Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from June 2006

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from June 2006

Bridgestone develops thinnest electronic screen.
June 5, 2006... TOKYO, May 31 Kyodo Tire maker Bridgestone Corp. said Wednesday it has developed the thinnest electronic screen in the world. The ''electronic paper,'' with a thickness of only 0.29 millimeter, is expected to be applicable to e-books...

Microsoft to tie up with Toshiba, others in music distribution.
June 5, 2006... TOKYO, June 1 Kyodo Microsoft Corp. announced Wednesday it will tie up with Toshiba Corp., Victor Co. of Japan, NTT DoCoMo Inc. and five other Japanese companies to make a full-fledged entry into the music and video downloading service...

Nintendo's Wii console awarded top honors by video game critics.
June 5, 2006... LOS ANGELES, June 1 Kyodo Nintendo Co. received top honors Wednesday for its next generation Wii video game console at the 2006 Game Critics Awards. The Japanese game machine maker's highly anticipated system was crowned ''Best of...

Sony to launch 1st digital single-lens reflex camera in July.
June 12, 2006... TOKYO, June 6 Kyodo Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will introduce its first digital single-lens reflex camera in Japan on July 21, marking its entry into the high-end digital camera market. Sony said the 10.2-megapixel Alpha DSLR-A100...

KDDI outdoes NTT DoCoMo in net cellphone subscription growth.
June 12, 2006... TOKYO, June 7 Kyodo KDDI Corp. overtook NTT DoCoMo Inc. in net cellphone subscription contract growth number in May for the first time in six months, an industry body said Wednesday. KDDI's net rise -- the number of fresh...

Nintendo DS shipments hit 8.4 million units in 18 months.
June 12, 2006... TOKYO, June 7 Kyodo Nintendo Co. said Wednesday that shipments of its hand-held Nintendo DS game machine reached 8.4 million units as of the end of May since its launch 18 months ago, marking the fastest pace of shipment for a game...

Softbank to broadcast Nippon Ham Fighters games on Internet.
June 12, 2006... TOKYO, June 9 Kyodo Softbank Corp. said Friday its Yahoo Japan Corp. unit will next week begin to broadcast home games of the Nippon Ham Fighters on the Internet, increasing to four the number of professional baseball teams that can be...

Matsushita to liquidate German subsidiary for DVD recorders.
June 12, 2006... OSAKA, June 9 Kyodo Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the maker of Panasonic brand consumer electronic goods, said Friday it will liquidate a subsidiary in Germany that develops and produces DVD recorders for the European markets. ...

LEAD: Robot clerk offers shoppers guidance services in Oita.
June 12, 2006... OITA, Japan, June 10 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATING) Aeon Kyushu Co., a member of the Aeon Co. group, began test-using an ''enon'' multi-task robot capable of offering shoppers greetings and guidance at a store in Oita city, Oita Prefecture,...

FEATURE: ATTN KWS SUBSCRIBERS: photo advisory.
June 12, 2006... FUNABASHI, Japan, June 12 Kyodo A feature story on Ikea, headlined, ''Swedish furniture giant Ikea may expand home furnishing frontiers,'' and sent earlier, is accompanied by four photos, which are available via e-mail....

Namco Bandai announces tender offer for German toymaker Zapf.
June 19, 2006... TOKYO, June 13 Kyodo Namco Bandai Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it will launch a tender offer to acquire more than 75 percent in German toymaker Zapf Creation AG's outstanding shares via bourses in Frankfurt and elsewhere. Through the...

Microsoft mulls own service rivaling iPod: report.
June 19, 2006... NEW YORK, June 16 Kyodo Microsoft Corp. is preparing to launch its own digital music player and music service that would rival the iPod and the popular iTunes music service by Apple Computer Inc., the New York Post reported Friday. ...

Sony launches 7 Blu-ray Disc titles in U.S.
June 26, 2006... NEW YORK, June 20 Kyodo Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. launched the first slate of Blu-ray Disc titles Tuesday in the United States in a move that marks the start of rivalry with the high-definition DVD format to become the...

NEC considering selling Packard Bell.
June 26, 2006... TOKYO, June 21 Kyodo NEC Corp. is considering selling its wholly owned computer sales subsidiary Packard Bell BV, based in the Netherlands, company officials said Wednesday. NEC has received purchase offer, the officials said, while...

Matsushita to launch digital single-lens reflex camera in July.
June 26, 2006... TOKYO, June 21 Kyodo Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Wednesday it will launch its first-ever digital single-lens reflex camera in Japan on July 22. The Lumix L1, which Matsushita has developed in cooperation with camera maker...

Konami acquires U.S. firm to expand mobile entertainment services.
June 26, 2006... TOKYO, June 22 Kyodo Japanese game developer Konami Corp. said Thursday its U.S. unit Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. has concluded an agreement to purchase the primary assets of Blue Label Interactive Inc., a California-based mobile...

LEAD: Toshiba launching HD DVD recorder ahead of Blue-ray alliance.
June 26, 2006... TOKYO, June 22 Kyodo (ADDING INFO) Toshiba Corp. announced a July launch of a hard disk video recorder for the high-definition DVD format Thursday, and Sony Corp. said it is developing such a product for the rival next-generation...

2ND LD: Softbank's Son confident of outdoing rivals in mobile market.
June 26, 2006... TOKYO, June 23 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATING WITH COMMENTS BY SON) Softbank Corp. President Masayoshi Son on Friday expressed confidence that the Softbank group will outdo NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp. in Japan's mobile phone service market....

Japan's media content market tops 11 tril. yen in 2004.
June 26, 2006... TOKYO, June 23 Kyodo The value of Japan's market for information and entertainment content such as newspapers, television programs and video game software totaled 11.06 trillion yen in 2004, eclipsing 11 trillion yen for the first time,...