Asia
Sharp to raise 100 bil. yen via new share offering
April 2, 2013 11:14 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsStruggling Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. plans to raise about 100 billion yen through a public stock offering to repay part of 200 billion yen in convertible debt due in September, sources close to the matter said Tuesday.
Reactor-scrapping research facility to be built in Fukushima
April 2, 2013 11:09 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Japanese government said Tuesday it will build a research facility for decommissioning reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the town of Naraha, some 25 kilometers south of the crippled nuclear power plant.
Apple issues apology in China over service policies, but state media attacks seen backfiring
April 1, 2013 2:30 pm | by CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press | News | CommentsApple has issued an apology to Chinese consumers after government media attacked its repair policies for two weeks in a campaign that reeked of economic nationalism. A statement posted in Chinese to Apple's website on Monday said the complaints had prompted "deep reflection" and persuaded the company of the need to revamp its repair policies, boost communication with Chinese consumers and strengthen oversight of authorized resellers.
Asian giants tiptoe toward free trade deal
April 1, 2013 10:23 am | by YOUKYUNG LEE, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsChina, Japan and South Korea are inching ahead with talks for a free trade zone that would rival the European Union and North America in economic heft. Despite the achievement of setting aside their often acrimonious relations to begin negotiations, progress will be slow. An agreement to start talks took 10 years.
U.S. takes swipe at China for hacking allegations
March 28, 2013 9:29 am | by Anne Flaherty, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe U.S. has taken its first real swipe at China following accusations that the Beijing government is behind a widespread and systemic hacking campaign targeting U.S. businesses.Buried in a spending bill signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday...
Japanese regulators to investigate nuclear crisis
March 27, 2013 10:40 am | by MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press | News | CommentsJapanese government regulators said Wednesday that for the first time they will conduct their own investigation into the country's nuclear crisis to address key unanswered questions. The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami cut power and destroyed vital cooling systems at the Fukushima Dai-chi nuclear plant, causing meltdowns at three of its reactors.
NKorean defector groups report computer attacks
March 26, 2013 12:18 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsWebsites and organizations run by North Korean defectors in South Korea say they have suffered cyberattacks, one week after computer systems at some South Korean banks and TV networks were widely disrupted.
Kansai Electric eyes MOX fuel use at Takahama plant
March 26, 2013 11:29 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsKansai Electric plans to use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, known as MOX, in so-called pluthermal power generation at its Takahama plant from around the fall of 2014, industry sources said Tuesday. The Osaka-based utility firm included the plan in its earlier application for government permission to raise household electricity rates, the sources said.
Renesas in talks to sell mobile chip operations overseas
March 21, 2013 9:52 am | News | CommentsThe president of struggling Renesas Electronics Corp. said Thursday that the chipmaker is in talks with overseas companies on selling its loss-making mobile device chip operations as part of efforts to streamline its business.
Tokyo Metro to make cell phone services available on all lines
March 19, 2013 11:19 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsTokyo Metro Co., the larger of the two subway operators in Tokyo, said it will make mobile phone services available in trains on all its nine lines at noon Thursday. While cell phone services in trains have been progressively introduced since March last year, the remaining segments on Ginza and Marunouchi lines will go mobile friendly on Thursday.
TEPCO mulls more spending to ensure safety of Niigata nuclear plant
March 15, 2013 12:33 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsTokyo Electric is considering spending tens of billions of yen more to ensure the safety of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant on Japan's northwest coast, which it is aiming to restart in fiscal 2013, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.
NKorea accuses US, SKorea of cyberattacks
March 15, 2013 9:53 am | by YOUKYUNG LEE, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsNorth Korea on Friday blamed South Korea and the United States for cyberattacks that temporarily shut down websites this week at a time of elevated tensions over the North's nuclear ambitions. Experts, however, indicated it could take months to determine what happened and one analyst suggested hackers in China were a more likely culprit.
