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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2012

Apple after Steve Jobs: separating fact and fiction

This fall, Apple chief executive Tim Cook formally apologized for the company's mistake-filled mobile map application, which became a national joke for its screwy geography. The misstep focused new attention on the legendary company and how it has fared since the death of Steve Jobs in October 2011....
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2011

Sony pulls trigger on Ericsson venture purchase

Sony Corp. has agreed to buy Ericsson AB's 50 percent stake in their 10-year-old mobile phone venture to integrate the smartphone business with its gaming and tablet offerings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 23, 2010

Move over 3G, LTE new kid on the block

Mobile communications have become part of daily life and the trend is accelerating. This has fueled the development of Long Term Evolution, a next-generation communications network.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 27, 2010

Japan's techies strive to bridge culture gap

In November, more than 100 people met in Yokohama for a daylong "unconference" on technology and the Internet. Attendees addressed each other on topics of their choosing — the roster of speakers determined solely by whoever signed up fastest for time slots on a whiteboard.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2008

Risk-averse telecoms stifling innovation: Natsuno

One of Japan's top cell phone innovators says that for all his country's technological prowess, it could never have produced the iPhone.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2008

Protection from a Web of harm

The Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito, the Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Communist Party have worked out a bill aimed at shielding children from harmful Web sites. The Education Resuscitation Council had called for restricting the use of mobile phones by schoolchildren to direct calls and GPS...
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2008

Getting Japan to capitalize on its innovation

BOSTON/TOKYO — As they lament the West's obsession with China and prepare to host the Group of Eight in July, Japanese fear becoming a minor planet in the Chinese orbit. Trouble is, Japan still sees manufacturing as the key to prosperity, despite the fact that it is vulnerable to offshoring.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2008

See it on catwalk, buy it through cell phone

Screams erupted from 22,000 young women in flowery frills, boots, really short shorts and glittery jewelry whenever a model — dressed similarly — waltzed down the runway in a Tokyo stadium.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2007

DoCoMo, KT eye Malaysia stake

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Monday it has agreed with KT Freetel Co., South Korea's second-largest mobile-phone operator, to jointly invest $200 million in Malaysian wireless carrier U Mobile Sdn. to increase overseas earnings.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2007

New cell phone services tap image-recognition technologies

Normally used for security purposes, face and image recognition technologies are making their way into other, more entertaining, fields. One service, kaocheki, lets people send a digital photo of themselves via cell phone to find out which celebrity they most resemble.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 12, 2006

Cameron Diaz presses all the right buttons for SoftBank

For some insight into the ruckus that SoftBank kicked up when it relaunched its mobile phone service with a zero-yen-per-call plan, check out its new ads and compare them with the competition's. NTT DoCoMo's ads showcase no less than seven famous personalities (eight if you count female comedy duo Othello...
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2006

Softbank moves into black with good first-half results

Softbank Corp. announced Wednesday that it returned to profitability during the April-September period, helped by its acquisition of Vodafone Group PLC's Japanese mobile-phone unit and a turnaround in its broadband Internet and fixed-line telecom business.
EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2006

New flexibility of cell phones

The much-awaited portable-number service for cell phones has started in Japan, enabling users to change carriers without having to change phone numbers. This is a new convenience for customers, but for the cell-phone carriers -- NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp. and Softbank Mobile Corp. -- it heralds the...
BUSINESS
May 12, 2006

DoCoMo, Microsoft eye music mart

NTT DoCoMo and Microsoft are teaming up to provide music services for mobile telephones in Japan, the companies said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2006

Softbank to borrow 1.28 trillion yen

Softbank Corp. plans to take out 1.28 trillion yen in loans to buy British mobile phone operator Vodafone Group PLC's Japan business, company sources said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 5, 2004

Way of the corporate giant robot

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, by Yoshiyuki Tomino, translated by Frederik L. Schodt with an introduction by Mark Simmons. Stone Bridge Press, 2004, $14.95 (paper). Yoshiyuki "Kill 'em All" Tomino is the mega-prolific creator of the Mobile Suit Gundam phenomenon, known, perhaps a little patronizingly, as the "Star...
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2004

Vodafone sees fall in subscription figures for July

Vodafone K.K. saw a net decrease of 3,100 subscriptions in July, becoming the first among the three major mobile phone carriers to report a net decline in subscriptions, according to data released Friday by an industry association.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2004

DoCoMo to set lowest flat rate for 3G cell phone data service

NTT DoCoMo Inc. plans to set a monthly flat rate of about 3,900 yen for unlimited third-generation cell phone data transmissions, NTT DoCoMo sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2003

KDDI plans to sell PHS unit, focus on au cellular service

KDDI Corp. plans to sell DDI Pocket Inc., its personal handy-phone system unit, company sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Jun 3, 2003

Sanyo charging ahead in cell phone battery sector

Chances are if you use a mobile phone equipped with a camera, it's powered by a Sanyo battery.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji