| Mar 15 | 'Therapeutic ringtones' for mobile phones create a buzz in Japan (Times Online) |
 "Well . . . I can definitely feel a bit of adrenalin," says Yukari Sendo, savouring the mobile phone ringtone like a fine wine, "but it really doesn't make me want to do any housework."
She flicks through a menu of alternative tunes and settles on one that offers to improve her skin tone through the power of alpha-waves.
Ms Sendo and her friend Ayaka Wakabayashi are among an army of young Japanese drawn to the allure of "therapeutic ringtones" - a genre of melodies that promises to ease a range of day-to-day gripes, from chronic insomnia to a rotten hangover.
Japan is no stranger to bizarre phone fads but the popularity of the ringtones is perhaps surprising given the flimsiness of the science behind them.
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| Mar 14 | After Sony, Samsung and Panasonic Get Ready For The 3D Battle (sevensidedcube.net) |
 Last week, Sony Corp. unveiled the latest in technology by introducing the 3-D Television in Tokyo. Even though it launched the product in Japan, the company plans to introduce the product in America somewhere in June while Samsung and Panasonic plan to gear up and start selling 3D sets this month. Samsung 3D and Panasonic 3D are here to rock your home cinema.
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| Mar 12 | Sony unveils motion-sensing game control kit (Japan Times) |
| Sony has a new message for Nintendo Wii gamers: Come join us. The maker of the PlayStation 3 unveiled on Thursday its highly anticipated motion-based controller system, as it takes aim at Nintendo's dominance in gaming. With PlayStation Move, Sony hopes to lure gamers who have outgrown Nintendo, which launched the Wii in 2006 and became the first to introduce motion-detecting controllers. |
| Mar 11 | Sony 3D glasses to cost $133 in Japan (afterdawn.com) |
 Gizmodo is reporting today that Sony Japan has announced the release of standalone shutter glasses that can be used alongside the company's upcoming 3D-supporting HDTVs.
Roughly converted from yen, the Sony TDG-BR100 and TDG-BR50 active shutter glasses will cost $133 each, with a June release date. The infrared emitter necessary to drive the glasses will cost $55 extra.
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| Mar 11 | Japanese 'mosquito' reveals your date's real age (weirdasianews.com) |
 Japan is famous for producing tiny electronic devices with, shall we say, unique purposes. In the past, we've seen devices for helping women understand the minds of men and making sure you take the right amount of bites when eating. Now, the latest electronic novelty making headlines in Japan promises to help you tell if your date is telling the truth about their age. The concept is simple. As people age, their hearing tends to diminish. One of the first signs of age-related hearing loss is the inability to hear very high pitched noises.
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| Mar 10 | In Japan, getting a tattoo means you can never go home (Kotaku) |
 At last night's launch event for Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada showed up with a Fal'cie symbol from the game tattooed on his hand. He tweeted that he "probably" would not be able to return to Japan.
Wada, of course, was being lighthearted. The tattoo, of course, is fake. It appears in the game, and this is a publicity stunt. It is worth noting that there has been a bizarre thread of sorts in which game execs have gotten game titles tattooed on their bodies. Actually, it's not really that big of a trend. As far as Kotaku can tell, Wada is the second to do this. The first is former Microsoft exec Peter Moore who apparently got Halo 2 and its release date tattooed on his arm.
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| Mar 10 | Onkyo's computer stands in for TV; Thanko aids shy phone users (Japan Times) |
| Onkyo opts for a very different form of computer in the shape of its new DE411. Apart from being an all-in-one design, the DE411 also nixes a high-powered processor in favor of the low-powered, 1.6-gigahertz Atom 330 chip, one of those that netbooks favor. It compensates somewhat for the lack of computing muscle with a Nvidia ION chip set. In line with its all-in-one brethren the Onkyo product would look at home in a lounge room, with a digital TV tuner to help in the process and a simple stand at the back to prop it up to a watchable angle. |
| Mar 09 | Sony to Begin Worldwide 3D TV Launch in June (PC World) |
 Sony will begin selling 3D TVs in Japan on June 10 and worldwide at about the same time, it said Tuesday. A firmware upgrade to its PlayStation 3 console that adds 3D support and other 3D-compatible home electronics products will also be available to coincide with the television launch.
