Stories by Jay Alabaster

Japan robot lab readies second prototype for work at crippled nuclear reactor

A Japanese robotics lab has developed a new emergency response prototype that will soon be put to work at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan.

Sony brings streaming music service to the iPhone

Sony on Friday released an iPhone app to access its streaming Music Unlimited service, part of its efforts to expand its online platforms to devices from rival manufacturers.

Sony pulls out of LCD JV with Sharp, gets US$126 million investment back

Sony said Thursday it will pull out of its over three-year LCD TV panel joint venture with Sharp, part of Sony's ongoing attempts to reform its foundering TV business.

FujiFilm camera design to withstand water, shock, dust, freezing temperatures

FujiFilm said Wednesday it will begin sales of a digital camera in June that is waterproof, shockproof, sealed against dust and sand, and works at temperatures below freezing.

Tokyo opens world's tallest broadcast tower

Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest broadcast tower, officially opened to the public on Tuesday.

New data shows Apple dominating Samsung in Japanese smartphone market

Nearly one in three smartphones sold in Japan last fiscal year was an iPhone, pushing Apple's sales far ahead of main rival Samsung in the country, according to data published by a local research firm.

Panasonic books US$10 billion annual loss, largest ever by Japan manufacturer

Panasonic said Friday it booked a loss of nearly US$10 billion for the fiscal year that ended March 31, the largest ever loss by a Japanese manufacturer according to local media.

Japan's Softbank testing blimp-based emergency mobile phone system

Softbank, which runs Japan's third-largest mobile phone network, is experimenting with using blimps as temporary cell towers for use during natural disasters.

Twitter Japan blog post says company leaked no user data

None of the recently leaked Twitter logins and passwords came from within the company, according to a message posted on Twitter's Japanese blog Thursday.

Sony targets return to profitability after record $US5.7 billion loss last year

Sony closed the books on its worst year ever on Thursday, while also targeting a slight profit for the current period, which would be its first since 2008.

PayPal, Softbank to form Japan joint venture, launch PayPal Here service

PayPal and Softbank said Wednesday they will form a new joint venture to pursue online transactions business in the country.

Sharp to sell moody robotic vacuum with video streaming, remote control by phone

Sharp's new robot vacuum isn't always happy to do your housework.

Hitachi starts all-in-one data center service, covers construction to IT support

Japanese conglomerate Hitachi on Monday launched a new data center business that includes everything from planning to construction to IT support.

Japan's Gree to buy U.S. mobile game maker Funzio for US$210 million

Japanese mobile game provider Gree said Wednesday it will buy California-based developer Funzio for US$210 million.

Casio releases iPhone, iPad app that can send data using visual colors

The company's "PicaPicamera" app uses a basic form of visual light transmission to send image data between users.