With the launch of Tamagotchi Paradise, entertainment giant Bandai set out to bring a new level of connected play to fans worldwide. The device supports nine languages and is available across Japan, North America, Europe, and Asia. To complement the new release, Bandai developed Lab Tama, a large in-store terminal that lets users link their Tamagotchi to the system for exclusive content and activities.
When players place their Tamagotchi Paradise device into the Lab Tama tray, the system connects instantly – unlocking region-specific downloads, limited-edition items, and unique in-store interactions. These terminals are installed in toy stores, department stores, and electronics retailers across Japan and beyond, acting as both a digital playground and a promotional platform.
In past deployments, updating in-store terminals required physical media and manual updates by staff, a process that proved both time-consuming and costly. For this global rollout, Bandai needed a secure, flexible way to distribute content remotely, update systems automatically, and monitor performance from a central location.
Bandai’s goal was to make Tamagotchi’s “connected play” truly worldwide. However, the company faced a major challenge: ensuring that each Lab Tama terminal could communicate securely and reliably across diverse retail environments.
Because the devices were being deployed in multiple countries, Bandai needed a connectivity solution that worked seamlessly across regions without relying on local Wi-Fi networks or complex configurations. They also needed to synchronize updates by region and campaign, ensuring that marketing content and gameplay experiences aligned perfectly with local events and product launches.
Operational visibility was another priority. Bandai wanted the ability to monitor connection status, view usage data, and analyze performance metrics in real time to plan maintenance, optimize content, and understand player behavior at each store location.
To meet these goals, Bandai integrated Soracom IoT SIMs into the Lab Tama terminal, enabling stable, secure communication regardless of installation location. Using Soracom’s global cellular coverage, the terminals now connect automatically without relying on local infrastructure.
Each terminal communicates regularly with the Soracom platform to check for new content. When updates are available, the device securely downloads promotional videos, software updates, or campaign-specific features directly from Soracom-hosted storage. This automated process ensures that content is always up to date and tailored to each region’s needs.
Soracom’s management console and APIs allow Bandai’s development team to centrally monitor connectivity, data usage, and device operation history. This remote visibility helps engineers diagnose issues quickly and ensures consistent performance across all global deployments.
For Bandai, Soracom offered more than just global connectivity. The combination of reliable network access, device management, and automated data delivery gave the company a flexible platform for future innovation.
By leveraging Soracom’s services instead of developing a new system from scratch, Bandai accelerated development timelines and reduced the complexity of deploying and maintaining hundreds of terminals across regions. The Soracom IoT SIM’s compatibility and scalability made it easy to expand the project globally without changing infrastructure.
The result was a fast, secure, and cost-efficient deployment that gave Bandai new tools for both customer engagement and data-driven business intelligence.
The new Lab Tama experience has transformed in-store engagement for Tamagotchi fans. Shoppers can now interact with their devices, unlock new items, and enjoy dynamic promotional content that refreshes automatically based on region and campaign.
At the same time, Bandai gains valuable real-time insights from aggregated usage data, including how often terminals are used, which content is most popular, and when maintenance may be required. This feedback loop informs everything from product development to marketing strategy, helping the company continuously refine the customer experience.
“By being able to distribute content regularly, Lab Tama has become a product fans can enjoy for a long time,” said Chisato Aoyagi, planning and Development Team, Toy Department, Bandai, Co.LTD. “Soracom makes it easy to deliver new experiences to stores around the world.”
Bandai continues to expand the global deployment of Lab Tama terminals, with support for language-specific content distribution and region-tailored campaigns. Future collaborations will extend beyond the toy industry, including a partnership with NEXCO East Japan, which will bring limited-edition Tamagotchi content to Lab Tama terminals installed in highway service areas starting in summer 2025.
As the Tamagotchi universe grows, Bandai aims to strengthen its brand through cross-industry collaborations and digital experiences that connect fans in new and meaningful ways. With Soracom powering its IoT infrastructure, the company is well positioned to deliver fresh content, collect valuable insights, and continue innovating the world of connected play.
As international travel rebounds and global migration continues, language barriers are emerging as a critical challenge – not only for tourism but for healthcare, disaster relief, and crisis response. Studies show that language obstacles can waste hours of medical staff time each week and directly impact patient safety.
