Internet
ò Nintendo announced that starting in June, its Nintendo DS will be offered with an internet browser in the US. The device with the online feature was introduced in Europe this past fall. The device comes with the Opera Web browser. Nintendo has not yet released a suggested retail price for the portable game player. The Nintendo DS features dual screens with touch screen, voice recognition and wireless communications capabilities.
Software
ò HI Corporation, a company specializing in computer software development, sales and support service as well as 3D consulting services, announced its listing on the JASDAQ Securities Exchange on April 12. The company will offer 5,000 shares in its initial public offering. Of those 4,500 will be newly issued, the other 500 are shares currently held in private. The tentative price range will be announced on March 26 and the fixed offering price will be announced on April 3. Nomura Securities is the lead underwriter of the offer.
Hardware
ò Renesas Technology Corp. announced that it has become the world's first company to ship more than 1 billion microcontrollers with on-chip flash memory (flash MCUs). Renesas Technology is the No. 1 supplier of flash MCUs worldwide, and MCUs are positioned as the company's core product. Flash MCUs are known for their superiority because of their easy re-programmability of on-chip flash memory. Microcontrollers with on-chip flash help shorten development time and offer flexibility since they can be re-programmed even after the MCU has been mounted on the product. Since Renesas' parent companies, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation began full-scale production of flash MCUs in 1996, Renesas Technology has built up the industry's most extensive lineup of flash MCUs, based on proprietary flash memory technology and MCU technology. Building on the synergy effect of the two founding partners, the company produces in volume flash MCUs featuring excellent performance and reliability. The company said it will continue to develop flash MCUs and to deliver solutions to meet the diverse needs of customers quickly with strong support services. Renesas Technology is one of the world's leading semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (audio visual) markets and the world's No.1 supplier of microcontrollers.
Telecommunications
ò KDDI announced that it has entered into an alliance with East Japan Railway to provide fibre-optic broadband services from April. Under the partnership, KDDI will offer the services to 120,000 households by using JR East's fibre-optic network and installing new lines. In October last year, KDDI acquired the fibre-optic business of Tokyo Electric Power in a deal valued at Ñ115 billion ($971.8 million), in a bid to catch up with former state monopoly Nippon Telegraph and Telephone which is also expanding its fibre-optic services.
Korea
Mobile/Wireless
ò KTF, Korea's second-largest mobile service operator announced its plans to spend W88.5 billion($93.7 million) to buy back and cancel its own shares this year in a bid to raise shareholder value. The company said it has decided to pay W600 ($0.6) per share in dividends, with the payment scheduled for March 30. KTF holds a 32 percent share of the nationÆs mobile phone service market, which registered 40 million total subscribers. KTF posted a 24.9 percent decline in its net profit in 2006 to W410.6 billion ($434.4 million) in net profit from a year earlier, even as sales registered a 7.5 percent growth to W6.5 trillion ($6.8 billion).
ò SK Telecom and KTF announced their plan to set up a system of warnings for mobile internet service users to prevent possible overcharging as some have already reported that bills could amount to more than W10 million ($10,580) a month. KTF said it will start giving notices to the users of its i-Plug service when they reach a certain level of internet use. SK Telecom also said it is considering adopting a similar system before its T-Login service is deployed in July. i-Plug and T-Login are internet services using mobile telephone networks. They enable laptop users to gain access to the internet by using a finger-sized transmitter that fits into a USB port.
ò LG Electronics announced that it has initiated producing handsets in Iran with a local partner Maadiran Group. The Iranian firm, which describes itself as the countryÆs leading technology and automation company, disclosed that it has started production of five models of handsets under license from LG Electronics. The South Korean company said it aims to be more competitive in the Middle East market, and plans to export the handsets to other countries in the region. LG has subsidiaries in Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. It also makes air conditioners in Turkey and TV tuners and components in Egypt, with Middle East sales posting about 3 percent of LG Electronics' global revenues of $38.6 billion in 2006.
ò Pantech, a South Korean mobile phone maker, announced that it will introduce the nation's slimmest handset model next month in a bid to appeal to design-conscious consumers. The company said the 9.9-millimeter-thick model is expected to be the slimmest slide-type phone ever launched in the local market. Currently, the slimmest phone is Samsung Electronics' 12.9-millimeter-thick Ultra Edition model.
Internet
ò Samsung Electronics announced that it has secured a contract to build a network in Washington, D.C. to enable high-speed mobile internet connectivity anywhere in the city from December for US-based wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. WiBro is a version of WiMax that enables high-speed internet connectivity even when a user is in motion. WiMax refers to a wireless internet technology developed by the world's largest chipmaker Intel Corp. Samsung is one of the companies Sprint Nextel has been working with for its plan to launch the WiMax service for areas around Washington and Chicago starting as early as the end of this year. In a related development, a Samsung official said that the company will continue to hold its 4G Forums to promote 4G communications technology, an upgraded version of existing wireless communications platforms.
Semiconductors
ò A team of South Korean scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology announced its development of what is considered the worldÆs first flash memory cell that employs an eight-nanometer design rule. The scientists said the achievement is expected to usher in the use of terabyte-level flash memory. When commercialised, a single terabyte-level chip will be able to store roughly 500,000 MP3 music files or 1,250 high-quality movies. One terabyte equals 1,000 gigabytes. Currently, the most advanced product is a 32-gigabit flash memory chip based on a 40-nanometer design rule that Samsung unveiled last year. Samsung is now going all-out to develop technology viable of making a 64-gigabit flash memory chip with 30-nanometer circuits, but it is a tall job even for such an R&D behemoth as Samsung.
ò Hynix Semiconductor announced that it has developed the industryÆs fastest and most efficient 512-megabit memory chip for handsets and other mobile devices. The chip is expected to be used in a wide range of gadgets, with mass production slated to begin in the second half of 2007. The new DDR SDRAM, or double-data-rate synchronous dynamic random access memory, has the industryÆs fastest clock speed of 185 MHz. It is also equipped with Error Correction Code (ECC), which ensures data integrity and reduces power consumption by up to 50 percent.
Hardware
ò Samsung Electronics said it is looking to more development in the business-to-business office appliances market such as printers, servers, monitors and network equipment. The move is seen as its response to the slow sales of its consumer goods businesses since last year. The President of SamsungÆs Digital Media division said the company is aiming to set up a premium brand of office appliances, just as Samsung has succeeded within the semiconductor chip, mobile phone and digital TV sectors. According to the official, the initial goal is to be one of the top three sellers of printers by 2010 and to pose a threat to market leader Hewlett Packard. Samsung has been one of the leading makers of semiconductor chips, mobile phones and TVs, but its operating profit has been sliding, from W12 trillion ($12.6 billion) in 2004 to W8 trillion won ($8.4 billion) in 2005 to W6.9 trillion ($7.3 billion) in 2006. All of its three key business divisions û semiconductor, mobile phone and liquid crystal display (LCD) û have lost profits during the period, pressuring the firmÆs management to search for new products that can be its next growth engine.
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