Here's a fairly new app that may prove useful for some: WorkAudioBook. It's basically an audiobook player that allows the user to listen either continuously or easily replay a clip if it wasn't understood the first time. Sound files can also be integrated with subtitles, which can be show all the time, or only if the user doesn't understand the phrase (by a screen touch). One can create their own subtitles fairly easily using the Windows program, or use srt files with the audio file from movies, tv shows, etc. There's also a dictionary look-up function, but it automatically highlights the hold word, which doesn't work for Japanese since spaces are lacking (highlights the whole phrase instead). The author is quite responsive, though, so I'm sure if a few people emailed him, he'd add an option that would allow the user to manually select the characters. The author is adding quite a few new features as well (autopauses, bookmarks, maybe speed adjustment...), so this should become a very useful app as it matures.
I use the above program on a split screen (Note II) in conjunction with either Cool Reader or Jade Reader as they allow for better dictionary lookup. I figured out a way to minimize WorkAudioBook while giving the reader most of the screen real estate, so if anyone would like to use a similar configuration, just ask.
Also, a note on Swype. I noticed with Swype Beta that a few weeks ago the keyboard changed to a keitai layout when Japanese was selected. Did this happen to others as well? Anyway, I am way too slow at using this configuration (Is there a reason to get used to it?), so I finally checked for an updated version today. Swype Keyboard, in the Play store, now has Japanese available and uses a QWERTY layout rather than the keitai layout. It also has a few more options available with the speech-to-text, e.g., commands like ピリオド and びっくりマーク now work. Here's an overview of the commands.
