| Dec 13 | Sony shopping is 'wrong direction' in Apple war |
| Sony Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer has announced acquisitions worth $8.4 billion this year to bolster phones and content. That may not be enough to turn around a company heading for a fourth consecutive loss. Japan's largest consumer-electronics exporter will pay cash to control its mobile-phone venture with Ericsson AB, partner with Michael Jackson's estate for music assets from EMI Group, and team up with Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) for patent rights. The Ericsson buyout gives Sony full access to the unit's 6.29 billion euros ($8.3 billion) in revenue, adding to Sony's $84 billion in sales for the year ended March 31. (Bloomberg) |
| Dec 08 | Smart phone fever takesover Japan |
| Riding on one of Tokyo's metropolitan subways anytime any day, you are most likely to see a futuristic scene that will be common across Asia pretty soon. Most passengers are on their mobile gadgets, reading or sending email, watching sports broadcasts, checking the exact spot where their partner is now via GPS (global positioning system), reading newspapers, googling maps, drafting a speech or editing their home video, if not playing games, taking pictures or listening to music -- all on a single gadget. More than 10 million Japanese -- one out of every 12 Japanese, including babies -- are hooked today on smart phones, as estimated by marketers. Their new life style is fast spreading into every corner of Japanese everyday life. (New Straits Times) |
| Dec 07 | Nintendo: 3DS gets boost from Mario, at least in Japan |
| Sales of Nintendo Co Ltd's 3DS games device will hit 3 million units in the Japanese market within days, but consumers in the U.S. and Europe seem to be delaying their holiday season shopping due to poor economic conditions, the company said. Nintendo slashed the price of the 3DS by about 40 percent in August and announced a flood of new software, including titles in the much loved Mario series, in a bid to prop up sales of the gadget, which had slumped soon after its February launch. As a result, the Kyoto-based firm expects to sell 4 million of the machines in Japan within the first year, compared with a worldwide target of 16 million units by March 2012. (Reuters) |
| Dec 01 | Apple bringing LTE iPhone and iPad to Japan in 2012, says Nikkei |
 We're still a ways from the next iPhone and iPad launches, but Nikkei is reporting that Apple is ready to bring LTE to its mobile devices next year. The publication claims Tim Cook met with executives at Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo and agreed to launch the next iPad and iPhone on its LTE network, with the iPad launching in the summer and the iPhone following in the fall. This timeframe makes sense for the next iPhone, about a year after the iPhone 4S launch, but a summer iPad launch would break from the spring release we've seen for the last two years. However, the iPad has launched first in the US and later internationally in the past, so a spring release stateside isn't out of the question. (theverge.com) |
| Nov 30 | Twitter, mixi form Japan tie-up as Facebook gains |
| Twitter Inc. and Japan's biggest homegrown social networking site mixi Inc. joined forces Wednesday to strengthen their ground against a rapidly expanding Facebook. For Twitter, the partnership with a local social network could point to a new strategy as the San Francisco-based microblogging service seeks to accelerate global growth. Japan is the company's second-biggest market after the U.S. and has served as a key international testing ground of sorts. Japanese was Twitter's first foreign language platform, and it opened its first overseas office in Tokyo earlier this year. In April, the company hired James Kondo in Japan as its first international country manager. (ajc.com) |
| Nov 28 | Net users warned against recycling IDs |
| Users of the PlayStation 3 game console have been shocked to see information about their online game play displayed on the Internet, with some complaining this violates their privacy. User IDs, not real names, are on display, but many people use the same IDs on two or more social network services. As one user put it, IDs are "like second names." Another said, "If such information is compiled, our real names may be discovered." A 36-year-old company employee in Tokyo was surprised to see records of his game-playing on the PS3 Web site. "Total playing time: 100 hours as of 0:59 a.m., March 28, 2010," one part read. (Yomiuri) |
| Nov 25 | 'Smart' apps becoming lifestyle game-changer |
| On a trip to Seoul, you may want to order at a restaurant but don't know any Hangul. But don't worry - just hold your smartphone over the menu and the phone will automatically translate it into Japanese in a split second. Or, if you need a taxi in Tokyo, don't bother to run out to a major street to find one or call an operator. There is an application that can bring you a taxi instantly without you needing to tell anyone where you are. These are only a few of a string of new applications currently available in Japan, where the smartphone market is booming mainly on the back of the strong popularity of Apple Inc.'s iPhone. (Japan Times) |