In emergencies, effective communication can mean the difference between life and death, yet displaced people often lack the ability to speak the local language. Whether it’s helping doctors communicate with patients, aiding refugees at border crossings, or enabling travelers to navigate foreign cities, the need for reliable, real-time translation has never been greater.
IoT innovator SourceNext created Pocketalk – a line of translation devices and software designed to tear down language barriers in real time. Using multiple cloud-based translation engines, Pocketalk automatically selects the best translation for each language pair, covering 82 languages with high accuracy.
The flagship Pocketalk S offers a touchscreen interface, text-to-translate camera, and intuitive one-button operation. Other models extend battery life, enlarge the display, or strip non-essential features for simpler use. Every Pocketalk device includes a complimentary two-year data plan, ensuring constant access to up-to-date translations without reliance on local Wi-Fi.
Pocketalk has proven invaluable in healthcare, donating hundreds of devices to hospitals during COVID-19 and over 1,000 units to the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan to assist displaced families.
“The pandemic helped us see just how valuable Pocketalk is in the healthcare space,” said Joe Miller, General Manager at Pocketalk. “It helps doctors, nurses, and patients connect, and that relationship building is crucial.”
To keep Pocketalk small, light, and powerful, SourceNext chose to run its translation logic in the cloud — requiring global, always-on connectivity. Soracom’s IoT platform provided the perfect match, delivering secure cellular connectivity, API-driven device management, and the flexibility to adapt to new markets quickly.
Each Pocketalk device includes a Soracom IoT SIM or embedded eSIM, managed via Soracom’s API and SIM Lifecycle Management tools. SIMs remain in standby until activated at retail, ensuring a “just works” experience out of the box while avoiding unnecessary charges.
Upon activation, Soracom Subscription Containers allow devices to download new SIM profiles, optimizing network costs in specific regions and expanding coverage as Soracom adds operator partners.
“We need a partner that can keep up with us,” said Noriyuki Matsuda, President of Pocketalk. “With the Soracom Team, we know our needs will be met quickly and efficiently.”
Pocketalk has shipped more than 500,000 units worldwide and is now the first handheld translation device to achieve both GDPR and HIPAA compliance. Its recognition as the top travel translation device by numerous outlets underscores its value to tourists, while its growing use in healthcare and humanitarian work demonstrates its life-changing potential.
The product line now includes the Pocketalk App, Pocketalk Subtitles for live video call translation, and Pocketalk Console for enterprise fleet management. With operations in Japan and the U.S., Pocketalk continues its mission to connect people everywhere through the power of conversation.
“Pocketalk exists to bring people together, shatter language barriers, and build deeper connections firsthand through conversation,” said Matsuda. “Our latest solutions are the next step in our journey to connect us all as a global community.”
In today’s mobile-first world, portable devices keep us connected, productive, and entertained—but keeping them powered remains a challenge. Most smartphone and tablet batteries last just 5–8 hours of moderate use, leaving users scrambling for power during long days of work, travel, or events.
Electron-to-Go set out to reshape public charging with a new generation of sustainable, connected charging units. The Electron® charger is easy to use, supports most device ports, and delivers enough power to fully charge a smartphone. Deployed in sleek “Supernova” clusters, these chargers are reusable, efficient, and accessible via a simple SMS-based login.
Electron-to-Go designed the Electron charger to balance modern convenience with environmental responsibility. Moving beyond disposable charging accessories, founder Nasim Muabbat prioritized a design that is easy to repair, replace, and recycle. When an Electron’s battery life ends, the battery cell is swapped out—keeping the unit in service and reducing waste.
Supernovas serve diverse environments, from coworking spaces and universities to outdoor events, each with unique usage patterns. In coworking hubs, repeat daily use is common, often extending beyond phones to devices like wireless headsets used for conferencing. The common thread? Users appreciate not having to carry their own charging cables.
“It seems insignificant on the surface, but that convenience matters,” said Muabbat.
Electron chargers operate autonomously, with lifecycle and performance monitored centrally, making reliable connectivity essential. Initial Wi-Fi deployments proved unreliable, especially in secure networks like universities, leading the team to cellular.
“We quickly realized if we want to be in public places, we need to move to cellular connectivity. Cellular is scalable,” said Muabbat.
After testing other providers, Electron-to-Go chose Soracom for its flexible pricing, robust security, and startup-friendly support. From Soracom’s integrated platform, the team can track individual SIM performance, adjust speed classes to manage costs, and maintain strong connectivity across multiple carriers and protocols.
