Tech & Science
Ida Torres on May 16 2013
Japan's public broadcaster NHK will be unveiling its next-generation 8K
Super Hi-Vision (SHV) format on May 16 and 17 by screening the first short film shot in the ultra-HD format at the Cannes International Film Festival. Director Toshio Lee will show his 27 minute comedy "Beauties À La Carte" on a 220-inch screen so viewers can better appreciate the 8K super HD format, with a 22.2 channel audio system, also developed by
NHK.
Japan’s Ministry of Science and Technology is planning to start the development of a supercomputer able to take 100 times the processing capacity of Japan’s current fastest machine,
Fujitsu’s K computer. The working group of technological experts has finished drafting the midterm draft of the development plan, and the project is expected to be finished by 2020.
US-based flash memory manufacturers Spansion has announced that it has acquired
Fujitsu Semiconductor’s microcontroller and analog business for 175 million US dollars. The deal was priced at 100 million dollars for the business and the rest of the amount to cover for Fujitsu’s inventory. The deal is expected to be closed by the 3rd quarter of 2013.
Since Japan’s
Renesas Electronics Corp. bought Nokia Oyj’s mobile phone chip business three years ago, it has not recovered from its slump. Having paid $200 million, it has done nothing but contribute to the losses of the company—to the point where Renesas had to avail of the government’s
$1.6 billion bailout option in December just to deter a bid from American private equity firm KKR & Co LP for fear that it would end up in foreign hands. But it looks like the winds may be changing.
Japanese electronics giant
Fujitsu unveiled new smartphone technology on Monday that determine the pulse of a user just by looking at their face. While the technology isn't tied to a specific device yet, Fujitsu says it will bring the invention to market within a year in the form of a practical service that lets people track and collect data on their health while at home or work.
Fujitsu’s
Raku-Raku Smartphone F-12D, a mobile phone sporting a modified Android platform, has been awarded Germany's Universal Design Award 2013 and Universal Design Consumer Favorite award 2013. The Raku-Raku Smartphone, released in the summer of 2012, was specifically designed to target elderly phone users.
Japanese technology giant
Fujitsu unveiled during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a prototype of The Next Generation Cane--a high-tech, easy-to-use and features-filled walking stick. It has a built-in satellite navigation system, heart rate and temperature monitor, GPS, and can be connected online through 3G and Wi-Fi. The location of the person holding the cane could also be tracked online; it can even be set up to send email alerts if it believes the user may have toppled over.
Japan's
Fujitsu has said it will begin its first sales of mobile phones outside the domestic market, starting with the release of its senior-friendly smartphone. Known as the
Raku-Raku in Japan, the Android 4.0-powered device will be first released in its home country in August, but will make its debut in France sometime during the second half of the year, and on the carrier Orange.
After reporting a 79 billion yen (approx. $844 million) loss for the last three-quarters of 2012, Japanese corporation
Fujitsu has announced that it has let go of its semiconductor business to merge with another Japanese electronics company
Panasonic to create a new ‘fabless’ company, where the manufacturing of silicon wafers will be outsourced so that they can focus on the design, development and marketing of its products instead. It is said that they are seeking external funding, which includes the Development Bank of Japan.
While smartphones with all their advanced features are becoming commonplace among the larger public, there are still those who are loyally sticking to the
Fujitsu "F-series" phones because of its stealth privacy features that earned its popular nickname -
uwaki keitai or "infidelity phone".