| Nov 23 | Domestic flat-screen TVs slide 74% |
| Domestic shipments of flat-screen TVs totaled 746,000 units in October, down 73.7 percent from a year earlier in the steepest monthly drop on record and the first fall below 1 million units since May 2009. The decline also marked the third straight month of contraction, according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association, which began compiling comparable data in January 2001. (Japan Times) |
| Nov 23 | The next Yakuza is going to be enormous |
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| Nov 23 | Has the iPhone 4S finally gained traction in Japan? |
| The iPhone had a very lukewarm reception when it was initially brought over to Japan, and failed to gather much popularity. Unlike it's contemporaries it didn't have the multimedia focus, video camera or tv-tuner they were accustomed to with their own brands. The iPhone 4S has changed that trend completely, with record amounts of sales propelling the smartphone to the height of fashion and popularity. Even though there were a few hitches with the launch, the iPhone 4S has been a huge success for the two major networks that support it - Softbank, and KDDI - making them serious competitors for market leader NTT Docomo. (ZDNet) |
| Nov 23 | Ultrabook goes Zen; camera sees double |
It will be interesting to see how far the 3-D bandwagon can chug along before it runs out of gas. Consumers don't seem too excited about 3-D TVs or 3-D personal computers anymore, but nevertheless, Panasonic hopes that its new Lumix DMC-3D1 camera will inject some enthusiasm back into the market.
Being a 3-D-capable camera, the 3D1 naturally has two lenses and dual sensors - but cleverly the dual lenses also allow users to shoot in two modes at the same time. What this means is that users are able to shoot both still photos and video simultaneously, and shoot wide-angle and zoom in tandem. While it may be on the rare occasion that such functionality is actually needed, I'm sure many of us have been in situations where we had to whip out a phone to snap a photo while shooting video with a camera. (Japan Times) |
| Nov 22 | DoCoMo to spend on networks |
| NTT DoCoMo Inc., the nation's biggest mobile-phone carrier by subscribers, aims to keep boosting operating profit by curbing overall spending as two smaller rivals add more customers by offering Apple Inc.'s iPhone. The company plans to maintain annual spending at about ¥700 billion in the four years starting next fiscal year, Chief Financial Officer Kazuto Tsubouchi said in an interview Friday. More of that will be spent building faster networks to compete with KDDI Corp. and Softbank Corp., he said. (Japan Times) |
| Nov 22 | Square Enix officially announces their Android store... in Japan for now. |
| It's no secret that Square Enix has plans to make a big push into the Android Market after a slew of announced titles back during the Tokyo Game show that happened recently. Today they have officially announced their Android store for their Android games which will debut in Japan. The store, which will be for Japanese Android users, already will be coming with some impressive titles when it launches including Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest Monsters Most Wanted, a port of iOS game Chaos Ring, and Crystal Defenders. While those particular titles are slated for release in Japan, at least for now, we won't be left out in the dark here in the USA and Europe either. (droidgamers.com) |
| Nov 22 | Japan Vs. South Korea In The Lithium-Ion Battery War |
| There is at least one reason to believe that Japan has much more potential than South Korea to dramatically increase production of Li-ion batteries in the world in the next five years or so. It has to do with the Li-ion battery value chain. Nowadays, most anodes, cathodes, separators, and electrolyte solutions -- the four main components of Li-ion batteries -- produced in the world are made by Japanese companies. So in a way South Korea's current dominance of the market may not be sustainable unless it undertakes in the coming years a true revolution in its lithium-ion battery value chain. In addition, Hyundai's decision not to pursue production of pure electric cars in the near future may also need to be revised. (SeekingAlpha) |
| Nov 19 | Japan's social game to television shift: CSI FarmVille? |
| Three of Japan's biggest names in mobile and social gaming are to raise their profile whilst finding new business prospects, by adapting their games to television, magazines and comics. In October, television giant Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) started airing two new shows, 'Kaito Royale' and 'Watashi no Host Chan'; both adaptations of major mobile video games that boast more than 10 million users. Japanese social gaming giants, including Mobage, Gree, and CyberAgent, already have a number of gaming franchise operations that are ready to be adapted into other formats. (ZDNet) |
| Nov 18 | Panasonic eyes reentry to smartphone market outside Japan |
