Mobile Monday Tokyo – Dec. 14th – Bonenkai 2011

What a year.. for those of you who have been here, and to many friends from overseas, our most sincere and humble thanks for your continued kind support during these difficult times. The Bonenkai season is upon us, but we’d suggest all the vodka in Russia – plus all the tequila in Mexico – would still not be nearly enough for us to ever forget 2011.

That said.. we have a super gathering planned, details below, and are looking forward to welcome you on Weds. Dec. 14th. There will be Plenty of food, more than enough ‘spirits’ and some great door prizes too, awaiting everyone at our year-end event. Special Thanks here to NAVTEQ for sponsoring and to our good friends at Bievanna for hosting this gig.

Date: Wednesday, December 14th from 7pm – 11pm
Venue: BierVana :: GMAP
Fee: 2,000 JPY – Registration Required – a serious deal, even at twice the price.. 😎

We have two local rising stars confirmed to give ‘lighting talks’ followed by hands-on demo action. The team from remembAR.me, winners at Tokyo Startup Weekend earlier this year, and Kabata-san from AdLib, aka @Kabayan of Bar Android fame, showing his ToneConnect application that just won Silicon Valley Award at A3 Together competition.

We’re also thrilled to welcome Ashish Bedekar, APAC Partner Relationship Manager, at NAVTEQ who will share details on the NAVTEQ Network for Developers which empowers application developers with the knowledge and resources needed to create the hottest, most differentiated location-based products. Access technical resources, support and business development services to build and market location apps for Web, mobile, automotive, GIS and enterprise markets worldwide. Join for free via www.NN4D.com.

— MoMo Tokyo Team.. Yoroshiku!

Mobile Monday Tokyo – Nov. 28th – Canadian Mixer

That’s right folks, since it has been a most difficult year for many we thought it best to close out the final 6-weeks with a couple of great back to back events! Mark these dates on those hectic calendars and we look forward to see you all together again real soon.

November 28th – The Canadians Are Coming.. 😎

An energetic delegation, led by MoMo Vancouver supporting team at WaveFront, will be in-town to attend MCPC Mobile Solutions Fair and meet various local players. See the links for in-bound group below and join us – ‘come as your are & pay as you go’ – for a friendly few frosty pints and optional yummy hot buffet at friends and family rate.

Absolute Software – absolutesoftware.com
AirG – www.airG.com
C-Com – c-comsat.com
ConceptWave – conceptwave.com
Fixmo – fixmo.com
Netweeper – netsweeper.com
Pravala – pravala.com
Vivity Labs – xtremelabs.com
Wavefront – wavefrontac.com
Xtreme labs Inc. – xtremelabs.com

Note: All MoBros in Japan are Most Welcome = 1 MooseHead for each ‘stauche!

Date: Monday, November 28th
Open: 7 – 11pm
Venue: BierVana :: GMAP
Fee: 1,000 JPY – includes 1 drink ticket, optional buffet and Super People!

Please Register in Advance – Or pay 2,000 JPY at the door

December 14th – MoMo Tokyo Welcomes Navteq

Thanks to the kind support from Navteq we’re planning a Special Event on Dec. 14th, Yes.. that’s a Wednesday, and will be thrilled to have everyone there for a fantastic bonenkai gig. We’ve nailed down the final niggly details and suggest this event will be an epic gathering – will most certainly be over subscribed – You Better Register Soon!


Mobile Monday Tokyo – Sept. 12 – APP Exhibition

Welcome back, trust you’ve had a break from the sweltering season and look forward to another fantastic MoMo Tokyo event: Ready, Set.. Show!

No Presentations = All Hands-on Action.. 😎

We have decided to run an Exhibition Mixer on our 7th anniversary, with an open invite for energetic App Developers to demo their ‘warz face-to-face via huge table-top pods in the downtown coolness of Super-Deluxe. We have a few teams confirmed and estimate space for another 10 more talented players to jump into the mix. Should be Good Fun..

Calling All App Developers.. Step Right This Way!

Update: Final list of confirmed companies on demo pods as per below

DeNA (Mobage Developers)

Dolphin Browser (shipping on Sharp for SoftBank)

FriendApp (by Milog – running cool summer contest)

Gilt Groupe (iPhone App)

GREE (Marketing and International developer relations)

Longweekend Mobile (Hirameki – Flash Demo video – for iOS)

Putter King (Design Contest)

nViso (Face Recognition ala Lie-to-Me!)

