Created: 12 September 2007 | Watched by: 12 people | Comments: 0 comments

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  Japan Lunar Probe 

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6994272.stm

  Japan's space agency has successfully launched its first lunar probe on a mission to explore the moon. A rocket carrying the orbiter blasted off from the space centre on the remote southern island of ... Tanegashima. Over the course of a year, the orbiter will gather data on the moon's origin and evolution. Japanese scientists say it is the most complex lunar mission since Nasa's Apollo programme in the 1960s and 70s, when astronauts walked on the moon. "We successfully launched the rocket and released the orbiter from the rocket," said Eriko Sunada, a spokeswoman for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) said. Three satellites The three-tonne probe is called Selene, the Selenological and Engineering Explorer. It has been nicknamed Kaguya, after a princess in a folk story who ascended to the moon. The probe will orbit the Earth before travelling the 380,000km (237,500 miles) to the moon. There the main orbiting unit and two smaller satellites will be positioned 100km (60 mi   [More...] [Less...]

  First added: 14 September 2007, by: Simon Boyd  [Report as spam]

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  Tags:  japan, lunar, probe

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  Are the mobile networks backing the wrong horse? - Times Online 

  http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article2680101.ece

  With 40 million 3G subscribers, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo network is in a rare position to offer the rest of us a clearer vision of the hits and misses of mobile internet services. It doesn’t make for a pretty ... picture. At a briefing last week with Shuichiro Ichikoshi, one of the principal architects behind DoCoMo’s wildly successful 1999 launch of i-mode, one message became abundantly clear: content is not king. According to Mr Ichikoshi, DoCoMo’s traffic revenue outpaced content revenue yet again in the last fiscal year, this time by a margin of $11 billion to $2 billion (£5.5 billion to £1 billion). This means that eight years after the launch of i-mode, the mobile internet service available with O2 in the UK, the basic functions of talking and texting are still far more compelling to consumers than content-based services such as mobile TV, music downloads and traffic alerts. As Mr Ichikoshi says, most of this can be explained by the Pareto Principle, commonly referred to as the ‘20/80 rule   [More...] [Less...]

  First added: 18 October 2007, by: David Wiblin  [Report as spam]

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  Tags:  internet, 3g, japan, mobile phones, services

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  Video: Japan launches lunar orbiter | Science | Reuters 

  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2007/sep/14/japan.lunar.rocket

  License/buy our content | Privacy policy | Terms & conditions | Advertising guide | Accessibility | A-Z index | About Guardian Unlimited | Join our dating site today Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News ... and Media Limited 2007 Go to: Guardian Unlimited home UK news World news Comment is free blog Newsblog Sport blog Arts & entertainment blog Podcasts In pictures ---------------------- Archive search Arts Books Business EducationGuardian.co.uk Environment Film Football Jobs Life & style MediaGuardian.co.uk Money Music The Observer Politics Science Shopping SocietyGuardian.co.uk Sport Talk Technology Travel Been there ---------------------- Audio Email services Special reports The Guardian The northerner The wrap ---------------------- Advertising guide Crossword Events / offers Feedback Gameszone Garden centre GNM press office Graduate GuardianFilms Headline service Help / contacts Information Living our values Newsroom Notes & Queries Reader Offers Readers' editor Soulmates dating Style   [More...] [Less...]

  First added: 14 September 2007, by: Patrick Cadona  [Report as spam]

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  Tags:  japan, lunar, moon, probe, space , video   [More...] [Less...]

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  Toshiba may buy Sony chip plant (Japan Times Online) 

  http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070916a3.html

  Sony Corp. is in talks with Toshiba Corp. to sell it a chip-production facility for game consoles as early as next spring for nearly ¥100 billion, informed sources said Saturday. Sony wants to concentrate ... its investment on producing chips for video and digital cameras by effectively withdrawing from the costly production of semiconductors for game consoles, the sources said. Purchasing the facility would help Toshiba, Japan's largest chip maker, expand its market share, they said. The facility under consideration for sale to Toshiba is part of those at the Nagasaki Technology Center of subsidiary Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corp., the sources said. The facility at the Isahaya, Nagasaki Prefecture-based center produces the Cell, a powerful microchip Sony codeveloped with Toshiba and International Business Machines Corp. for its PlayStation 3 game console, as well as other semiconductors. Sony and Toshiba are considering setting up a joint venture in which the new firm would be expect   [More...] [Less...]

  First added: 17 September 2007, by: David Wiblin  [Report as spam]

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  Tags:  chip, consoles, games, japan, manufacturing , plant, sale, sony   [More...] [Less...]

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  Robots turn off senior citizens in ageing Japan - Yahoo 

  http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070920/tot-uk-japan-ageing-gadgets-566e283_1.html

  By Emi Foulk Reuters - Thursday, September 20 06:38 am TOKYO (Reuters) - Ifbot, the resident robot at a Japanese nursing home, can converse, sing, express emotions and give trivia quizzes to seniors to ... help with their mental agility. Yet the pale-green gizmo has spent much of the past two years languishing in a corner alone.   [More...] [Less...]

  First added: 21 September 2007, by: David Wiblin  [Report as spam]

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  Tags:  ageing, company, conversation, gadget, ifbot , japan, old age, robot   [More...] [Less...]

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  Japan building new internet 

  http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/123015/japan-building-new-internet.html

  Japan is developing a new generation of network architecture to replace the internet, according to the country's Communications minister, Yoshihide Suga. Mr Suga's department is currently seeking a 7.8 ... billion yen commitment in the next budget to begin researching the technology, which it hopes to rollout commercially in 2020. Alongside the vast sums of money, the Japanese government will also be looking to form partnerships with leading businesses and academic institutions to promote the technology. The Japanese minister, speaking to reporters in Brazil, said that the research was a response to the challenges likely to be faced by the internet in the next century, including a need for higher bandwidth, stronger security and a more stable network. The new network will place Japan at the forefront of internet development, a position Mr Suga believes will only enhance Japanese competitiveness in global markets. The country already has a standing "e-Japan" policy which aims to create   [More...] [Less...]

  First added: 15 September 2007, by: David Wiblin  [Report as spam]

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  Tags:  internet, japan, build, e-japan, infrastructure , network, new, suga, yoshihide   [More...] [Less...]