| Panasonic has been making smartphones and offering them to folks in Japan for a while now. There have been no Panasonic smartphones outside its home turf in a while. It looks link that is about to change though with Panasonic looking for a new firm to handle marketing in Europe. The new firm it is seeking will apparently be pimping Panasonic smartphones. It would be an easy guess to have Panasonic working in Android smartphones, the company has already offered up a couple Android tablets. The last time a Panasonic smartphone was sold outside Japan was back in 2005. Panasonic is said to be targeting "several" countries. There is no word on what other countries it will be looking at. (slashgear.com) |
| Nov 18 | Competition grows fierce as Japan's Softbank vies for new 900MHz spectrum |
| Things are heating up in Japan over the allocation next year of new 700MHz and 900MHz spectrum to build out mobile carriers' existing infrastructure. In recent years, all of the major providers have been hard at work developing fourth-generation LTE capacity, and additional spectrum would certainly help meet the demands of the new technology. The eventual decision stands to upend the state of Japanese wireless competition, and top executives are feeling the pressure. Junichi Miyakawa, the executive vice president, director and CTO of Softbank Mobile, was quoted in the Asahi Shimbun on Wednesday saying, "If we don't get new frequency next year, it will topple our company." Providers' current access to spectrum is among the major considerations for increased allocation, making things effectively a two-horse race between the established Softbank and upstart eAccess. (theverge.com) |
| Nov 18 | 3DS still way out in front in Japan |
| Nintendo sold another 100,000 3DS units in Japan during the week ended November 13 to top the hardware chart. Click to view larger image While the total was down from 145,271 units the previous week, it was still higher than the combined sales of all other platforms. 3DS's closest rivals, PSP and PS3, shifted 23,472 units and 22,919 respectively, while DSi LL sales came in at 1,751 units, around 200 units ahead of Xbox 360, with the PS2 about the same distance behind Microsoft's console. On the software front, PSP rhythm action game Hatsune Miku Project Diva Extend debuted at No.1. (computerandvideogames.com) |
| Nov 17 | Yahoo launches Android app store in Japan |
| While Google is ruling most of the world, Yahoo is still the number one destination in Japan. The web portal is trying to additionally monetize its leading position and has recently launched an Android app store for users in the Land of the rising Sun. At the moment, Yahoo's app store doesn't provide direct downloads, but only reviews, ratings and links to the Android Market. However, the plan is to change to the full-blown app store from spring of next year. According to MM Research, Android smartphones are getting increasingly popular in Japan, with more smartphones running Google's OS shipped during 2010 and 2011 than Apple iPhones. In total, there were 4.91 million Android devices sold compared to Apple's 3.23 million. (intomobile.com) |
| Nov 16 | Sharp will stick with tablets, reveals new 7-inch model |
| Sharp said Wednesday it has no plans to abandon its Galapagos tablet line and announced a 7-inch model that can serve as a WiMAX router. The company launched three tablets in December last year and said it hoped to compete with Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle in Japan. It then dropped two of the models just nine months later without replacements, leading local media and analysts to speculate it would soon leave the field entirely. But Sharp's Masami Obatake, a general manager in one of its consumer product divisions, told reporters in Tokyo that the company will continue to bring out new products. "We're not withdrawing from the Galapagos business, we're still continuing with development," he said. (PC World) |
| Nov 16 | Smartphones new security battlefield |
| Smartphones have become a global phenomenon and in Japan in particular people are rapidly replacing their old cellphones with new handsets that are more like small computers with ever-increasing applications. But with the boom comes concerns for security, and fears that personal information may be leaked via malware or some applications. The malicious software, often in the form of a virus, can work its mayhem unnoticed, bent on disrupting the operation of certain systems. (Japan Times) |
| Nov 16 | Smartphone geiger counter developed |
| A manufacturer in Otamamura, Fukushima Prefecture, has developed a geiger counter that allows users to display radiation readings on a smartphone. Sanwa Corp. was to release the product this coming weekend at 9,800 yen per unit amid growing demand for such measuring devices following the outbreak of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The device is 14 centimeters long, three centimeters wide and 2.5 centimeters thick. Users who connect it to their smartphone also can create maps of radiation levels on the phone's screen. (Yomiuri) |
| Nov 11 | Public services in nine prefectures cyber-attacked |
 Fujitsu Ltd. said the computer servers it uses for online local public services came under attack between noon Wednesday and early Thursday.