Sony's first two sets, which are 40- and 46-inch models, will come bundled with two pairs of 3D glasses and will cost ¥290,000 (US$3,215) and ¥350,000 respectively. In July it will launch six further sets: 52- and 60-inch models that come with 3D glasses and four "3D-ready" models that have 3D circuitry inside the set but require the purchase of glasses and an infrared transmitter.
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| Mar 09 | More about going wireless on the move (Japan Times) |
| In reply to a computer user seeking advice on "Going wireless on the move" (Lifelines, Jan. 5), M.H. wonders why Bic Camera ( www.biccamera.com ) and Emobile ( www.emobile.jp/en ) were mentioned, but not UQ WiMAX ( www.uqwimax.jp/service/trywimax/ ). UQ WiMAX has two payment plans: a flat rate of about ¥4,500 a month and a "per packet" rate with a ¥380-minimum, ¥4,900-maximum monthly fee. |
| Mar 08 | Digital camera makers focus on single-lens models (Yomiuri) |
| While the digital camera market remains sluggish due to the lingering economic recession, small and lightweight single-lens cameras are selling increasingly well. Though expensive compared to their compact counterparts, these single-lens digital cameras with good image quality and portability are growing popular, especially among women. |
| Mar 08 | Panasonic to tie up with Best Buy on sale of 3-D TVs in U.S. (MarketWatch) |
| Panasonic Corp. plans to join hands with leading U.S. electronics retailer Best Buy Co. on the sale of televisions capable of projecting three-dimensional images, company sources said Sunday, according to Kyodo News. With the tie-up, the Japanese appliance manufacturer, which is set to put on sale a 3-D TV in the U.S. market next Wednesday ahead of its launch in Japan, wants to beat competitors such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., they said. |
| Mar 06 | Apple: iPad to go on sale April 3 (UPI) |
 The much-anticipated iPad tablet will go on sale April 3, Apple announced.
The more expensive 3G wireless version won't be available until late April, the company said Friday.
Apple said all models of the iPad tablet will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in late April.
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| Mar 06 | Firms plug into solar power generation (Yomiuri) |
| Major electric appliance manufacturers are pouring resources into improved solar power generator lineups and production capacity. The companies displayed their latest products at PV Expo 2010, a three-day trade show of solar power generation products that ran through Friday in Tokyo's Ariake district. In addition to the resumption last year of state subsidies for home owners who buy solar generators, a system has begun obliging electric power companies to purchase surplus electricity generated by the equipment at double the previous price. |
| Mar 06 | 22 kg of gold, 79 kg of silver 'mined' from cell phones (Yomiuri) |
| A total of 22 kilograms of gold, worth about 70 million yen, was recovered from used cell phones that had been collected in a campaign by the government, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry announced Friday. About 567,000 used cell phones were collected during the campaign, which started in November in an effort to recycle precious and rare metals used in mobile phones. In addition to gold, 79 kilograms of silver, 5,670 kilograms of copper and two kilograms of palladium were recovered, the ministry said. |
| Mar 04 | Illegal Net access jumps to record high in 2009 (AP) |
| Police uncovered and took action in a record number of cases of unauthorized access to Internet sites in 2009, a National Police Agency survey showed Thursday. The number of cases in which illegal Net access was recognized by police surged 22.1 percent from the previous year to 2,795 in 2009, the highest since the agency began compiling data in 2000. The number of cases in which arrests and other police actions were taken jumped 45.6 percent to 2,534, also the highest, the agency said. The figure jumped more than nine times from 2005 and 84.7 percent of the cases involved fraud using Net auction sites. |
| Mar 04 | PlayStation 3 leap-year bug fixed (Asahi) |
| Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said a leap-year bug in its flagship PlayStation 3 console that locked out countless gamers on Monday and Tuesday is no longer causing disruptions. All models of the console except the latest slimline version were affected by a software glitch that incorrectly treated 2010 as a leap year. March 1 did not register because the machines "read" Monday as Feb. 29. |
| Mar 03 | Rumor: Japanese game programmers report low salaries (gamers.com) |
| It would be, like, totally glamorous and exciting to be a programmer for a game company in Japan, right? Maybe not so much. According to anonymous responders on Japanese super-forum 2ch, salaries for game programmers are far below what you'd expect for a tech job in one of the most expensive countries in the world to live in. "¥130,000 for 256 hours of work a month," one poster reports. |
| Mar 02 | Fujitsu builds nation's fastest supercomputer (Yomiuri) |
| Fujitsu Ltd. has developed the country's fastest supercomputer for the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, it has been learned. The supercomputer, which began operating at the agency on Monday, can perform 186 trillion calculations per second, making it the 19th-fastest supercomputer in the world. The previous national record holder was the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology's Earth Simulator, which was capable of performing 122 trillion calculations per second and ranked 31st in the world. |
| Mar 01 | Digital camera firms struggling to stand out (Yomiuri) |
Taking crystal-clear photos is no longer enough to stand out from the pack in a crowded digital camera market.
