Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from August 2005

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from August 2005

Credit Saison, UC Card to set up company for back-office operations.(Credit Saison Company Ltd., Mizuho Financial Group Inc., partnership)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, July 25 Kyodo Major Japanese credit card service provider Credit Saison Co. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.'s credit card unit have agreed to set up a new company around Oct. 1 for the development of member stores and back-office...

Rakuten Travel to buy Star Tours to enter express bus business.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, July 26 Kyodo Rakuten Travel Inc. said Tuesday it will acquire a 75 percent stake in Star Tours Japan Co. in order to branch into the express bus travel business. Rakuten Travel did not disclose the amount it will pay for the...

LEAD: Elpida, others to establish chip-testing venture.(Advantest Corp., Elpida Memory Inc., joint venture)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, July 26 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATING AFTER ANNOUCEMENT) Elpida Memory Inc. said Tuesday it will establish a joint venture company with Advantest Corp. and other companies to offer large-scale testing services for circuits on silicon...

FEATURE: ATTN KWS SUBSCRIBERS: photo advisory.
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, June 27 Kyodo A story on artist Wako Kido headlined, ''Aichi Expo artist presents painting to Sen. Clinton,'' and sent earlier, is accompanied by one photo, which is available via e-mail. Call+81-3-6252-8318 (features editor) or...

Circle K chain to introduce PIA ticketing services.(Circle K Sunkus Co. )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, July 27 Kyodo Circle K Sunkus Co. and PIA Corp. said Wednesday the Circle K convenience store chain will introduce PIA's ticketing services at its 2,970 stores Oct. 1. PIA ticketing services are already available at three other...

Teijin Fibers devises anti-sweat material for Nike sports wear.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, July 27 Kyodo Teijin Fibers Ltd. said Wednesday it will supply U.S. sports wear maker Nike Inc. with a new polyester material to ease stickiness and other discomfort caused by sweat. Osaka-based Teijin Fibers has developed...

Rakuten to start online music distribution services with Usen.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, July 27 Kyodo Internet mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Wednesday it will start online music distribution services in mid-August in cooperation with Usen Corp., a company engaged in cable broadcasting and karaoke business. Under...

Rakuten confirms another 161 shoppers' personal data leaked.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, July 28 Kyodo Japan's largest online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Thursday it has confirmed another leakage of personal data involving 161 people who shopped at an imported goods store in its Internet mall. ...

Nintendo April-June profits dive on video console sales fall.
August 1, 2005... TOKYO, July 28 Kyodo Nintendo Co. said Thursday its group net profit in the April-June quarter dived 37.6 percent from a year earlier to 14.12 billion yen due chiefly to lower sales of home-use fixed-type video game consoles and...

Sega Sammy posts net profit of 10.7 billion yen for April-June.(Sega Sammy Holdings Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 8, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 3 Kyodo Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it posted a group net profit of 10.70 billion yen on sales of 100.53 billion yen in three months through June, underlining robust ''pachinko'' slot machine sales. ...

2ND LD: Apple Computer launches online music distribution service in Japan.
August 8, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 4 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING MORE INFO) Apple Computer Inc. on Thursday launched an online music distribution service in Japan in collaboration with 15 Japanese music companies including Avex Inc., Chief Executive Officer Steve...

Subscriptions to KDDI's 3G mobile service top 19 mil.(third generation technology)(Brief Article)
August 8, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 5 Kyodo KDDI Corp. said Friday the number of subscriptions to its third-generation mobile phone services under the ''au'' brand topped 19 million late last month, three years and four months after the company launched the...

KDDI outdoes DoCoMo in July net subscription rise in mobile phones.(NTT DoCoMo Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 8, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 5 Kyodo KDDI Corp.'s ''au'' mobile phone service scored the largest net subscription expansion among cellphone service providers in Japan during July for the first time in two months, an industry body said Friday. The...

Rakuten confirms another 36,000 shoppers' personal data leaked.(Brief Article)
August 8, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 7 Kyodo Japan's largest online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Saturday it has confirmed another leakage of personal data involving 36,000 people who shopped at an imported goods store in its Internet mall. ...

Apple sells 1 mil. songs in iTunes service's 1st 4 days in Japan.(Apple Computer Inc. iTunes Music Store)(Brief Article)
August 15, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 8 Kyodo Apple Computer Inc. said Monday the Japanese version of its iTunes online music service has sold more than 1 million music tracks in its first four days. The figure is far higher than the 450,000 songs sold by the...

Softbank's net loss dips on Morningstar, IT fund equities sales.
August 15, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 10 Kyodo Softbank Corp. said Wednesday its group net loss for the April-June quarter dipped to 11.15 billion yen from the previous year's 17.88 billion yen due partly to one-off gains from the sale of its shareholdings in...

Japan's music download sales total 14.1 bil. yen in Jan.-June.(Brief Article)
August 15, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 10 Kyodo Music download sales in Japan came to around 14.16 billion yen in the January-June period, generated predominantly by mobile phone users for ring melodies, the Recording Industry Association of Japan said Wednesday...

New Internet worm confirmed targeting Windows OS.(report)
August 22, 2005... NEW YORK, Aug. 15 Kyodo A new computer virus targeting recently found flaws in Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system has been confirmed circulating on the Internet, an antivirus computer software maker said Monday. Trend Micro...

Universal Music backs Sony's Blu-ray DVD format.(Universal Music Group)(Brief Article)
August 22, 2005... NEW YORK, Aug. 17 Kyodo Universal Music Group, one of the world's leading music companies, said Tuesday it will support Sony Corp.'s next-generation DVD format, a move that would add a fresh twist to the new DVD standard race with...

Rakuten enjoys greater revenue on pro baseball club effects.(company earnings)(Brief Article)
August 22, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 17 Kyodo Internet shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Wednesday both its group revenue and operating profit surged in the January-June period due partly to good effects from the Rakuten Eagles pro baseball club it has...

Nintendo to launch tiny Game Boy micro this fall.(marketing of Nintendo Company Ltd. )(Brief Article)
August 22, 2005... OSAKA, Aug. 18 Kyodo Nintendo Co. said Thursday it will launch tiny game gadget ''Game Boy micro'' in Japan and overseas this fall targeting customers in their 20s to 40s. The company expects global sales of 4 million units by next...

LEAD: JCB, Orix tie up to boost corporate, retail operations.(JCB Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 22, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 19 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATING WITH COMPANIES' ANNOUNCEMENT, ADDING BACKGROUND) JCB Co. and Orix Corp. said Friday they have agreed to a comprehensive partnership aimed at expanding financial services for corporate and individual...

Gov't accepting applications for new cellphone service licenses.(Japan. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)(Brief Article)
August 29, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 22 Kyodo The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on Monday began accepting applications for new licenses to operate third-generation mobile phone services. Broadband Internet services providers Softbank Corp....

OSK to offer system combining geographic info with existing database.(Otsuka Corp., contract)(Brief Article)
August 29, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 23 Kyodo Software developer OSK Co. said Tuesday it will begin shipments Wednesday of a geographic information system that enables business users to combine their existing customer and other database with a map displayed via...

Yahoo, Fuji TV to air live program, viewers to join via Internet.(Fuji Television Network Inc., Yahoo Japan Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 29, 2005... TOKYO, Aug. 23 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. and Fuji Television Network Inc. said Tuesday they will offer a live TV program that will enable viewers to communicate with celebrities in real time through Internet chat. Fuji will cooperate...

Matsushita firm, Intel to jointly prolong battery life for PCs.(Matsushita Battery Industrial Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 29, 2005... OSAKA, Aug. 24 Kyodo Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. said Wednesday it has agreed with U.S. computer chip giant Intel Corp. to jointly develop a technology to prolong battery life for mobile personal computers. The accord calls for...