Kojien updated in standard way

Kojien 6 ver.2 price: ¥8,500($79) developer: LogoVista Corporation size: 684MB iTunes

If I should select dictionary in order to re-build Japanese alone, I select Kojien. Most reliable Japanese-Japanese dictionary for me. Past time, I post a review for this app, now Kojien 6 got update to version 2.0.

Then App Store will be one years old, many application developed into new version, Kojien also.

New Kojien 6 have following feature.

1. New index interface

2. Min-cho style font

3. Search from selected string

New index and interface is well streamlined, but graphical design is boring and kiddy like as Japanese cellphone's app. Why Japanese old man loves to use many color... I hate multi coloring habit. 2nd points, Min-Cho-style font is well. Min-Cho style font is like as Times, traditional glyph design. They implement IPA font distributed by Japanese government information technology department. IPA font is not so stylish but has correct glyph style suites dictionary.

Kojien app smells "translated" application from other OS platform but ver2.0 comes near to iPhone. Some interface image is not well but experience is one that applications on iPhone.

LogoVista is not young company well known Japanese digital booklet application developer. Their products is not cutting-edge but on the way of standard application development.

Kojien ver.2.0 is just standard Japanese application their made. Well hearing user's voice and implement. Yes, this method may not open something new, but think different.

How iPhone OS has rich broad platform. Young fresh independent engineer are well seen on the board, but iPhone OS keeps veteran maker's standard application also.

Professional localizer into Japanese

How to translate your Apps to English. Google translate? it's terrible. Offering Japanese speaking person from your country or your friend translator? Not so good but it's only base of localization. From my experience managing to localize applications, application localize is far from translation. String should be compressed enough to understand, User Interface Guidelines knowledge and many skills handling various data resource necessary.

I suggest you to offer to professional localizer. I introduce my friend E-WA. professional localizer into Japanese.

An entry on his blog invites localize your apps into Japanese with him.

Want to get your Mac/iPhone apps localize into Japanese?

App Store is the market to sell your works all over the world contains Japan. But you may know, because many Japanese can't use English though they understand it, language translation is necessary at there. In past years, handling multi-bytes codes and locally customized OS might you struggle in developing multi-language application. Fortunately, iPhone's modern development environment handle multi language clearly. You may find article tells how to make multi-lingual application in Apple Developer Center. Apple prepares multi-lingual architecture and tutorial, last thing you to do is finding good localization staff.

E-WA is independent professional application localizer and good translator. He have really long experience to make Japanese version of Mac apps for example, BusySinc, ClamXav, Cyberduck, Img2icns, PTHasteboard, Spanning Sync, USB Overdrive and many other. Veteran Mac user might know some of these applications and find these apps are made by not so large companies so as to develop a localization team inside.

And now, E-WA is expanding his work to iPhone apps. Contact Tool, Weightbot and more some come soon. His professional experience for Mac applications works very well in for iPhone apps.

Contact him. You'll have excellent quality localized application.

Minimum dance moves Japanese

UNIQLOCK price: FREE! developer: UNIQLO CO,. LTD. size: 154MB iTunes

UNIQLOCK is simple clock application shows time and movie. Every 10 second, typography and beauty girls minimum dance sequence loop by 5 seconds turns.

Developer company is UNIQLO. Well know as Japanese casual clothing maker. UNIQLOCK is advertisement application promoting new lightweight fabric HEAT TECH.

Releasing UNIQLOCK surprised Japanese companies rather than famous Chanel's promoting app. One of the most succeed Japanese company UNICLO's quick approach to iPhone knocked Japanese prejudice, because many company doubt Apple and iPhone business in Japan. In fact, I have some experience that person directing company changed opinion after I showed UNIQLOCK.

With having strong sympathy and feel something related with Japanese ones, almost Japanese company think they have no relationship with oversea companies like Google, IBM, Oracle and Apple even if it actually affected.

If you're working in advertisement or graphics in Japan, I suggest install UNIQLOCK though you don't boot for yourself, in order to show your client. With talking, taking out iPhone from pocket, "Yes this is iPhone, BTW, do you know that UNIQLO does promoting HEAT TECH on it? ...". Modern style movie and easy-listening music have no extra message and you are able to build various opinion with it. More quality, simplicity, Japanese Zen style and so.

If only I say that real UNICLO store is not so cool instead.

Free Wi-Fi for iPhone in Japan

How do you feel to hear iPhone contacted user can use 3,500 Wi-Fi hot spots provided by carrier without payment? It's true and I love to use it at McDonald's with charging iPhone with build in AC plug to table.

Wi-Fi network's SSID and WEP key is solved at Softbank service site in MyYahoo. In order to logging account id and password is same as mailing account for Softbank mail service(@i.softbank.jp).

Following step is the way to get SSID WEP key.

Preparing SSID, WEP, id and password, you can connect high speed Wi-Fi network at hotspot. After you've logged in with cookie available Safari, other hotspot's authorized page will automatically make you log in without entering id and password.

As everything has doodle side, this service has large mistaken architecture to authenticationauthorization.