Public online services were briefly incapacitated but no information was leaked after repeated, numerous access attempts through about 30 Internet protocol addresses overwhelmed systems in nine prefectures, according to Fujitsu.
In the city of Fukuoka, for example, online services were interrupted intermittently for a total of six hours and 40 minutes starting Wednesday afternoon. (Japan Times  ) |
| Nov 10 | Yahoo set to boost Android in Japan with app store launch in 2012 |
| Android is poised to receive a significant boost in Japan after Yahoo revealed plans to build a dedicated app store for the Google mobile operating system next year, according a report from Japanese tech blog Asiajin. The 'Yahoo! Market' store will allow Japanese Android smartphone owners to download applications directly from its site, while local developers will be able to upload apps to the store bypassing Android's official app store altogether. In the meantime, before Yahoo! Market opens, the company has unveiled a dedicated Android app section on its massively popular homepage in Japan. Visitors can read reviews of Android apps alongside news aggregated from leading Android blogs. In the absence of a download section for now, the Yahoo page includes links to all apps from Android's international store, not only those in Japan. (thenextweb.com) |
| Nov 09 | Heating appliance trade war hots up over power shortages |
| Sales of heating appliances are growing as people prepare for winter power shortages resulting from accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. A sales war is already hotting up at home improvement centers and other outlets, with many stores stocking the appliances earlier than usual. Kerosene heaters that require no electricity are hot sellers this autumn. According to research company GfK Marketing Services Japan Ltd., September sales of the heaters at home appliance stores across the country were 16 times greater than in September last year. Even in the first week of October, sales were on a par with those of December, which is the peak month in an average year. (Yomiuri) |
| Nov 08 | Fujitsu to sell supercomputers |
| Fujitsu Ltd. said Monday it has adapted technology from its K supercomputer, currently the world's fastest, into a commercial model aimed at companies and research institutes requiring high-level computing capabilities. The PRIMEHPC FX10, which has a theoretical processing performance of up to 23,200 trillion computations per second, will be marketed globally, the major high-tech company said. Starting with a price of about ¥50 million for a single-rack model, Fujitsu can scale up the system to a 1,024-rack configuration, it said. (Japan Times) |
| Nov 06 | For Canon, it's a snap: A cheap movie camera for professionals |
Canon Inc. will launch global sales of professional-use high-definition digital video cameras for filmmakers and television companies at a fraction of the normal cost in January 2012, officials said.
The company said Nov. 3 it developed compact low-priced cameras by improving its single-lens reflex technology.
The video camera, using an imaging sensor and lens developed by Canon, is priced at $20,000 (about 1.56 million yen), or about one-fifth to one-tenth the price that professionals can normally expect to pay for commercial cameras. (Asahi) |
| Nov 05 | Translation service for DoCoMo cells |
 NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Friday it will offer automatic conversation translation services - between Japanese and English as well as Korean - on mobile phones on a trial basis from Wednesday.
Users of the system will be able to receive translations both in artificial voice and text several seconds following the server process, it said.
Translation accuracy will be about 90 percent in Japanese and 80 percent in English, it said. (Japan Times ) |
| Nov 04 | Smartphone sales cheer cell phone firms |
| Buoyed by upbeat sales of smartphones, major mobile phone companies are expected to perform strongly in the second half of this fiscal year--but the eye-popping success of these products could also require some substantial expenditure down the road. Since KDDI Corp. began selling Apple Inc.'s iPhones, a price war has been intensifying between the company and SoftBank Mobile Corp., which had been the popular handset's exclusive distributor in Japan. NTT Docomo Inc., which reported earnings results for the first half of fiscal 2011 on Wednesday, saw its group operating profit fall because revisions to compensation services for handset malfunctions and other emergencies had raised its profit by about 55 billion yen last fiscal year. However, the nation's largest mobile phone service operator reported an increase in income from communications charges. (Yomiuri) |
| Nov 03 | Man nabbed for 'revenge' virus attack |
| A 44-year-old man from Okayama Prefecture has been arrested on suspicion of sending a computer virus to a server hosting a Web site he had been partially restricted from using, causing the site to crash, police said Wednesday. It was the first time an arrest has been made for the creation and transmission of a computer virus since the Penal Code was beefed up in July. Takashi Tomiyama apparently sent a computer virus he created on his home PC to a server hosting a Web site owned and operated by a 38-year-old man in Tochigi Prefecture on Aug. 26, rendering the site's online chat service unusable, they said. (Yomiuri) |
| Nov 02 | New cyber attack on Japan parliament |
| Japan's parliament has come under cyber attack again, apparently from the same emails linked to a China-based server that have already hit several lawmakers' computers, an official said Wednesday. Malicious emails were found on computers used in the upper chamber of the Japanese parliament, a government spokesman said. "The upper house office has confirmed that seven suspicious emails, the same ones that were sent to the lower house, were found" in computers in the upper house, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Isao Saito said. A report last week said that computers in the lower chamber had been hit by a virus, with passwords and other information possibly compromised. (AFP) |
| Nov 02 | Japan shows off world's largest glasses-free 3D display |
 Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications and JVC Kenwood recently demonstrated a 200-inch glasses-free 3D display that they touted as the world's largest auto-stereoscopic 3D screen.
