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We contact Apple with angry complaint, they defuse our hostility with a single word

Master Blaster
Mar 19, 2016
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Dealing with angry customers all day is harrowing work, but Apple’s team was able to quell our reporter Hatori Go’s rage with but a single word.

Internet, Japan
(Apple • chat room • complaint • customer service • internet • Lightning Digital AV Adapter)

Famed educator says Steve Jobs, Bill Gates would have been ruined by Japanese education system

Casey Baseel
Feb 18, 2016

Labels the country’s schools as stifling “salaryman training facilities.”

Japan
(Apple • Bill Gates • education • kids • Microsoft • salarymen • schools • Steve Jobs)

Peach Boy frozen snacks are strawberry flavored… with real apple juice

Master Blaster
Jan 22, 2016

Just because it’s called “peach” and looks peach, doesn’t mean it’s peach-flavored. And just because it’s “strawberry-flavored,” doesn’t mean it’s strawberry-flavored either…

Japan
(Apple • food • ice candy • Kintaro • Momotaro • Niigata • Peach • strawberry)

Hide stubborn iPhone apps with this handy trick

Jamie Koide
Jan 11, 2016

Tired of Apple’s standard apps clogging up your iPhone or iPad screen? This simple workaround can help!

Internet
(Apple • apps • iPhone • tricks • YouTube)

Man brandishes samurai sword in New York Apple store, allegedly attempts to commit seppuku

Scott Wilson
Nov 25, 2015

Someone took the phrase “cutting in line” way too literally…

USA
(Apple • criminal • iPhone • samurai • sword • weird)

“Don’t we have photos of Mr. Sato with a new iPhone?” “No, he spent two days at the wrong store.”

Preston Phro
Oct 2, 2015

As you probably know, the newest iPhone was released last week to much fanfare the world over. Now, usually a new iPhone would be big news for our Japanese writers, who seem to have a bit of an addiction to Apple gadgets and can’t resist lining up to get them on day one But, as you may have noticed, we don’t have photos of Mr. Sato in a weird costume grinning with the new device this time round. What happened? Did we forget to write the article?

Well, no, we didn’t forget to write it…but someone did forget one important detail. In particular, Mr. Sato forgot where he was supposed to be waiting.

Japan
(Apple • iPhone • Mr. Sato • wtf • Yuichiro Wasai)

Have you ever wondered what kind of smartphone Shaolin monks want?

Preston Phro
Sep 15, 2015

Our rice-resurrecting Japanese writer Meg isn’t just one of our favorite writers, she’s also one of our globe-trotting writers! And while we’re always happy to hear from her, this report she filed from China has a particularly special place in our hearts because it’s from the Shaolin Temple in Hénán Province!

In addition to sightseeing, it seems that Meg also took the opportunity to chat with some of the Shaolin monks. So, what did Meg want to discuss with the ascetics she met? Did she ask them to accept her as a disciple or get them to teach her a special technique to defeat all her enemies? Or maybe asking them to tell her the secret to eternal life? Not quite…

China, Japan
(Apple • iPhone • Meg • Shaolin • smartphone • technology • travel)

Steve Jobs…manga hero???

Casey Baseel
Jun 18, 2015

To many, comic books are strictly for far-fetched make-believe. Quite often, that holds true for Japanese comics, too, since at any given time many of the top-selling manga feature transforming robots and magical powers, not to mention women with larger breasts and men with more finely delicate faces than any you’ll find in the real world.

Not every popular manga is a flight of fancy, though, as there’s also an audience that likes reading about such down-to-earth topics as starting and running a successful business. Oftentimes the companies and executives portrayed are fictional, but not always. That’s why a thorough list of today’s popular manga protagonists doesn’t just include One Piece’s Luffy and The Seven Deadly Sins’ Meliodas, but also Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Japan
(anime • Apple • manga • Steve Jobs)

Japan Post, IBM, and Apple to develop senior-friendly tablets

Master Blaster
May 5, 2015

On 30 April, a joint announcement was made by Apple, IBM and the nation’s private postal service Japan Post regarding a new project that aims to change the lives of Japan’s aging population.

