least know their way around a computer. Right? Apparently not, if you're the Japanese prime minister, who has recently appointed Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, as head of the government's cybersecurity office, despite him never having used a computer.
Our moon is the hottest property in the solar system right now
The space race is heating up again in ways we haven't seen since the end of the Cold War. We haven't been to the moon since 1972 but a number of private companies and national agencies have begun looking to our nearest celestial neighbor with renewed interest, not only as a site of scientific study but also as a fuel resource and potential staging area for trips further out into the solar system.
‘Devil May Cry 5’ fans in Japan get insane $8,000 bundle
If you plan on dressing up as Dante for Halloween, this is the jacket to get. Capcom has announced a new Devil May Cry 5 "Ultra Limited Edition" bundle via its E-Capcom website. The bundle includes a copy of the game -- either for Xbox One or PS4 -- interchangeable box art, and a life-sized leather replica of Dante's jacket.
BepiColombo orbiters take off for Mercury tonight
If you've ever wondered what's happening over on Mercury, you'll have an answer soon. Well, soon-ish. BepiColombo, a joint effort between the space agencies of Europe and Japan, will send off a spacecraft Friday night at about 9:45 PM ET with the destination set for the closest rock to the sun. Don't expect to hear much from the little adventurer for a while, though -- it won't reach Mercury's orbit until late 2025.
Kyocera releases tiny e-paper companion phone in Japan
If you've been curious as to what Instagram might look like on an e-paper screen and happen to live in Japan, the Kyocera Card Keitai KY-01L might be of interest. It's a companion device that's supposed to be a sidekick to a beefier mobile phone. The KY-01L is really small -- not too much larger than a credit card. It's about 9 centimeters tall, 5 centimeters wide, 5 millimeters thick and weights in at a miniscule 47 grams. It has a standby time of 100 hours and a continuous talk time of 110 minutes.
Yahoo Japan is shutting down the last remnants of GeoCities
Yahoo Japan, the last enclave of GeoCities, is scrapping the beloved website-hosting service. In March 2019 -- 22 years after its original launch -- GeoCities will be extinct, according to Quartz. Yahoo, which bought the platform in 1999 for $3.57 billion in stock, announced the closure on its Japanese website, citing profitability and technological issues. As a result, Yahoo "regrets" that all the GeoCities content -- compartmentalized into "neighborhoods", as is the norm -- will be wiped from the web along with it.
Humanoid construction robot installs drywall by itself
If Japan's Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Institute has its way, construction workers might be a thing of the past. Researchers have built HRP-5P, a humanoid bot that can handle a variety of construction tasks when there's either a staffing shortage or serious hazards. The prototype uses a mix of environment detection, object recognition and careful movement planning to install drywall by itself -- it can hoist up boards and fasten them with a screwdriver.
Tokyo cafe to use robot waiters operated by people with physical disabilities
Japan is taking steps to fight social isolation by employing robots in as many aspects of life as possible. After introducing autonomous robots in various roles in a hospital and a number of nursing homes and schools, a cafe in Tokyo will soon open with robotic waiters controlled remotely by people with physical disabilities who wouldn't be able to work otherwise.
