Japan, India and Singapore are the top threee most sleep deprived nations in the world, according to a study. Thankfully, help is on its way for those who want to sleep better. Sleep platform Sleeprate is collaborating with Garmin on a mobile self-help sleep assessment and improvement program that aims to help consumers sleep better, track their recovery, and optimise workouts.
Tag: Japan
Bespoke launches AI chatbot for Ginza subway line
Nearly one million riders on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line will now be able to tap on the capabilities of Bebot, an AI chatbot.They will be able to access naviation and useful train information all along the line using the app
Panasonic exits semiconductor business
Panasonic has totally moved out of the semiconductor business by selling its last plant to Taiwan firm Nuvoton Technology.
Google avails NVIDIA Tesla T4 GPUs on Google Cloud Platform in Singapore
The Google Cloud Platform running on NVIDIA Tesla T4 GPUs (above) has been beta launched in Singapore, availing the power of GPU cloud computing to customers around the region.
SenseTime sets up autonomous driving site in Japan
Leading China-based AI company SenseTime has unveiled an autonomous driving park in Joso, Japan. The testing course will be used to develop autonomous driving technology and conduct road tests of autonomous vehicles.
NVIDIA GPUs power a quarter of Top 500 supercomputers
The world’s top two supercomputers — – the US Department of Energy’s Summit, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Sierra, at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. — pack a combined total of more than 40,000 NVIDIA V100 Tensor Core GPUs, according to the latest of the Top 500 list released in conjunction with SC18.
PC market inches up 2.7% in Q2
Global traditional PC shipment posted the strongest growth in more than six years during the past quarter, according to IDC. Total shipment was 62.3 million units, which translates to a 2.7 percent year-on-year growth.
Microsoft acquires Semantic Machines
Microsoft has acquired Semantic Machines, which has developed a new approach to building conversational artificial intelligence (AI).
Cryptocurrency and Carry
Singapore-headquartered Carry is teaming up with Spoqa of South Korea to bring cryptocurrency payment and blockchain-enhanced loyalty points to brick-and-mortar retailers.
DEEPCORE teams up with NVIDIA to boost AI startups
Tokyo-based startup incubator DEEPCORE is partnering NVIDIA to support AI startups and promote university research programmes across Japan.
Apple fully powered by clean energy
Singapore’s land scarcity is not a constraint for Apple, which is drawing 32 megawatts of power from solar panels on more than 800 rooftops.
The taxi that looks for you
Where’s a taxi when you need one? That’s the bane of passengers from around the world, except possibly in Taipei where taxis somehow seem to be just where you need them.
Appier appoints Sean Chu as CSO
Appier has appointed Sean Chu as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) to lead its operations in Japan and Korea. Chu will help drive the company’s growth as it moves to create new AI platforms to help […]
Deeper into AI
The keynote address at Google I/O yesterday showed that Google is much more than just a search company. It is becoming more artificial intelligence (AI). Google is specifically using deep learning to help in many areas of everyday life.
Here are some as shared on Google’s blog post:
Google Assistant can help answer your questions and find information—but it can also help you get all kinds of useful things done. Today we’re adding a few more:
- Schedule new calendar appointments and create reminders. Starting today on Google Home, you can schedule appointments and soon you’ll also be able to add reminders. Since it’s the same Google Assistant across devices, you’ll be able to get a reminder at home or on the go.
- Make your home smarter. We now have 70+ smart home partners supporting the Google Assistant across Google Home and Android phones, including August locks, TP-Link, Honeywell, Logitech, and LG.
RIKEN turns to NVIDIA supercomputer for deep learning research
RIKEN, Japan’s largest comprehensive research institution, will have a new supercomputer for deep learning research in April. Built by Fujitsu using 24 NVIDIA DGX-1 AI systems, the new machine will accelerate the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to […]
Gunning for supercomputing supremacy in Japan
Tokyo Institute of Technology plans to create Japan’s fastest AI supercomputer, which is will deliver more than twice the performance of its predecessor to slide into the world’s top 10 fastest systems.
Called Tsubame 3.0, it will use Pascal-based NVIDIA P100 GPUs that are nearly three times as efficient as their predecessors, to reach an expected 12.2 petaflops of double precision performance.
Tsubame 3.0 will excel in AI computation with more than 47 PFLOPS of AI horsepower. When operated with Tsubame 2.5, it is expected to deliver 64.3 PFLOPS, making it Japan’s highest performing AI supercomputer.
Slower smartphone growth in 2016
Global smartphone sale is expected to experience just a single-digit growth this year, according to Gartner.
It estimates that global smartphone sale will reach 1.5 billion units, a seven percent increase from 2015. The total mobile phone market is predicted to reach 1.9 billion units in 2016.
“The double-digit growth era for the global smartphone market has come to an end. Historically, worsening economic conditions had negligible impact on smartphone sales and spend, but this is no longer the case. China and North America smartphone sales are on pace to be flat in 2016, exhibiting a 0.7 per cent and 0.4 per cent growth respectively,” said Ranjit Atwal, Research Director of Gartner.
While smartphone sales will continue to grow in emerging markets, the growth will slow down. Gartner predicts that, through 2019, 150 million users will delay upgrades to smartphones in emerging Asia-Pacific, until the functionality and price combination of a low-cost smartphone becomes more desirable.
