Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from March 2006

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from March 2006

SMBC adopts Hitachi finger vein ID system ATMs at am/pm chain.
March 6, 2006... TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo Hitachi Ltd. said Friday its finger vein authentication technology has been adopted by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as the user identification system for automated teller machines installed in the am/pm Japan Co....

IP phone subscribers top 10 million at end of 2005.
March 6, 2006... TOKYO, March 3 Kyodo The number of subscribers to Internet protocol telephony services topped 10 million at the end of December due to lower phone rates, the spread of broadband telecommunications and technological advances that have...

New Hitachi robot navigates its way by taking images.
March 13, 2006... TOKYO, March 7 Kyodo Hitachi Ltd. said Tuesday it has developed a robot for indoor use that moves around obstacles by using a surveillance camera to take images. The company aims to market the robot, which can detect more objects...

TV firms to tie up with ad agencies for online program distribution.
March 13, 2006... TOKYO, March 9 Kyodo Five Tokyo-based television broadcasters and four advertisement agencies are planning to found a new company in April for online distribution of TV programs, industry sources said Thursday. In a bid to counter...

Softbank unit to offer comic monthly available via Internet.(Movida Entertainment Inc.)(Brief article)
March 13, 2006... TOKYO, March 9 Kyodo Movida Entertainment Inc., a Softbank group firm, said Thursday it will release beginning in April a monthly comic magazine for boys which will be also available on Internet and mobile phone sites. The magazine...

Usen to start offering free video content service for mobile users.
March 20, 2006... TOKYO, March 14 Kyodo Usen Corp. said Tuesday it will start offering mobile phone users the ''Mobile Gyao'' free video content service on March 27 on a trial basis, including short movies, fortune-telling programs, video clips featuring...

Unisys Corp. to sell all shares in Nihon Unisys.
March 20, 2006... TOKYO, March 15 Kyodo U.S. information systems firm Unisys Corp. said Tuesday it plans to sell all the shares it owns in Nihon Unisys Ltd. Unisys Corp., which owns 27.84 percent of outstanding shares in Nihon Unisys, said in a...

Sony to delay PlayStation 3 launch till early November.
March 20, 2006... TOKYO, March 15 Kyodo Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Wednesday it will put off the launch of its PlayStation 3 by about six months until early November due to a delay in finalizing specifications for a key part of the new video...

Key TV firms, ad agents to start online video distribution.
March 20, 2006... TOKYO, March 15 Kyodo Japan's leading television broadcasters and advertising agencies said Wednesday they will jointly set up a company, possibly April 3, to start video distribution via the Internet. The new company, based in...

Sony Electronics to start selling Blu-ray Disc player in July.
March 20, 2006... NEW YORK, March 16 Kyodo Sony Electronics Inc. said Thursday it will begin selling its first player of the Blu-ray Disc, capable of storing a large quantity of moving images, in North America in July for $1,000 per unit. The Blu-ray...

Usen President Uno resigns as outside director of Rakuten.(Yasuhide Uno)(Brief article)
March 20, 2006... TOKYO, March 20 Kyodo Cable broadcaster Usen Corp.'s President Yasuhide Uno resigned as outside director of Internet shopping mall Rakuten Inc. on Monday after purchasing a major equity stake in the Internet company Livedoor Co., Rakuten...

NTT DoCoMo to buy Guam Cellular, Guam Wireless.
March 20, 2006... TOKYO, March 20 Kyodo NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Monday it will acquire two Guam-based mobile phone operators, Guam Cellular & Paging Inc. and Guam Wireless Telephone Co., for a total of $71.8 million, or about 8.3 billion yen, in an attempt...

Yahoo Japan Net shopping firm data leaked onto Internet.(Brief article)
March 27, 2006... TOKYO, March 21 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. said Monday that 3,169 pieces of data were leaked onto the Internet via the Winny file-sharing software from a computer owned by an employee at a company to which the Internet portal entrusts...

Microsoft poised to enter handheld market: report.
March 27, 2006... NEW YORK, March 20 Kyodo Microsoft Corp. is designing a product that combines games, music and video in one handheld device in a bid to break into the handheld entertainment gadgets market, the San Jose Mercury News reported Monday,...

CORRECTED: Microsoft delays launch of Windows Vista.
March 27, 2006... NEW YORK, March 21 Kyodo Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it will delay the launch of its Windows Vista advanced computer operating system for general consumers to January 2007, a setback for the U.S. software giant in the race for market...

Sony to offer game downloading for PlayStation 3 users.
March 27, 2006... SAN JOSE, California, March 22 Kyodo Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will launch a new online service that will let PlayStation 3 users download as much game software as they want once they pay a small contract fee, an SCE executive...

Personal data leaked about Yahoo website shoppers.
March 27, 2006... TOKYO, March 24 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. said Friday personal data on 8,223 deals for a wine-selling firm on its shopping website have been leaked through the Winny file-sharing program on a virus-infected personal computer of the firm....

Yahoo Japan to buy Toshiba's online news firm for 1.3 bil. yen.
March 27, 2006... TOKYO, March 24 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. said Friday it will turn NewsWatch Inc. into its subsidiary by acquiring a 69 percent equity stake in the online news company from its parent Toshiba Corp. for 1.32 billion yen. Yahoo Japan...

KDDI to add 3-D image service to 'EZ Navi Walk' system.(Brief article)
March 27, 2006... TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo KDDI Corp. said Monday it will offer three-dimensional images for the ''EZ Navi Walk'' navigation service of its ''au'' mobile phone service, starting in late April. The new service will offer 3-D images of...

Japan eyes practical use of ultra wideband wireless system in fall.
March 27, 2006... TOKYO, March 27 Kyodo The communications ministry said Monday it will put into practical use this fall the ultra wideband wireless system that enables indoor data transmission at five times the speed of the fiber-optic communication...