Softbank, authorized iPhone carrier, is not largest cellphone carrier in Japan and their infrastructure of 3G network is not so enough to give away to be used as Internet pipeline for iPhone the huge bytes eater users.

Softbank MobileC.T.O responsible infrastructure said they are afraid of millions iPhone user start to use 3G network in order to access YouTube. Jun-ichi Miyagawa interview (japanese)

In this situation, one of Softbank Mobile's answer was that free Wi-Fi spot for iPhone users. Now they started to cooperation with FON. I feel good about their going to expand Wi-Fi in Japan in these way.

My mention is their tech feeling or geek soul. Free Wi-Fi service has large architecture miss and decrease user experience.

At last 4th Nov the day free Wi-Fi "Automatically" logging in service, I went McDonald's with bad prediction. "Logging in" does not suites Wi-Fi connection. And some person went press party said "Softbank seems to use COOKIE for automatically logging-in". Cookie and "Log in" makes me pessimistic.

I've tried how it works and found automatically logging in worked correctly in word meaning, COOKIE rumor was correct. All processes worked on Safari. This means it's necessary to launch Safari in mobilepoint Wi-Fi area. When I was passing through Wi-Fi network without launching Safari, iPhone will be captured into Wi-Fi without logging in and all applications can't connect Internet. It's very frustrated situation.

Softbank may know all iPhone's MAC address which imported into Japan. Why they not register these MAC address band to their Wi-Fi router....

Additional note

This Y! icon is installed at Softbank shop at early days of iPhone launching. Now softbank does not install this icon on new iPhone.

Go to http://ipn.yahoo.co.jp and find setup.

The way to know Holidays

Quick Calender price: FREE! size: 0.2MB developer: kanotomo iTunes

The legend workaholic Japanese finished.

Though Japanese don't take a 2 weeks vacation or 2 hours siesta, there are many scattered 15 holidays beside summer and new year small vacant. Even as for Japanese can't remember these many holidays (I think this is not my special case...), I have some experience to go office at holiday what I don't know. Dark and blank office make me so sad... Q Calender will help this sad situation. Basically, Quick Calender is cool calender wall paper making app.

Previous version shows only one holidays suits language set on iPhone but current version can show any counties holidays without link to language. It means that now we get the easiest way to show Japanese holiday on iPhone set English or other language with launching Quick Calender.

Quick Calender shows China, Unites Stats, Hong Kong, France, Russia, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany,Canada and Japan. Not only these but also, this app shows calender in independent language style from iPhone set. Supported language are Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Assamase, Azerbaijan, Belorussian, Bulgarian... I've gage up to count. Anyway many.

Quick Calender is not only wall paper maker as developer say in modest way at AppStore. I've surprised that this worth-full multi cultural supported calender is shipped as Free application. Take and try it.

Developer kanotomo released some nice looking small applications. I love his apps. Especially, Cédille -the Font Viewer for iPhone is my favorite app in these days.

The standard way to importing iCal calender data to your iPhone

brandonheato tweets http://is.gd/lGt0 is a better choice i think... show holidays directly in your ical by downloading or subscribing.

Yes, importing iCal data is standard Mac's way to use various calender published on websites. Unfortunately, MobileMe doesn't share online subscribed calender data with iPhone. If you want to use these data, it's necessary to download and import to iCal as solid archive. Following is the way in example to importing "Japanese Holiday Calender" from apple.com.

1. Go to "Apple - Download - Calenders - Japanese Holiday Calender"

2. With Right-Click "Download" NOT single clicking. If you click "Download" button simply, this iCal data will subscribed from apple.com and MobileMe don't send it.

3. Open downloaded file and importing to iCal. MobileMe or wired sync will send downloaded calender to your iPhone.

thanks iphoningjapan to remind me this way.

Most worthy Japanese Dictionary comes to iPhone

Kojien6 price: ¥8,500 developer: LogoVista Corporation iTunes

Japanese most reliable dictionary "Kojien 6th（広辞苑 第六版）" came to iPhone.

Kojien 6th is latest edition of famous reference Japanese - Japanese dictionary witch is used as most reliable dictionary by Japanese language professionals like novelist, author, writer and so in Japan during this half of century.

All description are well considered and written in tiny though enough informative words by 100 specialists gathered from each fields and proof read by 160 staffs in 7 years.

The price, ¥8,500 ($99) is same with actual paper "Kojien" price seems expensive but I suggest to buy it for person who are going to be an professional of Japanese culture, Kojien helps as reference to Japanese terms.

Dictionary specification

• 240,000 entries
• 12,000 Kanji (Chinese character) entries (1,945 Japanese standard Kanji strokes, JIS code, character history, etc...)
• 2,800 illustration, 5,000 photos and other hundreds multi-media resources

Search method

• index Forward/Backward match
• Literal search
• Idiom search
• Search from description
• Full text search
• Kanji part/strokes search
• Who's who search
• Location name search
• Masterpiece title search
• Seasonal word search
• Media type search (images, movies, sounds, table, etc... )

Though all article are written in Japanese, almost application interface are translated into English.