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Identifying Japanese Mushrooms on the Go With the iPhone

Dec 31, ’08 10:33 AM


Ever found yourself out and about and suddenly in need of a guide to Japanese mushrooms?

If you recognise this situation and are an iPhone / iPod touch owner, you’ll be pleased to hear that help is now at hand.

The Japanese publisher Shogakukan has recently released ‘Japanese Mushrooms: The basic 50 types’ [iTunes 230yen]

There’s also been a fair bit of online coverage of their forthcoming sushi app, sushi neta zukan (illustrated sushi encyclopedia), which is to debut in the app store in January. However, as has been pointed out elsewhere, if you simply can’t wait there are already a couple of sushi apps for iPhone / iPtouch out there, Sushimonger and SushiTime.

Whilst writing this, the most interesting thing I discovered was that whilst Shogakukan is widely known for its distribution of films such as iChi the Killer, it’s company profile reads:

Though it is not possible for publications to solve the world’s problems, they are capable of sowing small seeds that move people’s hearts in a positive direction. It is the task of publications to sow seeds that bear fruit in our lives and bloom as flowers. That is our philosophy.

Hmm. I’m not quite sure how sadistic violence and rape fit in there…

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Review: Japanese for iPhone: Japanese-English Dictionary

Dec 31, ’08 9:03 AM

EDIT: This app has now been updated. For a review of the incredible new version check out the review by Diego

Japanese: The Japanese – English Dictionary
2300 yen / £11.99

Rating: ☆☆☆

Being a student of Japanese, and being a foreigner in Japan, one of the first iPhone apps I looked for was a decent dictionary. Having been disappointed with the limited vocabulary of a dictionary I’d bought for my old DS Lite, I was keen to find one that used Jim Breen’s EDICT as its main database, and (if possible) supplemented by additional dictionaries aimed at those looking to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

‘Japanese’ [app web site - includes demo video] [iTunes], an app developed by codefromtokyo (a one-man-show?) matched these criteria. It contains 127,829 words from the comprehensive JMDICT and KANJIDICT2 databases, as well as a dictionary of the kanji that appear in the JLPT (divided into the four current JLPT levels).

Additionally – and this is pretty sexy – it contains mini-movies showing the stroke order of all kanji taken from the Shodo Project.

Word groupings

As well as appearing in the main dictionary, entries are grouped into various categories to enable easy search / use. These are:

Hiragana & Katakana; Kanji (listed by radical / stroke count / school year / kokuji [native Japanese kanji]); classification (e.g. agriculture, anthropology, architecture, art…); counters; expressions (“I love you” “nice to meet you”…); proverbs; vocabulary lists.

The vocabulary lists are particularly useful as they allow you to build up your own personal word lists for quick reference and review.

Search

Whilst the various categories as listed above may have their uses, I think that they are ultimately of limited functionality when it comes to finding what you’re looking for – they’re more likely to be of use when using your iPhone as review / study tool (although you’d be far better off with iAnki for that).

Searchability is the key to a dictionary’s usability – ‘Japanese’ gives us several options.

1) Browse the catagories as listed above
2) Input your word in Japanese using the regular keyboard. You can use romaji or hiranaga / katakana for this.
3) Use the iPhone’s Chinese handwriting keyboard.

The handwriting recognition function is possibly the most useful thing about this dictionary. It’s figuring out kanji readings that often proves to be the biggest stumbling block for me when I’m out and about in Japan – despite having ‘learnt’ the majority of the basic 2000 when at university, I’ve since found a lot have fallen down the back of the bookshelf in my mind.

Where the app falls down

Whilst it’s a good, solid dictionary app, there’s still several areas where it falls down.

  • History function. The most useful thing about my dedicated Sharp electronic dictionary is its history function, whereby when I return home I can see a list of words I’ve looked up recently and transfer them to my flash cards / Anki.
  • Dedicated support for Japanese handwriting recognition. Ok, so it’s Apple that needs to act on this one, thus perhaps it’s unfair to include this as a point against the app. Currently, handwriting recognition relies on using the Chinese keyboard (thus throwing up a lot of non-Japanese kanji during the search procress). Let’s hope we see this introduced with the next major iPhone update.
  • The price. At 2300 yen / £11.99 dictionary is flying in the face of typical App store pricing, and good reason to not buy the App. Whilst it is cheaper than its nearest competitor (Longmans) it is still way too expensive for what it is. I’d like to see it down in the 300 – 500yen range.

