Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from February 2005

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from February 2005

Itochu, Turner to launch animation production fund.(Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 2 Kyodo Itochu Corp. said Wednesday it will start a Japanese animation fund with Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific Inc. to produce programs for broadcast in Japan and the United States. The two companies have built up...

NTT DoCoMo introducing cheaper handsets for FOMA 3G services.(700i series)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 2 Kyodo NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday the largest Japanese mobile phone service provider will soon launch four cheaper handsets for FOMA-brand third-generation services. The new 700i series emphasizes style and ease of...

Kodak overtakes Sony in U.S. digital camera shipments.(Eastman Kodak Co.)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... NEW YORK, Feb. 3 Kyodo Eastman Kodak Co. overtook Sony Corp. in digital camera shipments in the United States in 2004, research firm International Digital Corp. said Wednesday. Kodak boosted digital camera shipments 66.0 percent from...

NTT DoCoMo launches lightest 3G FOMA mobile handset.(third generation)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 4 Kyodo NTT DoCoMo Inc. launched nationwide sales Friday of its new third-generation FOMA mobile phones weighing only 104 grams, the lightest among FOMA handsets, the company said. The phone, P901i 3G FOMA, sells for around...

Fujitsu to pull out of LCD panel production.(liquid crystal display)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 6 Kyodo Fujitsu Ltd. will withdraw from producing liquid crystal display panels by selling a subsidiary to Japan's largest LCD panel maker, Sharp Corp., industry sources said Sunday. Fujitsu will sell the unit, Fujitsu...

Nippon Shinpan-UFJ camp to adopt JCB software for credit operations.(Nippon Shinpan Company Ltd., JCB Company Ltd., UFJ Card Co.)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 7 Kyodo Nippon Shinpan Co. and UFJ Card Co. said Monday they have agreed with JCB Co. to adopt JCB's computer software for controlling some key functions of credit card operations, possibly by the end of fiscal 2008. The...

Fujitsu to sell chip, LCD production equipment business to ULVAC.(liquid crystal display)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 7 Kyodo Fujitsu Ltd. said Monday it has agreed to sell its wholly owned subsidiary Fujitsu VLSI's semiconductor and liquid crystal display production equipment business to ULVAC Inc., a maker of vacuum equipment and other...

IBM, Sony, Toshiba unveil chip with 10 times current PC performance.
February 14, 2005... NEW YORK, Feb. 7 Kyodo International Business Machines Corp., Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. unveiled on Monday their jointly developed microprocessor, codenamed ''Cell,'' which they say can deliver more than 10 times the performance of the...

Livedoor to move into publishing business.(Gentosha Renaissance )(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 10 Kyodo Publisher Gentosha Inc. said Thursday its subsidiary Gentosha Renaissance will set up a joint venture company with Livedoor Co. later this month, paving the way for the Internet service provider's entry into the...

Nokia, Microsoft sign digital media software deal.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... NEW YORK, Feb. 14 Kyodo Nokia Corp. of Finland announced Monday that the world's top cellphone maker and Microsoft Corp. of the United States have agreed to collaborate on digital media software that would enable consumers to enjoy...

Toho, Toei back Sony's 'Blu-ray' next-generation DVD format.(Toei Company Ltd., Toho Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 16 Kyodo Major Japanese filmmakers Toho Co. and Toei Co. will support the ''Blu-ray Disc'' technology developed by companies led by Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. as the next-generation DVD format, the...

Microsoft to offer new version of Internet Explorer.
February 22, 2005... NEW YORK, Feb. 15 Kyodo Microsoft Corp. is planning to offer a new version of Internet Explorer, the world's popular Internet browsing software, with new, built-in security features, Chairman Bill Gates said Tuesday. The global...

K-Opticom to provide Net connection service at speed of 1 Gbps.(Kansai Electric Power Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... OSAKA, Feb. 16 Kyodo Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Internet service subsidiary said Wednesday that in April it will offer on a trial basis a fiber-optic Internet connection service capable of transmitting information at a speed of 1 gigabit...

Softbank buys almost entire stake in C&W IDC.(Cable and Wireless IDC)(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 17 Kyodo Softbank Corp. said Thursday it has acquired almost the entire stake in Cable & Wireless IDC Inc. from its British parent Cable & Wireless PLC to strengthen its telecommunications business. Softbank spent 12.3...

Electronics firms launching PCs with anti-data theft functions.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 17 Kyodo Major electronics companies are promoting personal computers and other information equipment that are equipped with functions to prevent information leakage or theft. Hitachi Ltd. has started taking orders for PCs...

LEAD: Rakuten posts record sales on creation of pro baseball club.
February 22, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 17 Kyodo (EDS: RECASTING WITH MORE DATA) Internet shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Thursday its group revenue and pretax profit soared to record highs in the 2004 business year due to its high-profile decision to...

Popular robots deliver weather data to humans.(robot test at National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation)(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 18 Kyodo Sony Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and 16 other manufacturers on Friday tested robots' abilities to communicate information from the Internet to humans at the National Museum of Emerging Science and...

Yahoo Japan to start Web music download service.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 21 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. said Monday it will shortly start offering an Internet-based music download service on a fee basis. The service, known as ''Yahoo! Music Download,'' will enable subscribers of the ''Yahoo!...

Fujitsu gets order to quadruple capacity of submarine optical cables.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 21 Kyodo Fujitsu Ltd. said Monday it has won a contract from a global telecom consortium to quadruple the data transmission capacity for the world's longest submarine optical cable network linking Asia to the Middle East and...

ATTN KWS SUBSCRIBERS: photo advisory.
February 28, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 23 Kyodo A Scope feature story on ''Sound of Music,'' headlined, '''Sound of Music' opens at Vienna's Volksoper,'' and sent earlier is accompanied by one photo of lead character Sandra Pires (Maria Trapp) overlooking...

PC shipments in Japan rise 3.8% in 2004, up for 2nd straight year.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 23 Kyodo Shipments of personal computers in Japan grew 3.8 percent in 2004 from the previous year to 13.18 million units, expanding for the second straight year, information technology market research company Gartner Japan...

Apple Computer releases new iPod mini models.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... NEW YORK, Feb. 23 Kyodo Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday released a new series of the popular iPod mini digital music player with lower price tags and longer battery life. The new iPod mini series is available from $199 in the United...

Microsoft employs Sakaguchi to develop games for next Xbox.(Hironobu Sakaguchi apponted)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... NEW YORK, Feb. 24 Kyodo Microsoft Corp. said Thursday Japanese video game legend Hironobu Sakaguchi has joined Microsoft Game Studios to develop role-playing games exclusively for the next-generation Xbox machine. Sakaguchi, 42, is...

Baseball: Yahoo takes over naming rights to Fukuoka Dome.(Yahoo Japan Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... TOKYO, Feb. 25 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. said Friday the company has officially purchased the naming rights to the home stadium of the Softbank Hawks in Fukuoka, formerly known as the Fukuoka Dome. Yahoo signed the five-year, 2.5...