| Jul 03 | Android set to launch in Japan, 1.5 deployment 'nearly complete' (ZDNet) |
 The first Android-powered phone will launch in Japan on July 10th. New Japanese customers will have immediate access to free applications in the Android Market, with paid apps following sometime later. That's according to a notice sent from Google's Eric Chu to Android app developers late Wednesday. Bulgaria and Romania are on the target list after Japan, first with phones and free apps and then with paid apps.
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| Jul 03 | Panasonic cuts TV recycling time (Japan Times) |
| Panasonic Corp. and its fully owned unit Panasonic Eco Technology Center Co. said Thursday they have developed new technology that makes it possible to recycle old-style TV sets three times faster and leaves less waste than previous methods. |
| Jul 01 | Apparently the Japanese like Wii Sports Resort (endsights.com) |
 After having been on store shelves in Japan for only four days, Wii Sports Resort has become one of the region's top selling Wii games to date.
The game sold 353,000 copies putting it in third place behind Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Mario Kart Wii.
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| Jul 01 | 'Eco-points' ready for registration, exchanges of goods (AP) |
| The government on Wednesday began accepting from consumers registrations for "eco-points" introduced recently to stimulate purchases of more efficient electric appliances as well as applications for exchanging points for merchandize, gift coupons and electronic money. |
| Jun 30 | Windows 7 pre-orders sell-out in Japan (engadget.com) |
| Often companies will claim a "sellout" in order to hype incredible demand for its product. However, these claims are pointless without any firm numbers -- after all, there's a big difference between moving 100 and 100,000 units. Now we're getting word from Japan that the heavily discounted Windows 7 upgrades that went up for pre-order on Friday are sold-out. |
| Jun 30 | Is Sony developing a playStation phone? (BusinessWeek) |
| Is Sony finally taking aim at Apple's iPhone? Over the weekend the Japanese business daily Nikkei reported that Sony plans to form a skunkworks team whose job it will be to design a hybrid video game-cell phone gizmo-one that taps the company's years of producing PlayStation Portable gaming consoles and Sony-Ericsson handsets. A spokeswoman at Sony wouldn't confirm whether the report was true, and would only say that executives were considering "various possibilities." Combining elements of a PSP and handset would seem a "natural process of thinking," the spokeswoman said, without elaborating. |
| Jun 30 | Net-enabled TVs strike a spark in consumer electronics market (Japan Times) |
 Manufacturers are promoting sales of flat-screen TVs through discounts and other incentives, and thanks to their efforts sales are rising. However, now the TV makers have to stem the ongoing fall in prices.
To address the issue, the manufacturers are turning out a new generation of television sets that allow consumers to view videos transmitted via the Internet, while Net companies deliver a wider range of movie and drama titles through their video-on-demand services.
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| Jun 27 | Windows 7 prices announced; pre-order, upgrades start Friday (seattlepi.com) |
| Microsoft Corp. announced pricing for its upcoming Windows 7 operating system, and the best deal you can get is $49.99. That's if you pre-order Windows 7 from Microsoft. The Redmond-based company announced today that pre-ordering will start Friday and run through July 11. |
| Jun 27 | Hundreds show up to buy latest iPhone (Japan Times) |
| About 200 people lined up Friday morning in Tokyo's Omotesando district for the chance to buy Apple Inc.'s new iPhone 3GS, the latest model in the iPhone series and Softbank Corp.'s mobile phone lineup. |
| Jun 26 | Sharp launches Brain PW-AC900 e-dictionary in Japan (engadget.com) |
 Sharp's really been stepping up the e-dictionary game of late -- what with the MID-looking RD-PM10. It's latest offering -- the Brain PW-AC900, however, is a little less exciting. It's very similar to its predecessors in the PW line -- PW-TC930 physically, but has a host of new features, including a simple text editor, multi-lingual dictionary, pronunciation, and vocabulary drills.
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| Jun 26 | Apple's new iPhone model goes on sale in Japan and Australia (Bloomberg) |
 Apple Inc. started the second phase of the worldwide release of the iPhone 3G S with the handset going on sale today in Japan and Australia.
The iPhone 3G S, which went on sale in the U.S. on June 19, is debuting to stiffer competition from devices by Google Inc., Palm Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd.