With the spring selling season just around the corner, manufacturers have been adding new functions to their cameras to win over customers and, they hope, put a brake on sliding prices.
Fierce competition pushed manufacturers to improve photo sharpness and clarity to the point where it is now common even for compact models to take photographs with resolutions of up to 10 megapixels.
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| Feb 26 | Tokyo Game Show 2010 to be held Sept. 16-19 (AP) |
The Tokyo Game Show 2010 will be held from Sept. 16 to 19 at the Makuhari Messe convention center on the outskirts of Tokyo, with an eye to drawing a larger crowd from Asia, the organizer of the world's key video game software and hardware expo said Friday.
The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association said this year's expo, which marks its 20th anniversary, aims to lure more visitors from Asia by creating the first business forum that will gather Asian gaming industry experts and businessmen to discuss the future of the game market in the region.
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| Feb 26 | Youths driving demand for mobile phone videos (Japan Times) |
 Cell phone videos are growing in popularity, especially among young people enthralled with the convenience of being able to indulge in a moment of spontaneous fun. Driving the medium's appeal are improvements in throughput and screen size, as well as unique software that service providers are cooking up to attract more customers.
One man said the videos are a great way to kill time.
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| Feb 25 | Appliance sets diversify (Yomiuri) |
| Every year supermarkets and other retail outlets offer special discounted sets of home electrical appliances aimed at people who will begin living by themselves from April--the start of the new academic and fiscal year. This year, however, is seeing a wider variety of such sets as many people are tightening their belts because of the ongoing recession and plan to buy only the minimum number of items they need. Sets are available at such outlets as major home appliance retail stores and some supermarket chains. The items most sought by people living by themselves are, in order of priority, refrigerators, washing machines, microwaves and rice cookers. |
| Feb 24 | Global demand for recordable Blu-ray discs to expand 7-fold in 3 yrs (AP) |
| Global demand for recordable Blu-ray discs, known as next- generation DVDs, is expected to expand sevenfold from fiscal 2009 to 310 million discs in fiscal 2012 as more people use recorders and personal computers compatible with these discs, an industry body said Wednesday. In Japan alone, demand for Blu-ray discs for recording television programs and other data is projected to exceed 200 million discs in fiscal 2012 to March 2013, said the Japan Recording-Media Industries Association. |
| Feb 24 | Retro-looking dongle ups the sound; Sony slims down new Vaio (Japan Times) |
 The word "retro" is inadequate to describe the appearance of the X-Tube AS301DTS. The USB dongle looks like a refugee from a museum. The gadget is intended to provide a decent impression of DTS surround sound on laptop computers. Using a VIA VT1610 chip set, the dongle plugs into a USB port and delivers a simulated five-speaker surround-sound system through any pair of stereo headphones plugged into it.
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| Feb 23 | English-Learning Game Co. Moonshot Seeks 'Sonic' Success (Wall Street Journal) |
 How's this for a start-up pitch to venture investors: The executive team helped introduce the world to a blue, anthropomorphic hedgehog with the ability to run faster than the speed of sound. And that hedgehog has sold more than 70 million video games. That's the story behind Moonshoot Inc., a newly funded start-up that plans to teach English to children through an online video game. The Moonshoot site, which will first launch in Japan before expanding to other countries, is a virtual world-type experience that takes place on different floating islands in the sky.
