If you're always pressing the wrong icon on your smartphone touch screen, Japan's KDDI is working on a haptic screen that makes it feel like you're pushing a button instead of just a flat surface.

One reason for the delay in both Q1 and Q2 could have been uncertainty on how to record the loss of manufacturing capacity, and capacity utilization, at Japanese companies affected by the aftermath of the great earthquake and tsunami that struck northern Japan on March 11. This will have had a small but significant effect in the first quarter but is likely to have had a much bigger effect in the second quarter.

This particular LCD TV model on display at CEATEC this year in Japan sports a laser backlight that delivers unparalleled brightness levels.

Rena Yotsu from Panasonic Japan demonstrated the new projector, soon to be available in New Zealand. The event was the opportunity for a group of media to see the brand new Panasonic PT-AE7000E LCD full HD 3D Projector in action.

Panasonic Corp. said Tuesday that it will launch Internet services for its Viera large-screen televisions in Japan on Oct. 4.

Applied Materials announced that Toshiba has purchased its SmartSched predictive scheduling software to improve the capacity and efficiency of its photolithography operations. Installation of the first phase of this breakthrough software solution began in August at Toshiba's Fab 4 facility in Yokkaichi, Japan.

Japan's exports rose less than expected as slowing growth abroad and the strength of the yen have held back the country's economic recovery.

Taiwan and Japan are close to signing a historic pact that would see the island open up to Japanese firms. The pact will also pave the way for Taiwan and Japan to sign a broader free trade agreement in the future, the paper said.

NTT DoCoMo will partner with several Japanese hardware makers and Korean manufacturer Samsung Electronics to develop core chips for use in future smartphones, Japan's biggest business newspaper reported Monday.

Japan's economy contracted more severely in the second quarter than was initially estimated, revised government data has shown. The decline came as companies cut back spending due to concerns about a slowing global economy and a rising yen.

PIOL, a joint venture between Panasonic Electric Works and Idemitsu Kosan Company in Japan, began shipping OLED lighting panels to local and overseas lighting module and fixture manufacturers this month.

Japan's Sumco, the world's No.2 supplier of silicon wafers used to make chips, slashed its annual operating profit forecast by 37% on weak PC demand and slower-than-expected growth in smartphones and tablet PCs, and it said the fragile economy could make chip demand retreat further.

Profit margins on LCD Televisions have been falling steadily over the last few years, and the 3D TV craze has largely failed to boost them up again. So what's a manufacturer to do? Sharp thinks "Go Bigger".

South Korea's LG Electronics said it has tied up with Dutch giant Philips and Japan's Sharp to ramp up production of applications for Internet-powered televisions.

With three of Japan's leading LCD makers set to merge into the world's largest display entity, Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) may want to think twice about further antagonizing South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC) with patent-related lawsuits.

Japan's new clean energy bill offers a tantalizing business bonanza and companies are scrambling to find an edge.

The global solar cell market is projected to expand to 13.31 trillion yen in 2030, up about 290% from 2010, research firm Fuji Keizai Co. said Tuesday.

Political leaders anywhere in the world, however great they are, often do not have the luxury of actually making choices; choices are usually forced upon them by economic or political circumstances.

Japan approved a bill today to subsidize electricity from renewable sources, joining European nations in shifting away from nuclear power after the Fukushima reactor meltdowns in March.

Moody's now holds rating for Japan at Aa3, on a par with rival agency Standard & Poor's, which rates the world's third-largest economy at AA-, the same level as China.

The latest beta of iOS 5 features an earthquake warning system for Japanese iPhone users. The feature constantly checks in with Japan's early warning system, which consists of over 1000 seismographs scattered throughout the country.

The Japanese government has announced a new US$100 billion fund to help companies combat the strength of the yen.

Hitachi, Ltd. will pull the plug on TV production before the current fiscal year ends next March as it has suffered deteriorating profitability amid intensifying price competition with South Korean and other foreign rivals, the company said Wednesday.

Japanese thin-film manufacturer Solar Frontier has announced today that it's new 900 megawatt (MW) CIS thin-film factory has reached full commercial operation, with all production lines open. At full capacity and in combination with the two existing plants, the new facility brings Solar Frontier's annual capacity to around one gigawatt (GW).

Fuji Electric has announced that it will spend JPY18.5 billion (US$240 million) to build an assembly line for power semiconductors at its Yamanashi Prefecture plant. The line will process 8-inch silicon wafers to make the semiconductors.

3M Co. said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit grew 3.4 percent. That's not bad, but it would have risen more if not for the earthquake in Japan and a big slowdown in its business making coatings for LCD television screens.

As Japan rethinks its dependence on nuclear energy in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, Sharp Corp. is out front in the discussion over what's next.

Japanese consumer electronics giant Sharp Corporation and Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd - more famously known for its subsidiary Foxconn which manufactures some of the world's most popular products including the iPhone and iPad for Apple, as well as the Playstation 3 (PS3) for Sony - have joined forces to cut the costs of LCD TV panel supply. Both parties hope that this alliance will enable them to compete more effectively against South Korean rivals like Samsung and LG.

In an effort to increase its competitiveness in the North American consumer market, Toshiba Corp. (Tokyo: 6502) is selling its Chihuahua, Mexico-based LCD production facilities to PC manufacturer Compal Electronics Inc. The announcement, made in a press release today, comes on the heels of market reports that LCD TV demand in North America is "alarmingly" weak, despite increasing prices for LCD panels worldwide.