Aside from the enormous size, the system offers a full-HD resolution with 57 effective viewing angles.
Hardware-wise, 57 projectors were deployed to render the 3D visuals, and these have to be individually tuned to maintain a uniform brightness and color consistency. The hefty 1,000-plus-pound screen is far from ordinary, either, and features a condenser lens and a diffuser film to smooth the transition between viewing angles. (CNET ) |
| Nov 02 | TV output at home threatened / Panasonic not alone: Other makers face pressure of strong yen |
| Panasonic Corp.'s projected 420 billion yen net loss for the business year ending March 31 is believed to have been caused mainly by poor performance in its flagship television business. Panasonic was forced to aggressively cut domestic TV production because of the hyperappreciation of the yen and declining prices. Other major TV makers, including Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp., have also been forced to review their TV businesses, in what some observers take to be a harbinger of the end of the era of TV mass production in the country. (Yomiuri) |
| Oct 29 | Japan's digital divas take to the stage, wow fans |
| Japan's two newest stars have all the basics of being a pop idol down. Their dance moves are sharp, they sing without missing a beat, and their songs have made the top 10. The only thing is, neither one of them exists. The green-haired "Megpoid" and red-haired "Akikoloid" are both completely computer generated, the latest in a line of popular digital characters based on a voice-synthesizing program that allows users to create their own music. They were the stars of a concert during the recent Digital Concept Expo in Tokyo. (Reuters) |
| Oct 26 | Asian cities top in Internet speeds |
| According to an Internet report released today by cloud optimisation service provider Akamai, cities in Asia dominated the list of the top 100 fastest cities around the world. Japan alone contributed 59 cities, with South Korea adding 10 cities to the list. Also in the register were Hong Kong and Australia. Brno in the Czech Republic is the fastest city in Europe and San Jose, California took top spot in America. The second quarter 2011 "State of the Internet" report by Akamai, was based on its study over 604 million unique IP (Internet Protocol) addresses from 238 countries and regions connected to the Akamai Intelligent Platform. While speedy, Asian cities also generated the most attack traffic with Taiwan accounting for 10 per cent of the attacks. (todayonline.com) |
| Oct 26 | A camera worth saving for, and the first Android 4.0 smartphone |
 Last week, Canon announced its new EOS-1D X DSLR camera, the latest addition to its 1D series, replacing both the EOS-1Ds Mark III and Mark IV models. The 1D X is Canon's top-of-the-line offering, targeting professionals and high-end photographers. With a hefty price tag of ¥650,000 (for the body only), it doesn't come cheap, but for pros out there who haven't updated in a while, this will certainly be one to consider when it goes on sale in Japan in March. (Japan Times) |
| Oct 20 | LinkedIn launches in Japanese |
| LinkedIn Corp. on Thursday launched in Japanese, marking the rapidly growing professional networking service's first Asian language platform as it pushes to expand in the region. The Mountain View, California-based company also established a Tokyo office, following the opening of its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore in May. Arvind Rajan, head of LinkedIn's Asia operations, described Japan as a key market for the company because of its technologically sophisticated workforce. LinkedIn has about 120 million members worldwide, with 20 million in Asia and the South Pacific. (AP) |
| Oct 19 | DoCoMo unveils 24 new mobile devices |
 NTT DoCoMo on Tuesday unveiled its 2011 winter - 2012 spring product lineup of 24 models for launch in or after November, including 14 smartphones, the largest and most diverse collection ever released by DoCoMo.