Qlive (Winner – Startup Weekend Tokyo)

Visionare (Android Magic)

So, if you are looking for where the action is now, and where it’s going, Register Below and head down to see the best product on offer and meet with the bright folks who are making that future happen. We’ll be thrilled to see you all there.. party hats optional!

Date: Monday, 12 Sept. 2011
Running Time: 19:00 – 23:00
Venue: Super Deluxe :: GMAP
Fee: 1,000 JPY with Advance Registration above – OR – 2,000 JPY at the door
Includes: 1-drink and plenty of hands-on fun with occasional bling potential.. 😎

Mobile Monday Tokyo June 13th Event Report

  

It was great to bring everyone together for a few friendly pints and hear some really interesting presentations, see .pdfs below, about what folks are doing in the post 311 Japan quake crisis. While we didn’t pull a huge crowd, due in part to the schedule conflict with Startup Dating Vol. 9 running at the same time, but it was a super keen group of 100+ people who made the effort to attend = Many Thanks to you all.

Garin Dart: Foreign Volunteers of Japan .PDF
Nhat Vuong: i-Kifu.org .PDF
Michael Kato: Re-Cycle Project .PDF
Akira Sasaki: Hack4Japan .PDF

While the room was certainly buzzing, with plenty of very sharp folks and passion for the cause, this was not a round-table meeting with secretary recording the minutes. Perhaps not surprising then we are left wondering – now what? – how do we harness all of that positive goodwill energy into a few valuable outputs.

As fate would have it, our original FaceBook Group has been scheduled to be archived, So, we have just created a new Mobile Monday Tokyo Page. That space would be the most simple way to get some good discussions going with regards to potential next steps. We will add a few suggestions collected already, setup a poll or two to get your feedback, and let things run there for July to see what the community members think.

Meanwhile, we are still very much hoping to have Tokyo Tech Tribes related project and are now planning to get back into the usual event routine by mid-Sept. with a major app. developer focused theme running on our 7th birthday! As always, Contact Us anytime.

Disaster Relief Effort for the Japan Earthquake


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As you know it’s been a most difficult and challenging time for so many people in Japan, our thoughts and prayers continue for those in the most affected areas. Sincere thanks to all, here and abroad, who have reached out with kind words and offers of support during this crisis. We were prepared to announce our April event on March 14th, clearly a delay required on that plan. We are now calling all tribes for get together on June 13th.

There are countless efforts underway here the last few months, and plenty of important work still lays ahead. After a fair amount of internal discussion, to consider how best to proceed in this extraordinary situation, we’ve decided to begin with an open-mic platform for ‘flash-talk’ styled presentations by those with related projects to raise awareness and support for their on-going contributions. Here are a couple of quick examples:

The Foreign Volunteers of Japan was created to engage with the energetic international network in Japan to do volunteer work in the wake of this tragedy. They are an open charity group and have been very active with aid delivery, and humanitarian relief efforts during the post-tsunami recovery of the Tohoku region. They have also kindly arranged for a Free 1st round of Murphy’s in exchange for your most considerate donation. We therefore now declare that a New Murphys Law is in order!

We also note the Hack For Japan network has a super range of industry partners and do hope to have some of that team attending in order for the community to connect with. Meanwhile, there is plenty of info online for their activities to-date. We look forward to welcome Nhat Vuong from i-Kifu & Michael Kato at Re-Cycle Project.

Looking at the calendar; July 11th is a Monday night and 4-month anniversary of the disaster. With this date in mind, it’s our sincere hope that we can – working together – plan a significant event for that evening. So, consider this an Open Call for all able and interested parties who would like to step forward to participate in any way possible. 😎

Date: Monday, 13 June 2011
Running Time: 19:00 – 23:00
Open Mic. Talks: 19:30 – 20:00
Networking: 20:00 – Close
Venue: BierVana :: GMAP
Admission: Cash Donations for CCCJ as per below

 

The Central Community Chest of Japan, part of the United Way worldwide network, is a fund-raising organization authorized by the Japanese government. It has been active for 64 years. The Disaster Relief Fund for Victims is a fund that delivers all the donations directly to the victims. The full amount of your donation will be delivered to the local government in each of the devastated areas. At this very moment, a large number of volunteers and NPOs are desperately supporting the victims who are trying to recover from this terrible tragedy. And, many people all over the world are supporting these victims, volunteers and NPOs. These disaster relief and recovery activities will continue for a very long time. Your support will give Japan strength. “ARIGATO” from Japan.