Overall rating: ☆☆☆

‘Japanese’ is a good solid dictionary app with a nice clean iPhonesque user interface. It’s super-fast when searching for words, and has never caused my iPhone to crash (always a bonus!).

Were it not for it being overpriced it would be getting 4 stars – and the final star will be earned when the History function is introduced!

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Travelling on Public Transport With the iPhone in Japan

Dec 29, ’08 10:40 PM

n700 shinkansen_1739

Good news for iPhone users who frequently travel on the N700 Shinkansen on the Tokaido line – in March 2009 JR will be launching Broadband.

Having said that, usually I find the 3G network perfectly adequate – faster than my broadband connection back in the UK. Mind you, it did have problems updating Google Maps fast enough to keep the speeding bullet on-screen when tracking it using GPS last week.

Incidentally, according to EveryTrail, we were cruising towards Osaka at over 400KM. (Surprised, I checked with a member of the train crew who seemed just as surprised as me. As she explained, 280km/h was the train’s top speed.)

Train Timetables

I’ve found the iPhone to be an ideal companion when travelling by train or bus.
For a start there’s Ekitan [iTunes - Japanese account required], the most user-friendly iPhone Japanese train timetable I’ve yet to find – loving the new GPS feature for locating the departure station, although it could do with being a bit snappier. Like the fact that station names can now be input using romaji, although output remains Japanese-only.

I’ve also trialled one of its main competitors – Jorudan Co. Ltd. [iTunes] The unimaginative name is a forewarner of the general dullness of the app, which is totally lacking in iPhone sexiness. Not recommended.

If I’ve lost track of where I am when on a train, it’s handy to be able to fire up the GPS and get a quick fix. Like the other day when on an unfamiliar line in Saitama. Being an old train it was lacking in digital displays showing the vehicles progress – but Google maps showed me exactly what I did(n’t) want to know – I was travelling in the wrong direction having gone past the stop where my in-laws were waiting to pick me up.

Bus Travel

I also used to avoid using buses in Tokyo because I never knew where I was supposed to get off, being unable to make out what the driver was saying (other than “the bus is stopping at the traffic lights / the bus is moving / the bus is leaning to the left / right / the bus is a light shade of gray / the driver loves to talk”). Now I simply track the vehicle as we travel, and get off when the blinking blue blob seems as close to my destination as I think it’s likely to get.

Whilst Google maps does now provide support for bus routes (at least in the major cities), I’ve found that the timetable is by no means comprehensive – it doesn’t list our local bus route at all.

I should point out that if one heads out into the Japanese countryside, the story may be very different when it comes to map support. I recently made a trip out to Hanno (Saitama), only 40 mins from Ikebukuro, but upon arrival found a complete lack of 3G connectivity. Whilst the GPS continued to show my location (as the blue flashing blob), the map failed to load in the background, making it pretty useless. “Ah, I’m in that gray square…”

With it being such early days we can expect to see big advances in navigation tools for the iPhone in Japan. Things I’d like to see include:

1) Walking directions in Google Maps (for figuring out how long it takes from A to B)
2) More accurate GPS results in all GPS apps
3) Station names in English in Ekitan
4) Intelligent searches in Google Maps – that is, searches possible even when the address supplied is incomplete or in the incorrect order
5) Alarm in Ekitan that goes off when the train is approaching your stop (could be linked to time rather than GPS so that it works on the Subway)
6) Comprehensive bus routes
7) Teleporter

I look forward to seeing what 2009 brings.

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Review of the Blackberry 9000 Bold

Dec 7, ’08 8:30 PM

Anyone who uses a BlackBerry in Japan will look at this upgrade as a long overdue breath of air. But you won’t find me chucking my iPhone anytime soon.

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iPhone App Review: Ekitan Japanese Train Timetable

Dec 6, ’08 1:16 PM

One thing I was always wanted to be able to do with my old phone in Japan was check train times. Yes, you can do that with Japanese phones already, but the interface is enough to put off anyone who finds Kanji challenging.

Ekitan for the iPhone has changed all of that. Whilst it stills works primarily in Japanese (a recent update means you can now enter station names in Romaji, but the search results are still only displayed in Kanji), the interface is so beautifully intuitive that it doesn’t really require much bravery to use.

