Archives: December 2006

Japanese favor the Wii

Posted by: Ian Rowley on December 18

More bad news for the Sony's PlayStation3. Two weeks ago, I mentioned a survey which found that Japan's salaried workers are twice as likely to spend winter bonuses on a...

Toshiba Quits Music Biz, Puts Sony in Spotlight

Posted by: Kenji Hall on December 14

Who says content is king? Toshiba's decision on Dec. 14 to unload its stake in music venture Toshiba-EMI for $170 million suggests that not everybody believes in the money-making potential...

Google Earth meets Wii

Posted by: Kenji Hall on December 13

Among the more bizarre uses for Nintendo's Wii gaming console is this mashup written by one Joseph Coulston. It lets you control a Google Earth map with the buttons and...

Chinese competition hurting Indian drugmakers

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on December 12

You might think that India’s pharmaceutical industry would be one business where locals needn’t fret too much about competition from China. While China has no big-name drugmakers with significant presence...

Bonus boost for Wii

Posted by: Ian Rowley on December 08

With the latest round of console wars in full flow, there are signs the popularity of Nintendo's Wii is burgeoning at the expense of Sony’s PlayStation3 in Japan. Late last...

India's top researcher worries about China

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on December 08

Some Asiatech readers say I’m anti-India because I have written (here and here) about how India trails China in the race to become a leader in science and technology. I...

Is OECD hyping China’s R&D spending?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on December 07

Do the Chinese really spend more than the Japanese on R&D? That’s a question that I’ve been asking myself following the startling news from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation...

Thai troubles for the $100 Laptop

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on December 06

Has Thailand gotten off the $100 laptop bandwagon? That’s something that MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte hopes to find out soon. Negroponte is chairman of the non-profit One Laptop Per Child,...

Samsung’s Answer to Wireless Broadband Era

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on December 04

At the ITU Telecom World 2006 forum in Hong Kong, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics unveiled three new thin phones to brace itself up for a fast approaching era of...

Team Iran at ITU Telecom World 2006

Posted by: Brian Bremner on December 04

They may not boast the star power of established tech titans such as Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard or emerging telecom players like China’s Huawei Technologies or ZTE. Yet a handful...

Will Taiwan push back against Carlyle?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on December 01

The uber-connected Carlyle Group may have some trouble getting deals done in China but is accustomed to having an easy time of it in Taiwan. The internationally isolated Taiwanese government...

Theories On Why Sony's Kutaragi Is Movin' On

Posted by: Kenji Hall on December 01

Ken Kutaragi's move to hand over daily oversight of Sony's video games unit to Kaz Hirai has got the rumor mill working overtime. Given the timing of the announcement, I...