Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from July 2002

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from July 2002

GE Consumer Credit fails to declare 1.6 bil. yen in income.
July 1, 2002... OSAKA, June 24 Kyodo GE Consumer Credit failed to declare 1.6 billion yen in income for two years through December 2000 and was required to pay an additional 500 million yen in taxes by the Osaka regional tax bureau, industry sources...

Dell PC price cuts may prompt reviews among other makers.
July 1, 2002... TOKYO, June 24 Kyodo Dell Computer K.K. lowered prices of its notebook computers for corporate users by an average of 10%, or up to 40,000 yen per unit, beginning Monday, and industry analysts said it will likely spur big Japanese...

Kyodo News to adopt extra-fast LAN system in new building.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... TOKYO, June 24 Kyodo Kyodo News will introduce a local area network (LAN) system with a top speed of 10 gigabits per second in its new headquarters under construction in Tokyo's Minato Ward, providers of the system said Monday. ...

Research center to launch database on monsters, ghosts.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... KYOTO, June 24 Kyodo (EDS: WEB SITE OF RESEARCH CENTER IS www.nichibun.ac.jp/youkaidb/) The International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto announced Monday it has established a database on Japanese monster and ghost...

IT investment at Japan firms to drop 0.3% in FY 2002.(according to Gartner Group)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... TOKYO, June 26 Kyodo Japanese firms plan to spend 0.3% less on average on information technology-related (IT) investment in fiscal 2002 than they did the year before, the Japanese unit of U.S. high-tech consulting firm Gartner Group Inc....

Percentage of Net-surfing Japanese households eclipses 50%.(according to Video Research Ltd.,)(Abstract)
July 1, 2002... TOKYO, June 26 Kyodo The percentage of Japanese households using the Internet through such devices as personal computers or Net-capable mobile phones has eclipsed 50% for the first time ever, a research company said Wednesday. Video...

Net vendor Rakuten to spin off online travel division in Aug.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 1 Kyodo Rakuten Inc., the operator of Japan's largest Internet shopping site Rakuten Ichiba, said Monday it will spin off its online travel service division into a separate firm as of Aug. 1. Two former executives of...

Domestic shipments of PlayStation 2 to top 10 mil. in July.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 1 Kyodo Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., a unit of Sony Corp., said Monday that domestic cumulative shipments of its popular home game console PlayStation 2 are expected to top 10 million units by the end of July. It...

Gov't paper calls for more sophisticated use of IT.
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 2 Kyodo Japan should aim to make more sophisticated use of information technology (IT) now that Internet access has become widespread, the government said in an annual white paper on information and telecommunications released...

Total PC shipments hit 1 bil. units, research firm says.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 2 Kyodo Global personal computer (PC) shipments likely topped the 1 billion mark in April, 25 years after the start of shipments in 1977, information and technology market research firm Gartner Japan Ltd. said Tuesday. ...

18.5% of households with Internet access use broadband.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 2 Kyodo Nearly 18.5% of households in Japan with Internet access used broadband services as of the end of February, a report released Tuesday by a publishing house showed. According to the report by Impress Corp., the...

Sony unit to buy Acuff-Rose song catalog for $157 mil.(Sony/ATV Music Publishing to buy Acuff-Rose Music Publishing)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... NEW YORK, July 2 Kyodo Sony/ATV Music Publishing will buy the oldest and one of the richest song catalogs in U.S. country music from Gaylord Entertainment Co. for $157 million, Gaylord Entertainment said Tuesday. Acuff-Rose Music...

Zion ties up with S. Korean firm on smart card.(Infotrust)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 3 Kyodo Zion Ltd., an Internet service consulting firm, said Wednesday it has made a comprehensive business tie-up with Infotrust Inc., a South Korean company that develops smart cards. Zion said in a news release it...

Ex-Microsoft exec gets suspended sentence for tax evasion.(Microsoft Co's Shinji Tokutake)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... NAGANO, Japan, July 3 Kyodo The Nagano District Court on Wednesday sentenced a former managing director of Microsoft Co., the Japanese subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. of the United States, to two years in prison suspended for three years...