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| Jun 25 | Japan store pilots new face recognition system (securityinfowatch.com) |
| A system that instantly searches images stored on a database and compares them with those taken by a security camera is being piloted at an electronics store in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo. The system will be used to combat crime by recognizing individuals whose images have been captured previously, as well as by analyzing customer buying patterns. Until now, searching for a specific person required someone to look at every image filmed. However, the new system developed by Hitachi, Ltd., is capable of dramatically narrowing down likely matches from a list of about 10,000 faces in only a second once a specific face from the camera is selected. |
| Jun 24 | Toshiba's 1GHz smartphone now available in Japan (CNET) |
 The Toshiba TG01 was announced earlier this year as the first Windows Mobile device to sport a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm. It was spied at various tradeshows but hasn't been commercially available anywhere, till now. DoCoMo is currently offering the smartphone as the T-01A in Japan.
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| Jun 22 | Nintendo Wii adds advertising to family time (CNET) |
 The Nintendo Wii has already changed the face of video games and recently started breaking new ground in advertising and social gaming. With the recent launch of the Wii-no-ma service in Japan, Nintendo has figured out how to make gaming a family event.
According to Cyber Media Japan, Nintendo researchers found that 87 percent of Wii users use it on the biggest screen in the house, which is still the one in the living room.
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| Jun 21 | Computer makers ramp up attempts to plug data leaks (Japan Times) |
| Japanese electronics makers are stepping up efforts to plug information leaks in computers on rising demand from financial institutions and other clients concerned about losing customer data. |
| Jun 20 | List of goods qualified for Eco-points now out (Japan Times) |
 The government revealed a list of products and services Friday that can be exchanged for Eco-points, a type of currency to stimulate consumption and promote use of energy-efficient goods.
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| Jun 18 | Toshiba to speed up system chip shrinkage (Reuters) |
| Toshiba Corp, Japan's largest chip maker, said it plans to mass produce 28-nanometre system chips in the next business year as it fights to stay relevant in an area dominated by the likes of Intel Corp and Texas Instruments Inc. |
| Jun 18 | Can an Android conquer Japan's finicky mobile phone culture? (Japan Times) |
| Google Inc. is taking aim at Japan's cell phone market, but whether the search giant can win over the nation's notoriously picky consumers is very much an open question. |
| Jun 17 | Black Wii shown off in Japan (Bloomberg) |
 After nearly three years on store shelves, Nintendo is finally rolling out a Wii that isn't an iPod-like shade of white. This one's black, and like this spring's red Xbox 360 tied in with Resident Evil 5, the newly darkened Wii will arrive bundled with a new Capcom release.
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| Jun 16 | Japan's government to increase stockpiles of rare metals (MarketWatch) |
| Japan's government is planning to bolster its stockpiles of rare metals used in the production of liquid-crystal displays, solar panels other high-tech goods, taking advantage of the fall back in prices. |
| Jun 16 | Big in Japan: Apple Retail Experience (SeekingAlpha) |
| At the Apple Store, a focused family of products sits proudly atop gorgeous display tables that don't threaten to topple when you touch the machines. Using the machines is encouraged, too, because there's no risk of them blowing up in customer faces or freezing or running through a kaleidoscope of error messages, as happens routinely in PC shops. |
| Jun 15 | Wii overtakes PS3 in Japanese hardware sales for 2009 (examiner.com) |
| In late April, the Playstation 3 overtook the Nintendo Wii as the top selling home console in the Japanese market for 2009. That achievement didn't last long, however, as the Nintendo Wii has overtook the Playstation 3 for hardware sales in Japan for 2009, according to the latest Media Create numbers. |
| Jun 13 | Fujifilm Announces FinePix Z300 Touchscreen Digital Camera in Japan (cameratown.com) |
 Fujifilm has announced a new digital camera in Japan, the FinePix Z300, that features a large 3.0" touchscreen display with new touch shutter control. This feature gives users the ability to touch the screen to select a focus area and to actually take the picture. The camera features 10-megapixel resolution and a 5x optical zoom lens (36-180mm).
