<<<< Japan High-Tech Update>>>>
A monthly review of the latest developments in Japan’s IT, telecom, and life sciences sectors

September 2005 - Volume VIII, Issue IX

Triangle Technologies is the leading Japan Israel business development and investment advisory firm
www.triangletech.com

Dan's Desk

From Triangle's CEO

For technical reasons, we could not publish Dan’s Desk this month.

***TRIANGLE TECHNOLOGIES NEWS***

After the summer’s drought, business is accelerating.

Triangle is proud to announce that Application Security Inc. (www.appsecinc.com) our first client in Boston has signed a master distribution agreement with the Japanese company LAC. Application Security Inc. is in the business of Data Base Security. The interest in Japan was very high from the first day we worked there.

Other two deals will be announced soon.

ISRAEL-JAPAN NEWS

Not this time.

***BUSINESS NEWS***

+US ACQUISITION FOR ACCESS

(www.reuters.com, Sep 10) - Mobile devices OS maker, Access, has announced that it will acquire handheld computer software maker PalmSource of the US, for $324mm, which is 83% premium for PalmSource stock at NASDAQ.

+LOWER HOUSE GETS YOUNGER FACES, MORE WOMEN

(Kyodo, September 12th) - Japan's newly elected House of Representatives will see younger faces and more women occupying its 480 seats than in the 2003 election, with a record number of 43 women, who come from a variety of backgrounds ranging from homemaker to professor, set to enter the lower house. The average age of the new lawmakers was 52.3 years old. By party, winners from the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan were the youngest at an average age of 48, while the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its ally the New Komeito party, the Japanese Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party tied with averages in the 50s.

+JAPAN'S NATIONAL DEBT HITS RECORD HIGH

(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, September 23) - Japan's government debt, already the highest in the industrialized world, rose 1.7 percent to a record high of 795.8 trillion yen ($7.1 trillion) according to a report released by the Finance Ministry. Japan has relied on government bond issues to make up for falling tax revenues, turning into one of the world's most indebted countries. Japan's public debt burden is almost 160 percent of its GDP and already the highest in the industrialized world.

+EMONEY GETTING STRONGER

(www. eurotechnology.com, September 27) - DoCoMo has sold about 5.5 Million mobile FeliCa wallet phones within about 1 year of introduction. Wallet phones are expected to make a major advance early 2006, when SUICA train cards can be stored in DoCoMo's FeliCa wallet phones: there are about 13 Million SUICA cards issued with a market power of about US$ 10 Billion. Japan has about US$ 30 Billion of coins in circulation, and for the first time the number of coins has decreased.

***TECHNOLOGY NEWS***

+ WORLD'S HIGHEST VALUES FOR LUMINOUS FLUX IN WHITE LED

(Nikkei Electronic Asia, September edition) Citizen Electronics Co, Ltd has developed a white light emitting diode (LED) with the world's highest values for luminous flux per package at 245lm, and emission efficiency at 70lm/W. Volume production is planned for 2006 for applications such as lighting fixtures, automobile headlights and liquid crystal display (LCD) backlights.

+KDDI UPDATES THOUSANDS OF HANDSETS

(NE Asia Online, September 1) - InnoPath Software Inc, an over-the-air (OTA) mobile device management company, said KDDI Corp of Japan has successfully updated tens of thousands of OTA-enabled handsets since July 11th using the company's end-to-end mobile device management solution. Upon discovering a software bug in one of the applications on the thousands of mobile phones that were shipped. By having an OTA mobile device management system in place, KDDI avoided having to do a device recall.

+NEC TIES UP WITH ORACLE TO DEVELOP GRID COMPUTING SOFTWARE

(Kyodo, September 15) NEC Corp. has tied up with Oracle Corp. of the United States to develop grid computing software. NEC's 20-member special R&D team is already working at Oracle's R&D center in an effort to develop grid computing software by the end of this year.

+NIKON DEVELOPS DIGITAL CAMERA WITH BUILT-IN WIRELESS LAN FUNCTION

(Kyodo, September 1st) - Nikon Corp. said has developed what it says is the world's first digital camera with a built-in function allowing users to transmit image data wirelessly to printers and personal computers. The Coolpix P1 with the wireless local area network capability frees users from the complications of having to connect the camera to printers and PCs with a cable or card reader.

+HONDA DEVELOPS WORLD'S FIRST PRODUCTION MOTORCYCLE AIRBAG SYSTEM

(JCN Newswire , Sept 8, 2005) - Honda Motor Co., Ltd announced it has succeeded in developing the world's first production motorcycle airbag system. The new system, which can help lessen the severity of injuries caused by frontal collisions, is to be made available on the new Gold Wing motorcycle scheduled for release in late spring of 2006 in the US.

***LIFE SCIENCES AND ENVIRONMENT NEWS***

+EXPENSIVE FACE CREAM IN BIG DEMAND

(nikkei.co.jp, September 9)- Kanebo released a new premium facial cream costing JPY126,000 for 40 grams! The company says that it has been surprised by the response for the Twany Century Cell Rhythm SP wrinkle cream, receiving more than 6,000 orders in just 3 weeks since it went on sale. Most of the buyers are reportedly women in their 50's and 60's.

+CERTAIN GENE BASE PATTERNS INCREASE CANCER RISKS

(Kyodo, , September 12) - Scientists have found that individuals with certain base arrangement patterns of a gene believed to promote the growth of cancer cells are more likely to suffer from breast cancer, liver cancer and colon cancer, the Nature Genetics magazine said Monday in its online edition. The gene in question is called SMYD3, which is believed to accelerate the growth of cancer cells if its activity increases.

+KYOTO UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS FIND STEM CELLS IN HUMAN HEART

(Kyodo, September 10) - Stem cells have been discovered in human heart tissue and separated off, a finding which may pave the way for treating patients whose heart muscle has been damaged due to heart ailment. The stem cells, when cultivated, developed into several different types of cells including heart muscle cells, endothelium cells, and fat cells. The researchers also found stem cells in skeletal muscles when they looked into human leg muscles.

+NEW COMPOUND PREVENTS NEURON-DEGENERATION

(www.webindia123.com, September 13) - Scientists from Nagoya University School of Medicine have announced in the Nature Medicine journal that they have found a chemical compound that prevents neuron-degeneration. The compound, called 17-AAG, may serve as a component to fight neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, as well as a delivery vehicle for cancer killing compounds. The interesting thing about 17-AAG is that it only acts when protein receptors start to degrade, otherwise there is no action.