Media, Entertainment and Gaming
òNintendo Co. announced plans to expand its presence in South Korea by helping the country's software makers to develop localised computer game programs. The South Korean market is considered one of the worldÆs fastest-growing game markets but is currently dominated by local on-line programmers. Nintendo Korea said the South Korean market is important for its global strategy, with the countryÆs game industry market estimated at $8.2 billion in 2006 and US$670 million in exports. Nintendo's plans, which cover its cooperative tie-up with Nexon Corp. and other South Korean companies, will involve both financial and technological support.
Nintendo launched its Korean operations early in January by introducing its latest portable game machine, Nintendo DS Lite, which is an advanced version of Nintendo DS. The company has so far sold about 30 million DS devises worldwide. In the first four months of its debut in South Korea, Nintendo sold 270,000 DS Lite versions, a figure that is considered by analysts as significant given that it is a country where online games such as Lineage and other massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) are dominating the market.
Internet
òAccording to the countryÆs communications minister, Japan will start researching and developing technology for a new generation network to replace the Internet. The official said an organisation will be set up this fall with cooperation from businesses, academia and the government to promote the technology. It is estimated that some Ñ7.8 billion ($68 million) will be sought for the project in the fiscal 2008 budget. The new technology is envisioned to be faster and more reliable than the current Internet and Japan is looking to lead the development of post-Internet technology.
òCable broadcaster Usen Corp. has decided to merge the operations of its subsidiaries UCOM Corp., a high-speed Internet service provider, and MEDiA K.K., an Internet protocol telephone service provider, by October. In the latest business year to August 31, 2006, UCOM reported a 37.5% rise in its net profit to Ñ242 million ($2.1 million) from the previous year, on sales of Ñ24.3 million. MEDiA, however, posted a net loss of Ñ332 million in the same year. Usen currently holds a 47.9% stake in UCOM and 75.2% in MEDiA.
Mobile/Wireless
òIndustry sources say the Japanese government has issued an order for the Tokyo-based unit of Finnish mobile phone firm Nokia Corp. to submit a report on the recent problems of mobile phone batteries made by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. The countryÆs Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry issued the order under a law on safety of consumer products. Nokia Japan, which sells handsets equipped with Matsushita-made batteries in Japan, has been ordered to give details of two incidents in Japan and other cases abroad. Ministry officials said if Nokia Japan fails to submit a report within one week or produces an unsatisfactory report, the company will be fined up to Ñ300,000($2,627). The order follows an announcement made by Nokia earlier, which disclosed a plan to replace 46 million Matsushita-made batteries used in Nokia handsets free of charge because of the risk of overheating.
òSanyo Electric Co. is considering selling its mobile phone business in order to focus on profitable operations. SanyoÆs move is seen by industry observers as its way of hastening the companyÆs restructuring. The mobile phone business is suffering declining sales and an operating loss amid intensifying competition in Japan. Sanyo recently revised down its fiscal 2007 mobile phone sales forecast to 11 million units from 12.5 million to 12.6 million units. Sanyo is also in talks to sell its semiconductor business. Media sources said an agreement is yet to be reached as the parties have differing views about the price.
Software
òRed Bend Software Japan KK, the market leader in Mobile Software Management and Firmware-Over-the-Air (FOTA) update solutions for mobile phones and wireless modules, announced that its vCurrent Mobile FOTA software has been adopted by Toshiba Corp. for use in the WX320T handset for Japanese operator Willcom. With this deal, Toshiba becomes the fourth Japanese handset manufacturer to adopt vCurrent Mobile. Red Bend Software helps mobile phone manufacturers and network operators to accelerate the adoption of new services and features, respond rapidly to customer needs and reduce support costs through mobile software management solutions. LG Electronics, Motorola, NEC, Sharp, Sony Ericsson and other large handset manufacturers use Red BendÆs FOTA mobile client software to quickly and reliably deliver compact firmware updates to more than 150 million mobile phones in the hands of consumers. Red Bend Software is a privately held, venture capital-financed company with offices in China, Israel, Japan, Korea, the UK and the US
òJamcracker, the on-demand services delivery company, and kitASP, the leading application deployment company in Japan, have entered into a strategic partnership to provide communication service providers, Internet service providers and IT service providers in Japan with an on-demand catalogue of packaged and custom application services for businesses and consumers. Under the agreement, the companies are offering over 100 application services from the Jamcracker Services Delivery Network (JSDN) catalogue and kitASP applications tailored for the Japanese market. Jamcracker is a privately held company with headquarters in California and offices in Bangalore, India. KitASP investors include Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and NTT Data Corporation.
òNTT-IT of Japan, a subsidiary of NTT, the world's largest telecommunications company and VRMeetings have entered into an alliance to introduce MeetingPlaza, a unified collaborative" web-conferencing solution to the US market. MeetingPlaza, which has a significant market share in Japan, transfers VOIP audio/visual web conferencing from equipment and software products to the PC, and integrates special collaborative tools for simultaneous use. MeetingPlaza is a "full duplex" (audio and video), web hosted solution that provides synchronous (real time) multi-party communications to up to 32 simultaneous participants (2,000 participants for large conferences). Founded in 2002, VRMeetings is a minority-owned company and partner of NTT-IT and the exclusive global marketer of MeetingPlaza.
Hardware
òSony Corp.'s US electronics unit has decided to launch a $100 million marketing program to create interest in its big-screen televisions and related products. The advertising campaign will cover print, Internet and television commercials and carries the slogan: "High Definition. It's in our DNA." A company official said the company targets "double-digit growth" in revenue from Sony's high-definition products through the holiday season. The the capmpaign will cover products ranging from digital cameras and Blu-ray DVDs to PCs and LCD TVs.
òSony Style (Japan) Inc., a Sony subsidiary, said it has teamed up with popular jewelry and accessory brand Abiste Corp. to create limited editions of the Walkman E010 series. The Walkmans, which come in pink, violet, black, blue or gold, have removable caps adorned with Swarovski glass crystals. Customers have to wait two months for delivery of the special edition handmade products, which will be addressing the female market for portable music players. Prices are set at Ñ15,800 (US$138) for a 1-gigabyte model, Ñ18,800 (US$165) for a 2Gb model and Ñ24,800 (US$217) for a 4Gb model, including tax but excluding shipping fees.
Information Technology
òFujitsu Ltd. has agreed to supply information and technology infrastructure to Reuters, a British media and information service company. Under the 10-year agreement, Fujitsu will provide IT services to 17,500 Reuters employees in more than 100 countries to help them gain secure and smooth access to the company's internal systems. The agreement will also see some of Reuters' IT staff transferring to Fujitsu.
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