It will not only tell you what time the trains are leaving – it also gives you the price, number of changes, time taken, alternative routes and the status of all railways (useful to find out it there’s any serious delays).

The update to version 2.1.1 (iTunes Link) brought significant improvements, with the addition of GPS support. Not sure which station you’re at? Ekitan will use GPS to figure it out! There’s also bookmarks for those regular commutes, and a detailed search history.


The recent introduction of an English keyboard is a clear attempt to better serve the many iPhone-wielding foreigners in Japan, so my guess is that we can only see further improvements there in due course, such as the introduction of romaji names for all stations.

Ekitan is 350 yen and available from the App Store (Japan).

Developer’s website

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iPhone App Review: iAnki

Nov 29, ’08 3:05 PM


iPhone-owning students of Japanese (or of anything else that require memorisation) may be familiar with Anki, but perhaps may not be so familiar with iAnki, the mobile version.

As with Anki itself, iAnki is a work in progress, and prospective users shouldn’t expect an all-singing all-dancing iPhone App. What there is though is pretty solid, and does what it needs to do.

iAnki is not a traditional stand-alone iPhone App. Rather than installing it via iTunes, it works through Safari. Installation is pretty simple: having opened Anki on your computer start up the plugin “iAnki server” on your computer; this can be accessed over local wifi networks (i.e. your home wifi network) by local devices (such as your iPhone). Next, simply connect your device to that server by browsing to the IP address given, typically 192.168.0.1:8000 – then click on Sync.

I must admit to have had a few teething troubles to get it to sync, but once it’s done it once, it seems to work fine. You now have a copy of your iAnki cards on you iPhone (or other mobile device) – perfect for when riding the subway and unable to access Anki’s web-based version.

I’m looking forward to seeing future incarnations of iAnki – someone throw some money at the developer!

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iPhone EveryTrail Mini-Review

Nov 29, ’08 2:39 PM

This post is an expanded version of that featured on my other blog, The Daily Mumble. Whilst not strictly Japan related I thought I’d post it anyway!

As of today, I’m offering Mumblers the opportunity to join me on my morning jog. Yes, you too can come to Komozawa Koen, enjoy the sights of the running track, go faster, go slower, go uphill, go downhill …and all without breaking a sweat. Courtesy of (what else but) the iPhone.

Courtesy of this amazing gadget and a new app, my runs (that’s different from ‘the runs’…) are now added to the social networking site EveryTrail. If I take any photos along my route, they are magically uploaded to the Google map in the correct location – I really don’t have to do much to create the little show other than press ‘Start’ when I leave the house and ‘Stop’ when I get home (and ‘Take Photo’ when I want to).

This also shows speed, altitude, and the amount of sweat soaking my T-shirt.

This morning I was out of the house by 7am, inspired by *Twinkle* who had left at 6.15am to attend a (free) morning business seminar run by the owner of a famous izakaya (Japanese bar) in Shibuya.

It was a great run, really enjoyed it!
(Click here to view the following morning jog in full or click on the map or photos)

Widget powered by EveryTrail: GPS Geotagging

Up until now I’ve been using RunKeeper. Unfortunately RunKeeper has consistently let me down, with it losing the GPS signal mid-run and thus producing incorrect statistics. RunKeeper had problems maintaining the GPS signal even in areas where GoogleMaps was working fine.

I’ve only used EveryTrail a couple of times, but I must say, I’ve been mightily impressed. It’s been totally reliable, accurate, and sexy. It also integrates with Facebook took, allowing one to easily post trips to one’s profile.

That’s what we like – a bit of social networking to get up out of the house!

Definitely gets my vote.

Download it now!

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HTC Shift – a Small PC That Exceeded My Expectations

Nov 24, ’08 9:30 PM

I was lucky enough to be loaned a HTC Shift for a few weeks giving me chance to take it for a thorough test drive. Here’s a report on my experience.

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iPhone Replaced by Apple Following Lock-Out

Nov 22, ’08 9:50 AM

Two nights ago my iPhone suddenly had an emergency breakdown. Somehow the OS became corrupted, and the only way to fix it was to connect it to my mac and let iTunes try its best counselling skills.

The only problem was, iTunes couldn’t connect with it – just kept on asking me to enter the phone’s passcode …which I couldn’t do as the phone wouldn’t let me do anything except make emergency calls. Catch 22.

