Internet
ò Livedoor Co says it booked a Ñ6.4 billion ($54.6 million) group net loss in the nine-month period to June 30, due to the "adverse effects" of a scandal over alleged accounting fraud that resulted in the arrest of its former president and executives in January. Livedoor says it had to book a one-off loss of Ñ12.2 billion due to the discontinuation of a range of its business plans including one for an online bank. (Livedoor withdrew a license application for the bank from the Financial Services Agency.) Its operating revenue, however, went up by 94.6% to Ñ101.7 billion because Carchs Co, a used car dealership formerly known as Livedoor Auto Co, had joined the group, allowing Livedoor to consolidate Carchs' financial results with its own. Carchs assumed its current name Aug. 1 after the scandal involving the parent company.
Mobile/Wireless
ò Vodafone Japan says it will charge its customers Ñ2,100 to cancel their contracts when transferring their phone numbers to different service providers. The other two major cell phone firms, NTT DoCoMo Inc and KDDI Corp. have already announced their cancellation fees, also at Ñ2,100. A new rule from October will let users keep their numbers when switching operators. In a related development, Vodafone Japan said it will change its name to Softbank Mobile Corp. The brand name will continue to be Vodafone.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò MTV Networks, Viacom's music broadcasting unit, says it has agreed to acquire all the shares it does not already own in MTV Japan from private equity firm H&Q Asia-Pacific. The acquisition is MTV's second biggest outside the US, after its purchase of German broadcasting channel Viva for Ç308 million ($395 million) in 2004. Spokespeople for both sides of the transaction declined to comment on the exact value of the deal. H&Q Asia-Pacific was instrumental in bringing the MTV brand to Japan in 2001.
ò Industry sources say a Tokyo local TV broadcaster started posting its TV shows on YouTube and other web sites that offer free videos, primarily uploaded by amateurs. The move runs counter to the position of many TV broadcasters that see such sites as a threat to their business, a situation that saw many TV programmes uploaded in violation of copyrights, and broadcasters stepping up their surveillance of such violations. The Tokyo Metropolitan Television Broadcasting Corp (MXTV), however, says it intends to use the web sites to expand its viewers, sharing its programmes with people around the world. The regular broadcast range of MXTV is limited to 8.5 million households in the Tokyo area. It will post BlogTV, a 30-minute programme that introduces writers of popular blogs and discussions of topics picked up from blogs.
Hardware
ò Sony Corp says it plans to release its Blu-ray high-definition DVD player in Japan sometime after October, giving Toshiba at least a six-month head start with its HD DVD player. Sony and Toshiba are seeking support from movie studios and computer companies for their high-definition DVD formats that offer better picture quality and greater recording capacity. Sony, which delayed the introduction of its PlayStation 3 game console until November because of Blu-ray, is competing with Toshiba to set the standard format for home entertainment, as it did with Betamax against Video Home System tapes during the 1980s. The Blu-ray disc can store at least five times more than the 4.7 gigabyte standard DVD and Toshiba's HD DVD can contain at least three times more content. The Blu-ray format is supported by Samsung Electronics Co, Apple Computer Inc and Dell Inc. Toshiba's main backers for HD DVD include NEC Corp, Intel Corp and Microsoft Corp.
Korea
Mobile/Wireless
ò Samsung demonstrated what has been described as a super-fast mobile internet platform at the Fourth-Generation (4G) Forum. The wireless technologies of Samsung promise a downlink speed of 100 Mbps (megabits per second) for users on the move and 1Gbps (gigabit per second) for those at a standstill. The throughput of 1Gbps, which enables people to download 300 music files at 2.4 seconds or a movie file in 5.6 seconds, is even faster than today's maximum landline connectivity of 100 Mbps.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò Hanarotelecom announced its acquisition of a 3.7% stake in Cinema Service and is entering into a strategic alliance with the local movie producer and distributor. The country's second-biggest high-speed internet service operator says the acquisition, amounting to almost W2.6 billion ($2.7 million), is part of its effort to expand movie content for its IP TV service that was launched in mid July. Internet-protocol TV refers to packet-based, real-time broadcasting on the internet, which offers more services for end users compared to traditional video services. Under the deal, Hanaro is allowed to provide movies produced by Cinema Service to subscribers via an internet connection over the next five years. Hanaro says new subscribers to its Hana TV service have surpassed 44,000, with a daily average of 2,000 new customers. The company has signed contracts with 80 content providers, including Walt Disney Television, Sony Pictures, CJ Entertainment and National Geographic.
ò Functional game developer JoyN says it is launching an open test service of the online version of Peeper, a board game that won the 2005 Korean Game Award last year. Online Peeper is designed for people with impaired sight as well as other game users. Players can watch graphics appearing on the monitor, and people with impaired sight get assistance from the text-reading voice of the monitor. The board game is based on number analysis, requiring strategies rather than fast switches of graphics.
Telecommunications
ò SK Telecom announced its signing of a deal to acquire a substantial stake in the entertainment company IHQ. The company says it will buy 8 million new shares of IHQ for W14.4 billion by April in a bid to boost its mobile content business. SK Telecom says the move will enable South Korea's biggest mobile phone operator to become the second-largest shareholder in the entertainment company. IHQ makes movies and television soap operas. In a separate development, it announced the launching of a mobile internet roaming service for South Korean travellers abroad. The new service allows South Korean travellersÆ access to wireless internet at airports, cafes and hotels in over 70 countries.
Hardware
ò A domestic set-top box maker, Celrun, and a satellite broadcasting firm, Sky Life, announced their agreement to co-develop a conditional access system (CASs), which are used to limit access to service to authorized subscribers. Domestic set-top box makers currently use foreign brands such as NDS. Imports of CASs to the country are valued at some 300 billion won annually. The two companies plan to launch a commercial service in June next year.
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