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| Jun 11 | Sony develops mercury-free alkaline button cell (AFP) |
| Sony has developed a new type of alkaline manganese button-cell that contains no mercury and will put it on sale later this year, it said Wednesday. Alkaline manganese cells are commonly used in cameras, remote controls and calculators and are one of several types of button-cell batteries, so-called because the small, round, metal-cased batteries look similar to buttons. |
| Jun 10 | Flat-screen TV sales in Japan jump 42.9% in May (AP) |
| Unit sales of flat-screen televisions in Japan shot up 42.9 percent in May from a year earlier thanks to a government program providing incentives to consumers for the purchase of eco-friendly home electronic appliances, according to data released Wednesday by a market research firm. |
| Jun 10 | Sony sorts out the PSP; netbooks get a dose of speed (Japan Times) |
 Technology companies have an easy way of dealing with mistakes - don't admit them, just quietly stop using the failed innovation. Sony sticks to this dogma with the latest version of its PlayStation Portable gaming devices.
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| Jun 09 | Softbank Mobile to release Apple's new iPhone on June 26 in Japan (AP) |
| Corp. said Tuesday it will start selling the iPhone 3GS on June 26 in Japan, a new version of Apple Inc.'s smartphone that boasts faster performance than the current version. The iPhone 3GS, better capable of shooting and editing video, sells at 23,040 yen for its 16 gigabyte model and 34,560 yen for a 32GB model, Softbank Mobile, a phone unit of Softbank Corp., said. |
| Jun 09 | Is Sony really working on Android-based mobile devices? Most likely yes (crunchgear.com) |
 Does Sony dream of Android? The Japanese web is currently filling up with rumors about Sony preparing not one but two Android-based mobile devices. Both the Android-powered Walkman and a personal satellite navigation device are rumored to launch next year. I just checked all Japanese news sources I could find reporting on the topic and the short answer is that the rumor seems to be true.
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| Jun 08 | Hybrid battery output boosted (Japan Times) |
| The hybrid battery joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic is raising annual production at its domestic plants to about a million by next year, officials have said. The company, based in Kosai, already controls 80 percent of the global market in such auto batteries. |
| Jun 06 | Twin Sticks Set for 360 in Japan (IGN) |
| The ultimate Virtual On peripheral is coming to Xbox 360 owners in Japan. Sega made a post at the official Virtual On blog today confirming that peripheral maker Hori will be delivering a Twin Sticks controller for the Xbox Live Arcade download title. The device will ship to Japan in November. |
| Jun 04 | Cell phone recycling campaign looking to reverse downtrend (Japan Times) |
 The government kicked off a campaign Wednesday urging consumers to take their old cell phones to collection points so their rare and precious metals can be recycled.
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| Jun 03 | Panasonic Japan announces new VIERAs with built-in HDDs (crunchgear.com) |
 Panasonic launched the VIERA R Series today in Japan, consisting of a total of seven new plasma and LCD TVs. The first TVs of the series will be available over here starting July 1, with Panasonic not yet saying anything about sales in overseas markets.
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| Jun 03 | Sony steals a page from the Apple playbook; rolls out pint-sized PSP (FT.com) |
 Today, Sony officially unveiled a new portable gaming system called the PSP Go, which executives said will be available this fall in the US and Japan. The device will be 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter than the current PSP 3000, according to Reuters, and feature 16 gigabytes of Flash memory, integrated Bluetooth, and an application allowing users to access the online PlayStation Store.
The price tag is expected to be $249.99.
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| Jun 01 | Wii Fit Plus, new Mario hitting Japan in '09 (gamespot.com) |
 Nintendo's E3 Press Conference isn't until 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 2. However, like its rival Sony, the game giant appears to have had some of its surprises spoiled by the many-tentacled beast of the 24-hour Internet news cycle.
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| May 28 | Nintendo Wii gets catering channel in Japan (CNET) |
 There are categories for pizza, noodles, sandwiches, curry, burgers, chicken, and many other snacks, complete with visual menus that let you select toppings and save your orders for next time.
Food is a national obsession in Japan, but as far as I know delivery isn't as common as in other big cities, such as New York. I suspect Wii players will be able to easily rationalize ordering a meal to augment all the calories they burn off in a rousing game of Tennis.
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| May 28 | Google Android plays 'catch-up' in Japan's wireless wonderland (Bloomberg) |
 The advanced state of Japan's mobile-phone system will make it harder for Google Inc. to win converts to its Android system, which will be released in the country as early as June. Google's Android, which allows for services such as navigation with street-level views is due to go on sale in Japan in June or July for as low as 25,000 yen ($262).
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| May 27 | Sharp's sun-powered phone almost beach-ready (USA Today) |
 Sunbathers in Japan will have another beach- or pool-friendly keitai (phone) to carry around this summer. Simply known as the Solar Phone SH002, a 10-minute exposure to direct sunlight will yield one minute of talktime or two hours of standby.
