Category Archives: Japan

Tech in Asia weekly briefing︱June 2nd

Covering Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India, and Pakistan.

Will facial recognition really be able to identify covered faces?

Before the pandemic, the fingerprint scanner was gaining popularity as a new way to identify ourselves to authorise payments or clock into offices. Now, we can expect that the technology will be dropped in favour of a contactless one – facial recognition. But facial recognition technology relies on seeing our whole face, or as muchContinue reading “Will facial recognition really be able to identify covered faces?”

The 7th-century technology helping keep millions of Japanese from working at home

On May 4, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe extended Japan’s state of emergency until May 31, amid fears of a second COVID-19 wave in Japan. A month earlier, Abe had asked people to reduce social contact “by 70-80%.” Unlike compulsory lockdowns prevalent worldwide, Japan’s measures are unenforced and rely on voluntary cooperation. Nonetheless, as COVID-19 casesContinue reading “The 7th-century technology helping keep millions of Japanese from working at home”

Online scams spike in Asia during the pandemic – are you at risk?

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an alternate pandemic of online scams. Barracuda, a provider of cloud-enabled security solutions, recently recorded a 667% increase in phishing attacks this year. Gmail also reported that 18 million of the 100 million phishing emails it blocks daily are now COVID-19-related. These types of scams have become a cross-border issueContinue reading “Online scams spike in Asia during the pandemic – are you at risk?”

Online education void leaves millions without schooling in Japan

Many schools in other countries have been quick to put their students into new online arrangements following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when Prime Minister Abe announced the sudden closure of schools from March 2, Japanese students were told to come back to school to pick up sheets of school work. For most schools in Japan,Continue reading “Online education void leaves millions without schooling in Japan”