akihabara

Otaku band AKB48 morphs into $200M business

What if the vice president of your university were a genius producer who had put together an insanely successful pop group of 90 singers and then approved the creation of identical doll versions of them?

Weird? Not for Kyoto University of Art and Design and Yasushi Akimoto, the Steve Jobs of otaku (supergeeks) in Japan. The school just hosted a hit exhibition of dolls based on the gals in the band he produces, AKB48.

At 90 members, AKB48 is the Guinness-certified world's largest pop band. Its members are all females in their teens and early twenties, and all its bubble-gum singles top the charts on the day of their release.

The music is, shall we say, an aquired taste; it sounds like arcade game tunes drenched in a massive one-part vocal harmony. Yet intense otaku fandom has lifted the hydra-headed, miniskirted band to the highest levels of Japanese acceptability. It's even acting as Japan's unofficial representative in China. … Read more

Transforming robot kicks butt, carries creator

Japanese robot builder Takeshi Maeda is blowing minds with an exciting demo of the latest version of his OmniZero robot.

The ninth generation of OmniZero can transform from bipedal fighting machine into a rolling vehicle as well as a walking seat (See it in action in the video below). The shape-changing robot is 3.4 feet tall and weighs in at 55 pounds.

Maeda, who weighs about 115 pounds, can ride piggyback on OmniZero when its head tilts back. The front wheels serve as handholds. In chair mode, the robot can change direction but doesn't seem able to move … Read more

Netbooks pack Nvidia graphics, dual-core Atom

Updated at 12:05 p.m. PDT on August 24 to correct cache memory size and Atom processor in Shenzhen Weibu Electronics Netbook and adding Prime Note Cresion Netbook information. Akiba Hotline originally misidentified the processor used in the Netbook from Shenzhen Weibu Electronics. The Japanese Web site has since revised the article to say the Netbook uses an single-core Atom 270. A Netbook announced earlier in the summer from Dospara (below) does use the dual-core Atom 330 processor.

Most Netbooks have been on a strict Atom diet. But models that have appeared in Japan are feasting on Nvidia graphics … Read more

Anime keyboards bring out your inner otaku

These pimped-out Japanese keys take the "bored" out of keyboards.

Why should the tactile tools we touch all day be blandly beige, boring black, or washed-out white? Japanese content producer E-Junex recently came to the rescue of aesthetically challenged input devices with two keyboards sporting anime-style gals.

They're perhaps not as pleasurable to stroke as Kazuharu Sakura's luxurious leather keyboard, but they're certainly more practical.

The doe-eyed maidens are a staple in Japanese manga (comics) and anime. They're also plastered over virtually every surface of Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics and otaku goods hub.

E-Junex … Read more

Kill yellow teeth with USB microscope?

Japanese uber-gadget maker Thanko continues its drive to turn the entire universe into a USB gadget after giving us our last fix with its e-cigarettes.

The retailer, based in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics mecca, has launched a USB dental microscope that can turn your teeth into glorious 640?480 images or 1280?1024 video.

The 12-inch wand-shaped device has 6 LED lights and a 1/4 inch CMOS camera with 40x magnification. A shutter-release button is built into the underside. The device connects to a Windows XP or Vista PC with USB 1.1 or 2.0 and is available … Read more

Intel Core i7 chip launches in Tokyo

Irasshaimase! Stores in Tokyo districts such as Akihabara have launched sales of Intel's Core i7 processor, due to be officially rolled out at U.S. resellers on Monday.

Computerworld reported that "several hundred people crowded stores" that opened around 10 p.m. Saturday. The top-of-the-line 965 chip sold out, according to one retailer.

The Core i7 represents the vanguard of Intel's new Nehalem microarchitecture. The i7 is a desktop processor targeted initially at gaming boxes.

(See CNET review of Falcon Northwest Mach V tower system based on Core i7-965 processor.)

Sofmap, a large Japanese computer reseller, … Read more

Japan killings suspect allegedly posted warnings online

A man arrested in connection with a rampage Sunday that killed seven people in Japan's popular Akihabara electronics district allegedly posted messages on the Internet warning of such events, according to news reports.

Tomohiro Kato, 25, was arrested on suspicion of driving a two-ton, rented truck into the crowded Akihabara district, then jumping out and stabbing 17 bystanders, according to the Associated Press.

In the hours prior to the rampage, Kato allegedly posted dozens of warnings on the Internet. A Reuters report that cited Japanese newspapers included these alleged messages from Kato:

"I will kill people in Akihabara.&… Read more

Photos: A stroll through Akihabara, gadget center of the world

While waiting for the doors to open at the Tokyo auto show this week, senior editor Wayne Cunningham hit the legendary gadget district of Akihabara in search of weird and wonderful electronics. He wasn't disappointed, finding a trove of tech toys from the Sony Roly to lipstick-shaped MP3 players. Check out his photo gallery here.