Transcript

Hello and welcome to today’s news from TotemoTech on March 6th, 2024. In today’s news, researchers from the University of Tokyo’s Naezumi Laboratory have proposed a unique game controller that melts as you play. The controller, made of ice, allows players to directly interact with the game by touching the ice. When the player’s character collides with an enemy in the game, the controller heats up, simulating the sensation of being hit. This innovative controller could provide a new level of immersion for gamers.

In other news, Nothing Technology has announced the release of their new smartphone, the ‘Nothing Phone (2a)’. This is the company’s first budget model and is available for pre-order in Japan at a price of 55,800 yen. The phone comes with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage. Nothing Technology aims to provide a high-quality smartphone experience at an affordable price.

Moving on, users of Facebook and Instagram experienced service disruptions today. Starting around midnight on March 6th, various services offered by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, encountered issues. The outage affected users not only in Japan but also worldwide. Reports of the outage were seen in multiple languages, indicating the global scale of the disruption.

In a recent development, the Japanese government has approved a revision to the My Number Act, allowing the integration of My Number cards with smartphones. This change aims to improve the convenience of digital administrative procedures and streamline government operations. By incorporating the My Number card into smartphones, individuals will be able to use their smartphones for identification purposes as well. This update is part of the government’s efforts to promote the use of IT in administrative processes.

JR East, one of Japan’s major railway companies, has announced new initiatives to encourage the adoption of off-peak season tickets. Starting from March 25th, customers purchasing off-peak season tickets will receive a 5% JRE POINT rebate. Additionally, JR East plans to lower the prices of off-peak season tickets in October. These measures aim to promote the affordability and attractiveness of off-peak travel options.

Lastly, Uber Eats Japan is launching a new robot delivery service in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. The service will utilize robots that autonomously navigate sidewalks to make deliveries. This marks Uber’s second country to introduce robot delivery services, following the United States. Initially, the service will focus on expanding in urban areas, with future plans to extend operations to regions facing a shortage of delivery personnel or in sparsely populated areas. This introduction of robot delivery services showcases the potential for technology to revolutionize the food delivery industry.

That’s all for today’s news. Thank you for tuning in to TotemoTech. Stay tuned for more updates on the latest tech developments. Visit JapanDailyNews.com for the news, yen exchange rates, and a daily Japanese proverb.

Keywords - japan, tech, news