Mobile Monday in Tokyo and Toronto Join Forces

 

As you may have noticed, we announced the First Ever Mobile Monday Twin City project! Basically, both chapters in Tokyo and Toronto have agreed to join under the MoMo-ToTo theme with the key bullet points outlined here and our full press release pasted below:

o A special partnership that will help open new doors to discovery and exchange.
o Working in concert with various partners in academia, government and industry.
o Targeted at respective local players to help them derive new market opportunities.
o Both sides to nominate key volunteer reps for founding a SIG to build charter.

Both cities have plenty to offer, and great views from matching iconic buildings with their CN Tower and our Sky Tree, we look forward to bring our respective talented members together to plan global domination strategies 😎

Yoroshiku.. Eh!


Official Press Release:

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Feb. 14, 2011) – The MobileMonday (MoMo) chapters in Toronto and Tokyo are pleased to announce their mutual agreement to form a strategic working alliance under the MoMo-ToTo theme. MobileMonday, a global platform, with locations in over 100 cities worldwide, is dedicated to “Bringing the Mobile Community Together” and on behalf of our local membership, the chapters in Tokyo and Toronto expect this special partnership will help open new doors to discovery and opportunity.

Working in concert with various partners in academia, government and industry, the two chapters have agreed to establish valuable twin-city exchanges going forward to represent respective local businesses and derive new market opportunities. The east-west exchange has a truly Canadian connection since the Tokyo chapter co-founders are Canadian with one, Daniel Scuka, native to Toronto. Alexander Bosika, Toronto chapter co-founder, is a noted fan of Japan culture and society and in academic life studied Japan’s economy, history and business management techniques while taking beginner kendo classes in his spare time. The Toronto team keenly awaits the opportunity to visit Japan and promote this east-west concept while enjoying real sushi and next-generation mobile business trends and practices.

Lawrence Cosh-Ishii, the Alberta-born MoMo Tokyo co-founder, said, “The early seeds were planted by Alex and I a few years ago over dinner in a Nepalese restaurant in Helsinki. We quickly agreed there would be a clear potential benefit, for all members, to develop a dedicated business exchange platform for mobile professionals between our local chapter cities.” Alex Bosika, Toronto co-founder said: “Japan is rich in history and culture but more importantly, is technologically advanced, forward-thinking and extremely innovative. It has been said that mobile innovation travels from the East to the West. We feel this new platform will serve to bring new opportunities to the Toronto membership by introducing Canadian innovators to key stakeholders in the Tokyo’s mobile eco-system.”

The initial phase of the process will see both parties appoint key members to form a Special Interest Group (SIG) in order to explore best ways and means for future collaboration. Jim Brown and Alex Bosika, co-founders for the Toronto chapter, will attend GSMA’s 2011 Mobile World Congress on February 14-17 with a planning session scheduled with Tokyo chapter co-founders, Lawrence Cosh-Ishii and Daniel Scuka. Serving as gateways between the Americas and Asia, Tokyo and Toronto are excited to set the pace as the first-ever Sister Cities in the MobileMonday community. Stay tuned!

About MobileMonday Toronto

MobileMonday Toronto is Canada’s largest mobile industry networking group. MobileMonday Toronto operates with a broad mandate to actively encourage and support Canadian innovation, business development, industry collaboration, and growth of the mobile sector in Toronto and in regions across Canada. Through its meetings, the chapter actively promotes business networking in a casual friendly, co-operative environment with like-minded mobile professionals. All events are FREE unless otherwise noted, with attendance open to anyone interested in the mobile industry such as telecom professionals, application developers, content creators, mobile startups, interactive agencies, industry analysts, venture capitalists and consumers. MobileMonday Toronto is a non-profit organization that is financially supported by its sponsors. Presenting sponsors include Nokia, Rogers Catalyst, Telus and Miller Thomson with generous support from Marketwire, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, Redknee, BDC, WIND and Public Mobile. For more details about MobileMonday Toronto, please visit: http://www.mobilemondaytoronto.com
.

