Smartphones, Twitter top Japan hit product survey

TOKYO | Thu Nov 25, 2010 8:14am EST

(Reuters) - Smartphones and Twitter were the hottest products in Japan in 2010 and travel and leisure were back on the menu, an ad agency survey showed, as penny-pinching consumers rediscovered their fun side.
Flat-screen TVs equipped for digital broadcasting placed fourth in Dentsu's annual "Hit Product Recognition Survey" and energy-saving appliances ranked eighth.
Overseas flights from Tokyo's Haneda airport, which resumed full-fledged international services for the first time in 32 years and grabbed headlines with a glitzy new terminal, placed sixth, the survey showed.
The 2010 soccer World Cup, in which Japan's "Samurai Blue" surprised by advancing beyond the group stages, placed ninth.
Japanese consumers have in recent years been forgoing the latest designer brands and cool gadgets in favor of bargain shopping as the economy continues to lag, but the latest crop of tech products has been generating considerable buzz.
Tablet information devices, such as Apple's iPad, came in at 19th, the survey showed, but rose to No.10 in a separate question that predicted hit products and services next year.
And don't forget the 3D boom: 3D movies, TVs and other 3D products placed 15th this year, and are expected to jump to No.6 next year, the survey showed.
On the other hand, the inexpensive retail merchandise that dominated last year's survey vanished from the top 10.
Low-priced domestic-brand fashions, such as those found at casual-clothing retailer Uniqlo, slipped to No. 13 from third place last year, and were absent from the top 20 list of next year's predictions.
Here are the top 10 items in Dentsu's 2010 Hit Products survey, conducted over the Internet earlier this month with responses from 1,000 people:
1. Smartphones
2. Twitter
3. Munchable chili oil
4. Digital broadcasting-equipped widescreen flat-panel TVs
5. Ryoma Sakamoto (a popular historical figure on whom a hit Samurai drama series was based)
6. International flight services at Haneda Airport

ITC to probe Apple patent claims against Motorola

The U.S. International Trade Commission is officially stepping in to investigate Apple's claim of patent infringement against Motorola.

The ITC announced yesterday that its probe will examine a complaint that Apple filed with it on October 29 against Motorola. The charges are detailed in two lawsuits by Apple against Motorola in which Apple alleges that the sale of Motorola's Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, and other smartphones and related software violate several Apple patents.
In one of the suits against Motorola, Apple cites patent No. 7,479,949, which covers methods by which touch screens detect contact with fingers. The two other patents included in this suit are Nos. 6,493,002 and 5,838,315, both of which refer to elements of the graphical user interface. The other suit refers to patent Nos. 7,812,828, 7,663,607, and 5,379,430, which also focus on technologies for the touch screen and GUI.
In its complaint with the ITC, Apple is specifically charging that Motorola has violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which covers patent violations of products imported into the U.S. Apple is asking the ITC to issue an exclusion order and a cease and desist order, which would stop the import of the devices in question.
Motorola initially sued Apple in early October, claiming infringement over 18 different patents related to wireless communications.
The patent courts have been busy this year with a slew of lawsuits flying back and forth between some of the major tech players. Earlier this year, HTC and Apple launched patent suits against each other. In September, Apple filed a suit against Nokia in the U.K. after Nokia launched its own suit against Apple in 2009. And Microsoft recently filed two patent-related suits against Motorola, while Motorola just opened its own complaint with the ITC against Microsoft.

Unix copyrights to stay with Novell in merger

Novell today announced that it would continue to be the owner of its copyrights to Unix.
The news comes just two days after Novell announced plans to be acquired by Attachmate as part of a $2.2 billion deal that also involved the sale of some of the company's intellectual property being sold to the Microsoft-organized tech consortium CPTN Holdings.
"Novell will continue to own Novell's Unix copyrights following completion of the merger as a subsidiary of Attachmate," Novell's chief marketing officer, John Dragoon, said on the company's site earlier today.
What remains to be seen are the specifics of the 882 patents and other intellectual property that will go to the consortium as part of the deal. These will be listed in a merger filing that will be submitted to the SEC. A legal expert told CNET that filing could arrive within the next few weeks, but is more likely to take months given the inherent complexity of the deal.
Novell's ownership of the Unix copyrights were the center of a hard-fought legal battle with the SCO Group that began in 2004, and was decided earlier this year in favor of Novell.

A “completely new” iPad, says Jobs, for the holidays

The iPad will have just a smattering of competition for the holiday season, but nonetheless, Steve Jobs says he is basically reinventing Apple’s tablet as consumers prepare to hit the stores over the next five weeks.

Apple on Monday announced the latest software update for the iPad, bringing multitasking, AirPrint and a few other goodies to the touchscreen tablet.  While these features are certainly nice (they came to the iPhone earlier this year), Jobs took it a bit further. And he of course didn’t pass up an opportunity to smack his tablet rivals, which include Samsung and Research in Motion.

“iOS 4.2 makes the iPad a completely new product, just in time for the holiday season,” Jobs said in a news release. “Once again, the iPad with iOS 4.2 will define the target that other tablets will aspire to, but very few, if any, will ever be able to hit.”

The new version of iOS — which Apple teased last April — also comes with Game Center, so users can play against each other; AirPlay, which allows streaming content from the iPad to Apple TV; and the ability to organize their apps into folders.

Apple is also making the popular Find My iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch) software free on all the iOS devices. Via an app users can locate a missing iPhone or iPad on a map and have it make a sound. You also remotely lock or wipe data from a lost device.

Ipod Nano berbentuk jam tangan

 

Pada awal September lalu, Apple baru mengumumkan gadget terbarunya, yakni iPod Nano generasi ke-enam. Berbeda dengan generasi sebelumnya, iPod Nano yang baru hadir dengan layar sentuh dan ukuran yang lebih kecil.

Karena ukurannya yang kecil, munculah ide dari beberapa perusahaan akseseori untuk membuat aksesoris iPod Nano ini agar lebih mudah dan nyaman dikenakan. Ide ini adalah dengan meletakkan iPod Nano di pergelangan tangan, seperti dikutip dari geniusbeauty.

Country Comm misalnya, perusahaan ini mengeluarkan aksesori 'fitting band'. Ban ini terbuat dari Maratac Nylon 22mm dan hadir dalam beberapa kombinasi warna untuk dipadupadankan dengan iPod Nano.

Jika aksesori dari Country Comm ini digabungkan dengan iPod Nano, maka bentuknya akan menyerupai jam tangan. Dengan begitu Anda akan mendapatkan dua fungsi sekaligus dari gabungan iPod Nano dan ban ini, yakni penunjuk waktu dan pemutar MP3.

Mirip seperti Country Comm, iLoveHandles mengeluarkan sebuah ban yang diberi nama 'Rock Band'. Perbedaannya,'Rock Band' dibuat dari bahan rubber (karet). 'Rock Band' dijual dengan harga $ 19.95 atau sekitar Rp 170 ribuan (Kurs Rp 9.100/USD).

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