11.20.03
Japan Ranks 14th in Information Access

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Japan is 14th in providing information and communication access, reports Kyodo News via Japan Today. ITU based its rankings on its Digital Access Index. This index was based on information and communication technology data from 2002 that rated nations' access friendliness. Sweden ranked first, followed by Denmark.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Sunny Yu
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11.19.03
Schwarzenegger Coverage Conquers TV Ratings Wars in Japan

Anything that is not popular on Japanese television is immediately pulled off the air, but Arnold Schwarzenegger's run for governor of California has been a huge winner in a nation that has intense ratings wars, reports the Los Angeles Times. The Tokyo Broadcasting System in Japan sent a news crew to follow Schwarzenegger around from the premiere of "Terminator 3" to his inauguration. Akira Maki, Los Angeles bureau chief of TBS, attributes the Japanese media frenzy over "Shuwa-chan's" recall run to his worldwide action-hero status and the Japanese people's affinity to his "jolly" side. With the last transmission sent to Japan after the new governor's swearing-in, Maki and his crew reflected on Japan's "all Shuwa-chan, all the time" and hoped that this Schwarzenegger marathon would not end up being the defining moment of their journalistic careers.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Helen Baek
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11.17.03
Cell Phone Software Upgrades Now Offered Over the Air

Cell phone makers NTT DoCoMo of Japan and SK Telecom of South Korea are now offering their customers the option of upgrading the software in their handsets without having to visit a service store. As InfoWorld reports, DoCoMo cell phones that support the software are already on the market and all future phones will carry it. It is said to be the first over-the-air software of its kind, allowing users to fix software glitches in their handsets without as much trouble as before and at a cheaper cost because the service store additional cost is cut. The companies will also save millions as the reduced need for work staff cuts costs, according to the report.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Helen Baek
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11.15.03
Freelance Journalist Claims Company Wiretapped His Phone

After writing articles in which he criticized the business practices of consumer loan company Takefuji, a Japanese freelance journalist has filed suit against the company saying they wiretapped his telephone from December 2000 to February 2001. The Asahi Shimbun reports two former Takefuji officials were arrested, one of whom confessed that he knew of the journalist's wiretapped phone, as were three private investigators who worked with the company officials. The journalist's lawyers said the instructions came from the Takefuji chairman himself, Yasuo Takei. A Takefuji spokesman protested by saying that the wiretapping was the act of one individual and that Takei was not involved. Other journalists also claimed to have been targets of wiretapping, but causes for the espionage are not known.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Helen Baek
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11.14.03
Sony Partners With Japanese Papers for E-Publishing Business

From The Japan Times: Major papers The Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun will team up with Sony and other firms to launch an electronic publishing company, Sony and four major partners announced. Publishing link Ltd. will distribute the publishers' content via the Internet, while Sony will sell electronic book players. The content will be available to members for downloading and reading on electronic book players and personal computers. There are 15 companies involved in the venture. Major partners include publishers Shinchosha Co. and Kodansha Ltd., and printing firms Dai Nippon Printing Co. and Toppan Printing Co. The companies expect service to start in the spring.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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11.13.03
Nikon to Stop Production of Film Cameras, Focus on Digital

Dwindling film camera sales have prompted major Japanese camera maker Nikon to discontinue its 35 mm film camera production in Japan, saying that it will instead focus entirely on digital cameras, reports Agence France-Presse via Channelnewsasia.com.  A spokesman for the company said that no final decision has been made, but Nikon has seen a loss in profits in film cameras compared to digital cameras. Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Nikon has stopped producing film cameras and will also stop shipments of film cameras starting in April.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Helen Baek
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11.13.03
Japan Airlines Flights to Include Satellite Broadband Internet Connection

Japan Airlines has signed a deal with Boeing to install a satellite broadband Internet connection into a few of its planes, reports UK magazine PC Advisor. Passengers can plug into "Connexion" through their notebooks or PDAs via in-seat Ethernet ports or onboard wireless LANs. Transmission speeds can reach 20 megabits per second, said Scott Carson, president of Connexion by Boeing. The system should become available in December 2004 on routes between Japan and London and later in American and European flights.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Shellie Branco
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11.10.03
Japan to Pinpoint Cell Phone Emergency Calls Through Satellite

Via CNET Asia: In Japan, emergency call centers can locate a land line phone, yet they have been unable to pinpoint a cell phone. But a new system to pinpoint the location of a cell phone user's emergency call will be introduced to Japan, reports The Asahi Shimbun. While the United States proposed a system that will depend on new technologies to locate the caller, the system in Japan will be based on the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) already used in vehicles. The Japanese Telecommunications Ministry, National Police Agency, and three major mobile service providers in Japan are expected to test the Japanese version of the E911 system in the United States in 2005. KDDI has already introduced 21 mobile phones with GPS, while NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone will incorporate the system into newer phones. According to The Asahi Shimbun report, out of 8.9 million emergency calls last year in Japan, 52 percent originated from mobile phones, including Personal Handyphones (PHS).
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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11.07.03
New Japan-China Network Connection Features Automatic Translation

Hailed as the first of its kind, a new fiber optic network with a built-in translator will allow Japanese and Chinese corporations to explore each other's databases, chat and do research in their own languages, according to Agence France-Presse via Australian IT. The Japanese Telecommunications Ministry announced the plan to connect the two nations with the network. The ministry wants to expand it to other Asian countries and their languages. A Japanese government official said this is the world's first network linking two countries with built-in automatic translation. With the help of several Japanese universities and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the two countries will start an experiment on the network in December and continue until March 2005.
 -- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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11.04.03
Researchers in Japan Claim World Record Speed in Internet Transmission

A group of scientists from Keio University and NTT, Japan's largest telecommunications firm, were able to reach a world record data transmission speed of 43 gigabits per second, reports CNETAsia. NTT said in a statement that the transmission of a DVD movie file took less than a second between one Keio campus to another 20 kilometers away. By contrast, last month a European and American research team transmitted a file the size of a full-length DVD movie in 7 seconds and at a wider range of more than 7,000 kilometers.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Sunny Yu
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11.02.03
Opinion: Japanese Bribery Scandal Illustrates Broadcasters' Obsession With Ratings

In response to the Nippon TV ratings bribery scandal last month, in which a producer of variety specials allegedly paid monitors to watch his shows, Japan Times reporter Philip Brasor said commercial television in Japan is so dictated by ratings that producers think of nothing else. Because program quality is completely irrelevant in the industry, ratings manipulation is the only way a producer can get a salary raise, he said in a Media Mix column. The ratings system is easily exploited because there are only 2,400 households acting as monitors and rumors are swirling that this kind of bribery is actually common, he added.
 -- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Helen Baek
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