PC prices to rise by 10%
PC vendors will have to raise the prices of PCs to offset the effects of currency devaluation, according to Gartner. Prices of PCs in the Eurozone and Japan will increase by up to 10 percent during […]
Dropping oil price a US$1 trillion boost for GDP and IT spending in H1 2015
What has proven a massive hit for the oil and gas industry may turn out to be a silver lining for the IT industry and GDP as a whole in the first half of this year.
According to Canalys, business and consumer IT spending will be boosted by the current oil shock, as prices remain below US$50 per barrel. It believes the reduction in prices will provide a short-term economic stimulus equivalent to a large tax cut, boosting corporate profits and consumer disposable incomes, which will filter into IT spending.
“Price falls translate into a transfer of wealth from producers to importers. Oil producers received approximately US$340 billion less in the second half of 2014 compared with the first half of the year, based on average monthly production and prices. The difference will be even more significant if prices remain at US$50 per barrel and production continues at the same level for the next six months. If this scenario happens, producers will receive almost US$1 trillion dollars less compared with the first half of 2014,” said Matthew Ball, Principal Analyst of Canalys.
NVIDIA Shield Tablet reaches Asia — touches down in Japan and Korea
The wait is over for the NVIDIA Shield Tablet in Asia — at least for those in Japan and Korea. The NVIDIA Tegra K1-based portable device is now available in these countries, just in time […]
New iPhones are bigger with Watch to come in 2015
It’s confirmed. The new iPhone 6 and 6 plus are bigger than their predecessors. Of course, this is not exactly news with the numerous leaks over the past weeks.
Sporting a 4.7-inch Retina HD display, the iPhone 6 is the smaller of the two and is marginally thinner than the previous incarnation. The larger iPhone 6 plus ventures into the phablet space with a 5.5-inch display. Both smartphones come with the A8 processor, a 8MP rear and 2.1MP front camera.
Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia are among the 15 countries where the Apple products will be first sold on September 19.
Symantec appoints Adrian Jones as APJ VP
Adrian Jones is Symantec’s new Senior Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan. He will be responsible for growing the company’s presence and market position across the region, in addition to leading business operations and business […]
NVIDIA adds LTE to Tegra Note 7
NVIDIA has boosted its Tegra Note 7 with the i500 LTE modem – and its 4G LTE cellular connection. The seven-inch tablet is available with LTE and HSPA+ mobile connectivity and can operate on popular carriers across […]
APAC leads in mobile data traffic
Global mobile Internet service revenue grew an estimated 23.4 percent to US$300 billion last year, according to ABI Research. Wireless broadband subscription grew 28.8 percent and the smartphone share of total subscriptions advanced by 6.6 […]
KDDI offers smart multimedia infotainment system in Japan
ZTE is cooperating with KDDI to offer a smart multimedia infotainment system to its subscribers, bringing a high-quality and enriching user experience to consumers in Japan. The sleek and stylish PHOTO-U TV system, equipped with a […]
Half billion LTE connections in Asia in 2017
The uptake of 4G-LTE is expected to grow to pass one billion by 2017, according to a new study by GSMA Intelligence. This translates to one in eight of the more than eight billion total mobile connections forecast by that point, up from 176 million LTE connections at the end of 2013. And around half of these are expected to be in Asia.
Nearly 500 LTE networks are forecast to be in service across 128 countries, roughly double the number of live LTE networks today.
“Since the launch of the first commercial 4G-LTE networks in late 2009 we are seeing deployments accelerate across the globe,” said Hyunmi Yang, Chief Strategy Officer of GSMA. “Our new report highlights a number of factors that are driving LTE growth: the timely allocation of suitable spectrum to mobile operators; the availability of affordable LTE devices; and the implementation of innovative tariffs that encourage adoption of high-speed data services. Mobile operators in both developed and developing markets are seeing LTE services contributing to a significant increase in ARPU.”
China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia to drive smart home appliance growth in APAC
China’s booming luxury market along with more mature markets such as Japan, South Korea, and Australia will drive growth in the APAC region for smart home appliances at a five-year CAGR of 92 percent, according […]
ZTE announces two new 4G mobile routers for Japan
ZTE has introduced two new 4G mobile routers with data download speeds of 110 Megabits per second for users in Japan. The ZTE Pocket WiFi SoftBank 203Z and Pocket WiFi (GL09P) 4G routers, which are […]
Smartphones account for half of mobile device shipments in Japan in Q1
Smartphone shipments in Japan grew 4.0 percent year over year in Q1 to 6.8 million units to account for half of the overall mobile device market in Q1, according to IDC’s Japan Quarterly Mobile Device Tracker.
Total shipments in the Japan mobile device market for Q1 came to 13.6 million units, an increase of 9.7 percent on a year-over-year basis.
While the PC market declined by 4.6 percent in the quarter, the rapidly growing tablet market enjoyed year-over-year growth of 187.2 percent to slightly more than 2 million units. The tablet growth was largely driven by the availability of inexpensive new tablets and huge sales incentives from mobile operators to boost the shipping volumes of LTE (4G) tablets.
IDC: China game market grew 35.1% in 2012
China’s game market is booming, recording sales of US$9.8 billion in 2012, a growth of 35.1 percent over the previous year. The market includes PC online games, PC console game and mobile online game.
According to IDC data, after a quick growth before 2008, the China game market saw a turning point in development in 2009. The growth has slowed sharply, at almost equal paces in 2011 and 2012. IDC forecasts that the China game market will see a slower growth during 2013-2017, with the CAGR approximating 16%. In contrast, the greater culture industry where the game market dwells is booming.
IDC believes that the China online game industry will be increasingly involved in pan-entertainment, another content-derivative industry, because of the following factors :
