Tag - apps

 
 

APPS

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is being held in France in a preliminary investigation into alleged offenses including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promotion of terrorism.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2024
Durov's Telegram: 'Weapon of war' under increased scrutiny
Both Russia and Ukraine use Telegram, known for its encryption, with Russian troops even relying on the messaging app in the battlefield.
Gabriel, a victim of a robbery after arranging a date using a gay dating app, speaks during an interview in Sao Paulo on June 28.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 28, 2024
Gay Brazilians targeted in deadly stickups, lured by dating apps
Police have also warned of "love cons" involving straight men lured into kidnappings.
Sensoji Temple in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. The lack of opportunities to meet people was the biggest hurdle for marriage for both married and unmarried respondents, which may explain the rise in popularity of dating apps.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 27, 2024
Around 1 in 4 married couples in Japan under 40 used dating apps, survey finds
The lack of opportunities to meet people in-person was the biggest hurdle for marriage for both married and unmarried respondents.
Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, has been arrested as part of an investigation of crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 27, 2024
Telegram CEO arrested in probe into child porn, drug trafficking on app
The investigation over suspected complicity in various crimes includes the refusal to communicate information to authorities.
Demonstrators with a stylized painting depicting Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, protest against the blocking of the popular messaging app in Russia, during a May Day rally in Saint Petersburg on in May 2018.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 25, 2024
Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in France, reports say
Pavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget Airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unidentified sources.
The departure of the head of Apple's App Store comes as the division is being split into two teams: one overseeing Apple’s own store and another responsible for alternative app distribution.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024
Apple’s App Store head to leave in reorganization amid global scrutiny
Matt Fischer, a vice president who has run the App Store business since 2010, will leave the iPhone maker in October.
There are now more than a dozen apps aimed at helping users keep tabs on their individual emissions.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 12, 2024
Steps, calories … CO2? Emissions-tracking apps are on the rise
Carbon-tracking services walk a fine line between highlighting purchase emissions and suggesting individuals alone can solve the problem of climate change.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has said the 50-50 control of LY, the operator of the Line app, by SoftBank and Naver leaves the messaging app vulnerable to cyberattacks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2024
SoftBank and Naver to sell down stake in Japan’s Line app
The tender comes as the capital structure of the operator of Japan’s biggest messaging app Line threatens to become a diplomatic flash point with South Korea.
A 28-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of deceiving a man she met on a dating app into paying her cash for sexually transmitted infection tests.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
Tokyo woman arrested on suspicion of STI test fraud
Police said Misaki Watanabe asked a man to pay for tests before engaging in sexual relations, but ceased all communication after receiving the money.
Ryo Ogawa (right), chief executive officer of Timee, and Tomoaki Yagi, chief financial officer, strike the trading bell during the company's listing ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 26, 2024
Shares of job app firm Timee jump in Japan stock trading debut
The stock surged to as high as ¥1,855 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Growth market.
Tokyo police have arrested four people for allegedly luring their targets into multilevel marketing, using dating apps, last year, despite orders for the suspension of network marketing-related business.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2024
Four arrested in Japan over multilevel marketing using dating apps
The police believe that the four collected a total of some ¥850 million from about 2,000 people in 42 prefectures, including university students.
LINE, the app at the center of a tug-of-war for control. Line was introduced in Japan in 2011 by Naver, the operator of South Korea’s leading search engine.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 24, 2024
Japan and South Korea are fighting over an app at a tense time
Leaders on both the Japanese and South Korean sides appear determined to prevent the quarrel over Line from escalating.
Mayumi Kitakata uses "CatsMe!," an AI-driven smartphone app that purports to tell when a cat is feeling pain, near her 14 year-old male pet cat Chi at her home in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2024
Japan's beloved cats get health care help from AI
The CatsMe! app has been used on 6,000 pictures of cats and by more than 230,000 customers since its launch last year.
A growing number of local governments in Japan are selling reusable oversize waste collected from households on marketplace app Mercari.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2024
Japan local governments using Mercari app to recycle oversize waste
From clothing boxes to furniture, the initiative aims to raise awareness of reusing goods while reducing carbon emissions from incineration.
A person uses a tong with a camera and GPS system attached to pick up litter, part of an initiative to boost participation in collecting trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 16, 2024
Japan’s gamified environment apps target a greener mindset
Government funding has helped drive a boom in environmental and social app development.
The iAEON app allows users to view their shopping history and save e-receipts on their smartphones to facilitate returns and act as proof of purchases.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 14, 2024
Aeon to roll out e-receipts nationwide
Customers can opt for e-receipts instead of paper ones when shopping by using the group’s iAEON app at participating stores.
Tomiji Suzuki (back) attends a workshop in Tokyo. The 89-year-old is now making apps for the fast-growing elderly demographic, using ChatGPT to fine-tune his skills.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2024
ChatGPT a mentor for 89-year-old app developer
So far, Tomiji Suzuki has developed 11 free iPhone apps to help Japan's aging population.
The NewsBreak company logo adorns a sign at a corporate office building in Mountain View, California, on April 26
WORLD
Jun 6, 2024
Top news app in U.S. has Chinese origins and ‘writes fiction’ with AI
NewsBreak launched in the U.S. in 2015 as a subsidiary of Yidian, a Chinese news aggregation app.
Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2024
Why Line, a superapp, sparked a diplomatic dispute
Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is launching its own dating app to support people who want to get married.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 5, 2024
Tokyo government to launch dating app in bid to boost birth rate
Users will be required to submit documentation proving they are legally single and sign a letter stating they are willing to get married.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past