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| Feb 23 | Mitsubishi Unveils 19.2-inch TFT LCD Module (i4u.com) |
| Mitsubishi Electric builds all sorts of products and the company has announced a new 19.2-inch TFT-LCD module that it will be selling internationally. The screen is backlit by white LEDs and is set to ship starting on April 1 in Asia. The cost of the screen in Japan will be 80,000 yen. Mitsubishi uses an aspect ratio of 16:3 is strange. The screen measures 496.5mm (W) x 109.2mm (H) and has a native resolution of 1920 x 360. |
| Feb 21 | Publishing industry enters new era as 'e-books' come of age (Mainichi) |
| For some people, "e-books" probably bring to mind the cell phone novels that enjoyed explosive popularity in the past. In reality, since about five years ago, general novels and business-related books have slowly been made into e-books. With the exception of manga, however, almost none of them had been turning a profit. That was until late last year, when it was forecast that the year 2010 would mark the real "dawning" of e-publishing, based on predictions that Amazon would begin marketing a Japanese version of its Kindle, and that numerous other second-generation e-readers would be brought into the market. |
| Feb 20 | Eye controls developed for phones & MP3 players (myce.com) |
 Japanese telecom giant NTT DoCoMo showed off a new pair of headphones that give users the ability to control mobile phones or MP3 players using their eyes.
Designed to look like a set of regular earbuds, the NTT DoCoMo customized headset is able to read electrical changes on the surface of the human eye. A user who looks from right to left can pause music, right and then left glances skip to the next track, and rolling the eyes clockwise helps raise the volume.
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| Feb 19 | Digital TV test run a mixed bag (Yomiuri) |
| A trial run for ending analog broadcasts in favor of terrestrial digital transmissions was held for two days last month in Suzu, a city on the tip of the Noto Peninsula, and a part of Notocho, both in Ishikawa Prefecture, with analog broadcasting for about 7,500 households stopped for 48 hours. Though the trial went off without any major glitches, there are some questions as to the merit of the test run. Can findings made from this rehearsal help ensure the smooth transfer nationwide from analog broadcasting to terrestrial digital telecasts in July next year? |
| Feb 19 | Braille karaoke lets blind croon in sync (Japan Times) |
 A Tokyo-based company has developed a karaoke machine for the blind that can render the lyrics for about 100,000 songs in braille in sync with another karaoke network system. A personal computer connected to the machine and the Joysound network translates the lyrics into braille and sends the data to the karaoke machine, which displays it in the form of dots that pop up on a pin display.
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| Feb 17 | Coming in 2010 -- the new age of 3-D television (Asahi) |
 At this year's International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the world's largest exhibition of consumer electronics, virtually all major electronics manufacturers showcased 3-D television sets.
Over the past several years, the focus of competition among television manufacturers has been on offering larger and thinner flat-screens at lower prices.
The prices of flat-screen TVs have dropped at annual rates of about 20 percent, stripping away profit margins on products offered by Japanese makers.
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| Feb 16 | Sony pulls organic television in Japan (FT.com) |
 Sony said on Tuesday that it would stop selling a groundbreaking television that uses organic light-emitting diodes in Japan after exhausting demand for the Y200,000 ($2,224) sets.
The 11-inch XEL-1 was the first OLED TV to market in 2007 and Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's chairman and chief executive, heralded it as evidence that Sony can innovate. Stopping sales of the XEL-1 in Japan without launching a long-promised 27-inch successor suggests that OLED will not rescue Sony's struggling TV business.
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| Feb 15 | Can e-publishing save a troubled industry? (Mainichi) |
The year 2010 has been dubbed the inaugural year of e-publishing. It's not just about Amazon and Apple, who are staging a full-fledged showdown; many other companies are vying for a share of the e-book reading pie, and it's already beginning to look like a mini-bubble of sorts.
Will the e-publishing craze, which is inching its way into Japan, transform the very nature of books and reading? And most importantly, is e-publishing going to save the publishing industry from its dire financial situation, like so many people say it will?