(For google reference, the error message read:

“iTunes could not connect to the iPhone “*” because it is locked with a passcode. You must enter your passcode on the iPhone before it can be used with iTunes”

This all happened when I was actually in the Apple Store on unrelated business (looking at new macbooks!), but they were so busy I had no chance of seeing the Geniuses (they’re the people who fix stuff), and the sales staff didn’t know what to do. I made an appointment for the following night, and using their in-store wifi started scouring the Apple forums.

Eventually I found out how to force the iPhone into recovery mode (connect to computer, open iTunes, press both buttons until Apple logo appears, then only release the top button, hole the bottom one until iTunes recognises it as being in recovery mode and restores it to factory settings). However, after it rebooted it just came up with another error, “The iPhone “*” cannot be used with iTunes because the information required for activation could not be obtained from the iPhone”. There was nothing I could do but wait until the following night’s appointment.

This being Japan, I was kind of expecting it to take a long time to sort out. Everything here seems to involve endless form-filling – you even have to provide a notarised copy of your birth certificate in order to buy a loaf of bread. (OK, slight exaggeration, maybe.) One problem I saw was the fact that the phone is registered to *Twinkle*, and she was unable to come to the store.

What happened then really surprised me. The chap listened to my story, quickly tested the SIM card in another iPhone (it was fine) …and then reached into the drawer behind him, pulled out a brand new iPhone and handed it to me.

“Is that OK?” he asked.

“Erm, yes!” I said, with a big grin on my face.

“Oh, if you could just sign this receipt to say that Apple will pay that’ll be it”.

And that was it.

Having left the store, it was simply a case of plugging the new phone into my Macbook and leaving it for 30 mins as it restored all my settings (and 15GB of emails, contacts, photos music and apps), resulting in a brand new phone that was identical in content & settings to my old one.

Now THAT is what customer service of the future should be like. It was even accompanied by the happiest music one could hope to hear, wafting up the stairs from the live concert on the ground floor.

Of course, there are reasons why this all happened so quickly and without any fuss. For a start, they were incredibly busy, and the guy was desperate to get through the queue. For a second thing, they already had all my details to hand, as when I made my appointment I’d logged in with my Apple ID.

Still, I thought it was all bloomin marvellous, Yet another excuse to give my money to Apple.

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Runkeeper iPhone GPS Tracking

Nov 22, ’08 9:48 AM

What’s going on in the currency markets? It’s absolutely mental!

During my Year Abroad, £1 equalled 233yen.

Today (45 minutes ago), £1 equals 162yen.

I was just doing the sums – my salary here is is worth £7000 more than it would have been worth a year ago (if sent back home).

This is great news for me, as it now means that, whilst I only have an average salary, I can pay back my debts at a rate of £1000 a month, something which until now I never would have thought possible.

I’m now in the process of resuscitating my long-neglected GoLloyds account, whereby I can deposit cash in any appropriate ATM here in Japan and have it show up in my British bank a few days later (minus fees of course).

In other news, I was up at 7am today for the first of my thrice-weekly jogs. I’m find it interesting how this time round, with the goal of a mini-marathon to aim for, I’m far more motivated when it comes to getting out of bed and heading down the road to the park. It’s not a chore, it’s FUN!

But I know that there may be some mornings when it’s not quite so sunny, or I’m not feeling so enthusiastic about heading out into the cold, and for that reason I’m looking for as many ways as possible to keep me going. Timing my laps was a start, but I knew I needed something more than that…

…enter RunKeeper for the iPhone.

Basically, this app uses satellite navigation to track you as jog your course. From the GPS co-ordinates it can then of course work out your distance and speed. It also makes a note of elevation too.

The results are initially displayed on the iPhone as a bar chart, each bar (where height = speed) being one minute of movement.

That’s all very well and good, but it’s still a bit disconnected from reality. Where it really comes into its own is where you finish your run and tap on Save. Two things happen: it saves your run to your iPhone’s history for later reference, and it then sends that data to the RunKeeper website, which places your route and stats on Google Maps.

How sexy is that?!

(Unfortunately I neglected to restart it after a pause for shoelace-tying up so the data on this screenshot is incorrect (I went further and faster!))

These are the kinds of uses of hardware, software and networks that I find really exciting. They can have a real positive impact upon my lifestyle, playing on some of my weaknesses (love of tech) to overcome other weaknesses (lack of extended dedication?).

Now all I need is an app that will sync with my camera to location-tag all my photos, then I think my life will be complete!

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