| Feb 09 | Panasonic to launch 3D plasma TV in Japan April 23 (Reuters) |
| Japan's Panasonic Corp said on Tuesday it plans to launch 3D televisions on April 23 in Japan. The company said last month it would launch 3D TVs in the United States in the spring. Top consumer electronics makers including Panasonic and Sony Corp are launching 3D TVs this year as they seek to offer differentiating products that will be shielded from the sharp price falls plaguing the conventional flat TV market. |
| Feb 08 | Yahoo Japan's 16 Doraemon apps are an iPuzzle (Canadian Press) |
 Anyone who checked the Japanese iTunes store a few days ago might have been somewhat 'puzzled' to find that the top 16 free apps were all from Yahoo Japan. Not only that, but there was something very unusual about the icons for those 16 applications. Of course if you're familiar with Japanese cartoons at all, you should have some idea of what Yahoo Japan is doing here. The icons, when rearranged, will create everyone's favorite robot cat Doraemon. A big thanks to Jesslee for posting the screencaps on his tumblelog.
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| Feb 06 | Japanese augmented reality mirror lets you try on makeup virtually (dvice.com) |
Now I'm no expert in the ways of makeup, but I can see how it could be an expensive and frustrating exercise to try something new only to discover it looks terrible once you've gotten home. If only there was a way to try it out before you buy!
Well, the Digital Cosmetic Mirror at the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo lets you do just that. It's got a camera on the front that scans your face. It then gives you personal recommendations and lets you put makeup on this virtual version of you.
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| Feb 06 | Prius problems put spotlight on car electronics (Japan Times) |
 Your most expensive piece of electronics probably is not your flat-panel TV or computer. More likely, it's your car, which can pack 50 microprocessors to control everything from the fuel mix to the rearview mirrors. The recalls and other technical problems besetting Toyota in the last few weeks highlight the risks of relying on electronics instead of the mechanical rods and cables that controlled vehicles for most of the 20th century.
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| Feb 05 | Japanese games take voyeurism to new levels (tgdaily.com) |
 When it comes to video game voyeurism and risque gameplay, the Japanese sure know how to roll.
Kotaku brings us news of two new Japanese games on the market, featuring an abundance of anime ass parading about in underwear and little thongs for that extra added gaming value.
And if you're a randy Japanese teenager, you're in luck, because the role playing, lingerie-fest of a game, Ar Tonelico III, has a rating of CERO C -meaning it's available to be ogled by anyone aged 15 and above. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) had a heck of a time reviewing another Japanese title, Dead or Alive: Paradise.
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| Feb 04 | 2009 videogame sales dip eight percent in Britain, Japan, US (AFP) |
 Videogame sales in the three leading markets -- Britain, Japan and the United States -- declined eight percent last year to 379.3 million units, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Activision's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," was the top-selling game of the year, meanwhile, despite only being released in November, according to the Top Global Markets report.
Nintendo games grabbed the next four places on the 2009 best-selling list, according to the report, which is compiled using figures from the NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Ltd and Enterbrain Inc.
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| Feb 03 | In Japan, Final Fantasy XIII's Buy-Back Value Is Cheap! (Kotaku) |
 On December 17, role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII went on sale for the PS3 in Japan. It was priced at ¥9,240 (US$102). Want to sell back your copy?
In a little over a month and a half, the used game is fetching ¥1,500 (US$17) from major Japanese game retailer GEO. By comparison, used games Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 on the PS3 commands ¥4,800, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 merits ¥4,500 and Musou OROCHI Z is priced at ¥3,100.
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| Feb 02 | Mitsui buys strategic stake in TPV Technology (FinanceAsia) |
| Japanese trading company Mitsui will buy up to 20% of display products maker TPV Technology, while TPV's controlling shareholder, China Electronics Corporation, will also increase its stake. Japanese trading company Mitsui is buying up to 20% of Hong Kong-based display products company TPV Technology, as part of a deal that will also see TPV's controlling shareholder, China Electronics Corporation (CEC), increase its stake. |
| Feb 02 | S. Korea, Japan have world's fastest web links (AFP) |
 East Asian countries led by South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan are the best wired in the world with the highest number of fast broadband connections to the Internet, a recent report has found.
