Asia
Renesas Electronics releases new power supply
October 19, 2012 10:22 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsRenesas Electronics releases new power supply ICs that cut microcontroller power supply system component counts by 50 percent and significantly reduce standby mode power. Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions...
Wind shear adversely affects Tropical Storm Maria
October 19, 2012 9:58 am | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsTropical Storm Maria is moving away from Japan and strong wind shear is pushing its rainfall east of the storm's center, according to NASA satellite imagery. On Oct. 18 at 0845 UTC (4:45 a.m. EDT), NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite saw that rain associated with...
Sony to close factory, cut workforce by 2,000
October 19, 2012 5:40 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSony Corp. says it plans to close a factory in central Japan, tweaking its restructuring plan by cutting 2,000 jobs from its workforce in moves expected to save it $385 million. The company's Minokamo factory, in Gifu prefecture, employs 840 people making lenses for digital cameras, lens blocks...
Apple Loses Appeal in Tablet Patent Dispute With Samsung
October 18, 2012 12:27 pm | by Stan Schroeder | News | CommentsApple lost its appeal of a UK court’s ruling that Samsung did not copy the iPad with its Galaxy tablet, Reuters reports. In July, Britain’s High Court ruled in favor of Samsung, explaining that Samsung’s Galaxy tablet, despite certain similarities, is simply “not as cool.”
KDDI to sell nine new smartphones
October 17, 2012 10:22 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsKDDI Corp. said it will launch nine new smartphone models capable of a high-speed data communication service in Japan, a move likely to further intensify competition among mobile phone carriers to pursue better infrastructure. Of the nine models that are capable of using the LTE high-speed network, eight will hit the market on Nov. 2.
Fault underneath Oi Nuclear Plant to be checked
October 17, 2012 10:06 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsJapan's Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday that it will conduct an on-site inspection on Nov. 2 to confirm whether there is an active fault underneath the sole nuclear power plant operating in the quake-prone country. The outcome of the inspection at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear plant...
Sharp unveils seven-inch tablet with power-saving IGZO panel
October 17, 2012 9:57 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSharp Corp. unveiled a 7-inch tablet computer Wednesday equipped with its state-of-the-art IGZO power-saving liquid crystal display in a bid to recover its flagging earnings performance. The Aquos Pad SHT21 with high image quality consumes only one-tenth the power...
China critic to sell Taiwan media holdings
October 17, 2012 9:26 am | by PETER ENAV, Associated Press | News | CommentsA Hong Kong media magnate highly critical of China is selling major media holdings in Taiwan to a group headed by a local businessman whose family has substantial interests on the mainland. A source at Hong Kong-listed Next Media Ltd. said Jimmy Lai would sell Next Media Entertainment Services Ltd.
Satellite imagery of Typhoon Prapiroon over Japan
October 16, 2012 1:01 pm | by EurekAlert! | News | CommentsTyphoon Prapiroon has been meandering in the western North Pacific Ocean over the weekend of Oct. 13 and 14, and NASA's TRMM satellite was able to identify where the strongest rainfall was occurring in the storm. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed directly above...
World stocks rise, Softbank pounces on Sprint
October 15, 2012 9:26 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsDespite current economic turbulence, European stocks rose and some Asian markets staged a comeback Monday as investors looked ahead to the release of U.S. earnings reports and Softbank's $20 billion deal for Sprint. Investors are also gearing up for another week of quarterly earnings on Wall Street...
Softbank in talks to invest in Sprint
October 12, 2012 11:40 am | by PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer-- The Associated Press | News | CommentsJapanese cellphone company Softbank Corp. was in talks Thursday about taking a substantial ownership stake in struggling U.S. carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. Sprint, the third-largest cellphone company in the U.S., said the deal could be big enough to involve a "change of control" of the company...
Bonso enters new era in Xinxing, China
October 12, 2012 10:50 am | News | CommentsBonso Electronics International, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of sensor based products, reported the grand opening ceremony of its new manufacturing facility at Xinxing (Guangdong Province, China). Company services include product design and prototyping...
Japan nuke chief hints no restarts until next year
October 11, 2012 12:33 pm | by Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press | News | CommentsNuclear power provided about a third of Japan's electricity before the 2011, accident at the Fukushima plant, and Japan had been planning to increase that to 50 percent. But last month, a Cabinet panel called for Japan to phase out nuclear power over the next three decades...