Marubeni, allies develop 3D vision-based robot control system.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 3 Kyodo Trading house Marubeni Corp. said Wednesday it has developed with two business allies a robot control system capable of recognizing ''three-dimensional images'' of industrial parts to be picked up and assembled by...

IBM Japan to cut PC prices by average 15%.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 3 Kyodo (EDS: CLARIFYING, FIXING INFO IN 1ST, 2ND, 3RD PARAS) IBM Japan Ltd. plans to prices of its desktop personal computers (PCs) by an average 15% on July 10 due to lower component prices and the yen's recent...

'Sister Bomber' movie to be released via Yahoo!BB.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 4 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. said Thursday it will release a three-part movie ''Sister Bomber'' in August through its broadband Yahoo!BB Internet access service for 300 yen per story. The three stories will be released to...

Rocket maker to offer e-mail messages from space.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 4 Kyodo Rocket maker IHI Aero Space Co. will launch a new business allowing people to send e-mails to families and friends via the International Space Station on such occasions as birthdays and wedding anniversaries, company...

Sofmap to buy major retailer's software operations.(Yamagiwa)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 5 Kyodo Computer hardware and software retailer Sofmap Co. has agreed to buy the software sales operations of consumer electronics retailer Yamagiwa Corp., the two companies said Friday. Under the agreement, Sofmap will...

No. of virus damage in 6 months tops all of 2001.(Trend Micro report)(Industry Overview)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 5 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING SEPARATE REPORT BY METI) The number of reports of computer virus damage in Japan in the first six months of this year has already exceeded that for all of 2001 due partly to the increased use of the...

METI panel calls for steps to stem Net copyright piracy.(Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry )(Brief Article)
July 8, 2002... TOKYO, July 5 Kyodo The government should take measures to enable the country to do away with copyright piracy prevalent over the Internet, a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) study group said Friday. Terming the Internet...

74% of Internet beginners use broadband: survey.(Yahoo Japan Corp. survey)(Statistical Data Included)
July 15, 2002... TOKYO, July 8 Kyodo Nearly 74% of people who began using the Internet this year are doing so through broadband services, while only 22% of them are doing so through ordinary phone lines, Yahoo Japan Corp. said Monday after a survey it...

Photos of members leak from matchmaking Net site.
July 15, 2002... TOKYO, July 9 Kyodo A number of photos of members of a matchmaking Internet site have leaked, and the site operator said Tuesday it is investigating why and how it happened. Tokyo-based Kekkon Joho Center, the publisher of the...

IT services market to grow to 7.93 tril. yen by 2006.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 15 Kyodo The market for information technology (IT) services is expected to grow by an average 7.4% a year to 7.93 trillion yen by 2006, a high-tech research firm said Monday. The IT services market was worth 5.56...

New computer virus spreading fast in Japan.(subspecies of the virus Frethem on e-mail attachment)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 15 Kyodo Antivirus software firms said Monday a new computer virus, identified as a subspecies of the virus Frethem, is spreading rapidly in Japan and users should update their antivirus software. Trend Micro Inc., Network...

Oracle sees net profit dip 3.8% on year to May 31.(2002)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 16 Kyodo Oracle Corp. Japan, the Japan unit of Oracle Corp. of the United States, said Tuesday it incurred a 3.8% drop in parent-only net profit to 17.62 billion yen in the year to May 31. Unconsolidated pretax profit in...

Subscribers to Softbank Internet phone seen growing sharply.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 16 Kyodo Softbank Corp. President Masayoshi Son said Tuesday the number of subscribers to his group's Internet-based phone service has now topped 200,000 and may grow sharply. Son told reporters a ''domino effect'' may...

NEC to offer round-the-clock phone help for computer faults.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo NEC Corp. said Wednesday it will begin accepting telephone inquiries about malfunctions of its personal computers and peripheral equipment and repair requests 24 hours a day, every day, starting Thursday. At...

Sony, NEC cut some PC prices by 10,000 to 20,000 yen.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo Sony Corp. and NEC Corp. have cut the shipment prices of some of their personal computers (PCs) by amounts ranging from 10,000 yen to 20,000 yen, following the lead of other computer makers, company officials said...

