Business Sep 11, 2021
A U.S. judge on Friday ordered Apple to loosen control over its App Store payment system, a blow to the global tech giant sparked by its anti-trust battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games.
National Aug 31, 2021
For the visually impaired, Japan's tenji blocks offer reassurance and support
The tactile paving invented in Okayama Prefecture more than 50 years ago has since gone global, becoming a familiar sight in cities from London to Sydney.
Business / Tech | FOCUS Aug 7, 2021
Apple revives encryption debate with move on child exploitation
The move represents a major shift for the firm, which has until recently resisted efforts to weaken its encryption that prevents third parties from seeing private messages.
Business / Corporate Dec 3, 2020
NTT Docomo unveils ¥2,980 data plan, cheapest among Japan's top carriers
by Kazuaki Nagata
Unlike KDDI and SoftBank, Docomo does not have a budget brand and is set to lower fees for its main brand — a sign that the carrier is succumbing to pressure from the Suga administration.
Commentary / World Jan 29, 2020
In the next war, soldiers will leave their smartphones at home
by Peter Apps
The U.S. and its allies have become used to being able to use whatever devices and communications they wished since the Berlin Wall fell. Those days are ending fast.
National / Science & Health | Commentary Jan 9, 2020
Nobel Prize for a battery breakthrough was decades in the making
by Mark Buchanan
Looking back on the past year in science, the coolest advances seem to be coming in areas such as gene editing and quantum computing. This is sexy research pointing with confidence to the future. Yet we should remember that some of the most important ...
Business Dec 27, 2019
Japan Display considers selling key plant to Apple and Sharp
Japan Display Inc. is considering selling a major plant in central Japan to Apple Inc. and Sharp Corp. in an apparent bid to improve its balance sheet, sources close to the matter said Friday. The struggling display-maker, also known as JDI, closed the plant in ...
National Dec 24, 2019
Smartphones blamed as children's fitness takes nosedive in Japan
The physical performance of children in Japan deteriorated dramatically in fiscal 2019 from the previous year, a survey by the Sports Agency showed Monday. The overall performance score for boys in the fifth year of elementary school was the lowest since the survey started in ...
Business / Corporate Dec 23, 2019
Fidelity's top Japan fund places wagers on 5G stocks for 2020
Fidelity International's biggest equity fund in Japan is betting technology companies will help boost the nation's stock market in 2020. The asset manager's Japan Growth Fund is up 29 percent this year, beating almost all of its peers, according to Bloomberg data. The fund has ...
Business / Tech Dec 19, 2019
Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Amazon.com Inc. — three of the biggest providers of smart-home and voice-assistant technology — are joining forces to make internet-connected homes easier to set up and safer to use. The rivals announced Wednesday that they're working with the Zigbee ...
Business / Corporate Dec 16, 2019
Carrier KDDI and convenience store Lawson to tie up on mobile payments
Mobile phone carrier KDDI Corp. and convenience store operator Lawson Inc. will tie up on smartphone payments and combine their customer loyalty point programs to strengthen competitiveness against rivals, the two companies announced Monday. KDDI, which operates the au Wallet point service for its customers, ...
Business / Corporate Dec 9, 2019
The Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel is planning to give preferential tax treatment to mobile phone carriers and others to help spread fifth-generation, or 5G, high-speed wireless communications services. The party wants to allow the amount equivalent to 9 percent of related investment to be ...