The three companies are combining their expertise to develop a line of iPads with specialized apps for senior citizens. Designed by IBM in conjunction with elderly care services in the works by Japan Post, it is hoped that the tablet computers will help to reduce the burden on younger generations as they care for an increasing number of aged family members.

Global, Japan
(Apple • IBM • ipad • Japan Post • senior citizens • technology)

Apple would rather you not blow up teen couples on your iPhone, asks developer to edit video game

Casey Baseel
Apr 18, 2015

In a lot of ways, digital distribution of video games is a great thing, as it allows developers to easily add new content to a title after its release. It’s a double-edged sword, though, and that same streamlined pathway from programmer to player can also be used to quickly make changes that take things away.

A few weeks ago, we took a look at a smartphone game whose lonely, jaded protagonist and his mystical, jaded companion use their powers to make affectionate couples meet with a host of calamities, including straight blowing them up. Apple, however, is not cool with this sort of vengeful fantasy, and so the iOS version of the game is being toned down and given a new name since the original title, Explode, Real Types! no longer describes the game’s contents.

Japan
(Apple • censorship • funny • smartphone • video games • weird)

Apple is hiring engineers to work on virtual reality devices

BUSINESS INSIDER
Feb 28, 2015

Apple is hiring hardware engineers to work on virtual reality products, 9to5Mac reports.

Job listings have appeared on the Apple website listing positions for Optical Display Engineers, Sr. Display Software Engineers, and other similar roles, which all point towards the development of display and projection systems.

Global
(Apple • Oculus Rift • tech • virtual reality)

Still no hoverboards, but 2015 has now given us this cool Back to the Future Delorean iPhone case

Casey Baseel
Feb 14, 2015

Now that 2015 is upon us, futurists and move fans alike are up in arms about all the cool things Back to the Future II promised we’d have by now, but still don’t. Where are our self-lacing shoes, they ask? When can we except to be devoured by holographic advertisements, huh? And what in God’s name is the holdup with the hoverboards?

What all these complaints fail to recognize, though, is all of the other amazing stuff that’s become part of our daily lives. For example, not only do we have the Internet and all the wondrous knowledge it provides, but we can access it from our mobile phones! That’s something even Back to the Future II couldn’t imagine, which is why it’s taken until the real 2015 for someone to make these sweet iPhone cases modeled after the film’s iconic Delorean time machine.

Japan
(Apple • iPhone • movies • Smartphones • smatrphone cases • toys)

Here’s how Zen meditation changed Steve Jobs’ life and sparked a design revolution

BUSINESS INSIDER
Jan 10, 2015

When Steve Jobs showed up at the San Francisco airport at the age of 19, his parents didn’t recognize him.

Jobs, a Reed College dropout, had just spent a few months in India.

He had gone to meet the region’s contemplative traditions — Hinduism, Buddhism — and the Indian sun had darkened his skin a few shades.

The trip changed him in less obvious ways, too.

Although you couldn’t predict it then, his travels would end up changing the business world.

Japan, USA
(Apple • meditation • Steve Jobs • Zen)

iMakeover: Can a haircut turn Mr. Sato into Steve Jobs?

Scott R Dixon
Jan 7, 2015

Everyone has that one celebrity that we have been told we sort of look like if we squint our eyes and look into a foggy mirror. For our beloved RocketNews24 reporter Mr. Sato, that celebrity doppelganger is none other than former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. As a frequent participant at iPhone launches and Apple’s annual “luckybag” sale in Japan, Mr. Sato decided maybe it was time to see if a shorter haircut (and a black turtleneck) would indeed make him look like the tech icon. Armed with an iPad and a digital photo of Steve Jobs, Mr. Sato began his iMakeover.

Japan
(Apple • barber • Doppelganger • funny • haircut • Mr. Sato • Steve Jobs)

Mr. Sato divulges the contents of a 2015 Apple Store Lucky Bag–will he get a lame t-shirt again?

