More Mobile SL: Japanese Company Creates Cellphone-Based Second Life Viewer
Any Japanese readers care to help with some translation? Agile and artistic SL blogger Vint Falken recently came across this beguiling screenshot on a kanji-laden blog, and near as she came make out, it's a new cellphone service from Sun Inc. (no evident relation to Sun Microsystems) called Tokyo Zero, set to eventually connect up to 1500 concurrent mobile phone users into Second Life. She found an accompanying 
diagram which seems to suggest the mobiles will connect to nearby computers running Second Life, similar to a system from Comverse. Apparently, the limited viewer will let users check the Map and Search, teleport, and walk around. A cool gadget, if it works as billed, but the potential extends beyond that. Much of the developing world accesses the Internet via cellphones, and not computers; that in mind, Vint notes the potential of ultra thin/remote SL clients like this one:
"Because really, what’s the use of doing in-world conferences on for instance world poverty, climate changes, technology for developing countries, etc. if exactly those people can not get in?"
More on Vint's site here; once again, translation to enlighten the Japanese-impaired much welcomed.
Just wanna say SL in Japan is quite boom! See this video... It's about Goemon tried to protect his castle (made in SL)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en1nzven7jA
Posted by: MachinimaLover | Monday, December 03, 2007 at 12:57 AM
My Japanese isn't perfect, but I managed to find a few other things:
1) in addition to a homeroom and "3D blog" given to those subscribing to this service (315 yen/month), the company (Tokyo Zero) will be giving a 300 L$ monthly allowance
2) those using the free subscription might have part of the screen blocked by ad banners.
I have already seen advertisements in Tokyo subways where RL-companies are promoting their SL-offices. With all the mobile phones equipped with QR-code-readers it will be easy to provide teleport-links directly from the posters to the mobile phones of commuters.
Posted by: Yoe May | Monday, December 03, 2007 at 01:11 AM
Wow, this is amazing, that must be one smart phone to be capable of running secondlife, even if it is a highly limited thin client, the capability to render the 3 dimensional world from a simple phone is quite spectacular.
Posted by: Nexii Malthus | Monday, December 03, 2007 at 01:07 PM
MachinimaLover, point 1/ and 2/ google translater understood too. As for the QR-code readers & direct tp's: wow! didn't even think of that yet. See a nifty designer shirt and can't afford it IRL? Get into SL and buy a cheaper vitual version on the spot. :d
And it's not just the 'developing' countries. My pc is able to handle SL comfortably, but that's about it. I think it's better gear than about 80% of the Belgians have, though. So we're constantly 'ranting' about a Brave New Virtual World, forgetting an - estimated - 95% of the world's population? (If not more.)
Posted by: vint falken | Monday, December 03, 2007 at 03:13 PM
Maybe I can help :). But it seems that most parts are already translated?
Posted by: Nock Forager | Monday, December 03, 2007 at 10:00 PM
Nock, tell us, what is the 3D blog!!! =)
Posted by: vint falken | Monday, December 03, 2007 at 11:25 PM
Also, Nock, what are the captions in that schematic image?
Posted by: Hamlet Au | Tuesday, December 04, 2007 at 01:56 AM
3D Blog - Nothing detail mentioned on their site, I'll ask them. And captions I put it on my flickr page. -> http://flickr.com/photos/26066359@N00/2088266982/
Posted by: Nock Forager | Tuesday, December 04, 2007 at 07:41 PM
I wish this would come to the US! I would love to try it out on a smartphone as I already do everything else on it. May as well be able to log into SL too.
Posted by: Justin | Wednesday, December 19, 2007 at 12:43 PM