Kuriko Miyake

Japanese wireless content providers are laying the groundwork to bring their wireless content services to the European market, starting with Spanish wireless operator Telef

L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. has signed a licensing deal with Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd. (DNP) of Japan, the first of a series to provide Bluetooth designs based on Ericsson technology to third-party manufacturers, Ericsson announced Friday.

Hitachi Ltd. will roll out a wearable PC and companion head-mount display for business users in February, the company announced Tuesday. The WIA-100NB Wearable Internet Appliance will allow workers to access the Internet or intranets and to browse data while keeping their hands free.

With NTT DoCoMo

Microsoft Corp.'s Japanese unit and four partners will conduct trials of a push service for distributing information to users of Microsoft Windows Powered Handheld PCs in Japan, the company announced Wednesday.

Sharp Corp. will start mass production of a newly-developed double-sided LCD (liquid crystal display) in May.

Lucent Technologies Inc. and Japanese telecommunication cable maker Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. have reached an agreement whereby Lucent will sell its optical-fiber unit to Furukawa and U.S. company CommScope Inc. for US$2.3 billion, of which CommScope's share will be $173 million, Furukawa announced Friday.

The Japanese and Finnish governments will work together to create a favorable environment for 3G (third-generation) mobile Internet services, the two governments jointly announced Thursday.