Sign of the Times
Sign of the Times

Sign of the Times

Gartner Sees $$$ in RFID

RFID technology’s time may finally be coming if implementers can learn to look beyond its current characterization as a product ID-code system, according to a new Gartner report. Findings from “Market Share and Forecast: Radio Frequency Identification, Worldwide, 2004-2010”. According to the report, worldwide RFID spending for 2005 is likely to reach $504 million, a 39 percent increase from the previous year. Accelerating adoption will lead to new license revenue of $751 million by the end of 2006, with worldwide spending topping $3 billion by 2010.

DoCoMo to Invest in Korea's KTF?

NTT DoCoMo Inc. is in final talks to buy a 10 percent stake in South Korea’s KTF Co. Ltd. for as much as $500 million as Japan’s top mobile carrier seeks new avenues of growth, industry sources said on Tuesday. The deal between DoCoMo and South Korea’s second-ranked mobile operator could be announced as early as this week, the sources told Reuters.

Panasonic Mobile to Restructure

Japan’s Matsushita Electric will end production of current generation mobile phones for overseas markets, cut more than 1,000 related jobs and focus on developing 3G phones, company sources said. The world’s top electronics maker, known for its Panasonic brand, will close a factory in the Philippines and a development facility in the United States as part of its plan to refocus its resources on phones for next-generation networks, they said. Matsushita said it planned to hold a news conference today in Tokyo. Yoshiaki Kushiki, president of Panasonic Mobile Communications, will attend.

Gadgets, Guards Ensure Kids are Safe

Shock at the brutal murders of two 7-year-old girls in the space of just over a week is pushing Japan to consider everything from bus services to high-tech gadgets to keep small children safe between home and school. High-tech gadgets are an increasingly common way of trying to protect kids unobtrusively. Concerned parents often provide their offspring with mobile phones that incorporate global positioning systems (GPS) for tracking their movements.

Cops Surf Web to Find Killer

Japanese police searching for the killer of a seven-year-old girl are studying internet bulletin board messages boasting of a plan to kidnap a girl after school, a report said on Monday. Newspaper delivery man Kaoru Kobayashi pleaded guilty earlier this year to drowning a kidnapped seven-year-old girl in a bathtub and mutilating her body in a crime he documented in photos that he sent by mobile phone to her mother.

NEC to Aquire 100% of Infrontia

NEC Corp. said it would spend about 33.5 billion yen ($282 million) to gain full ownership of phone-making unit NEC Infrontia Corp. in its latest step to pool group resources and eliminate overlap. NEC, Japan’s third-largest electronics conglomerate which already owns 53.3 percent of NEC Infrontia, said on Thursday it would launch a tender offer for the remaining 58.9 million shares at 569 yen each, or an 18 percent premium from Thursday’s closing price.