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Japan-Based Professor Develops Three Life-Changing Apps

With over 150,000 apps now available via the iTunes App Store, original and potentially life-changing offerings are increasingly few and far between. This week a new Tokyo-based developer appeared on the scene, showcasing three new apps.

Domino’s Pizza App Delivers Anywhere

Domino’s Pizza in Japan releases a new iPhone app that let your order from anywhere and plot your delivery using GPS. Is it worth trying out? Read on to find out.

iPhone App Review: Koetan! Voice Recognition Tokyo Train Timetable

Having been consistently disappointed by voice recognition apps in the past, it was with some scepticism that I installed Koetan Tokyo from Traffic Gate, Ltd.

iPhone App Review: Ekitan Japanese Train Timetable

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

iPhone EveryTrail Mini-Review

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!

iPhone Little Runners

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I was sitting in Kitanomura park at lunchtime, eating my carrot and daikon salad, whilst watching the children play.

I wondered what the view from my bench might look like at other times of year, so I tapped the screen of my iPhone once, and a few seconds later was presented with a whole collection of photos taken within metres of where I sat, including one of the very bench I was sitting on. Someone else was sitting on it.

It felt a bit funny.

The wonders of modern technology.