This latest version brings you:

• Reading Mode: yay baby… (you can see it in action in the online version)
• Integration with Kotoba! (awesome free Japanese dictionary app for iPhone): a button now allows you to jump straight to a word/kanji definition in Kotoba.
• All iPhone KanjiBox users now get a free upgrade to “Elite” status on the online version of KanjiBox: see instructions here.
• Many small enhancements and cosmetic fixes.

Have fun and, if you like it, don’t forget to review the application in the iTunes Store: positive reviews go a long way at motivating me to keep working on cool new features!

Version 1.1 brings you two major features:
1. Integration with Pierre-Philippe di Costanzo’s awesome Japanese dictionary application: Kotoba! (clicking on a special link in detailed view directly opens Kotoba to the appropriate entry).
2. Reading quiz!

If you are a beta-tester, please download this latest beta and contact me with any comments or bug reports…

If beta testing goes well, I will upload the new version to the iTunes Store by the middle of next week.

If you are currently a KanjiBox beta-tester, you should already have received an email last week (contact me if you haven’t !).

For everybody else, great news: KanjiBox 1.0 is in its final phase of beta-testing. If everything goes according to plan and no major bug occurs, it will be submitted to the iTunes Store before the end of the week.

Although the feature-list for 1.0 was brought down a little (‘Reading’ drill/quiz will have to wait the next major update), there is a considerable number of improvements, ranging from the mere cosmetic (myriads small UI touch-ups) to the core (a massive data cleanup is under way: you can still contribute by visiting KB’s page on Facebook)… With of course, the addition of Quiz mode the big news for this version.
Huge care was also given to keeping the code rock-solid and the stability impeccable. This time around, we should be able to avoid nasty crash issues and the dozen small updates that were mandated by Apple’s erratic OS updates.

Stay tuned for an official release very soon!

Seems like it was a tough one (guess I should have included more Naruto theme songs, huh). Few people got more than a couple. Although one Japanese music champion out there, managed to grab an 18.5 out of 20, only a few hours after the quiz went up last week. Anyway: all 3 winners received their coupons: thanks to everybody else for playing…

And without further ado, the solution:

#1: Yellow Magic Orchestra – Behind the Mask (Fantastic Plastic Machine remix).

#2: A much tougher one: Bird – Game

#3: Überfamous Theme from ルパン三世, covered by no-less-famous Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

#4: 60’s classic 夜明けのスキャット, sung by 由紀さおり.

#5: Misia’s Sunny Day (remixed by Joe Clausel).

#6: Another delightfully dated 60’s Japanese classic: どしゃぶりの雨の中で, sung by 和田アキ子.

#7: Shibuya-key legends Pizzicato 5, singing a very jazzy live version of Audrey Hepburn Complex (couldn’t find a link to the version I have, so had to link another less jazzy version, but you can also check out the very trippy 80s original music video).

#8: Cornelius – Drop: ’nuff said…

#9: Personal 60’s J-Rock favourite of mine: 奥村チヨ singing the surprisingly outrageous 恋の奴隷.

#10: A bonus track meant to weed out the amateurs from the pros (and it did)… Akakage’s 恋のCha Cha Cha…

The rules are simple:

• Listen to the 10 Japanese music samples below and identify as many as you can.
• Send your submission to kanjibox.quiz at gmail.com
• First 3 people with the highest number of correct guesses (out of 10 artists + 10 track names) win 3 iTunes coupons, each, for a free download of KanjiBox for iPhone.
• On Friday (Dec. 11) evening, Kyoto time, I will post the answers here and name the lucky winners.

#1: [See post to listen to audio]

#2: [See post to listen to audio]

#3: [See post to listen to audio]

#4: [See post to listen to audio]

#5: [See post to listen to audio]

#6: [See post to listen to audio]

#7: [See post to listen to audio]

#8: [See post to listen to audio]

#9: [See post to listen to audio]

#10: [See post to listen to audio]

All these tracks are performed by one or many Japanese artists and rank from the super-obvious to the slightly more obscure, but are all rather popular in their own genre.

Feel free to team up to multiply your chances at identifying them all (there are 3 free coupons per winner, to be shared however you see fit if you win as a team).

Note: because of restrictions placed by Apple, free application coupons on the iTunes Store can only be redeemed with the US Store. However, I believe it is possible to temporarily change your store affiliation to claim a coupon.

Have fun!

Quiz mode is coming soon!

I am still waiting on detailed crash logs from any of the people who reported these issues, in order to figure exactly what is going on. In the meantime, I have submitted yesterday an update which might fix the issue preemptively (by removing all dependencies on Apple’s useless database library).

If you are a beta-tester, please download the latest build (116) and let me know how it goes…

As usual, for everybody else, it will be up to Apple’s approval schedule. Count one to two weeks for an upgrade in the iTunes Store.

Thanks for your patience.

Update: the application was just released on the iTunes Store (congrats, Apple, you are down to “only” a week waiting time for update reviews!)

Need I even mention that it has been purchased exactly one year and three months ago and is therefore just out of the warranty period.

Sorry folks, but that’s bad news for immediate development of KanjiBox’s next version. I can fortunately do the small stuff using only the iPhone simulator and relying on beta testers for live testing, but there is no way I can push out a reliable update with major changes in it.

Of course, I will eventually get a new one, but this purchase is definitely not gonna happen before October, as next month budget is entirely dedicated to paying the usual barron robber fees involved in moving to a new place in Japan (the infamous reikin+shikikin+agency fee+rent lethal combo, known and loved by all apartment renters throughout Japan).

Luckily, version 0.5.3 (out on the store as soon as Apple finally deigns approving it) seems to have reached full maturity and stability. So even with no new features for a while, you should at least have a sturdy app to play with in the meantime.

Sorry for this roadmap hiccup and thanks for your patience…