South Korea boasts the world's highest average connection speed at 14.6 Megabytes per second (Mbps) and also has six of Asia's 10 cities with the fastest link-ups, all with average speeds above 15 Mbps.
Japan had the second highest average connection speed of 7.9 Mbps, followed by the Chinese territory of Hong Kong with 7.6 Mbps, said the report by US-based network provider Akamai Technologies.
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| Feb 01 | Medical equipment maker's X-ray machine proving a hit (Yomiuri) |
| RF Co.'s digital X-ray sensors for taking X-ray images have succeeded in grabbing the lion's share of the domestic market since their launch in 2005. The Nagano-based company specializes in the development and manufacturing of medical equipment using charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras and wireless technology. Though digital X-ray sensors are convenient to use as they do not need photographic film or developer, the products were priced at tens of millions of yen each. |
| Jan 29 | Why iPad isn't cracking the Japanese market (EE Times) |
| While the rest of the world goes gaga over Apple's iPad, I find an island of calm here -- some 5,000 miles away from the epicenter of Apple's announcement Wednesday (Jan. 27). I'd be lying if I said I felt no frustration. Nobody wants to miss a big story. That's the essence of being a reporter. Still, I wasn't exactly tearing out my hair over here. The reason is that this nation of avid readers doesn't seem to give a hoot about e-books -- Apple's version or anybody else's. |
| Jan 28 | New cellphones to feature 'secretary' functions (Asahi) |
| A new technology developed by Toshiba Corp. could turn cellphones into virtual secretaries capable of providing information to help users plot their next move. The technology, which could be available for practical use by the end of this year, enables cellphones to "predict" the user's actions based on behavioral patterns monitored by such programs as the Global Positioning System, Toshiba officials said. The technology also draws on acceleration sensors that detect the handsets' movements, such as rocking and shaking. |
| Jan 27 | Japan Plans 3D Broadcasts as Sony Preps 3D Truck (PC World) |
| Television broadcasting in 3D took a couple of steps further towards reality on Wednesday when Japan joined the list of countries planning to launch the new format and Sony said it will soon deliver a truck equipped to broadcast 3D programming on the go. Japan's Sky Perfect Communications plans to launch 3D broadcasting in the middle of this year with two to three programs per month, it said Wednesday. The announcement adds Japan to the list of countries planning to launch 3D broadcasting this year at about the same time compatible televisions begin appearing on the market. |
| Jan 27 | Sony Music Japan Chairman Calls for Tougher Piracy Law Enforcement (shoutcastblog.com) |
| Sony Music Entertainment Japan chairman Masao Morita spoke about music piracy and the lack of enforcement by the Japanese government during his keynote speech at MIDEM yesterday. The Japanese government has recently added a law that makes downloading unauthorized content illegal, but Morita is concerned that this will never be enforced. |
| Jan 27 | Toshiba Blu-ray recorders, mCube90 make life more compact (Japan Times) |
| If you can't beat them, don't join them - just copy their ideas and improve them. Toshiba is endeavoring to do just that having abandoned its HD-DVD format and instead opted to craft versions of Sony's brainchild, Blu-ray. Nobody can accuse Toshiba of not doing a wholehearted about face, what with three new Vardia-branded Blu-ray recorders to hit the market next month. The best of the bunch is the D-B1005K, which sports a prodigious 1-terabyte hard disk for recording up to 500 hours of high-definition TV footage. |
| Jan 26 | Japan logs record high shipments of flat-screen TVs in 2009 (AP) |
| Shipments of flat-screen televisions in Japan topped 10 million units in 2009 for the first time as consumers stepped up preparations for Japan's complete shift from analog to digital broadcasting in July 2011, an industry body said Tuesday. The government's "eco points" purchase incentive program for TVs capable of receiving high-quality terrestrial digital broadcasts also contributed to a rise in shipments to 13.63 million units, up 40.4 percent from a year earlier, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association said. |
| Jan 26 | Users balk at iTunes mystery charges (Asahi) |