Electron-to-Go now operates more than 200 Supernovas worldwide, including in the U.S., Australia, the U.K., and Japan. Applications span schools, coworking spaces, transit stations, malls, stadiums, and even trade shows.
While pandemic conditions slowed adoption, global interest continues to grow. In Japan, a pilot program of 25 stations across 13 locations has paved the way for expansion with future distribution partners.
“We know phone usage is going up year after year, but batteries aren’t getting better. So we know our solution is needed,” said Muabba.
Aethon Labs is an IoT design and engineering firm dedicated to developing connected products that improve everyday life. From the Sutro smart pool and spa monitoring system to Fluux, a dual smartphone-and-vape charger that also tracks and reduces vape usage, the team focuses on creating habit-changing devices and new user experiences.
“We’re particularly interested in underexplored use cases,” says Himanshu Shah, CEO of Aethon Labs. “Whether it’s helping people monitor pool chemistry, change health habits, or improve elder care, our goal is to build devices that make a measurable difference.”
In addition to consumer electronics, Aethon Labs is also developing healthcare solutions, such as a device to help elderly users predict and prevent falls before they happen.
The company first connected with Soracom during development of the Sutro smart pool monitor, which uses LTE as a backup when Wi-Fi is unavailable. However, the LTE connections frequently dropped, leaving devices unresponsive.
“On Wi-Fi everything worked perfectly, but LTE connections kept timing out,” recalls Shah. “We knew it wasn’t a server issue, but diagnosing cellular behavior is usually tricky without the right tools.”
Working with the Soracom Solutions Architecture team, Aethon Labs set up a Virtual Private Gateway to capture packets directly from the cellular connection. This revealed that the server was not closing sockets properly, causing TCP requests to time out. With this insight, the team worked with their cloud partner to resolve the issue.
“It was a great lesson in the difference between basic cellular connectivity and connectivity designed for IoT,” says Shah. “Soracom didn’t just provide a SIM, they helped us solve the problem.”
Beyond providing connectivity, Soracom’s architecture and team offered the diagnostic capabilities Aethon Labs needed to get devices online and keep them there.
“Soracom’s commitment to getting projects live really stood out,” says Shah. “They gave us both the tools and the expertise we needed to troubleshoot at the packet level.”
This IoT-first approach allows Aethon Labs to move quickly from prototype to deployment, knowing that they can identify and fix issues without weeks of guesswork.
Building on its experience with connected hardware, Aethon Labs is now developing IoT Doctor, a software product that helps companies managing IoT fleets to track, diagnose, and maintain devices in the field. Initially designed for engineers, IoT Doctor now offers integrations with Slack, Zapier, and other platforms, making it useful for sales, marketing, and manufacturing teams.
The company is also working on a content initiative to share its expertise in bringing connected products to market – a kind of “Lonely Planet” guide for IoT development.
“We’ve learned a lot about the path from idea to deployed device,” says Shah. “By making that knowledge accessible, we can help more teams succeed.”
Founders and innovators often begin with a spark of inspiration – one that demands the right technology to move from prototype to global deployment. For Jaime Macias, Creative Director at studio black and founder of Lensley Automatic, that spark became Lensley, a freestanding, unenclosed photo booth kiosk that autonomously captures studio-quality images.
“I’m a tinkerer,” says Macias. “I’m happiest when I’m prototyping. My office is filled with tools to make things real that don’t exist yet.”
Launched in 2009, Lensley has grown into a full suite of tools used by museums, retailers, sporting venues, public events, and private functions – anywhere people gather and memories are made. The mission remains simple: capture authentic, joyful moments and make them part of the story brands share with their audiences.
From its beginnings as a single in-office prototype, Lensley has evolved through more than a decade of iteration. “Every single component that could break has broken. Every piece that needed to be replaced has been replaced,” says Macias. “Each new iteration has been more reliable.”
One of the biggest challenges? Connectivity. Lensley is often deployed in remote or temporary settings with limited access to Wi-Fi. Macias turned to cellular as a backup, but found traditional providers expensive and inflexible.
That changed with Teltonika routers paired with Soracom IoT connectivity. Soracom’s low-cost SIMs, pooled data across devices, and centralized management made scaling straightforward.
