Tag - phones

 
 

PHONES

The exact timing of the roll out of Rakuten Mobile's commercial satellite-to-mobile service is uncertain, but the plans for coverage encompass mountainous and remote areas across Japan.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 16, 2024
Rakuten plans satellite mobile service across Japan in 2026
The service, to be rolled out in partnership with AST SpaceMobile, will be directly accessible by regular smartphones and won’t require a terminal.
Rakuten Group has incurred a net loss for the fifth straight year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024
Rakuten logs second-largest annual net loss
The firm will skip a dividend payment for the first time in 23 years to prioritize its financial stability.
Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, was one of the worst-hit areas in the Jan. 1 earthquake.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2024
Still no full recovery prospects for mobile networks hit by Noto earthquake
NTT West expressed eagerness to restore services in two to three months in places where damage is light, but it didn't present clear plans for severely hit areas.
While Apple has dominated the holiday quarter in recent years, its surge ahead of Samsung over a full year is unprecedented and suggests Apple is weathering an industrywide slump better than its rivals.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2024
Apple passed Samsung as world’s top phone-maker in 2023
Apple's surge ahead of Samsung over a full year is unprecedented and suggests Apple is weathering an industrywide slump better than its rivals.
Huawei caused a stir in the U.S. and China last August when it released a smartphone with a 7nm processor made by Shanghai-based SMIC.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 5, 2024
Huawei teardown shows 5nm laptop chip made in Taiwan, not China
The firm caused a stir last August when it released a smartphone with a processor that was only a few years behind the cutting edge.
Visitors strike a giant bell to mark the new year as a Buddhist monk looks on, at Zojoji temple in Tokyo on Jan. 1, 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 31, 2023
Ring in the new year on your phone: Apps offer alternate to Japan temple tradition
Smartphone apps are aiming to offer alternative ways to enjoy a noisy New Year's tradition.
Fujifilm has added the Instax Pal, a new palm-sized model, to its Instax instant camera lineup known as Cheki in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 15, 2023
Japanese camera-makers focusing on Gen-Z
Offerings tout unique features to appeal to those wanting something beyond smartphone photography.
KDDI's au mobile phone services were disrupted across Japan on Monday morning.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2023
KDDI's mobile phone network restored after outage across Japan
The disruption began at 7:18 a.m. across 31 western prefectures including Osaka, Kyoto and Fukuoka before spreading nationwide.
Users often do not realize that almost all app notifications travel over Google and Apple's servers, giving the two companies unique insight into the traffic flowing from those apps to their users.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 8, 2023
Smartphone users' push notifications spied on, U.S. senator warns
Users often do not realize that almost all notifications for incoming messages, breaking news and other updates travel over Google and Apple's servers.
A Rakuten Mobile branch in Tokyo. Rakuten is set for another tough year in 2024, at a time when rivals are on the attack with competitive pricing and reward campaigns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023
Rakuten's mobile misadventure: from ambitious plan to millstone
Founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani's vision of a low-cost network using cloud-based software and cheap hardware did not pan out.
"Changes in environment surrounding schoolchildren, such as increases in the amount of time spent using smartphones at home, can be considered as a cause" of poor eyesight, an official of the education ministry said.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 28, 2023
Record number of Japanese children have poor eyesight, survey says
The proportion of elementary, junior high and high school students with less-than-normal visual acuity have reached record highs.
Communicating over the phone, a necessity for businesspeople, is a headache for many young people.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Nov 27, 2023
Many young people in Japan scared of telephone calls
For some, their heart skips a beat when they hear phones ringing and they hesitate to make calls, fearing they might be considered a nuisance.
Monday's disruptions, which began around 8:30 a.m., affected SoftBank's "Otoku Line" and "Otoku Hikari Denwa" services in parts of eastern Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2023
SoftBank's fixed-line phone services disrupted again
Disruption in parts of eastern Japan followed 14-hour outage over the weekend.
A SoftBank store in Tokyo's Ginza district
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 19, 2023
SoftBank landline phone services fully restored after disruption
The disruption impacted mainly business users including retailers and hospitals in parts of the Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto and Koshinetsu regions.
Daisuke Ogawa (right) arrives at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo on Wednesday after being transferred from Thailand.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 15, 2023
Japanese suspect in alleged phone scam extradited from Thailand
The case it the latest in a series in which scammer groups were found to be targeting Japanese victims from locations in Southeast Asia.
The Humane Ai Pin’s interface is projected onto the hand of company co-founder Bethany Bongiorno in San Francisco on Oct. 27. Humane, a company started by two former Apple employees, says its new artificial intelligence pin can stop all the scrolling.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 13, 2023
Silicon Valley’s bet on the device that comes after the smartphone
Humane's Ai Pin is being billed as the first artificially intelligent device.
Humane has officially launched its long-awaited Ai Pin. The device will be available to order starting Nov. 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 10, 2023
Humane's Ai Pin launches its campaign to replace phones
The device can magnetically clip onto clothing and will cost $699 with a $24-a-month subscription — which will come with unlimited data and phone calls.
People stand outside an Apple Store in Shanghai as the new iPhone 15 officially goes on sale across China on Sept. 22.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2023
Apple postpones next year's iPhone and Mac software to fix bugs
Rather than adding new features, company engineers have now been tasked with fixing flaws and improving software performance, sources have said.
Rakuten Viber CEO Ofir Eyal says the messaging app has found favor with microbusinesses, which can use it for engaging with customers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023
Rakuten Viber on course to become the Philippines' 'super app'
In Japan, messaging app Viber trails far behind the Line app, but in the Philippines it boasts a user penetration of 71%.
An increasing number of middle-aged men are using currency trading apps to buy and sell the yen to get short-term profits.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 26, 2023
Middle-aged salarymen exploit volatile yen with smartphone trades
Smartphone traders amplify volatility in currency markets by seizing on intraday moves, departing from a previous focus on interest rate differentials.

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