| Dozens of users of Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store say they were billed for purchases they never made at the online music and software shop, according to credit firms and other sources. Victims' passwords and IDs were apparently used to make the purchases. It is not known how the personal data was stolen, but Apple Japan has denied any leak of such information from its website. Some credit companies have agreed, after investigating individual cases, to cancel such charges. |
| Jan 26 | Panasonic updates Japanese Toughbook notebooks (electronista.com) |
| Panasonic on Monday announced several key updates to its range of Let's Note rugged notebooks in Japan, which are known as the Toughbooks in the North American market. The changes include replacing their Intel Core 2 Duo chips with the new i5 and i7 processors, as well as shipping with Windows 7 Professional. The range includes the 14.1-inch F9, 12.1-inch S9 and N9, and the 10.4-inch R9. |
| Jan 24 | Search Engine Usage Soared in 2009 (PC World) |
| More than 131 billion searches were made by people age 15 or older in December 2009, marking a 46 percent increase from 2008, according to a report from Web analytics firm Comscore. That breaks down into 4 billion searches per day, 175 million per hour, and 29 million per minute. The U.S. represents the largest individual search market globally, accounting for 22.7 billion searches or nearly 17 percent of all global searches. China came in second with 13.3 billion searches and Japan was third with 9.2 billion. |
| Jan 24 | Copyright Law change toothless / Illegal downloading remains rampant due to lack of punishments (Yomiuri) |
| Last April, a 13-year-old middle school girl in Tokyo was told by a friend about a Web site that offers free music and image downloads--without the approval of copyright holders. "You can download cell phone ringtones there for free," the girl said. The girl was able to access the site after following her friend's instructions, finding a selection of an artist's songs she had wanted to use as ringtones. "Almost all of the songs we want are on the site," she said. She has since used the site to obtain most of her ringtones. Each of her six closest friends has a different song assigned to play when they call her phone. These songs are usually switched out every few months. |
| Jan 23 | Small but mighty PCs next wave / New generation of pocket-sized computers seen filling netbook niche (Yomiuri) |
 In recent months, personal computer manufacturers have been launching mini netbooks capable of fitting into a jacket pocket.
With screens of about five inches, this new generation of mini netbooks are about half the size of the cut-price netbooks that have recently driven the PC market. They can be operated with keyboards or a touch screen, and some come with preinstalled e-book readers--devices that are beginning to change the way people read in the West.
Manufacturers see mini netbooks as useful for checking e-mail or browsing the Internet on the move. They hope this new operational method will drum up demand in a market that has just started to see a fall in notebook sales.
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| Jan 22 | Game Boy (Metropolis) |
It's Saturday evening and the game is craps. A flock of stylishly dressed Japanese men crowd around the table, tossing the dice and yelling each time a player wins or goes bust. The dealer, 'Rei', coolly regards each one of them as he manages the chips on the board. Suddenly, one of the men decides to liven up the evening by throwing a handful of gold-studded black chips at the pass line. Rei calmly stacks them up and counts, 'Hachi, kyu, ju man-en.' A 100,000 yen bet.
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| Jan 22 | IC recorders gaining popularity (Yomiuri) |
 Integrated circuit audio recorders have come a long way in terms of sound quality, memory capacity, ease of use and affordability.
IC recorders now are used in more diverse situations. They are now used not only in business situations, such as for recording conferences and meetings, but also in language studies and by people studying musical instruments to record practice sessions.
Makers said the devices have become popular also among women and students.
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| Jan 22 | NTT DoCoMo to launch Xperia smart phone (Economic Times) |
 Japan's top mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. on Thursday said it will launch Sony Ericsson's Xperia smart phone in April, in a direct challenge to heavyweight Apple's iPhone handsets.
