Tag - tech

 
 

TECH

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.
A push by U.S. antitrust regulators to force the sale of the Google Chrome browser to limit Alphabet's search dominance is likely to run into legal hurdles.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Nov 22, 2024
Legal hurdles ahead for Google's forced sale of Chrome
The proposed remedies have been described as extreme, while a forced sale would not address several issues raised in the DOJ lawsuit, critics say.
The U.S. government has asked a judge to order the dismantling of Google by selling its widely used Chrome browser in a major antitrust crackdown on the internet giant.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 21, 2024
U.S. Justice Department proposes sale of Google's Chrome to curb monopoly
The proposed changes follow a landmark ruling that the technology giant illegally monopolized online search.
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
SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son (right) and Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia, take part in a fireside chat at the Nvidia AI Summit Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2024
Masayoshi Son is trying to make up for past mistakes
SoftBank, once Nvidia’s top shareholder, dumped its stake — oops! — before the chipmaker became one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Air Self-Defense Force F-35A fighter jets at the U.S. military's Misawa base in Aomori Prefecture. The deployment of the U.S. military's cutting-edge F-35A stealth fighters at the base will start in the spring of 2026.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2024
F-35A deployment at Misawa base to start in spring 2026
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to spend about $10 billion to upgrade its fighter jets deployed in Japan over several years.
A poster in the Tamil language advertises smartphone assembly roles outside a shop in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in India, on Oct. 28.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 18, 2024
Foxconn tells India recruiters: Nix marital status in iPhone job ads
The move follows an investigation published June 25 that found Foxconn excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Microsoft Build conference in Seattle on May 21. Altman recently fired off a social media post saying "There is no wall" as fears arise over potential blockages to AI development.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2024
Is AI's meteoric rise beginning to slow?
Industry insiders are beginning to acknowledge that large language models aren't scaling endlessly higher at breakneck speed when pumped with more power and data.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 17, 2024
Trump's shadow looms as Xi and Biden hold final meeting
The talks focused broadly on efforts by Washington and Beijing to ease the countries’ tense relationship.
Rice fields in the town of Ozu, Kumamoto Prefecture. The water-filled paddies glistening under the sun is a symbol of a long-running effort to preserve the prefecture’s groundwater.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Nov 17, 2024
Japan's chipmaking rush pressures Kumamoto's special water supply
TSMC and others hope that support for existing projects and proper wastewater management can avoid undermining water development efforts lauded by the U.N.
Japanese companies lack the agility needed for the digital transformation, a new report says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2024
Japan ranked 31st in digital competitiveness, 92nd for English skills
In the 2024 EF English Proficiency Index, Japan was ranked 92nd, down from 87 the previous year. It was its worst showing yet.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan