Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from December 2004

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from December 2004

Toshiba wins 4 Hollywood studios' support for HD DVD format.(high definition digital video recorder)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Nov. 29 Kyodo Toshiba Corp. said Monday it has won support from four U.S. film studios for its next-generation DVD format called HD DVD. The four studios are Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, New Line Cinema and Warner...

Sony, Toshiba to launch digital appliances with super chips in 2006.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... NEW YORK, Nov. 29 Kyodo Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. said Monday they will launch digital consumer appliances with highly advanced semiconductors in 2006. The microprocessor, called ''Cell,'' is said to have a computing capacity...

3 of top 10 PC makers to exit market by 2007: Gartner.(personal computer)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Nov. 30 Kyodo Of the current top 10 personal computer manufacturers, three will withdraw from the PC market by 2007 due to slower growth rates in the market and a fall in profit margins, U.S. research institute Gartner Inc. said...

Softbank BB suspects leakage of data on 900 customers.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Nov. 30 Kyodo Softbank BB Corp. said Tuesday personal data on about 900 customers of its Yahoo BB Internet connection services might have been leaked. Nikkei Business Publications Inc. has provided Softbank BB with personal...

Nintendo DS portable game console launched.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 2 Kyodo Nintendo Co. on Thursday launched its Nintendo DS portable video game console, kicking off a year-end sales competition with rival Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., which plans to release its PlayStation Portable...

Global 3rd-qtr cellphone sales up 26%, Samsung rises to 2nd place.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... NEW YORK, Dec. 2 Kyodo Global sales of mobile phones in the third quarter of 2004 topped 167 million units, up 26 percent over a year earlier, with Samsung Electronic Co. overtaking Motorola Inc. to become the second-largest cellphone...

NEC to wholly own 2 units.(NEC System Technologies Ltd., NEC Soft Ltd.)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 2 Kyodo Two units of NEC Corp. said Thursday they have decided to be owned wholly by the electronics giant through equity swaps on June 1. NEC System Technologies Ltd. and NEC Soft Ltd. signed memorandums with NEC to this...

Gateway to reenter Japanese PC market.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 2 Kyodo Major U.S. personal computer maker Gateway Inc. said Thursday it will reenter the Japanese PC market by launching two laptop models and one desktop PC on Dec. 10. Gateway withdrew from Japan and Singapore in 2001...

IBM negotiating with China's Lenovo to sell PC business: N.Y. Times.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... NEW YORK, Dec. 3 Kyodo International Business Machines Corp. is negotiating with Lenovo Group Ltd. to sell its personal computer business to China's largest PC maker, the New York Times reported Friday. The computer giant, responsible...

Fujitsu, Cisco Systems to develop high-end routers for Web traffic.(Cisco Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 6 Kyodo Fujitsu Ltd. and Cisco Systems Inc. of the United States said Monday they have agreed to jointly develop high-end routers for processing Internet data traffic. In addition, Fujitsu and Cisco Systems, based in the...

NEC to reenter Malaysian mobile phone handsets market.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 6 Kyodo NEC Corp. said Monday it will introduce two models of camera-equipped mobile phones Tuesday in Malaysia, reentering the country's mobile phone handsets market since its exit there in 2000. NEC, which had been...

LEAD: Softbank BB applies for license to begin cellphone service.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 6 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING INFO IN 3, 5, 6 GRAFS) Softbank BB Corp., operator of the Yahoo! BB high-speed Internet access service, said Monday it has applied to the government for a license to operate radio stations in the...

NTT Communications to commercialize scent-delivery service on Net.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 6 Kyodo NTT Communications Corp. said Monday it aims to commercialize a service to transmit scents through the Internet. Under the service, a device connected to a personal computer will generate scents after receiving...

Global shipment of PCs forecast to rise 10% in 2005.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... NEW YORK, Dec. 8 Kyodo Global shipments of personal computers in 2005 are likely to increase 10.1 percent from this year to about 195.1 million units in 2005, sustaining double-digit growth for a third year running, a U.S. research and...

Lead: Disney backs Sony's 'Blu-ray' as next-generation DVD format.(Walt Disney Co. uses new technology)
December 13, 2004... NEW YORK, Dec. 9 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING MORE INFO) Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday it will use Sony Corp.'s ''Blu-ray Disc'' technology as the format for releasing movies and other content on next-generation DVDs, a boost for Sony in the...