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| Feb 15 | Hope pinned on new cameras (Asahi) |
 Digital camera makers are betting on a new generation of innovative products to help revive their fortunes, as sales fall at home and abroad.
Five percent fewer digital cameras were sold in Japan last year compared with two years before, according to researcher BCN Inc.
An escalating price war dragged the monetary value of sales down by more than 20 percent.
With global sales also depressed, camera makers are hoping that elaborate feature sets will tempt domestic consumers to buy. Most Japanese households already own a digital camera. The key to the market is persuading people to replace old models.
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| Feb 13 | Japan Is Still Big Portable Country (Kotaku) |
 In Japan, the PSP and Nintendo DS platforms are still outselling the home console competition. And it's the bigger versions of each portable platform, the standard PSP-3000 and Nintendo DSi LL, that Japan's buying more of.
Sony's PlayStation Portable once again tops the charts, thanks to strong sales of God Eater and the three-way split of the Nintendo DS platform. Combined, the DS would have sold some 52,000-plus units, but that's not how sales tracker Media Create does it.
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| Feb 12 | NTT soups up its Japan-US submarine connection (AsiaOne) |
| Responding to what it says is 'the heaviest data volumes handled by carriers with global IP backbones,' NTT is increasing its transmission speed to 300 Gbps on its Japan to U.S. global network route. Since the traffic volume increases won't likely let up for quite a long time, the enhanced network speed will satisfy the ongoing demand for high-capacity transmission links between each country. |
| Feb 10 | Queensland Nintendo pirate cops $1.5m fine (The Australian) |
 The Australian Federal Court has ordered Queensland man James Burt to pay Nintendo $1.5 million in damages after he illegally copied and distributed a part of the Super Mario Bros. videogame for the Nintendo Wii console a week before its official release.
The Japanese gaming company announced the settlement today and said the damages would compensate for the loss of revenue caused by the piracy.
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| Feb 10 | Mobile phone shipments in Japan slip under 40 mil. units in 2009 (AP) |
| Mobile phone shipments in Japan plunged 25.5 percent in 2009 from a year earlier to 31.30 million units, slipping below 40 million units for the first time in 10 years, an industry body said Tuesday. The rate of year-on-year decline was the sharpest on record, according to data released by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association. |
| Feb 10 | Panasonic regained global patent application lead in '09 (Japan Times) |
| Panasonic Corp. filed more patent applications than any other company in 2009, surpassing China's Huawei Technologies Co. to take the top spot for patent filings for the first time in two years, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization. Panasonic filed 1,891 applications last year, up by 162 from the previous year, compared with 1,847 by Huawei Technologies. |
| Feb 09 | Panasonic to launch 3D plasma TV in Japan April 23 (Reuters) |
| Japan's Panasonic Corp said on Tuesday it plans to launch 3D televisions on April 23 in Japan. The company said last month it would launch 3D TVs in the United States in the spring. Top consumer electronics makers including Panasonic and Sony Corp are launching 3D TVs this year as they seek to offer differentiating products that will be shielded from the sharp price falls plaguing the conventional flat TV market. |
| Feb 08 | Yahoo Japan's 16 Doraemon apps are an iPuzzle (Canadian Press) |
 Anyone who checked the Japanese iTunes store a few days ago might have been somewhat 'puzzled' to find that the top 16 free apps were all from Yahoo Japan. Not only that, but there was something very unusual about the icons for those 16 applications. Of course if you're familiar with Japanese cartoons at all, you should have some idea of what Yahoo Japan is doing here. The icons, when rearranged, will create everyone's favorite robot cat Doraemon. A big thanks to Jesslee for posting the screencaps on his tumblelog.
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| Feb 06 | Japanese augmented reality mirror lets you try on makeup virtually (dvice.com) |
Now I'm no expert in the ways of makeup, but I can see how it could be an expensive and frustrating exercise to try something new only to discover it looks terrible once you've gotten home. If only there was a way to try it out before you buy!
Well, the Digital Cosmetic Mirror at the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo lets you do just that. It's got a camera on the front that scans your face. It then gives you personal recommendations and lets you put makeup on this virtual version of you.