Krista Rogers
Jan 5, 2015

Following his tradition of the past few years, RocketNews24’s ace reporter and calendar model Mr. Sato dutifully lined up outside the Apple Store in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood to wait for the January 2 release of the its 2015 lucky bag (luckily, his experience waiting outside wasn’t nearly as traumatic as the poor folks’ up in Sapporo). Although he was hoping to score a MacBook Air for the second year running, this year our man had his eye on another item as well–the Apple Store lucky bag-exclusive t-shirt.

Will Mr. Sato find the coveted t-shirt in his bag again this year? See his haul after the jump!

Japan
(2015 • Apple • Apple Store • fukubukuro • lucky bag • Mr. Sato • store)

Steve Jobs? More like Stove Jobs – Mac Pro computer makes a comeback as a stylish cooking device

Audrey Akcasu
Jan 5, 2015

Getting a fancy new computer is always fun, but then you’re left to get rid of your outdated clunker. Sure you can send it off to be recycled, but think of all the good times you’ve shared with your old computing buddy.

One Japanese Mac Pro user couldn’t part with his desktop, so he decided to give it a second life − as a stove. A rocket stove, to be precise. By adding a burner to the top and an exhaust pipe at the bottom, behold the “yakiringo” (grilled apple).

Japan
(Apple • computer • DIY • Mac • renovation)

Apple opening first non-U.S. development center in Yokohama, Japan

Casey Baseel
Dec 10, 2014

To many visitors, both coming from elsewhere in Japan and abroad, Yokohama seems quaint and relaxed. Sure, it’s the second biggest city in the country, but Yokohama is best known for its bayside parks, giant Ferris wheel, and Chinatown (plus its occasional Pikachu outbreaks).

But Yokohama has also been the entry point to Japan for some of its largest cultural and technological influences. It was the site of Japan’s first gas lamps, photography studio, and even brewery as the country opened itself to outside visitors and innovations in the latter half of the 19th century. Viewed from that historical perspective, it’s fitting that technology giant Apple is setting up a new research and development center in Yokohama.

Japan, USA
(Apple • business • ipad • iPhone • Kanagawa • technology • Yokohama)

Japanese Twitter user claims to have achieved “Perfect” sound on iTunes, we investigate

Master Blaster
Dec 4, 2014

We all love going into our iTunes player and manually adjusting the equalizer settings, am I right?

…

Alright, well, I for one make sure to readjust the equalizer bands for each song that comes up, which is why I don’t really accomplish much in a given day. However, a Japanese Twitter user by the handle of Hisagi claims to have found the ideal settings which have been dubbed simply “Perfect.” They claim that this setting will improve the quality regardless of what speakers you use.

This announcement has brought other contenders for the crown of “Best iTunes Equalizer Settings” out of the internet woodwork as well. So we decided to test them all out to find the champ… or to realize that it’s better to just leave the equalizer alone in the first place.

Global, Internet, Japan
(Apple • audio • equalizer • iTunes)

Chinese man locked out of his iPhone for 45 years

Master Blaster
Dec 3, 2014

Everyone who has young children and iPhones has probably plucked it from a pair of little hands at one time or another and found that it was completely locked down for one minute because of too many invalid PIN entries.

For most it’s a reasonably minor inconvenience, but for one man in China it became a lifelong commitment as he was asked to wait about 45 years for his next chance to remember his personal identification number for his iPhone 4s. Really though, if he can’t remember it by then, it’s safe to say he never will.

China
(Apple • iPhone • PIN • Security)

Who knew frozen apples could taste so good!: Simple dessert recipe for the diet-conscious

Hayashi 'Fang' Hougi
Nov 22, 2014

If you’ve been on an apple diet, you know the pain of having to munch on nothing but apples all day long. Sure, they are sweet and juicy, but the same old apple can get boring. Just when you’re getting sick of the fruit, it’s time to start exploring more delicious ways of enjoying apples to spice things up a little. We have come up with a super easy way of making delicious apple compote that will satisfy your sweet tooth and not ruin your diet! I personally think this is one of the best discoveries we’ve made so far!