The new smartphone lineup meets a broad range of needs for users in Japan, including smartphones for DoCoMo's extra-high-speed next-generation LTE service, Xi, for mobile data communication at up to 75 Mbps; and smartphones equipped for mobile-wallet (Osaifu-Keitai), infrared-based data exchange, one-seg mobile TV and tethering.
Enhanced features for the smartphones include dual-core CPUs, large HD-quality liquid crystal screens and high-spec cameras. (Japan Today ) |
| Oct 19 | Net banking viruses hit nation's PCs / Illegal transfers via foreign malware jump |
| Personal computers of many victims of illegal transfers of their deposits through Internet banking services have been infected with viruses that ravaged computers in the United States and European countries, it was learned Tuesday. The total amount of damage since April came to about 265 million yen in 91 cases in 33 prefectures, including Tokyo and Hokkaido, according to the National Police Agency. Police authorities have started investigating the cases on suspicion of violating the illegal computer access prohibition law, among other charges, and advised online banking users to frequently change passwords. (Yomiuri) |
| Oct 19 | Android privacy concerns rise over apps crossing the line |
| Tokyo-based IT company Milog is known for providing Android-based smartphone apps that let users share information about the apps installed on their phones and rank them by popularity. This small startup, established in 2009, has been supported by notable companies, including receiving a ¥310 million joint-investment from information and job-placement agency Recruit and Japan's second largest Internet advertising agency Opt. In July, they released a variety of apps under the name "App.tv," which packages TV dramas by series into an Android app for each show. The apps are for free in exchange for information from the users' phones. Milog also distribute "AppLog library," which tracks users' app information and pays third-party developers ¥1 per each install, if other the developers include "AppLog" in their own apps. (Japan Times) |
| Oct 19 | Japan 'downright slow' at adopting new technologies |
Research firm McKinsey published an interesting report recently summarizing a survey that showed the digital habits of 5000 people across eight countries.
The findings suggest that the perception of Japanese consumers as ones who are in love with the latests gadgets may not be an accurate one.
When asked about tablet computers, MicKinsey says that only four per cent of consumers surveyed had one already, far lower than the nine per cent of respondents from neighboring Korea.
How many intend to buy a tablet soon? Only three per cent of Japanese surveyed say they probably would, which pales in comparison to 18 per cent of Koreans and 9 per cent of Americans. (AsiaOne) |
| Oct 17 | Samsung seeks iPhone 4S ban in Australia, Japan |
 Samsung Electronics is asking Japanese and Australian courts to block sales of Apple's new iPhone 4S in those countries.
The preliminary injunctions Samsung filed Monday in Tokyo District Court and the Federal Court in Australia are part of an intensifying patent battle between the smartphone giants.
Samsung says Apple Inc. continues to violate its patent rights and "free ride on our technology."
Samsung is also appealing an Australian court's decision last week to temporarily ban sales of Samsung's new Galaxy tablet computer. Apple accused Samsung of copying the iPad and iPhone and violating Apple's patents.
Samsung says it's also asking a Japanese court to immediately bar sales of the iPhone 4 and iPad 2. (AP ) |
| Oct 17 | Cheating boyfriends? There's an app for that. |
They don't just sneak around, they sleep around. And if they're already in a relationship, they're called cheaters. In Japan, tech has helped them get away scott free for years. That's changed.
With new smartphones and GPS tracking, it's now possible to find phones-and presumably their owners. But what about privacy? And the law? Ha!
On Aug. 30 in Japan, an Android smartphone app called Kare Log ("Boyfriend Log") launched, allowing girlfriends to track smartphone GPS data via PC as well as the phone's remaining battery life and call history.