With the touchscreen Xperia, a model that the Japanese-Swedish enterprise will introduce globally in the first quarter, NTT DoCoMo hopes to catch up with its smart phone rivals in Japan's already saturated market.
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| Jan 20 | Bright global demand for LED bulbs (Asahi) |
| With global demand projected to grow for energy-saving bulbs made of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), consumer appliance makers Toshiba Corp. and Sharp Corp. see a bright future. Demand for LED bulbs is expected to soar as prices fall and environmental awareness rises, makers say. Toshiba's first targets will be in Europe and North America, where there are legions of environmentally conscious consumers. |
| Jan 20 | Computer makers adopt small approach (Asahi) |
| Personal computer makers are thinking small to prop up sales in spring by winning back consumers whose attention is focused on smart phones and electronic reading devices. Major manufacturers unveiled their latest compact models Monday. Along with their reduced size, the pocket-size portable notebooks provide faster processing speeds and enhanced versatility. |
| Jan 19 | Mophie to give Japanese iPhones FeliCa with apps (electronista.com) |
| Mophie today promised to give Japanese iPhone owners much-requested support for FeliCa wireless payments. The team-up with two local firms will see a version of Mophie's casing that uses the same RFID wireless as the Sony standard. In tandem with an iPhone app, the add-on will let Apple's device pay for many goods by bringing the iPhone within an inch of a FeliCa source, such as at a store. |
| Jan 19 | SoftBank to establish stolen-phone tracing service (Yomiuri) |
| SoftBank Mobile Corp. will launch a new online system later this month to help determine whether cell phones sold on the secondhand market are stolen. Stolen cell phones cut off from services recently have been appearing on the secondhand market. With the new system--available on SoftBank's Web site from Jan. 28--the company hopes to prevent people from inadvertently purchasing stolen secondhand cell phones. |
| Jan 18 | Toshiba develops translation app for cell phones (Computer World) |
| Travelers in East Asia may soon be able to use their cell phones for quick, easy and cheap language translation, thanks to a new prototype application from researchers at Toshiba Corp. The company has developed a trilingual translation system with voice recognition and synthesis that's compact and light enough to be installed in a cell phone. Unlike other mobile translation applications, the software doesn't offload processing to a server on a network but performs the task inside the phone. |
| Jan 16 | Japanese PS3s Get DVR Add-on (Cairns Post) |
 We're still waiting for information as to whether we'll be getting these in the US, but Japan finally got their DVR.
Torne is an adapter for Japanese PS3s that essentially gives the system DVR functionality. European markets were granted the privilege back in 2008, and Japan finally got it this week, but there's no word on a US release.
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| Jan 14 | Is your cell phone leaking? / Data thieves exploiting new Docomo browser software functions (Yomiuri) |
| Cell phone technology experts are warning that NTT Docomo Inc.'s latest cell phone models with i-mode Browser 2.0 software installed could expose users' personal information without their knowledge. Docomo has asked operators of Internet sites accessible from cell phones to take precautions to safeguard personal data, such as asking users to input passwords. |
| Jan 13 | Kindle upgrades, but DX e-reader is just the start of a boom (Japan Times) |
 Sony produced the world's first e-ink device for reading books, some six years ago. While Sony is still in the e-ink reader game, U.S. giant Amazon now leads the global market. Amazon is set to land a second blow against Sony in the form of its much-anticipated Kindle DX. Although the DX must be ordered from Amazon in the U.S. and delivered from there it will be usable in Japan, allowing wireless downloading of electronic books over 3G networks, reputedly in 60 seconds.