Omron unveils cell phone-controlled gate system.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo Omron Corp. unveiled an automated entranceway system Wednesday that opens and closes by means of mobile phones or personal handy-phone systems (PHS). The new gate system has adopted Bluetooth wireless link...

Sanyo to sell software giving images 3-dimensional effect.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... OSAKA, July 17 Kyodo Sanyo Electric Software Co. said Wednesday it will put new personal computer software on the market in mid-August that will give a three-dimensional effect to images taken with a digital camera. The new software...

Net business via mobile phone grows to 225 bil. yen in 2001.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo The market in Japan for Internet content and trading via mobile phones totaled an estimated 225 billion yen in 2001, a senior official of NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday. Of the total, content business came to...

Hitachi begins marketing world's 1st liquid-cooled PC.(Hitachi Flora 270W Silent Model)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo Hitachi Ltd. said Wednesday it has begun marketing what it calls the world's first liquid-cooled notebook personal computer. The Flora 270W Silent Model circulates a liquid coolant through a series of tubes...

Hitachi unit hires 370 staff from Arthur Andersen.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo Hitachi Ltd. said Wednesday its information technology consulting unit in the United States, Experio Solutions Corp., has hired 23 partners and more than 350 consultants from major U.S. accounting firm Arthur...

Matsushita Electric Works to promote Internet access service.(service uses household power lines)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. said Wednesday it will promote an Internet access service using household power lines, hoping to chalk up 100 billion yen in sales from the business in 2005. The service uses...

Net application market to grow to 252 bil. yen in 2006.(application service providers)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 18 Kyodo Japan's Internet application service market is expected to grow to 252.5 billion yen in 2006, nearly seven times the 37.7 billion yen market size in 2001, information technology market research firm Gartner Japan...

FOCUS: Gov't to launch 'Big Brother' resident info network.
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 18 Kyodo The government will begin operating a computer network Aug. 5 to enable administrative agencies -- both central and local -- to exchange information on individuals, a system opposed by many who say it will violate...

Fujitsu to reduce staff for print board operations.(operations transferred to Vietnam)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 18 Kyodo Fujitsu Ltd. plans to reduce staff in Japan for print board operations in line with its plan to transfer production to Vietnam, company officials said Thursday. As early as the end of July, Fujitsu will offer...

Sumitomo Osaka Cement to disband Irish optical coupler unit.(Sumicem Opto-Electronics (Ireland) Ltd.)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 18 Kyodo Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co. said Thursday it has decided to disband its wholly owned Irish subsidiary that produces optical couplers for use in optical telecommunications products. Sumicem Opto-Electronics...

IIJ, PoweredCom confirm business integration talks.(Internet Initiative Japan and nine utilities consider business integration)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 18 Kyodo (EDS: ADDING COMMENTS) Internet access provider Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ) and PoweredCom Inc., a data-communications firm owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and nine other utilities, said...

Yahoo Japan adds image search function to auction site.(technology from Ricoh Co.)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 18 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp., operator of Japan's top Internet portal site Yahoo! Japan, said Thursday it has added a new technology to its auction site that allows users to search for images quickly on the Internet. It is...

Global PC shipments down 0.6% on yr in April-June.
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 19 Kyodo Worldwide shipments of personal computers (PCs) totaled 29.90 million units in the April-June quarter, down 0.6% from a year earlier, the Japanese unit of U.S. technology research firm Gartner Group Inc. said in a...

Fujitsu to stop sending executives to units.(top executive positions open to employees)(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 19 Kyodo Fujitsu Ltd. will abolish the practice of sending its board members to subsidiaries as president and executives and will start opening the top-ranking positions to employees at the units from the next fiscal year,...

Int'l meeting on Internet makes progress on IPv6.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 19 Kyodo A six-day international conference on the Internet ended Friday in Yokohama with significant progress toward an international standardization of Internet protocol version six (IPv6), a Japanese university professor...

