HiDock Announces Japan Market Entry at Media Roundtable

Audio hardware company HiDock LLC (hereinafter, HiDock) held its first media roundtable in Japan. Co-founders Sean Song and Linna Peng, Japan Market Manager Steve Pan, and Japanese market partner EZLIFE’s Masami Mori took to the stage to discuss the company’s business strategy for full-scale entry into the Japanese market, as well as product introductions and demonstrations of the world’s first Bluetooth earphone-compatible AI voice recorder, the HiDock P1, which went on sale on Thursday, November 6, and the highly portable HiDock P1 mini.

Background of HiDock development

Co-founder Sean began by explaining the background to the development of HiDock. During his career as a software and hardware engineer at Zoran and Microsoft, he was influenced by Japanese engineers and learned from their rigorous testing approach. He explained that when online meetings suddenly increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many problems inherent in everyday communication became apparent, such as difficulty taking notes while listening, difficulty keeping up with understanding at international conferences, and the inability to search or review content later. He continued, “Existing solutions are primarily for businesses, and are expensive and complex. Lamenting the current situation, which lacks ‘innovation for individuals,’ this was the catalyst for founding HiDock and starting device development.”

Features of the new product “HiDock P1 / P1 mini”

The newly announced P1 series was developed based on HiDock’s “Geometric Functionalism” design philosophy. It packs cutting-edge AI into a simple geometric form, achieving both sophisticated beauty and functionality. The P1 mini boasts an ultra-lightweight design weighing just 12g, yet can store up to two years’ worth of recording data. It also boasts data transfer speeds up to 50 times faster than previous models. Furthermore, the series’ greatest feature, “BlueCatch™” technology, enables call recording via Bluetooth earphones. After each call, AI-generated transcription and summaries are generated, allowing users to record and organize the conversation effortlessly. Local tuning, taking into account the characteristics of the Japanese language, ensures both transcription accuracy and ease of use. All data is encrypted on Microsoft Azure for security. Sean stated, “We want to free users from transcription and note-taking, enabling a world where they can immerse themselves in the conversation.”

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Learning from Japanese users and strategies for the Japanese market

Next, co-founder Linna shared what she’s learned from the Japanese market over the past two years and shared user feedback. The first-generation H1 model and the P1 series received backing from approximately 1,780 people and 5,306 people, respectively, on the crowdfunding platform Makuake. She noted that what Japanese users prioritize, rather than simple convenience, is high transcription accuracy, stable hardware, good sound quality, simple and intuitive operation, and a strong documentation culture (need for minutes, reports, etc.). She continued, “We believe HiDock offers significant value, especially for price-sensitive students and freelancers, as well as business professionals with high meeting and workload demands. Our philosophy of ‘Accessible AI,’ which allows users to access AI functions simply by purchasing the hardware without relying on expensive subscription services, meets the needs of many users. High-quality recording and accurate transcription help those with hearing impairments access information, and contribute to understanding conversations at international conferences and in multilingual environments, thereby narrowing the communication gap.”

Partnerships in the Japanese market and future developments

Masami Mori of EZLIFE, a Japanese market partner, also took to the stage and cited long-standing “unresolved issues” in the Japanese business world, including the burden of recording meetings and creating minutes, the difficulty of recording online meetings, and the fact that existing equipment has not kept up with the diversification of workplaces. Mori strongly stated that “HiDock will be a solution to these issues.”

Furthermore, EZLIFE announced that as a support system for the Japanese market, it will support the expansion of HiDock’s sales channels through a multifaceted approach, including localizing manuals and product information into Japanese, providing detailed FAQs and support through its customer center, expanding into electronics retailers (to C), collaborating with agents and distributors (to B), handling bids for government agencies and educational institutions, and taking part in exhibitions and various events to increase awareness. Mori expressed his strong desire to “bring the appeal of HiDock to as many users as possible in Japan.”

HiDock P1 Demonstration

Steve, Head of Japan Market, gave a demonstration of the HiDock P1. He actually started up the P1 and demonstrated the latest feature currently under development, “real-time translation.” He introduced the entire process, from transcribing audio to creating meeting minutes, and the high accuracy and high speed of the system greatly impressed the media representatives on-site. This feature can translate not only face-to-face conversations, but also English keynote speeches streamed on YouTube and other platforms in real time. These functions are all carried out via the cloud, with a system for translating, recording, and summarizing all at once, helping users obtain information more efficiently.

SOURCE: PRTimes