Telit modules to help improve smart grid in China
October 11, 2012 11:26 am | News | CommentsTelit Wireless Solutions, a leading global vendor of high-quality machine-to-machine (M2M) modules and value-added services, announced expansion with Beijing Yupont Electric Power Technology Co., a leading innovator in the Smart grid and Automated Meter Reading Segments.
Huge window switch recall hampers Toyota comeback
October 11, 2012 9:48 am | by Tom Krisher - AP Business Writers - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe largest recall in Toyota's 75-year history could undermine the Japanese automaker's comeback from natural disasters and embarrassing safety problems. The company recalled 7.43 million cars, trucks and SUVs worldwide to fix faulty power window switches that can cause fires...
New updated PWM controller offers size and cost benefits
October 10, 2012 12:50 pm | News | CommentsAdvanced Power Electronics Corp., a leading Taiwanese manufacturer of MOS power semiconductors for DC-DC power conversion applications, has updated two of its most popular PWM controllers to provide customers with space saving and more cost effective devices...
Toshiba raises stake in Westinghouse
October 10, 2012 7:34 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsToshiba Corp. is raising its stake in U.S. nuclear power unit Westinghouse Electric despite uncertainty about the future of the technology in Japan after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. Public worries about atomic energy surged in Japan after the tsunami last year set off multiple meltdowns...
Japan Economy Shaky as Island Spat Hits Business
October 9, 2012 7:51 am | by YURI KAGEYAMA - AP Business Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe business and economic decline of Japan follows the nationalization of Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, causing violent protests in China, and a widespread call to boycott Japanese goods. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. dealerships were burned down in one city...
Taiwan Asking Apple to Blur Satellite Image
October 9, 2012 2:30 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsTaiwan is asking Apple Inc. to blur a map image of its new $1.4 billion early warning radar station that can detect aircraft and missiles coming from as far as western China. Defense Ministry spokesman David Lo said Tuesday that Apple should follow its rival Google in using only low-resolution...
Growth in Asia to Help Synthetic Rubber Sector Bounce Back
October 3, 2012 3:19 pm | News | CommentsAsia’s weakened demand for synthetic rubbers, commonly used in tire production, is expected to recover following this year’s drop in car production, says a new report from petrochemical experts GBI Research. The business intelligence firm’s latest research states that hunger for synthetic rubbers has been damaged...
Osprey Aircraft Fly To Okinawa Despite Protests
October 2, 2012 3:31 pm | News | CommentsSix Osprey hybrid aircraft were transferred to a U.S. base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on Monday — and were greeted by hundreds of protesters outside the fence showing their concern about the plane's safety. The aircraft — which takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane — flew safely from Iwakuni, on the Japanese main island, to U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Sony-Olympus Alliance Aims For High-Tech Surgery
October 2, 2012 3:23 pm | News | CommentsSony's new alliance with scandal-tarnished Olympus will focus on producing endoscopes and other surgical tools packed with the Japanese electronic maker's three-dimensional imaging and super-clear "4K" display technologies. Sony Corp. President Kazuo Hirai said it's not clear when the alliance's first products will become available.
Microsoft Collaborating With Toyota On Global Communications
October 2, 2012 3:14 pm | News | CommentsIn Japan and other overseas affiliates, Toyota will be leveraging a hybrid model, with on-premises editions of Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Lync and Windows Server. Microsoft will help Toyota provide these services to more than 200,000 employees around the world during the next two years.
NEC Sells LCD Technology For 9.5 Billion
October 2, 2012 3:03 pm | News | CommentsNEC Corp. has sold a liquid crystal display panel patent to Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. for 9.45 billion yen, NEC officials said. One of the officials said NEC has decided to secure revenues by selling the patent for displays of personal computers and mobile phones, rather than keeping it.
Fuel Being Removed From Fukushima Reactor
October 2, 2012 2:56 pm | News | CommentsThe plant operator, known as TEPCO, plans to remove 764 fuel assemblies inside the No. 4 reactor to the spent fuel pool located next to the reactor. It will also check whether there is damage inside the reactor by using an underwater camera. The Fukushima Daini complex, located about 12 kilometers south of the Daiichi plant.