About MobileMonday Tokyo

MobileMonday Tokyo, launched in September 2004, has become a leading networking organization supporting the local mobile industry and is a key gathering point for corporate managers, entrepreneurs, developers, analysts and the media in Japan. MoMo Tokyo’s working languages are English and Japanese, enabling as wide a range of professionals as possible to attend and participate. As of December 2010 well over 4,000 unique individuals have attended MobileMonday in Tokyo; with many thousands more from around the world visiting our website to download presentations from the 50+ events held to-date. This audience represents a wide and deep slice of the Japan-focused wireless community and includes professionals from telecom carriers, handset makers, technology vendors, researchers and developers. Founded by Mobikyo, and sponsored by a range of forward-looking companies, our activities are made possible by the generous and energetic contributions from many ‘Friends of MoMo’ Ambassadors. For more details visit: http://www.mobilemonday.jp

About MobileMonday Global

MobileMonday (MoMo) is an open community platform of mobile industry visionaries, developers and influential individuals fostering brand neutral cooperation and cross-border P2P business opportunities through live networking events to demo products, share ideas and discuss trends from both local and global markets.

MobileMonday has the following global objectives:

o Foster an open and independent innovation platform within the mobile sector
o Facilitate industry networking between small and large companies and individuals
o Bridge partnership exchanges between domestic and international organizations
o To present innovative visions, studies and forecasts from the mobile marketplace
o Provide opportunities for local members to effectively participate in global initiatives

Originating in Helsinki Finland, in 2000, events are organized by some 300 dedicated volunteers from around the world and it has become an industry leading mobile platform. Chapters have held events in over 100 cities worldwide and we continue to launch new locations monthly. For more details visit: http://www.mobilemonday.net

Mobile Monday – Feb. 7th – Dragon Voice Apps


We are back and Hopping for 2011 with our first event scheduled to explore the latest voice tools for apps – complete with fantastic food & beverages – full details below. Mark your calendar for Feb. 7th and be sure to Register in Advance – space is limited.

Meanwhile, your faithful organizers are planning a private little Shinnenkai on Jan. 31st to hoist a few pints set our schedule for the upcoming season. We are always open to welcome new ‘Ambassadors’ so Contact Us if you’d like the become a Friend of MoMo!

As recently announced, the Mobile Developer Program and SDK is now available for devs to integrate voice action on their iOS and Android apps [PDF]. Here’s the official blurb:

Have a cool app? Looking for a way to make it even more dynamic and appealing to a broad user base? Or, are you a developer looking for a way to speech-enable your app but haven’t found a proven speech platform that meets your needs?

Open to all developers, the Nuance Mobile Developer Program (NMDP) creates a unique opportunity in the mobile developer ecosystem to power any application with Nuance’s proven, best-in-class Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice recognition technology. A first for the speech industry, NMDP provides access to our commercially renowned and proven speech platform via the Dragon Mobile SDK – for free. So any developer, anywhere in the world can tap into the power of the Dragon Mobile SDK and literally speech-enable their app within minutes!

In joining NMDP, developers have access, free-of-charge, to easy-to-integrate pre-packaged wrappers and widgets for simple application customization, all through a self-service website that is customized to meet the needs of developers big and small. Developers also have access to an on-line community forum for support, a variety of code samples and full documentation. And, once an NMDP developer has integrated the SDK into their application, Nuance provides 90 days of free access to the cloud-based speech services to validate the power of speech recognition on their application.

Aaron Masih – Director, Global Business Development, Mobile – Nuance
Aaron Masih leads business development efforts worldwide for Nuance’s Mobile connected solutions, including the Nuance Mobile Developer Program (β€œNMDP”). During his tenure, he has been responsible for creating broad-reaching solution strategies around customer care using Nuance’s hosted services. His primary focus is identifying opportunities for integrating voice recognition technologies into both existing and emerging mobile applications. Masih received his Masters of Business Administration in Finance at Georgia State University in 1997, and hold a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from Clemson University.

We are thrilled to have Aaron visiting here from the US to present in person and interact with the MoMo Tokyo community.. Cya there.. 😎

Date: Monday, 7 Feb. 2011
Open Hours: 19:00 – 23:00
Presentations: 19:30 – 20:00
Networking: 20:00 – Close
Venue: BierVana :: GMAP
Fee: 1,000 JPY with Advance Registration – OR – 2,000 JPY at the door
Includes: 2-drinks + 1-plate of Great Food, Big Screen and Super People!