Transcript

Hello and welcome to today’s news from TotemoTech on September 8th, 2023. In today’s news, we have some interesting stories from the world of technology.

First up, let’s talk about crowdfunding. It has become quite popular these days, but have you ever wondered how it feels for the people behind the projects? We spoke to ViXion, who recently had a successful project on the crowdfunding platform ‘kibidango,’ and also to the representatives from kibidango itself. They shared their experiences and insights on running a crowdfunding campaign.

Moving on to our next story, the BL-focused social networking service ‘pictBLand’ (also known as ‘ピクトブランド’ or ‘ピクブラ’) recently faced a security breach. The operator, GMW, has announced that they have taken all possible measures and will be relaunching the service on September 21st. We’ll keep an eye on how they handle the situation.

Now, let’s shift gears to the world of gaming. Pokémon GO players in Japan have something to look forward to. The legendary Pokémon ‘テッカグヤ’ will be making its debut in raids starting from today. Trainers, get ready to catch this rare Pokémon!

In other news, the popular flea market app ‘Mercari’ is introducing a new feature. Sellers can now opt for a data erasure option when listing their smartphones. This means that the device will be wiped clean by a data erasure company before being shipped to the buyer. It’s a great way to ensure privacy and security for both buyers and sellers.

Next, we have an interesting product announcement from Yamazen, a home appliance manufacturer. They have unveiled a ‘hands-free electric blanket’ that allows users to use their smartphones or other devices while staying warm and cozy. With this innovative product, you can keep your hands free and still enjoy the comfort of a heated blanket.

In a somewhat amusing campaign, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has launched a promotion to encourage the consumption of domestically produced seafood. They are distributing image materials with the hashtag ‘#食べるぜニッポン！’ (which translates to ‘Let’s Eat, Japan!’). The images feature a phrase that closely resembles the popular internet joke ‘I want 5000 trillion yen!’ Participants are encouraged to post pictures of their meals with the hashtag to promote the consumption of local seafood.

Lastly, Turing, a venture focused on autonomous electric vehicles, has released a multi-modal learning library called ‘Heron.’ This library supports multiple languages, including Japanese, and aims to give AI models a ‘visual’ understanding. In addition to the library, Turing has also made available pre-trained models with up to 700 billion parameters. This release could potentially contribute to the development of advanced autonomous driving systems.

That’s all for today’s news from TotemoTech. Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the world of technology. Thank you for listening! And that’s all for today’s news. Thanks for listening to TotemoTech.

Keywords - japan, tech, news