Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from January 2003

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from January 2003

Matsushita, Toshiba begin prep for CRT business integration.(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... OSAKA, Jan. 6 Kyodo Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp. said Monday they have set up a joint company to prepare for the agreed consolidation of their cathode-ray tube (CRT) businesses. The new company in Takatsuki,...

LEAD: Hitachi completes purchase of IBM's HDD business.(hard disk drive)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 6 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING COMMENT BY HITACHI PRESIDENT) Hitachi Ltd. said Monday it has completed the purchase of the hard disk drive (HDD) business of U.S. computer maker International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and...

Matsushita, Toshiba begin prep for CRT business integration.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... OSAKA, Jan. 6 Kyodo Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp. said Monday they have set up a joint company to prepare for the agreed consolidation of their cathode-ray tube (CRT) businesses. The new company in Takatsuki,...

LEAD: Hitachi completes purchase of IBM's HDD business.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 6 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING COMMENT BY HITACHI PRESIDENT) Hitachi Ltd. said Monday it has completed the purchase of the hard disk drive (HDD) business of U.S. computer maker International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and...

LEAD: Nintendo to introduce folding Gameboy with light.(Nintendo Gameboy Advanced SP with illuminated monitor)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... OSAKA, Jan. 7 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING MORE INFO) Nintendo Co. said Tuesday it will introduce on Feb. 14 an easier-to-play folding Gameboy console with an illuminated monitor. The light in the Gameboy Advance SP enables users to play in...

Sony unveils business strategy for new Aiwa products.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 8 Kyodo Sony Corp. on Wednesday unveiled a business strategy for reinvigorating the business operations of Aiwa Co., which was made into a Sony division last December. The strategy calls for adopting a new logo for a...

Man ordered to stop sending unsolicited e-mail ads.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 9 Kyodo The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications has ordered a company executive in Tokyo to stop sending unsolicited e-mail advertisements under a new law on regulating spam mail,...

Sony to launch new generation Memory Stick cards March 21.(Sony Memory Stick PRO)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 10 Kyodo Sony Corp. said Friday it will launch a new memory card on March 21 featuring high-speed recording, large capacities and advanced security. The Memory Stick PRO, a new generation Memory Stick storage format, was...

No. of computer virus reports hits 2nd highest in 2002.(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 10 Kyodo The semigovernmental Information-technology Promotion Agency (IPA) received 20,352 computer virus reports in 2002, down slightly from 24,261 in 2001 but the second-highest on record, the IPA said Friday. Of the...

Trend Micro warns of new computer virus.(Lirva.C)(Brief Article)
January 13, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 10 Kyodo Antivirus software company Trend Micro Inc. warned Friday that a new computer virus called Lirva.C may spread in Japan. Arriving with e-mail or by other routes, the worm steals passwords and identifications and...

NEC, Fujitsu, Hitachi to develop grid computing software.(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 13 Kyodo NEC Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd. are considering joint development of software for grid computing, a system of integrating many computers to enable ultrahigh-speed computing functions, company sources told...

Microsoft unveils display providing remote access to PCs.(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo The Japanese unit of U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday unveiled its wireless Smart Display technology that enables remote access to personal computers (PCs). The touch-sensitive screen enables remote...

No. of subscribers to DSL services jumps 3.7-fold in 2002.(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo The number of subscribers to digital subscriber line (DSL) high-speed Internet access services came to 5,645,728 at the end of 2002, marking a 3.7-fold jump from the previous year, the telecom ministry said Tuesday....

Intel, NTT to jointly develop broadband routers.(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 15 Kyodo A Japanese unit of Intel Corp. of the United States has agreed with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) to jointly develop routers for broadband communications services for households, Intel K.K. said...

Sanyo Electric to expand production of organic EL displays.(electroluminescence )(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... OSAKA, Jan. 16 Kyodo Sanyo Electric Co. will spend 20 billion yen in fiscal 2003 to expand production of next-generation flat-panel displays, called organic electroluminescence (EL) displays, Sanyo President Yukinori Kuwano said Thursday....

Global PC market grows 2.7% to 132.35 mil. units in 2002.(Brief Article)
January 20, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 17 Kyodo Global personal computer (PC) shipments in 2002 expanded 2.7% to 132.35 million units, returning to positive growth from the previous year's 4.0% shrinkage, leading market research company Dataquest Inc. said Friday....

