Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from March 2003

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from March 2003

IBM Japan net profit down for 3rd straight year.(Dec 31, 2002)
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, Feb. 24 Kyodo IBM Japan Ltd. said Monday its group net profit for the year to Dec. 31 fell 10.4% from the previous year to 95 billion yen, down for the third consecutive year. Group sales declined 7.3% to 1,583.4 billion yen...

LEAD: Toho to buy Virgin Cinemas Japan.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, Feb. 25 Kyodo (EDS: UPDATING FOLLOWING PRESS CONFERENCE) Major movie distributor Toho Co. said Tuesday it will convert Virgin Cinemas Co., a Tokyo-based operator of cinema complexes, into a wholly owned subsidiary. Toho...

Taiwan firm unveils video server to send 4 images together.(ST&T Electric Corp's Web Camera Server )(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, Feb. 26 Kyodo A Taiwan-based information technology venture business unveiled an inexpensive video server Wednesday that can simultaneously send four different kinds of moving images over the Internet. ST&T Electric Corp....

Domestic PC shipments down 10.4% in 2002 in 2nd yearly fall.(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, Feb. 27 Kyodo Shipments of personal computers in Japan came to 11.53 million units in 2002, down 10.4% from 2001 for the second straight yearly fall, as the economic slump led companies to curb capital investment, Gartner Japan...

Columbia Music to release high-quality music DVDs.(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, Feb. 27 Kyodo Columbia Music Entertainment Inc. said Thursday it will release high-quality music software on DVDs with static images in late March. With static images requiring less disk space than moving images, DVDs reproduce...

New software lets animated characters dance with emotion.(Open Interface's GROOVE SENSATION and feelpopbox)(Brief Article)
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, Feb. 27 Kyodo Software developer Open Interface Inc. said Thursday it has devised software that can make an animated character dance on a computer screen while expressing 22 different emotions depending on the tone and rhythm of...

Japan's broadband contracts reach 8 mil. at end of Jan.(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, Feb. 28 Kyodo Japan's Internet access providers had a combined 8.34 million broadband contracts as of the end of January, up about 540,000 from the end of December, the telecom ministry said Friday in a preliminary report. ...

4 major Internet access providers launch IP phone services.
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, March 1 Kyodo Four major Internet access providers in Japan launched Internet protocol (IP) phone services Saturday, enabling subscribers to make calls to each other free of charge. The four companies are Nifty Corp., NTT...

This is a test message.
March 3, 2003... TOKYO, March 2 Kyodo This is a test message. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Ryr rur uur ru ru ru ru ru ur ur uru ru ru r uru r uru r ur u.

LEAD: Yahoo Japan eyes shifting to TSE from Jasdaq.(Tokyo Stock Exchange )(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp., listed on the Jasdaq over-the-counter market, is considering moving to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as June after parent Softbank Corp. unloads part of its holdings in...

Sega denies reported buyout move involving Microsoft.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo Sega Corp. on Monday dismissed a report that Microsoft Corp. and another U.S. company, Electronic Arts Inc., are considering the acquisition of the Japanese video game software developer. Sega, which is in talks...

CORRECTED: Sega denies reported buyout move involving Microsoft.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo Sega Corp. on Monday dismissed a report that Microsoft Corp. and another U.S. company, Electronic Arts Inc., are considering the acquisition of the Japanese video game software developer. Sega, which is in talks...

Sanyo Electric begins shipments of organic EL displays.(electroluminescence)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... OSAKA, March 3 Kyodo Sanyo Electric Co. said Monday it has begun commercial shipments of next-generation flat-panel displays, called organic electroluminescence (EL) displays. The new product is manufactured by SK Display Corp., a...

Sony unveils 'Blu-ray Disc' optical disk recorder-player.(codenamed ''BDZ-S77'' )
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo Sony Corp. said Monday it will start marketing on April 10 an ultra-large-memory ''Blu-ray Disc'' video recorder-player combining optical disk and blue laser technologies. The Blu-ray Disc, an optical disk-based...

70 firms set up consortium on 3D technology development.(3D Consortium)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 4 Kyodo A group of 70 companies, including Sharp Corp. and Sony Corp., said Tuesday they have set up a consortium to jointly develop technologies designed to show three-dimensional (3D) images. The group, called the 3D...

Sammy to up dividend on likely record-high sales, profits.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 4 Kyodo Sammy Corp., a maker of ''pachinko'' pinball game machines fitted with a slot machine mechanism, said Tuesday it will boost its dividend for the 2002 business year to 70 yen per share, up 20 yen from the previous...

Matsushita unveils chips for 5-GHz LAN video transfer.(Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 5 Kyodo Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Wednesday it has developed a set of chip products designed for 5-gigahertz wireless local area network (LAN) transmissions of visual images for the first time in the world....

Web service firms oppose bill to curb online matchmaking sites.
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 5 Kyodo The industry bodies grouping Internet service providers (ISPs) and other Net businesses are resisting a proposed bill to curb online matchmaking sites linked to teenage prostitution. The Telecom Services...

