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TG Daily: Ask someone in America if they have a 3D Blu-ray player and they’ll probably either say they can’t afford one, don’t have a 3D TV, or – the most likely – they have no idea what you’re talking about. But ask the same question in Japan, and your response is likely to be very different.

The technology-forward country now has more 3D-enabled Blu-ray players than non-3D players, according to a report from local research firm BCN.

The firm says about 57% of the Blu-ray players shipped in Japan are now 3D-ready. That’s an enormous increase from just 6.7% last September.

In Japan, Blu-ray players without 3D cost around the equivalent of $600. Those with 3D technology are at least 30% more than that, or $900. Here in the US, it’s possible to get a Blu-ray player for around $100, while 3D players will run as high as $300. So unlike in Japan where the premium is about 30%, in America it’s more like 300%. That would explain why the adoption rate is so sluggish over here.

Japan is latching on to 3D at a faster pace than us, but not overwhelmingly so. The country has the same concerns as everyone else, including the lack of comfort in wearing 3D glasses and cost associated with buying those glasses.

Nevertheless, the market seems to be doing well enough over there such that the 3D side of things is overpowering the non-3D side. That’s encouraging for manufacturers that have poured countless resources into making the leap to 3D.

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TechRadar: Europe’s mobile phone users are still well behind people in Japan and the US when it comes to using their phones to connect to the internet, according to the latest data.

ComScore’s comparative date between the three regions found that a whopping 75 per cent of phones in Japan were used to access what it terms ‘connected media’ – namely web pages through a browser, applications that connect to a network or content that has been downloaded.

That was well in excess of the US, on 43.7 per cent and far ahead of the Europe region with 38.5 per cent.

Browser access

Nerarly 60 per cent of Japanese phone users accessed their phone’s browser in June, and 42.3 per cent an application compared to 25.8 per cent and 24.9 percent for Europe.

However, Europe does lead the way in text messaging – with 81.7 per cent of us sending an SMS compared to 66.8 per cent in the US and 40.1 per cent in Japan.

“Mobile media usage continues to accelerate across the globe, driven by advancing technologies and the growing number of content options available to consumers,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile.

Dramatic differences

“As we look across markets, dramatic differences in mobile media consumption, brand adoption and user behavior become evident,” he added.

“These differences are even more pronounced than they are for PC-based Internet usage due to the complex nature of mobile – including various device capabilities, operating systems and methods of accessing content.”

Of course, looping in the whole of Europe presumably gives a less clear picture than it would for just the Western European nations – with the UK likely to report figures that are considerably higher than some of the less developed nations.

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Gizmag: In April this year, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) announced the final specifications for the new multi-layer recordable Blu-ray Disc format which can more than double the storage capacity of existing 50GB dual layer discs. The new BDXL format supports rewritable discs of up to 100GB and 128GB for write-once recordable discs. Looks like Sharp gets to claim bragging rights as the first company to release both media and hardware that supports the new standard – two new BDXL compatible AQUOS Blu-ray Disc recorders, as well as 100GB write-once BDXL format media to the Japanese market this month.

The new BD-HDW700 and BD-HDW70 Blu-ray Disc Recorders will support the recording and playback of BDXL conformant media, which includes triple-layer 100GB and quadruple-layer 128GB discs, along with the current 50GB dual-layer Blu-ray discs. However, the first BDXL format media Sharp will release is of the triple-layer 100GB variety, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the higher capacity, quadruple-layer 128GB discs.

The 100GB VR-100BR1 discs should be good for around 12 hours of terrestrial digital TV broadcasts (17 Mbps) or approximately 8.6 hours of BS digital broadcasts (24 Mbps). Potential users should note that, while current Blu-ray discs will play in the new BDXL players, BDXL discs will not work in current players.

The new AQUOS players also support the playback of Blu-ray 3D discs and come with two digital tuners and one analog tuner built in. Both players also feature a HDD – 2TB capacity for the BD-HDW700 and 1TB for the BD-HDW70.

Sharp will release both the BD-HDW700 and BD-HDW70 BDXL compatible AQUOS Blu-ray disc recorders as well as its 100GB VR-100BR1 media in Japan on June 30, 2010. Pricing details are yet to be announced.

