Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from January 2004

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from January 2004

Rakuten, Lawson tie up in ticket sales.(Rakuten Inc., Japan's largest Internet shopping mall operator, and convenience store operator Lawson Inc)
January 12, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 5 Kyodo Rakuten Inc., Japan's largest Internet shopping mall operator, and convenience store operator Lawson Inc. said Monday they have tied up in sales of tickets to concerts, movies and other kinds of entertainment. The...

Sony's Ohga joins U.S. consumer electronics hall of fame.(former Sony Corp. President and Chairman Norio Ohga and former Pioneer Corp. engineer Ken Kai were among the 2004 class of 11 inductees to the prestigious Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame)
January 12, 2004... NEW YORK, Jan. 6 Kyodo Former Sony Corp. President and Chairman Norio Ohga and former Pioneer Corp. engineer Ken Kai were among the 2004 class of 11 inductees to the prestigious Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame, the Consumer Electronics...

Sony unveils format enabling MDs to hold 45 hours of music.
January 12, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 8 Kyodo Sony Corp. said Thursday it has developed a mini-disk (MD) format that realizes a recording time of up to 45 hours of music on an MD. The development of what Sony calls the ''Hi-MD'' format marks ''an evolution...

Toshiba develops 0.85-inch HDD for small digital products.
January 12, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 8 Kyodo Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it has developed a 0.85-inch hard disk drive (HDD) which will bring multi-gigabyte capacities to small and powerful digital products. Toshiba expects to start sample shipments of the...

Oracle Japan posts 21.1% rise in net profit in 6 months to Nov.
January 12, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 9 Kyodo Oracle Corp. Japan said Friday its parent net profit rose 21.1% in the fiscal first half ended Nov. 30 from a year earlier to 7.36 billion yen thanks to increased sales of its mainstay database software. The...

Toshiba-Samsung optical-disk JV to become operational in April.(Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 13 Kyodo A planned optical-disk joint venture between Toshiba Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. will begin business operations on April 1, the Japanese and South Korean electronics companies said Tuesday. The joint...

Bandai to launch Doraemon speaking toy robot in March.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo Bandai Co., Japan's biggest toy maker, said Wednesday it will release in late March a talking toy robot based on its hugely famous cartoon cat Doraemon, a robotic feline from the future. Priced at 19,800 yen,...

LEAD: Sony to launch world's thinnest music player.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo (EDS: REWRITING THROUGHOUT) Sony Corp. said Wednesday it will launch what it claims to be the world's thinnest music player in April as part of a new product lineup called USB Audio to redefine its Aiwa brand. ...

Subscriptions to ADSL service in Japan top 10 mil. in Dec.(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 14 Kyodo Subscriptions to high-speed asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) Internet access service in Japan topped 10 million in December for the first time, the government said Wednesday. The number of ADSL...

LEAD: IBM Japan supplying software for Sony's appliances.
January 16, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 15 Kyodo (EDS: RECASTING THROUGHOUT BASED ON IBM JAPAN SPOKESMAN'S COMMENTS) IBM Japan Ltd. became a provider late last year of data-controlling software for digital home appliances for Sony Corp., an IBM Japan spokesman...

Global PC shipments grow 11.4% to record-high level in 2003.(according to International Data Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 16, 2004... NEW YORK, Jan. 15 Kyodo Worldwide shipments of personal computers (PCs) in 2003 rose 11.4% from the previous year to a record 152.6 million units, posting double-digit growth for the first time in three years, International Data Corp....

Yamaha to launch electronic organs connectable to Internet.( STAGEA)
January 16, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 15 Kyodo Yamaha Corp. said Thursday it will begin selling on March 20 electronic organs that can be connected to the Internet, becoming the first company in the world to add such functions to keyboard instruments for household...

Sony to offer mobile LCD TV.(Sony Airboard LF-X1 )(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 19 Kyodo Sony Corp. on Monday unveiled a product that brings television broadcasts and DVD images to a mobile device wherever a user is located. The Airboard LF-X1 consists of a base station and a 12.1-inch liquid crystal...

Sony Ericsson trims loss in 2003 as its handset shipments grow.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... LONDON, Jan. 19 Kyodo Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB substantially cut its net loss to 86 million euros (about $106 million) in 2003 from 241 million euros the previous year on a robust shipment growth, the Japanese-Swedish...

NEC to enter IC tag market.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 23 Kyodo NEC Corp. plans to enter the fast-growing market for integrated circuit (IC) tags, tiny electronic devices that can read and store product information and therefore better help manage distribution, company sources said...

Personal data leaked on Yahoo BB ADSL service.
January 26, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 23 Kyodo Softbank Corp. said Friday that personal information on 242 subscribers to its Yahoo BB asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) high-speed Internet access service has been leaked. The information includes names,...

Japan's shipments of toys to shrink 8.5% in yr to March 2004.(according to Yano Research Institute Ltd.)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 23 Kyodo Domestic shipments of toy products are forecast to fall 8.5% in the year to March 2004 to 926.3 billion yen due to slack sales of video game consoles, a private research institute said Friday. Yano Research...

Dentsu, DoubleClick Japan to form capital alliance.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 23 Kyodo Dentsu Inc. and DoubleClick Japan Inc. have agreed to form a capital and business alliance in which Dentsu will take a stake of about 1% in DoubleClick on Feb. 11, the two advertising agencies said Friday. Under...

Hitachi, German institute eye advanced digital security systems.( Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Telecooperation)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... TOKYO, Jan. 23 Kyodo Hitachi Ltd. said Friday it has agreed with a German technological institute to jointly study advanced digital verification systems for computer communication and electronic transactions based on Public Key...