Thomson supports both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... BRUSSELS, Dec. 11 Kyodo Electronics giant Thomson S.A. said Friday it will support the two major competing technologies for next-generation DVD formats -- HD DVD and Blu-ray disc format. Paris-based Thomson, one of the world's...

Sony's 1st portable video game system PSP goes on sale.(PlayStation Portable, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 12 Kyodo Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. entered the handheld video game market Sunday with the sale of its new PlayStation Portable, pitting it against competitors ahead of the holiday sales period. Sony's move follows...

Sony to release low-cost card issuing system using FeliCa tech.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 13 Kyodo Sony Corp. said Monday it will release an inexpensive system that will enable small businesses to offer account-settlement, sales-point and other card-based services using its FeliCa contactless integrated-circuit...

Softbank BB admits possible leak of personal data on 6,500 customers.(Brief Article)
December 13, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 13 Kyodo Softbank BB Corp., operator of the Yahoo! BB high-speed Internet access service, said Monday personal information on some 6,500 subscribers may have leaked out. The company became aware of the possible leak when...

Toshiba Solutions to sell HP UNIX servers.(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 14 Kyodo Toshiba Solutions Corp. will sell UNIX servers made by Hewlett-Packard Japan Ltd. to corporate customers in Japan, the two companies said Tuesday. Hewlett-Packard Japan, which has captured a leading share of...

Japanese editorial excerpts -4-.(Lenovo Group Ltd. merger with International Business Machines Corp.)(Excerpt)
December 20, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 16 Kyodo Selected editorial excerpts from the Japanese press: THE IBM-LENOVO DEAL (IHT/Asahi as translated from the Japanese-language Asahi Shimbun's editorial published Dec. 15) China's largest computer maker, Lenovo...

Computer virus infections set record in 2004.(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 20 Kyodo The number of computer virus infections reported in Japan set a new record in 2004 at 63,657 cases, Trend Micro Inc. said in a preliminary report Monday. The previous record of 47,607 was set only last year,...

Softbank group not to renew naming rights for Yahoo BB Stadium.(contracts )(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 20 Kyodo Softbank BB Corp. and Yahoo Japan Corp. said Monday they will let their naming rights for the home stadium of the Orix BlueWave professional baseball club expire at the end of March next year. The two companies...

Microsoft shifts to Trend Micro's antivirus tech from McAfee's.(Brief Article)
December 29, 2004... NEW YORK, Dec. 20 Kyodo Microsoft Corp. will use Japan's Trend Micro Inc.'s antivirus technology to protect its MSN Hotmail free e-mail service, displacing a previous arrangement with rival U.S. antivirus firm McAfee Inc., the...

KDDI, Matsushita to develop link between cellphone, TV services.(Brief Article)
December 29, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 21 Kyodo KDDI Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Tuesday they have agreed to develop a ubiquitous link between KDDI's ''au'' cellphone services and Matsushita's Internet services for digital TVs. New...

BizTrend: Camera makers out to boost sales of digital SRL models.
December 29, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 22 Kyodo Japanese camera makers are releasing new models of digital single-lens reflex cameras with classic styles at affordable prices in a bid to cope with the slowing sales of compact digital cameras. Digital cameras...

Bandai Visual joins Blu-ray camp.(Blu-ray Disc Association)(Brief Article)
December 29, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 22 Kyodo The Blu-ray Disc Association said Wednesday that Bandai Visual Co., known as a pioneer of animation software in Japan, has joined the group, which has been promoting the Blu-ray Disc as the format of next-generation...

Toshiba forms HD DVD Promotion Group.(Brief Article)
December 29, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 22 Kyodo (EDS: COMBINING WITH PREVIOUS STORY HEADLINED, ''BANDAI VISUAL JOINS BLU-RAY CAMP'') Toshiba Corp. and its partners formed a group Wednesday to promote their HD DVD format for next-generation DVDs in a bid to...

Square Enix sues publisher of unofficial 'Dragon Quest' book.(Brief Article)
December 29, 2004... TOKYO, Dec. 27 Kyodo Game software company Square Enix Co. has sued a publisher in Tokyo over its unofficial guide book on the popular computer game ''Dragon Quest VIII,'' claiming it violated the firm's trademark and preempted profits to...