Japan Computer Industry Scan articles from November 2005

Japan Computer Industry Scan archives from November 2005

Softbank to sell stakes in Yahoo!'s operations in Europe, S. Korea.
November 7, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 7 Kyodo Softbank Corp. said Monday the Softbank group will sell its entire stakes in Yahoo! Inc.'s operations in Europe and South Korea to the U.S. Internet portal for a total of $500 million. The deal calls for SB...

Konami to become holding firm of group operations.
November 7, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 7 Kyodo Konami Corp., a leading maker of computer game software, said Monday it will streamline group operations by converting itself into a holding company on March 31 next year. The restructuring plan, subject to...

NTT DoCoMo joins hands with Tower Records in mobile payment services.
November 7, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 7 Kyodo NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Monday it has agreed with Tower Records Japan Inc. to form a capital and business alliance in a bid to expand the number of subscribers using its mobile phones equipped with e-money and credit...

NTT DoCoMo to introduce credit-payment service via mobile phone.
November 14, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 9 Kyodo NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Tuesday it will start Dec. 1 a credit-payment service using its mobile phones equipped with electronic-money functions. The service to be offered under the brand name ''iD'' will be...

Rakuten distributes Thai pop movies on website.
November 14, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 10 Kyodo Internet shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. said Thursday it has tied up with GMM Grammy PCL, the largest Thai music company, to distribute Thai pop movies on its downloading service. Under the service that...

Softbank's 1st-half revenues soar on Japan Telecom acquisition.
November 14, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 10 Kyodo Internet investor Softbank Corp. said Thursday its group operating revenues in the April-September period expanded 72.1 percent from a year earlier to 522.79 billion yen due primarily to its acquisition of Japan...

Mitsubishi unveils software to identify suspicious person.
November 14, 2005... NAGOYA, Nov. 10 Kyodo Mitsubishi Electric Corp. unveiled on Thursday personal computer software to effectively identify a suspicious person, through his or her pattern of activity, out of numerous images captured by surveillance cameras....

Yoshimoto Kogyo to invest in eAccess' cellphone unit.
November 14, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 11 Kyodo eAccess Ltd. said Thursday that entertainment firm Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. will invest in a mobile phone affiliate of the broadband service operator. eAccess, granted by the government earlier in the day a license...

Yahoo, Softbank may become 'white knight' for TBS.
November 14, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 11 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. and its parent Softbank Corp., two of Japan's major Internet firms, said Thursday they will consider becoming a ''white knight'' -- or friendly shareholder -- for Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., if...

Vodafone to start communication-line renting business next year.
November 21, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 17 Kyodo Mobile phone service operator Vodafone K.K. will launch a business next year renting out its communication lines to companies hoping to provide mobile phone services, President Bill Morrow said Wednesday. ...

Sony BMG recalling CDs with flawed copy-protection software.
November 21, 2005... NEW YORK, Nov. 16 Kyodo Sony BMG Music Entertainment announced Wednesday that it is recalling music compact discs equipped with hidden copy-protection software due to security risks. The XCP content-protection software might expose...

Sony, NEC to set up optical disk drive joint venture.
November 21, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 17 Kyodo Sony Corp. and NEC Corp. said Thursday they have reached a basic agreement on setting up a joint venture to produce optical disk drives. Sony will hold a 55 percent stake and NEC the remainder in the venture,...

Yahoo Japan eyeing tie-up with Seven-Eleven.
November 21, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 18 Kyodo Yahoo Japan Corp. said Friday it plans to conclude a comprehensive business tie-up with Seven-Eleven Japan Co. to make its Internet auction service friendlier to users by utilizing Japan's biggest chain of...

4,700 Wacoal customers' data leaked.
November 21, 2005... KYOTO, Nov. 19 Kyodo Information about 4,757 Wacoal Corp. customers, including their addresses, phone and credit card numbers, has been leaked from its online shopping server, the Kyoto-based underwear maker said Saturday. Of the 1,899...

Toshiba vows to stay ahead in flash memory chip market.
November 28, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 22 Kyodo Toshiba Corp said Tuesday it will continue to lead the pack in the flash memory chip market after Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. announced Monday they will form a flash memory venture. Toshiba, Japan's...

NEC to revamp group firms to rev up communication network businesses.
November 28, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 24 Kyodo NEC Corp. said Thursday it will reorganize its group companies to strengthen communication network businesses, including a plan to turn the publicly traded NEC Infrontia Corp. into a wholly owned subsidiary. ...

NEC enhances alliance with Stratus to develop fault-tolerant servers.
November 28, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 25 Kyodo NEC Corp. said Friday it has reached a deal with Stratus Technologies Inc. of the United States to enhance their alliance to develop fault-tolerant servers by late 2006. NEC will develop hardware for fault-tolerant...

TBS ready to confer with Rakuten on online program distribution.
November 28, 2005... TOKYO, Nov. 28 Kyodo Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. has decided to negotiate with major Internet shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. on a business tie-up in the form of online distribution of programs via Rakuten's portal site, sources...