If a boyfriend were cheating, the phone's location and call history might reveal his subterfuge. (Kotaku) |
| Oct 17 | 1 culprit likely in cyber-attacks / Police find matching MO in Mitsubishi Heavy, Kawasaki Heavy cases |
| Police increasingly believe the same hacker was responsible for the recent cyber-attacks on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. A computer virus found in the attack on Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which was sent by e-mail through a computer at the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC), forced infected personal computers to access a Web site in the United States, sources close to the issue said Saturday. Police have found that infected PCs at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries were made to access the same Web site. The police suspect the hacker used the U.S. site as a so-called springboard, via which the attacker manipulated computer terminals from the outside. (Yomiuri) |
| Oct 17 | Digital habits slow to catch on in Japan |
| Consumers in Japan appear to be "distinctly unenthusiastic" about a range of digital habits when compared with their peers in the US, Spain and South Korea, according to a study. McKinsey, the consultancy, surveyed 5,000 people in eight markets. It found Japanese respondents spent 136 minutes a day using a PC, ahead of 64 minutes in India, but behind 308 minutes in the US, 375 minutes in Spain and 395 minutes in South Korea. Similarly, South Koreans dedicated 39 minutes to instant messaging per day, versus Japan's eight minutes. German web users also utilised email for 37 minutes daily, falling to 13 minutes in Japan. Moreover, while members of Spain's internet audience were active on social networks for 68 minutes a day, their Japanese counterparts committed a modest seven minutes to this pastime. (warc.com) |
| Oct 15 | Smartphone boom heats up / Manufacturers see both positive and negative effects |
 Apple Inc.'s newly released iPhone 4S will likely fuel the global smartphone boom. However, the rise of smartphones has brought both benefits and drawbacks for manufacturers.
While domestic manufacturers of electronic parts are enjoying increased demand, thanks to the tremendous popularity of smartphones, companies manufacturing other digital items, such as digital cameras and portable games, have expressed concern the market will be taken over by makers of "multifunctional terminals."
Preorders for the latest iPhone, the last version Apple introduced before the death of cofounder Steve Jobs on Oct. 5, surged past 1 million in the first 24 hours after ordering began. (Yomiuri ) |
| Oct 14 | Eight-block line forms outside Apple store in Tokyo for iPhone 4S |
 Hundreds of Apple fans in Tokyo waited in a line that stretched eight blocks - that's eight blocks - outside Apple's Ginza store on Friday morning local time, eager to get their hands on the refreshed smartphone, which now sports a faster processor, better camera and the acclaimed Siri voice-activated personal assistant app.
According to a Reuters report, many in the line were purchasing Apple's new device as a tribute to Steve Jobs, the comapny's co-founder who died last week after a long illness.
The introduction of the iPhone 4S marks the end of exclusivity in Japan for mobile carrier Softbank. KDDI's 'au' mobile arm is now also selling the popular smartphone too, while the country's biggest mobile operator, NTT Docomo, still has no deal with Apple to sell the device. (Digital Trends ) |
| Oct 14 | Highlights from Japan and the CEATEC Show |
 The recent Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies trade show and the streets of Akihabara, Japan, were filled with current and upcoming eye-catching technology.
Here's a handful of the products and technologies on display at the CEATEC consumer electronics show in Tokyo and in shops in Akihabara, Tokyo's technology center.
Highlights from Japan and the CEATEC ShowSony's NW-Z1000 Walkman keeps the Walkman music player tradition alive, in the Android touchscreen age. The player runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, though from what I saw, Sony has customized the interface to optimize for music playback. It's the latest in the trend toward Android app and media devices sans phone, along the lines of the iPod Touch. (PC World) |
| Oct 12 | Unauthorized access hits Sony PlayStation accounts |
 Sony said Wednesday intruders staged a massive attempt to access user accounts on its PlayStation Network and other online entertainment services in the second major attack on its flagship gaming site this year.
The Tokyo-based company temporarily locked about 93,000 accounts whose IDs and passwords were successfully ascertained by the blitz. Sony sent email notifications and password reset procedures to affected customers on the PlayStation Network, Sony Entertainment Network and Sony Online Entertainment services.
Credit card numbers linked to the compromised accounts are not at risk, Sony said. (AP ) |
| Oct 12 | Sony recalls 1.6 million LCD TVs worldwide |
 Sony Corp. says it is recalling 1.6 million LCD televisions globally because of a defect that can trigger overheating, smoke and melting parts.
Sony says has received 11 such reports in Japan, though none involved injuries or damage beyond the TVs. The models subject to the recall in Japan are the Bravia KDL-40X5000, KDL-40X5050, KDL-40W5000, KDL-40V5000 and KDL-40V3000.
The defective part - an inverter transformer used for LCD backlights - is also used in models sold overseas. But Sony says it has not received reports of similar problems. (AP ) |