Tag - tech

 
 

TECH

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is examining allegations that Microsoft is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 28, 2024
Microsoft faces wide-ranging U.S. antitrust probe
The FTC is examining allegations the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software, sources have said.
Scale is becoming important even for distributors like Macnica Holdings, which sells chips made by the likes of Intel’s Altera.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2024
Japan’s top chip distributor eyes acquisitions in China and India
Macnica Holdings is eyeing an overseas acquisition to better hold its own against bigger competitors.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Program's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March last year. Europe’s defense industry sees “very significant potential” to further deepen cooperation with Japanese firms in areas ranging from space tech to advanced electronics and unmanned weapons systems, a key lobbying group has said.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2024
European defense industry sees ‘significant potential’ to work with Japan
The remarks by industry officials come after Tokyo and Brussels launched a new security and defense partnership earlier this month.
Wall Street is rotating out of the chip sector, put off by stretched valuations and trade war-related risks under Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 27, 2024
Software is in, chips are out as traders position for Trump era
Software has been on an upswing given its lower exposure to tariff risks, and as the tailwind from AI looks set to shift from infrastructure to services.
A Facebook "military interest" page that misrepresented old photos and videos of army operations to falsely claim that Washington was helping its ally Manila prepare for war.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024
Philippines-China tensions trigger money-making disinformation
Clashes between the two countries in the South China Sea are being manipulated online by disinformation networks for profit, an analysis has found.
The tech giants behind Google and Facebook are asking the Australian government to postpone a ban on most forms of social media for children under the age of 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024
Google and Meta urge Australia to delay bill on social media ban for children
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left government wants to pass the bill into law by the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday.
Zoom Video Communications has failed to impress investors with its latest sales forecast, who were expecting a bigger boost from the company’s expanded suite of products. An ongoing loss of consumers and small businesses from Zoom has also concerned investors, particularly since these customers are typically higher-margin than corporate clients.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024
Zoom fails to impress investors with sales forecast for expanded lineup
While Zoom’s outlook met estimates, the stock had gained about 48% since the company’s last earnings report in August on optimism about the new products.
An IBM research facility in Albany, New York. Despite some continuity between the first Trump administration and Biden's policies on critical and emerging technologies, the outgoing president placed more emphasis on cooperation with allies.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 26, 2024
Will Trump change course on critical and emerging tech?
Washington's policies to protect key tech fields have not just hurt China, but U.S. allies too, leading to a form of cooperation with friction whose future is uncertain.
Mercari signage at the company's office in Tokyo in September 2020.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Mercari to enhance item verification process to check frauds
The company has been criticized on social media for not responding appropriately to sellers' complaints that different items from what they sold were returned by buyers.
According to Similarweb, average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
Bluesky is booming in Japan — mainly for reasons other than U.S. politics
Average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October, while figures for X were down over that time.
Fujikura's headquarters in Tokyo's Koto Ward. The company's share price has surged by more than 400% this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2024
AI boom makes 139-year-old cable maker Japan’s hottest stock
Fujikura, which makes narrow wire cabling, is the best performer on the Nikkei stock index this year due to a boom in demand for data centers.
Seiji Osaka, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Hokkaido chapter, has expressed concern over the finances of Rapidus, which is supposed to be in full production of cutting-edge 2-nanometer chips by 2027.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Nov 25, 2024
CDP’s gains in Hokkaido raise political questions about Rapidus
The head of the party's Hokkaido chapter has expressed concern over the finances for the project, which aims to produce 2-nanometer chips by 2027.
The National Consumer Affairs Center reports a growing number of consultations regarding "digital legacies" — data and online services left behind when people die.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 25, 2024
Are you leaving your loved ones digital legacies or headaches?
The National Consumer Affairs Center is getting an increasing number of consultations regarding data and online services left behind by deceased persons.
While the ETH Zurich is an outlier for now in Switzerland, the decision has shone a spotlight on how universities in the German-speaking world are attempting to balance national security concerns with academia’s imperative to pursue open scholarship and collaboration across borders.
WORLD / Society
Nov 23, 2024
Swiss university applies stricter measures to Chinese students
Switzerland’s top technical university justified the move as complying with laws to counter international espionage.
With its initial public offering, Kioxia is valuing the company at ¥750 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2024
Japan chipmaker Kioxia IPO set for next month
Formerly the semiconductor unit of Japanese engineering giant Toshiba, the company is the world's third-largest producer of NAND flash memory chips.
NVIDIA's founder and CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address in San Jose, California, on Mar. 18.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 21, 2024
Nvidia's AI chip demand still booming but slowing sales worry investors
The company is in the middle of launching its powerful Blackwell artificial intelligence chips, which will weigh on gross margins initially but improve over time.
Former economic revitalization minister Daishiro Yamagiwa has been named the new head of the Liberal Democratic Party's group that promotes semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 19, 2024
Former minister Daishiro Yamagiwa named to lead LDP semiconductor group
Appointment follows pledge by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of more than ¥10 trillion in fresh public support for chip and artificial intelligence sectors.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky said that while North Korea’s provision to Russia of military equipment and troops is certainly worrisome, what’s “really a serious problem” is what Moscow is giving Pyongyang in return.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 19, 2024
Ukraine ambassador warns of Russian military tech transfers to North Korea
What Moscow is giving Pyongyang in exchange for its troops could have direct security implications for East Asia, Kyiv's envoy to Tokyo warns.
Federal Judge Amit Mehta ruled in August that Google, whose Chrome browser controls about 61% of the market in the U.S., illegally monopolized the search market.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 19, 2024
DOJ will push Google to sell off Chrome to break search monopoly
Such a move would be a historic crackdown on one of the biggest tech companies in the world.
(From left) JR East President Yoichi Kise, Kabuki actor Onoe Kikunosuke, and Shochiku President Toshihiro Takahashi at a joint news conference at the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo on Monday
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2024
JR East and Shochiku to collaborate on regional revitalization
Under the 10-year agreement, the two companies will bring to life programs rooted in regional traditional culture

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years