Ever wondered what you would look like in a mini skirt and long wavey hair..?

So-net, the company which offers makeovers via photos taken by users’ mobile cameras, have recently introduced an application for cosmetic and fashion makeovers. So now you can see what you could look like.......or what you would like to look like.....??!!

Koakuma Henshin (or “little devil metamorphosis” in English) is the site that takes your ordinary portrait and sexes it up and makes you look like ichi oku yen. Koakuma Henshin is marketed as harmless fun for those woman who are curious about what they might look like wearing a low cut skirt and wavey hair.....

If I was a woman I would be curious.....wouldn't you?

Australian Chris

Gree follow-up

As you know, we have had a couple of articles relating to Gree--the SNS based site--here in Japan which has been making significant headway in the market despite what is happening all around us economically speaking. I came across an excellant piece written by Terrie Lloyd covering Gree and the reasons for its success. Below is a short snippet of this article but for a full analysis please follow the link. A great read for those following the online industry here in Japan.

"Several weeks ago we spoke about Internet Social NetworkService (SNS) company GREE as being a value leader forconsumers. We should have added that since their IPO inDecember, GREE has also become a significant profit leader,announcing mid-January that their parent-only net profitwill probably hit JPY3.5bn on sales of JPY11.2bn for thefinancial year ending June 30th. If their forecast iscorrect, then this will represent a profit increase of amassive 500% over the previous year -- a spectacular jump.
So spectacular, in fact, that GREE currently has a highermarket cap than the biggest social media player in Japan,Mixi. This is somewhat surprising because Mixi has far more"assets" at work, such as 15m users, versus GREE's 8m; bothPC and Mobile coverage, versus GREE being almost 99%Mobile; and a long-term proven profit/growth model.Nonetheless, on Friday GREE was worth JPY126bn in marketcapitalization while Mixi was worth about half that, atJPY73.6bn."

Mobile TV in Japan

Christopher Billich of Infinita Inc. recently presented a sound power point presentation on the current status and future potential of the mobile TV market in Japan.....Check it out!

Mobile TV In Japan

View more presentations from Christopher Billich. (tags: tv mobiletv)

Deco mail....anyone?

The feature from Docomo, 'Deco Mail', the ability to create elaborate flash animated text messages, has been a big hit with keitai consumers and especially the female market in Japan. And this big hit is only going to continue as new deco mail services evolve and further meet the specific wants and needs of deco users.

In order to meet these ever growing specific needs a new deco mail service called "Day Deco, Night Deco", has evolved to meet the on-going demands specific to the time of day. The new mobile deco-mail service from Gigno System makes sense as the mobile website changes its available content depending on the time of day, or night. So, the day version tends to be light-hearted and cutesy while the night version has a more elegant and glamorous vibe.



And while one could easily just select a day or night option, mobile users are increasingly enjoying having the mobile phone make those selections automatically.....its just like the times when you thought it was neat when your mobile phone clock first adjusted itself for a new time zone.

Australian Chris

For those warm and fuzzy feelings...

Ah, family ties and those moments of closeness we all feel towards loved ones from time to time. Recently, I have come across a new device which aims to capitalize on this feeling with a unique mobile twist. This leisure appliance is a digital LCD photo frame which displays photos along with audio and video output capabilities. Appearance wise, it sounds as though it will be much like we have already seen in terms of digital photo frames—postcard size--however the twist comes in with this device being equipped with its own email address. Essentially what this means is that you can send mom, dad, grandma, grandpa or whoever photos or videos whenever you like. This nifty gadget will automatically receive the content and display them for your loved ones. Sounds like a clever idea eh?!

Apparently this e-photo frame was developed in house by DoCoMo and has the memory to hold up to 1000 photos while also having the ability to run your standard slideshow. According to DoCoMo it will retail for around 20,000 yen and offers to fill that ‘guilt gap’ for those who may be too busy, yet still feel the need to create that feeling of connection. It is still unclear whether it will accept non DoCoMo messages, however time will tell and I am sure that if it doesn’t, it will be doing so very soon providing consumers bite at this.

The wireless revolution continues my friends. A day doesn’t seem to pass in which some intuitive device come out which capitalizes on this world of mobile and wireless transmissions here in Japan! Thanks to Wireless Watch Japan for this informative piece.

Canadian Chris

GREE's Rise to Fame and Fortune...

Well, to follow on with a topic posted by my colleague Chris Delcourt relating to GREE and its rise to fortune and new found stature amongst the SNS community, I thought I would introduce our readers to some insight as to why this company has skyrocketed and why many anticipate this to continue despite the worsening economic conditions.

Like all successful companies, it all starts with a solid business model. GREE has set out to deliver true value to consumers in such a way that subscription fees, although minimal contribute to approximately 70% of revenues versus that of 30% deriving from online advertising revenues. This model is much different than Japanese SNS mainstay and current leader MIXI which is wholly ad driven, yet offering a free service. As one longtime, Japanese based entrepreneur Terrie Lloyd points out, aligning value in terms of content and quality with a monetary sum is not a concept that has been completely displaced. The recent trend within the mobile/web based world has been all about ad supported content which has allowed users to find their SNS fill without paying anything. This free model has been used a good number of times across many types of web based businesses.

However, this could all be changing according to Mr. Lloyd who foresees the rise of companies which return to a model more aligned with true content value and subscription based revenues over ads. This concept becomes very important in poor economic times like these in which consumers will certainly pull back on the purse strings and seek out the cheaper modes of entertainment such as online gaming/SNS communities which offer value but at a much lower cost than say travel, dining out etc. Also, the ad supported firms are undoubtedly feeling the pinch now as their B2B ad based deals are put on hold or cancelled due to the present downturn.


They say recessions bring about business change in so many ways, whether it’s saying goodbye to old mainstays, greeting new players or witnessing the rise of others. GREE certainly has been skyrocketing and I am sure this is in no small thanks to their well thought out positioning strategy. It will be interesting to see how other mobile/web based companies react and how this potential return to an old business model plays out.

Canadian Chris

Who said SNS sites weren't BIG business...$$$

As people have seen the coming and going of different SNS internet and mobile phone communities across the globe, one particular SNS site with its origins in Japan definitely rebuffs those who believe that mobile phone SNS companies dont have a strong business model leg to stand on....

Japan's second largest social network GREE, launched in 2004, recently listed its IPO shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers market for start-ups. GREE caused a stir on the IPO market with shares rising from $37 to $56 on the first trading day and instantly made GREE the No. 4 player among Japan's listed web companies, only trailing Yahoo Japan, Rakuten and DeNA (Mobage-town creator)....not bad for a day's work!

GREE began operations on the fixed Internet before Japanese users started to move over to competitor Mixi. Today, GREE Mobile has 7 million registered users. And 99% of its 8 billion monthly page views are generated through mobile phones. These 8 billion monthly page views are essentially generated by a mix of social networking and a gaming platform where users are represented through avatars and can buy virtual items on the site, such as food used in GREE's virtual pet games and clothes for avatars.

Well, the team at GREE are definitely onto something.....and the market of keitai consumers and investors certainly agree with them.

Australian Chris