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Engadget: Apparently, Japan’s minister of communications has big plans for the current iteration of the internet — namely, to stamp it out of existence by 2020. According to reports, Yoshihide Suga — the country’s communications minister — has announced that the Japanese government is hard at work on a newer, faster, stronger, and generally better looking internet.

According to Suga, the new network will deliver more reliable data transfers at higher speeds, be more resistant to viruses and crashes, and will be 60 percent more charming. The ministry hopes that in setting a timeframe and outlining goals for the system, the country’s technology industry will be able to have a hand in developing global standards while gaining leverage for themselves in the new market.

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Newlaunches: The Nintendo DS plays a number of roles for the Japanese and the latest is it teaches driving. Game publisher D3P is out with the ‘Driving school for DS’ where not only does it teach kids to drive cars and bikes safely but also bicycles. It is actually a simulator where you go through the process of enrolling in a driving school to learning traffic signs and rules to driving. (…)

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DigiTimes: Plasma TV sales declined for the first time in October in Japan, according to a survey by Japan’s Business Computer News (BCN). Sales value of Plasma TVs in Japan dropped 1.9% on year in October, the research firm added.

Last November, Plasma TVs accounted for 97.3% of the large-size flat-panel TV market in Japan but the share of the segment dropped to 67.1% in November 2006, said the BCN. Meanwhile, LCD TV share grew rapidly to 32.9% over one year, added the research firm.

Plasma technology is facing more pressure from rival LCD in large-size TV market. Plasma TV used to dominate the 50-inch-and-larger flat-panel TV market, BCN pointed out.

Panasonic-brand accounted for over three fourths of plasma TV shipments in November in Japan whereas Sharp took over half of the LCD TV market in the same period in Japan.

Plasma TV makers will face more fierce competition in December, the research firm added.

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DigiTimes: The digital TV terrestrial broadcast standard currently includes three types – Europe’s DVB-T, America’s ATSC and Japan’s ISDB-T. Following Brazil’s adoption of the ISDB-T standard and news that China will be developing its own, signficant changes are foreseen in the global TV industry, according to research firm WitsView Technology. This is particularly relevant for manufacturers possibly seeking a standard platform for a multi-standard era.

The DVB-T format is currently adopted by Europe, along with Taiwan, India, Australia and South Africa. One of its characteristics lies in its mobile receiving abilities. The ATSC standard emphasizes the broadcast of high quality images, where South Korea, Canada, Mexico and the US follow this format.

Japan’s ISDB-T format integrates the mobile receiving capabilities and high definition (HD) broadcasts into one platform. In the past, Japan was unsuccessful in exporting its ISDB-T standard to other countries. This left its other two counterparts in carving up the remaining share of the pie.

Relevant TV makers were thus required to develop TVs that were ATSC or DVB-T compatible. However, in light of the recent actions by Brazil and China, the global terrestrial broadcasting DTV industry is now transitioning to a multi-standard era.

Brazil is the fifth most populous country in the world, where its annual TV demand amounts to ten million sets. Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay had already revealed they would follow in Brazil’s footsteps.

China made an official announcement at the end of August that it was very keen in forming its own system. With the 2008 Beijing Olympics fast approaching, a standard has to be finalised for the games to be successfully delivered in HDTV content. At the end of August, China finally approved standard number GB 20600-2006 –framing structure, channel coding and modulation for DTV terrestrial broadcasting system. It was actually an integration of both the DMB-T and ADTB-T standard. However, as news reports have revealed that the two systems are inherently different, more money will be needed in solving the technical hurdles.

The reason in why China strived to develop its own system can be delineated by two main factors. The first is to avoid the TV royalty payments while the second lies in improving its own TV industry’s competitiveness. China is now the world’s largest TV maker with over 80 million TVs produced a year. Its domestic market demand takes up roughly 40 million while the other half is exported to other countries. Currently, China has approximately 400 million operational TV sets. Assuming its analog TV broadcast is terminated in 2015, there is nearly an eight year time period, where about 500 million TV sets await to be upgraded into DTVs annually.

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Bloomberg: Sony predicts that China will overtake Japan as its second-largest market by 2009.  And they’re willing to invest $200 million into China this year to expand production of televisions and Cyber-shot digi-cams to prove it.

The U.S. is Sony’s largest market by sales, followed by Japan. The probability is high that China will surpass Japan as the company’s second-biggest electronics market by sales in two to three years, according to a recent statement from Sony Corp.

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