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| Jan 11 | Panasonic envisions high 3-D TV sales in U.S. (Japan Times) |
| Panasonic Corp. expects to sell as many as 1 million 3-D TVs in the next year in the United States, Europe and Japan. The company will begin shipping in March, Yoshi Yamada, Panasonic's North American chairman and chief executive officer, said Friday in an interview. |
| Jan 09 | Japanese scientists advance printable battery tech (cleantech.com) |
| A group of Japanese scientists claim they've come up with a lithium polymer battery that can be made using only printing technology. Though printable battery technology isn't unheard of, previous inventions have been in manganese and zinc types. The new flexible, lithium polymer battery is considered to be applicable for solar batteries, flexible displays, or being attached to curved surfaces. |
| Jan 08 | TV production war enters new dimension (Asahi) |
| Japanese manufacturers, seeking to dominate the future in home entertainment, showcased their three-dimensional televisions and recorders at an electronics fair Wednesday. The makers unveiled both market-ready models and prototypes of 3-D appliances, while others announced plans for their own 3-D sets. Front-runners Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. also said they were getting involved in broadcast content by tying up with U.S. companies to create programs using the 3-D technology. |
| Jan 07 | 'Gumblar' virus playing havoc with home pages across Japan (Mainichi) |
| A computer virus dubbed "Gumblar" is wreaking havoc with Internet users, directing them to harmful sites and embedding malware via hacked Web pages. According to Internet security firms, there are more than 3,500 cases of Gumblar Web page infection in Japan, and the independent Information-Technology Promotion Agency (IPA) has called on Internet users to beware. IPA says that Gumblar works by first stealing the administrator passwords for company and personal Web sites from computers where they are based, allowing penetration of the sites. |
| Jan 06 | Sharp to produce solar cells in Italy (Asahi) |
| Sharp Corp. will set up a joint venture to produce thin-film solar cells in Italy and also build large solar power plants in Mediterranean countries. The joint venture will begin operations in early 2011 and supply solar cells capable of generating 160 megawatts of electricity a year, enough for 40,000 households, officials said Monday. |
| Jan 06 | Panasonic to market largest 3-D plasma TV (Yomiuri) |
| Panasonic Corp. plans to market in autumn the world's largest 3-D plasma television with a 152-inch screen that projects stereoscopic images. The firm will display the TV at the International Consumer Electronics Show, the world's largest consumer technology trade show, which opens Thursday in Las Vegas. |
| Jan 05 | Nintendo Dominates in Japan (IGN) |
| Final Fantasy XIII topped the Japanese game charts -- for exactly one week. But New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Nintendo's lineup of long selling hits quickly showed who's boss as the year came to a close. Media Create has provided Japanese sales stats for the last full week of the year, covering December 21 through December 27. Nintendo usually rules the year-end period in Japan, and this trend continued this year as New Super Mario Bros. Wii dominated with over 500,000 units sold. Since its release in early December, the multiplayer Mario has topped the 2.4 million mark. |
| Jan 02 | Japan's Apple Stores continue Lucky Bag tradition (tuaw.com) |
 Fukubukuro, or "Mystery Bag," is a Japanese New Year's Day tradition during which merchants sell sealed bags of various items at a substantial discount, often as high as 50%. Shoppers may get some great deals on the contents of these bags - even if they don't know what exactly they're buying. Japanese Apple Stores have participated since 2005. Once again, this year, they're offering mystery bags to Japanese Apple Store customers.
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| Jan 01 | Final Fantasy XIII takes Japan by storm (telegraph.co.uk) |
 Chaos ensued in Tokyo's Akihabara 'geek district' last month with the launch of Final Fantasy XIII, the first Playstation 3 instalment of Square Enix's series.
Hordes of RPG-obsessed Japanese flooded electronics stores across the country in an attempt to pick up a copy of the game. Huge queues gathered outside the major game shops in Tokyo, with more than 300 people queuing in Akihabara at one point.
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| Dec 30 | Japan's mobile phone marvels go back to the future (AFP) |
 In the Japan of 2020 a stressed-out salaryman may unwind from his hectic futuristic lifestyle by time-travelling back a few centuries and taking a virtual stroll through medieval Tokyo.
As he walks over arched wooden bridges, he will chat with the avatars of his real world friends, admire pollution-free views of Mount Fuji and perhaps do some cash-free souvenir shopping for a digital download of a woodblock print.