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| Feb 06 | Prius problems put spotlight on car electronics (Japan Times) |
 Your most expensive piece of electronics probably is not your flat-panel TV or computer. More likely, it's your car, which can pack 50 microprocessors to control everything from the fuel mix to the rearview mirrors. The recalls and other technical problems besetting Toyota in the last few weeks highlight the risks of relying on electronics instead of the mechanical rods and cables that controlled vehicles for most of the 20th century.
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| Feb 05 | Japanese games take voyeurism to new levels (tgdaily.com) |
 When it comes to video game voyeurism and risque gameplay, the Japanese sure know how to roll.
Kotaku brings us news of two new Japanese games on the market, featuring an abundance of anime ass parading about in underwear and little thongs for that extra added gaming value.
And if you're a randy Japanese teenager, you're in luck, because the role playing, lingerie-fest of a game, Ar Tonelico III, has a rating of CERO C -meaning it's available to be ogled by anyone aged 15 and above. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) had a heck of a time reviewing another Japanese title, Dead or Alive: Paradise.
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| Feb 04 | 2009 videogame sales dip eight percent in Britain, Japan, US (AFP) |
 Videogame sales in the three leading markets -- Britain, Japan and the United States -- declined eight percent last year to 379.3 million units, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Activision's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," was the top-selling game of the year, meanwhile, despite only being released in November, according to the Top Global Markets report.
Nintendo games grabbed the next four places on the 2009 best-selling list, according to the report, which is compiled using figures from the NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Ltd and Enterbrain Inc.
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| Feb 03 | In Japan, Final Fantasy XIII's Buy-Back Value Is Cheap! (Kotaku) |
 On December 17, role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII went on sale for the PS3 in Japan. It was priced at ¥9,240 (US$102). Want to sell back your copy?
In a little over a month and a half, the used game is fetching ¥1,500 (US$17) from major Japanese game retailer GEO. By comparison, used games Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 on the PS3 commands ¥4,800, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 merits ¥4,500 and Musou OROCHI Z is priced at ¥3,100.
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| Feb 02 | Mitsui buys strategic stake in TPV Technology (FinanceAsia) |
| Japanese trading company Mitsui will buy up to 20% of display products maker TPV Technology, while TPV's controlling shareholder, China Electronics Corporation, will also increase its stake. Japanese trading company Mitsui is buying up to 20% of Hong Kong-based display products company TPV Technology, as part of a deal that will also see TPV's controlling shareholder, China Electronics Corporation (CEC), increase its stake. |
| Feb 02 | S. Korea, Japan have world's fastest web links (AFP) |
 East Asian countries led by South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan are the best wired in the world with the highest number of fast broadband connections to the Internet, a recent report has found.
South Korea boasts the world's highest average connection speed at 14.6 Megabytes per second (Mbps) and also has six of Asia's 10 cities with the fastest link-ups, all with average speeds above 15 Mbps.
Japan had the second highest average connection speed of 7.9 Mbps, followed by the Chinese territory of Hong Kong with 7.6 Mbps, said the report by US-based network provider Akamai Technologies.
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| Feb 01 | Medical equipment maker's X-ray machine proving a hit (Yomiuri) |
| RF Co.'s digital X-ray sensors for taking X-ray images have succeeded in grabbing the lion's share of the domestic market since their launch in 2005. The Nagano-based company specializes in the development and manufacturing of medical equipment using charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras and wireless technology. Though digital X-ray sensors are convenient to use as they do not need photographic film or developer, the products were priced at tens of millions of yen each. |
| Jan 29 | Why iPad isn't cracking the Japanese market (EE Times) |
| While the rest of the world goes gaga over Apple's iPad, I find an island of calm here -- some 5,000 miles away from the epicenter of Apple's announcement Wednesday (Jan. 27). I'd be lying if I said I felt no frustration. Nobody wants to miss a big story. That's the essence of being a reporter. Still, I wasn't exactly tearing out my hair over here. The reason is that this nation of avid readers doesn't seem to give a hoot about e-books -- Apple's version or anybody else's. |