Softbank Investment, ETrade Japan to merge June 2.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 7 Kyodo Softbank Investment Corp., a key unit of the Softbank Corp. group., and E*Trade Japan K.K., another Softbank unit, said Friday they will merge June 2 to provide a wide range of financial services, cut costs and hike...

Softbank America to cut equity holding in UTStarcom.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 10 Kyodo Softbank Corp. said Monday its wholly owned subsidiary, Softbank America Inc., has agreed to sell part of its holding in the U.S. network access equipment maker UTStarcom Inc. Softbank said Delaware-based...

Softbank to sell Yahoo Japan shares for 55.2 bil. yen.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2003... TOKYO, March 10 Kyodo Softbank Corp. said Monday that it and subsidiary Softbank BB Corp. will sell a combined 40,000 shares in Yahoo Japan Corp. for 55.2 billion yen. As a result of the share sale, which will be conducted in...

NEC to integrate operations into 9 business divisions.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... TOKYO, March 11 Kyodo NEC Corp. said Tuesday it will dissolve its two in-house companies and integrate their operations into nine business divisions to better cope with growing interaction between the computer and telecommunications...

Global handset sales up 6% in 2002: Gartner.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... TOKYO, March 11 Kyodo Cell phone makers around the world sold a combined 423.42 million handsets in 2002, up 6.0% from 2001, with four of the top five makers expanding market shares, information technology business research firm...

NTT East, West to begin IP phone service.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... TOKYO, March 11 Kyodo NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. said Tuesday they will launch cut-price Internet protocol (IP) telephony services on March 19 using their fiber optics networks and asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL)...

Fujitsu to market remote-controlled household guard robot.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... TOKYO, March 13 Kyodo Fujitsu Ltd. and subsidiary PFU Ltd. said Thursday they will put on the market on Friday a household sentry robot that can alert owners to an intrusion by phoning them. The 32-centimeter-tall Maron-1 is equipped...

Sony to transfer PlayStation 2 production to China.(Brief Article)
March 17, 2003... TOKYO, March 14 Kyodo Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. plans to transfer all production of its popular PlayStation 2 game consoles, except some semiconductor parts, to China during fiscal 2003, company sources said Friday. While...

IBM Japan to cut price of mainframe computers 50%: paper.(Brief Article)
March 25, 2003... TOKYO, March 19 Kyodo IBM Japan Ltd. will market mainframe computers targeting corporate clients at roughly half the price of existing ones and also release low-priced personal computers (PCs) by the end of month, the Nihon Keizai...

Softbank BB, 4 other firms to receive tax breaks for merger.(Brief Article)
March 25, 2003... TOKYO, March 20 Kyodo The telecommunications ministry said Thursday it has authorized a business plan jointly submitted by Softbank BB Corp. and four other broadband Internet access service providers under the special law for industrial...

Weak demand for PCs causes 0.8% fall in Feb. appliance sales.(Nippon Electric Big-Stores Association' report )(Brief Article)
March 25, 2003... TOKYO, March 25 Kyodo Sales of home electrical appliances at big retailers in Japan totaled 171.5 billion yen in February, down 0.8% from a year earlier for the sixth consecutive monthly fall, reflecting weak demand for personal computers...

Weak demand for PCs causes 0.8% fall in Feb. appliance sales.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... TOKYO, March 25 Kyodo Sales of home electrical appliances at big retailers in Japan totaled 171.5 billion yen in February, down 0.8% from a year earlier for the sixth consecutive monthly fall, reflecting weak demand for personal computers...

Sumitomo, Allied integrate functional component business.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... TOKYO, March 26 Kyodo Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. and its subsidiary Allied Material Corp. said Wednesday they will integrate their functional component businesses in October to overcome the difficult business climate in the market....

TEPCO to liquidate SpeedNet after integration.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... TOKYO, March 26 Kyodo Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said Wednesday it will liquidate SpeedNet Inc., a unit offering high-speed Internet access services, after integrating its business with the parent firm on June 1. SpeedNet,...

NEC to double number of Linux engineers to 2,000.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... TOKYO, March 26 Kyodo NEC Corp. said Wednesday it will increase the number of engineers familiar with the Linux open-source computer operating system and related technologies from the current 1,000 to 2,000 during fiscal 2003. NEC...

NTT DoCoMo develops wristwatch-style PHS mobile phone.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... TOKYO, March 26 Kyodo Japan's mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday it has developed a wristwatch-style personal handy-phone system (PHS) mobile phone, and that the company will market it on the Internet, possibly in April....

Trend Micro to begin service to filter harmful Web sites.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo Antivirus software company Trend Micro Inc. said Thursday it will begin a service via major Internet providers to filter harmful Web sites from this spring. Trend Micro said it judged there will be a demand for...

Walt Disney, NTT tie up for broadband service.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo Computer game software house D Wonderland Inc. said Thursday it has tied up with the Japanese unit of Walt Disney Co. of the United States and the regional phone units of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) to...

NTT DoCoMo to release GPS-equipped mobile phones in April.(Brief Article)
March 31, 2003... TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Thursday it will release a new mobile phone handset equipped with global positioning system (GPS) functions in late April. The new handset, Mova F661i, produced by Fujitsu Ltd., is expected...