He will navigate through the city once called Edo from the comfort of his intelligent living room, wearing 3-D glasses and moving about by waving a super-networked mobile phone that is attached to his wrist like a watch.
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| Dec 29 | Japanese men spend Christmas with 2-D girlfriends (switched.com) |
 If Japanese men are now wedding their virtual girlfriends, it only makes conjugal sense that they would spend the holiday season with them, too. Why they would want to document and post an intimate holiday with their Manga Misses, though, is another question. Apparently, the practice has become somewhat of an Internet meme in Japan, with anime enthusiasts across the nation eagerly posting photos of romantic Christmas Eve dinners with the 2-D girls of their dreams.
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| Dec 29 | Toshiba Develops Translation System for Cell Phones (PC World) |
| Travellers in or from East Asia may soon be able to turn to their cell phones for quick, easy and cheap translation help thanks to a new application from Toshiba. The company has developed a trilingual translation system with voice recognition and synthesis that's compact and light enough to be installed in a cell phone. Unlike existing applications the software doesn't offload processing to a more powerful server on the network but performs the task inside the phone. That makes it quicker and avoids potentially costly data roaming charges when used overseas. |
| Dec 29 | PS3 Japan sales No. 1 amid Final Fantasy XIII (punchjump.com) |
| Sales for Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3 ranked as the top-selling hardware for the week in Japan amid the release of Square Enix Holdings Co.'s Final Fantasy XIII. Media Create Co. on Fri. said the PS3 sold 237,086 units between Dec. 14 Dec. 20 to rank as the top console and No. 1 overall hardware for the week. |
| Dec 29 | Sony PS4 to use multi-core CPU not Cell? (slashgear.com) |
 Sony are considering replacing the PS3's Cell architecture with a more mainstream multi-core processor in the PlayStation 4, according to PC Watch, after game developers have reported greater than average problems developing for the current-gen console. Based on rumors and speculation coming out of Japan, the company also considered - but decided against - a combination Cell/Intel Larrabee setup.
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| Dec 25 | Facebook traffic jumps in Japan but it still lags Mixi (PC World) |
 Facebook has seen an almost fourfold increase in the number of visitors to its Web site from Japan in the last year but the site still lags far behind market-leader Mixi, according to data released on Thursday by NetRatings Japan. In November 1.39 million unique visitors accessed the Facebook site, up from just 355,000 visitors in November last year, said NetRatings. Growth has been trending upwards throughout the year but became stronger three months ago when monthly visitors were at the 767,000 mark. The figures are extrapolated from data gathered from a panel of several thousand users in offices and homes.
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| Dec 22 | Electric Japan: A yen for digital TV (Global Post) |
| Japanese TV manufacturers hope the spread of their country's digital-TV standard will translate into more sales for them. Their government hopes it provides a badly needed boost for Japan's long-flagging economy. The standards battle's current skirmish is being fought in Latin America as the continent chooses which standard it will use to broadcast digital programming. Japan, the U.S., Europe, and China all have their own standards. The areas of the world where consumers can afford expensive new TVs have mainly made their choices, with most picking the European standard, known as DVB-T. |
| Dec 19 | Japan should follow Finland's lead on adapting to Internet age (Mainichi) |
| Lately, I've had numerous opportunities to collaborate closely with the Finnish organizations. Finland's minister of transport and communications once came to visit our lab. Recently the ministry announced that broadband Internet access -- capable of transmitting high volumes of information at high speeds -- will become a legally guaranteed right in Finland. |
| Dec 18 | Apple's iPhone commands 46% of Japanese smartphone market (Apple Insider) |
Nearly half of all domestic smartphone users have turned to the iPhone in Japan, giving Apple a dominant position in the market, according to a new study.
New data released this week from Tokyo-based research company Impress R&D shows the iPhone 3G taking 24.6 percent of the consumer smartphone market. The iPhone 3GS, released this year, accounts for another 21.5 percent.
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