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| May 27 | Toshiba debuts cellphone-sized ebook reader in Japan (dvice.com) |
 Japanese cell phone giant KDDI and Toshiba have unveiled their own answer to the Kindle called the biblio. Essentially a mobile phone, the tiny ebook reader uses software called Book Player and can store about 5,000 ebooks (from KDDI's EZ Book service) on it's 7 gigabyte harddrive.
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| May 27 | Japan 3G subscribers exceed 100M (EE Times) |
| Qualcomm Inc. has extended its congratulation to Japan's mobile operators on exceeding 100 million 3G CDMA subscribers as of April 2009, as announced by the Telecommunications Carriers Association in Japan. |
| May 27 | Going abroad? Don't be afraid to pack the cell phone (CNET) |
| It's summer time. And you know what that means: Harrowing international travel with your cell phone. While the sour economy may be keeping some travelers closer to home this summer, good deals on flights and hotels, and the growing strength of the U.S. dollar are enticing some travelers to grab their passports and book a flight to Europe and other parts of the world. (I happen to be one of them. I just bought a plane ticket to go to France in August.) |
| May 26 | Gov't looks to introduce wireless supply of electricity for home appliances (Mainichi) |
| The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is considering specific measures to introduce wireless electric supply systems for home appliances, officials said. A report is expected to point out that the introduction of wireless electric power supply systems will rid homes of electric outlets and allow residents to freely arrange their electric appliances, drastically changing people's lifestyles. |
| May 26 | Sony Japan Releases Windows XP Only Vaio P With New Colors (sonyinsider.com) |
 Sony Japan has done something quite unusual and released a Windows XP version of the Vaio P dubbed the VGN-P50. What’s even more curious is the special colors associated with these models, which look like exclusive SonyStyle Japan Owner Made colors. However, they are simply part of a Summer refresh.
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| May 26 | Sony Japan integrates postcard function into Bravia TVs (crunchgear.com) |
 Here is some news from Sony, which comes directly from the who-on-earth-needs-this department. The company has launched a new service for the Japanese market that enables owners of Bravia TVs to send and receive e-postcards. Obviously, "Bravia Postcard" only works if you have an Internet-enabled Bravia at home.
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| May 26 | Consumer electronics dive 14% (Japan Times) |
| Shipments of consumer electronic products fell 13.7 percent in April from a year earlier to ¥200.3 billion, declining for the seventh consecutive month due largely to sluggish demand for car navigation systems and other audiovisual equipment for automobiles, an industry body said Monday. |
| May 26 | KDDI unveils cell phone lineup (Japan Times) |
| KDDI Corp., operator of the au cell phone service, unveiled on Monday its summer lineup of 13 handsets featuring its first "hi-vision" video camera and a player for reading electronic novels. KDDI, Japan's second-largest mobile phone carrier, will roll out starting Friday eight new models, excluding five announced previously, with prices ranging from around ¥20,000 to more than ¥50,000. |
| May 25 | New portable GPS targets tracks exact position, altitude (Mainichi) |
| Yupiteru Corp. will introduce a portable Global Positioning System (GPS) device that will target fishermen, cyclists and hikers by providing data on their precise location, including altitude. |
| May 21 | Sony falls to third in global TV share (Japan Times) |
| Sony Corp. fell to third place in the global television market in the January-March quarter, down from second, U.S. research firm DisplaySearch said. |
| May 20 | NTT DoCoMo To Sell Mobile Phones Using Google's Android (CNN) |
| NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437.TO), Japan's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers, said Tuesday that it plans to sell a handset that uses Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android operating system in Japan as early as next month to compete with Apple Inc.'s (APPL) iPhone offered by Softbank Corp. |
| May 20 | Softbank unveils summer handsets (Japan Times) |
| Softbank Mobile Corp. unveiled its new summer phone lineup Tuesday, including a solar model and a handset designed by Giorgio Armani. The nation's third-largest mobile phone carrier said the first of 19 new models will start hitting store shelves by the end of the month. |
| May 19 | NEC Japan announces its SuperSpeed USB 3.0 controller (engadget.com) |
 Have you got that USB 3.0 cable on your hope chest, just killing time until your SuperSpeed dreams become a reality? Well, that day is almost at hand: NEC has just announced details for the first USB 3.0 controller.
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