“Soracom gave me everything that I was looking for and needed,” says Macias. “I’m no longer paying for what I don’t need, and the service is reliable wherever we go.”
After years of testing corporate accounts, personal accounts, and a range of modems, Macias found Soracom’s IoT-first approach a perfect fit. The combination of cost efficiency, device pooling, and real-time management tools gave Lensley the control it needed.
“With Soracom, I can scale without worrying about hidden costs or downtime,” says Macias. “The sales team is accessible, the tech works, and we’re no longer tied to overpriced legacy systems.”
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Lensley to innovate further—launching touchless, socially distanced photo experiences like a drive-through Santa setup where families could stand 12 feet away but still get their holiday photo.
Macias also envisions using Lensley to document social change over time, installing a unit in a single location for years or even decades to capture evolving communities.
“I care about keeping people safe and connected,” he says. “I’m looking at new opportunities and continuing to make things that start out as sketches.”
As Lensley expands into retail, events, and new experiential formats, its combination of creative design and Soracom-powered connectivity ensures every installation delivers the same dependable, joyful experience, anywhere in the world.
While real estate portals make it easy for customers to browse listings online, the final step of physically visiting a property often remained the biggest hurdle. Buyers and renters still needed to coordinate with agents, limiting flexibility and adding unnecessary friction. In a fast-paced property market, this scheduling complexity could mean missed opportunities or extended vacancy periods.
For sellers and agents, organizing tours also consumed significant resources. Staff often needed to travel just to unlock doors, even for quick visits. With multiple parties interested in a single property, availability often became the bottleneck between listing and closing. A more efficient and customer-friendly solution was clearly needed.
Linough recognized that improving the viewing experience represented the single greatest opportunity for innovation in real estate. By making access as seamless as browsing an online listing, the company could revolutionize both customer convenience and agent productivity.
Linough responded with Smart Viewing, an IoT-enabled system designed specifically for real estate. At its core is a smart lock that attaches to new or existing property doors, paired with a lightweight tablet gateway that communicates lock commands. Customers reserve their viewing time online, then receive a unique URL that acts as a digital key.
At the scheduled time, the customer can open or close the property door directly from their device, whether smartphone, computer, or even feature phone. For users without modern devices, the system supports voice-triggered commands, ensuring inclusive accessibility. By removing the need for a dedicated app, Smart Viewing reduces setup friction for customers while allowing seamless property access.
For real estate agencies, this meant that staff no longer needed to attend every property visit. Unmanned tours became possible, opening the door (literally) to flexible self-service access. With Smart Viewing, potential buyers could experience properties on their own schedule while agents could focus on higher-value interactions.
For Smart Viewing to work, Linough needed a connectivity solution that was lightweight, secure, and cost-efficient. Real estate properties are often vacant and may lack Internet infrastructure, making cellular IoT the ideal solution. Because door unlock commands require only a few kilobytes of data, Soracom Air’s pay-as-you-go model fit perfectly, ensuring costs scale precisely with usage.
As Linough’s Chief Web Programmer Mr. Shiina explained, “Soracom is an ideal application for Smart Viewing and pay-as-you-go for data communication fit our needs perfectly. I also like the flexibility of the contract where I can subscribe to one SIM for one day.” This flexibility allowed Linough to prototype quickly and scale deployments without carrying large SIM inventories.
In addition, Soracom’s User Console made it easy to monitor the communication status of individual SIMs, speeding troubleshooting and reducing operational overhead. For deployments requiring extra security, Linough also implemented Soracom Canal, creating private network connections that protect data traffic and reinforce trust. Combined with Soracom APIs for automation, this approach gave Linough confidence in both scale and security.
The success of Smart Viewing earned Linough a prestigious Good Design Award, validating its innovative approach to access management. The company quickly began receiving inquiries about applying the same technology to other use cases, from office meeting rooms to shared spaces.
This led to the launch of a “smart meeting room” service, extending Linough’s access innovation beyond real estate and into broader smart building management. By leveraging the same combination of IoT locks, cloud-based management, and Soracom connectivity, Linough is creating a flexible platform for space access of all types.
Looking ahead, Linough envisions a world where any space can be managed more efficiently through IoT access control. From apartments and offices to hotels and shared facilities, the ability to grant, track, and manage access remotely represents a new standard for convenience and efficiency. With Soracom as a partner, Linough is well positioned to continue unlocking the potential of smart spaces worldwide.