Yesterday was our Sekai Camera API official release event – Bootstrap 1.0!
Thanks to all who participated, the hall was packed despite the bad weather.
The first half of the event has been broadcasted via Ustream by そらのさん of “ケツダンポトフ”.
The archive is available from below!

Due to issues regarding the App Store review process, v2.1.1 is currently unavailable for download – we apologize for the inconvenience.

Users who have already downloaded our application may use it without any problems – our service is fully operational.

Our new v2.2 with many improved features is coming soon, so we ask for your patience. We will be demonstrating the coming version at today’s Bootstrap, so stay tuned!

Sekai Camera v2.1.1 released to fix some bugs. Please update from App Store now!!

v2.1.1 Updates:
* When you start Sekai Camera without logging in, in either portrait or horizontal positions, it will now display the liveview mode which is designed to be held in landscape position.
* Fixed the bug that the application crashes after you post an Air Tag.

Finally !
We are officially releasing the API of Sekai Camera on March 4th.

The API release will now allow developers to deliver their contents to the world through Sekai Camera.
Continue Reading »

We are planning to release our API in March 2010 in an effort to deliver more exciting contents to users ! At this memorable turning point, we decided we would like to hold a video contest. Please share your Sekai Camera experience with the world !

【About the Contest】

Please show the world your experience of Sekai Camera via video! Win the Grand Prix and get an Apple iPad ! More prizes available.

【How to Submit】

Please upload your video via YouTube, and send us the URL by email to contest@tonchidot.com. Your video will be checked by our staff, and if it complies with contest rules, it will be put on our contest site.

【Submissions】

Feb 3rd, 2010 – Feb 25th, 2010 24:00h

【Contest Rule】

Please refer to the contest site below.

【Reference】

“Girls touching Sekai Camera for the first time” by Ken Hosoi

We are proud to announce Sekai Camera new version v2.1.0 is now available in App Store!

v2.1.0 Updates:
* Profile names and post dates in the Air Tag detail view have been made easier to see.
* The Air Tags in the map view have been fixed to show the correct pictures.
* The Sekai Life time-line and history have been fixed to prevent showing wrong pictures.
* Sekai Life detail view has been fixed to prevent showing wrong pictures.
* Fixed problem about the application sometimes crashing after posting Air Tags.
* The Compass Interference dialogue can now be switched off in “Settings”.
* Sekai Life now shows the location of every Air Tag in map view.
* You can now jump to the twitter time-line when tapping text starting with “@”.
* You can now see the twitter time-line in full screen after tapping the Air Tweet profile.
* A dialogue has been added to check if you really want to post an Air Tag when the long/lat are both 0 degrees – when your iPhone probably has not located itself accurately.
* The distance between you and Landmark Tags are now shown.
* You may now start the Sekai Camera application while holding the iPhone in the portrait position with Sekai Life.
* Air Profiles are now shown as double circles in the indicator.
* Air Tweets are now shown as blue dots in the indicator.
* Sekai Life now has a button to jump to the Footprints feature.
* A feature to adjust the acceleration sensor and the compass preferences has been added in “Settings”.
* Sekai Camera and Sekai Life now switches between themselves faster.

Tonchidot’s Sekai Camera was selected as one of the 6 nominees for “Best Mobile App” in the celebrated 2009 Crunchies Awards – our management members attended the awarding ceremonies in San Francisco held on January 8th, 2010.

We were not able to win first prize, but we are extremely proud and grateful at the fact that we were nominated along with the most popular mobile apps in the U.S, just 3 weeks after our worldwide launch! The other nominees were Google Voice, Amazon Kindle, Foursquare, Gowalla, and Skies of Glory – it was a very humbling experience indeed.

We would like to express our gratitude to all those who supported us during the Crunchies voting process. We also extend our thanks to all our business partners, and everyone rooting for us all over the world.
Thank you!

We look forward to your continued support and patronage.

Look up!

2009 Crunchies Awards Winner (by TechCrunch)

2009 Crunchies Awards Winner (by VentureBeat)

The Crunchies Photo Gallery

Tonchidot’s Crunchies Report (Japanese)

Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Sekai Camera v2.0.2 released to fix some bugs. Please update from App Store now!!

2.0.2 Updates:
Enabled weblinks in Profile view on Sekai Life.
Changed the way Follow/Unfollow, Block/Unblock is displayed on Sekai Life.
Changed error message when unable to download Twitter timeline on Air Tweet.
Brushed up selector buttons on Sekai Life.
Brushed up Profile view layout on Sekai Life.

A collaboration between Sekai Camera and 15×24 will bring you an unconventional reading experience – Air Novel.
Further information is available only in Japanese.

Behold!

Just ONE day after the Global release of our “Sekai Camera” (app name “Sekai” in U.S.), we have been nominated for the “Best Mobile Application” in the “2009 Crunchies Awards”, the Internet/Technology equivalent to the Academy Awards!! It is a great honor that Sekai Camera has been selected alongside giants “Google Voice” and “Amazon Kindle”, as one of the 6 nominees in the category – WOW! Public voting starts from December 22nd, and lasts 16 days until January 6th.

PLEASE VOTE for us! Your support is greatly appreciated.

If you root for underdogs and dark-horses, this is THE ULTIMATE opportunity! If a tiny start-up from Japan can cause a stir in the internet world, this is the time! Join us!

How to Vote:
Please CLICK HERE or on the button that says “Vote Now”, and vote for “Tonchidot” found in the third category from the top, “Best Mobile Application”. You can vote ONCE a day, EVERY day until Jan 6th – don’t be shy! It would be of great help if you could make this voting a daily routine in the coming weeks. Please also Tweet, Blog, post Air Tags, and tell all your friends and even far distant relatives. We thank you for your support!

About The Crunchies Awards:
The 2009 Crunchies is the third annual competition and award ceremony to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year. The Crunchies is co-hosted by the 3 major IT Media companies GigaOm, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch. Best of all, the internet community is invited to choose who wins. The Crunchies award ceremony takes place on Friday, January 8, 2010 at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco at 7:30 pm.