Yahoo Japan posts 2.18 bil. yen in group net profit in 1st qtr.(Brief Article)
July 22, 2002... TOKYO, July 19 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. said Friday it posted a group net profit of 2.18 billion yen in the first quarter of fiscal 2002 ended June 30, up 96.2% from the parent-only net profit in the same period last year. The...

1st meeting on Asian broadband strategy held.
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 22 Kyodo Six Asian countries held a first meeting Monday in Tokyo to discuss enhancing broadband infrastructure in the Asian region, telecommunication ministry officials said. A total of 18 experts and business executives...

DoubleClick Japan to start new ad distribution service.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 23 Kyodo DoubleClick Japan Inc., an Internet-based advertising agency involved in marketing and ad distribution, said Tuesday it will offer a new service to distribute ads online more efficiently. The new service, which...

Hitachi, Nihon Unisys tie up in computer systems.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 23 Kyodo Hitachi Ltd. and Nihon Unisys Ltd. said Tuesday they have agreed to a tie-up in the business of offering computer systems for companies in the manufacturing and retail sectors. Hitachi will supply Nihon Unisys...

117 mil. households seen having broadband Web access in 2004.(eMarketer Inc. forecasts for broadband internet)
July 29, 2002... NEW YORK, July 23 Kyodo The number of households accessing the Internet via broadband lines will come to 117.63 million worldwide by the end of 2004, eMarketer Inc., a U.S. publisher of Internet and electronic business information,...

Hitachi eyeing mutual supply of PCs with Sharp.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 24 Kyodo Hitachi Ltd. is considering mutual supply of personal computers for businesses with Sharp Corp. on an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) basis, Hitachi officials said Wednesday. Hitachi may provide...

Amazon Japan ties up with Virgin Megastores in Net retailing.
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 24 Kyodo Amazon Japan K.K., the Japanese unit of U.S. online retailer Amazon.com Inc., will design and run an online Web site for major music software retailer Virgin Megastores Japan Ltd. by the end of September, its...

Defects found in some NEC, Fujitsu PCs.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 25 Kyodo NEC Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. are voluntarily repairing and exchanging parts upon request for some of their personal computers (PCs) with possible defects, officials of the two computer makers said late Wednesday. ...

5 firms develop new mobile commerce security standard.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 25 Kyodo Three Japanese and two foreign electronics firms announced Thursday the creation of a mobile commerce extension standard that will enable flash memory cards to be used for secure shopping and banking via mobile...

NEC posts operating loss, higher pretax profit for April-June.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 25 Kyodo High-tech giant NEC Corp. said Thursday it posted a group operating loss of 7.09 billion yen in the April-June quarter as sales fell 9.2% to 1,021.24 billion yen. But on a pretax basis, the company racked up a...

TTNet to form capital alliance with Mitsubishi Electric unit.(Tokyo Telecommunications Network)(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 25 Kyodo Tokyo Telecommunication Network Co. (TTNet) will form a capital and business alliance with Dream Train Internet Inc. (DTI) to bolster their respective Internet access services, the two companies said Thursday. ...

Sharp to produce, sell notebook-size PCs in China.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... OSAKA, July 25 Kyodo Consumer electronics maker Sharp Corp. said Thursday it will start producing mobile notebook-size personal computers in China this month and begin to sell them there in August. Sharp plans to make and sell...

Fujitsu stays in red with 56 bil. yen 1st qtr group net loss.
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 26 Kyodo Japan's largest computer manufacturer Fujitsu Ltd. said Friday it posted a group net loss of 56.43 billion yen in the April-June quarter due mainly to lower sales, particularly in communication equipment. Among...

Softbank to sell part of shareholdings in ETrade.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... TOKYO, July 26 Kyodo Internet investor Softbank Corp. said Friday its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary Softbank America Inc. will sell 15.4 million, or 4%, of shares it holds in E*Trade Group Inc., a major U.S. online brokerage house, for...

IEEE to name new medal after Japanese scholar.(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)(Brief Article)
July 29, 2002... SENDAI, July 26 Kyodo The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) of the United States will create a new medal named after Junichi Nishizawa, known as ''the father of Japanese microelectronics,'' according to the...