TEPCO's false explanation over accident probe not intentional
March 13, 2013 10:07 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA third-party panel concluded Wednesday that Tokyo Electric Power Co. did not intentionally provide erroneous information to a Diet-appointed committee tasked to investigate the 2011 accident at the utility's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
China says willing to discuss cyber security with the U.S.
March 12, 2013 8:55 am | by Terril Yue Jones, Reuters | News | CommentsChina offered on Tuesday to talk with the United States about cyber security amid an escalating war of words between the two sides on computer hacking, but suspicion is as deep in Beijing as it is in Washington about the accusations and counter-accusations.
Taiwanese protest against nuclear power plant
March 11, 2013 9:55 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsTens of thousands of Taiwanese have protested to demand that the government scrap a $10 billion nuclear power plant that is nearly complete and slated to begin operating in two years.
Cisco to set up tech training centers in Myanmar
March 7, 2013 12:11 pm | by ERIKA KINETZ, Associated Press | News | CommentsCisco Systems plans to establish two network training centers in Myanmar, as global technology companies begin to move into one of the least-connected places on Earth. The announcement Thursday came on the heels of a USAID-sponsored delegation of executives from Cisco, Google, HP, Intel and Microsoft to the fast-opening country.
Rivals Sharp, Samsung bury hatchet
March 7, 2013 10:22 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSharp has decided to accept investment from South Korean rival Samsung as the struggling Japanese electronics maker seeks to rebuild its business. When the capital and business tie-up was announced on Wednesday evening, Sharp officials did not hold a press conference or contract-signing ceremony, repeating the lack of fanfare...
Three in five Southeast Asia markets showed growth in tech goods
March 6, 2013 9:49 am | by GFK | News | CommentsTechnical consumer goods in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand continue to expand in the fourth consecutive quarter of 2012, making them the three fastest growing markets in the region with their robust growth of 15, 15 and 12 percent respectively in the full year of 2012.
Japan's nuclear plants unlikely to restart operations this year
March 4, 2013 10:15 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsNone of Japan's nuclear power plants that have been halted since the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami are likely to restart operations within the year as safety checks under new standards are not expected to be completed, a Kyodo News survey of utilities showed Sunday.
New coal power plant construction launched in Hiroshima
March 1, 2013 10:17 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsChugoku Electric Power Co. and Electric Power Development Co. held a ceremony Friday to launch the construction of a prototype plant for a new coal-fired power generation method in Hiroshima Prefecture. Through trials due to begin in March 2017 at the facility on Osakikami Island, the two companies will seek to generate more power in a more eco-friendly way.
Festive buying drove demand for technical consumer goods in Singapore
February 28, 2013 10:23 am | by GFK | News | CommentsDecember is usually boom time for manufacturers and retailers as consumers shop and buy more than the usual month, thanks to the year-end festivities. Latest GfK report for Technical Consumer Goods in Singapore revealed record breaking sales for a number of key categories...
Chubu Electric to start overseas solar power project in Thailand
February 26, 2013 9:45 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsJapanese utility Chubu Electric Power Co. said Tuesday it will start its first overseas solar power generation project in Thailand, as part of efforts to expand profit by entering emerging foreign markets. Chubu Electric said it has acquired a 49 percent stake in Gunkul Powergen Co., the operator of six solar power plants in Thailand...
India to launch mission to Mars this year, says president
February 22, 2013 12:11 pm | by Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - India will launch its first mission to Mars this year, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday, as the emerging Asian nation looks to play catch up in the global space race alongside the United States, Russia and its giant neighbor China.
China says U.S. hacking accusations lack technical proof
February 20, 2013 3:49 pm | News | CommentsAccusations by a U.S. computer security company that a secretive Chinese military unit is likely behind a series of hacking attacks are scientifically flawed and hence unreliable, China's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
White House targets trade secret theft with new strategy
February 20, 2013 3:39 pm | by Doug Palmer, Reuters | News | CommentsThe White House will tackle the theft of U.S. trade secrets on Wednesday with a new strategy to protect American companies from losing hundreds of billions of dollars in an area of growing concern in relations with China.
