Toshiba

The I’s have been dotted, the T’s have been crossed, and two of Japan’s mobile giants — Fujitsu and Toshiba — have apparently brought their handset division merger talks to a fruitful conclusion. Fujitsu will take a majority stake in the joint venture, which should become Japan’s number two domestic market phone supplier behind Sharp; together, they’ll still have virtually no significance on the global stage, but this might be an engaging attention opportunity for phones like the TG01 and its successors to get a little more play around the world. For its part, Toshiba is looking at the deal to step back from an unprofitable business; margins on phones in the Japanese domestic market are razor-thin, and other players like Mitusbishi have already bowed out entirely. Best of luck, you lovebirds.

Fujitsu, Toshiba lock up handset division merger originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The domestic Japanese phone market has been in a state of contraction for some time, most notably evidenced by Mitsubishi’s decision to exit the game altogether and the Sanyo-Kyocera tie-up from a couple years back. Fujitsu and Toshiba are the next two giants looking to combine their resources in the mobile space, a move that would create Japan’s number two phone manufacturing venture behind Sharp and reduce to six the total number of firms making handsets there (down from ten in 2007). Though technologically years ahead of the rest of the world, Japan also suffers from deeper market saturation than perhaps anywhere else — and the opportunities for product differentiation are sharply reduced by carrier RFPs that emphasize conformity to a standard spec sheet. Fujitsu is said to likely hold the majority stake if the deal goes down, but for what it’s worth, nothing’s been finalized yet. If a deal improves the odds of bringing hardware to North America by even the smallest of fractions, we’re all for it.

Fujitsu, Toshiba in talks to merge mobile units originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We can hardly believe it but the day has finally arrived: Toshiba just launched the first Dynario fuel-cell for portable consumer electronics. That’s right, the long promised and highly anticipated direct methane fuel-cell (DMFC) with dedicated fuel cartridge for on-the-go refueling will go on sale October 29th in Japan for ¥29,800 (about $328) plus another ¥3,150 (about $34) for a set of five, 50ml fuel cartridges. Dynario takes about 20 seconds to fill its 14ml fuel tank with an injection of a concentrated methanol solution at which point it’s ready to charge USB-connected devices. Dynario’s hybrid structure uses a lithium-ion battery to store enough electricity to charge two typical cellphones, according to Tosh. The first run consists of only 3,000 units after which Toshiba will gauge consumer reaction before extending the launch outside of Japan. Boy oh boy, a new age in portability has begun.