Yahoo Japan to launch service for creating Web pages.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 20 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp., the Japan unit of U.S. Internet portal Yahoo Inc., plans to launch a full-fledged service for creating Web pages for companies and municipalities, company officials said Monday. The new service...

Softbank proposes abolition of rivals' ADSL telecom formula.(NTT East Corp. demands retraction of the proposal)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 20 Kyodo The Softbank Corp. group has proposed to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that a type of telecommunication formula used for high-speed Internet access services offered by companies other than Softbank...

Softbank BB to absorb 4 telecom subsidiaries in March.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 22 Kyodo Internet investor Softbank Corp. said Wednesday its broadband business unit, Softbank BB Corp., will absorb four of its telecom service subsidiaries on March 10 to streamline the Softbank group's operations. The...

Sharp develops OS for IC card with 1MB flash memory.(Java Card OS for integrated circuit cards)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... OSAKA, Jan. 22 Kyodo Sharp Corp. said Wednesday it has developed a Java-based operating system (OS) for an integrated circuit (IC) card with a built-in 1 megabyte flash memory chip whose memory capacity is 125 times greater than a...

JVC to release 1st HD consumer digital video camera.(JVC GR-HD1 high-definition digital video camera)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 22 Kyodo Victor Co. of Japan Ltd. (JVC) said Wednesday it will release in Japan in early March the world's first consumer digital video camera to record and play back digital high-definition images. The GR-HD1...

Yahoo Japan reports record earnings for Oct.-Dec. qtr.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 22 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp., Japan's biggest Internet portal site operator, said Wednesday its group net profit surged 134% in the October-December quarter from a year earlier to a record 3.6 billion yen on brisk earnings from...

Hikki's live Net concert gets 1 mil. hits.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 23 Kyodo A live concert by pop star Hikaru ''Hikki'' Utada recently broadcast on the Internet free of charge drew about 1 million hits, apparently a record in Japan, officials of her record label Toshiba-EMI Ltd. said...

4 Japanese audio equipment makers to start music distribution.(Sony, Sharp, Pioneer and Kenwood )(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 23 Kyodo Four Japanese electronic and audio equipment makers said Thursday they will launch a joint venture on Feb. 1 to distribute music via broadband networks directly to purpose-built audio equipment. Sony Corp.,...

LEAD Fujitsu, Intel to develop Linux-based servers.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 24 Kyodo (EDS: RECASTING WITH COMPANIES' ANNOUNCEMENT) Fujitsu Ltd. and Intel Corp. of the United States announced Friday they have agreed to jointly develop low-cost, high-performance Linux-based servers. Intel...

Full experiments on IPv6 to begin.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 24 Kyodo A private-sector association promoting the use of the next-generation Internet protocol IPv6 said Friday it will begin full-scale experiments on the distribution of contents using the protocol. The IPv6 Promotion...

BNP Paribas Japan to quit online brokering for individuals.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 24 Kyodo BNP Paribas Securities (Japan) Ltd. will pull out of online stock brokerage services for individual customers in Japan at the end of March and transfer its customer accounts to kabu.com Securities Co., kabu.com...

Softbank Investment, ETrade begin merger talks.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 24 Kyodo (EDS: TO BE LED) Softbank Investment Corp. and E*Trade Japan K.K. said Friday they have entered into merger negotiations. The planned merger is intended to provide comprehensive, diversified financial...

LEAD: Mitsubishi Electric to end PC server production.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATING WITH MORE INFO) Mitsubishi Electric Corp. plans to outsource all production of its personal computer (PC) servers, company officials said Tuesday. Industry sources said Mitsubishi Electric...

NEC, Oki tie up to offer IP phone services to businesses.
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo NEC Corp. and Oki Electric Industry Co. said Tuesday they have agreed to tie up to promote Internet Protocol (IP) telephony among corporate clients in Japan. The deal calls for jointly building an IP telephony...

Microsoft Japan confirms 10 cases of 'SQL Slammer' infection.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo The ''SQL Slammer'' computer virus has been confirmed to enter only 10 computers in Japan, a far smaller magnitude of damage than in other countries, Microsoft Co. President Shinichi Ata said Tuesday. The Japan...

Taiwan firm to invest in Fujitsu's LCD unit in Japan.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2003... TOKYO, Jan. 28 Kyodo Fujitsu Ltd. said Tuesday that a Taiwan manufacturer of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), will shortly invest in the capital of its Kanagawa Prefecture-based subsidiary operating in the same...