Cover Story
Counting on Wealthy Engineers
Technology Savvy Investors Change Japan
Spread
Wealthy Engineers Help Technical Ventures
Part 1: Funding Shortage
Few High-Tech Luminaries in JapanAre Rich; Greater Number of Successes Required to Broaden Investment Base
How to create technical ventures that will succeed in Japan and then spread globally is a tough question. The biggest hurdle is the dearth of funds invested in venture companies.In Japan, the total annual investment by venture capital firms amounts to only 270 billion yen.Encouraging pension funds, etc., which hold a massive amount of assets totaling several hundred trillion yen, to expand their investment in venture companies would increase the number of successful ventures, in turn creating the next group of angel investors.
Part 2: Angel Investors
View of Japanese Angel Investors - Former Engineers Turned Investors
Angel investors are indispensable in broadening the base for venture companies. The term started in the 1920s, when people who provided financial backing to Broadway musicals in the U.S. were called angels. Then in the 1970s, financial supporters of venture companies began to be called angel investors. What kind of people are these angel investors? Here is a close look based on interviews with two such Japanese investors.
Part 3: Might of 200 Billion Yen
Government-Led Fund to Support Venture Companies; Sense of Crisis among Companies Acting as Intermediaries for U.S. Patents
The Japanese government is beginning to make moves to help and support the growth of venture companies. Plans have been made to establish a government-led corporation called the “Innovation & Creation Organization.” This organization will also solicit investment from both the private sectors and overseas to build a 200-billion-yen fund. Will this fund trigger a revitalization of investment in venture companies? Those involved in venture companies have high expectations for this new organization.
Special Feature
Microsoft Facing Another Turning Point
Challenging Google in Cloud Computing
Microsoft Corporation is serious about remaking itself. The company is switching its business model to so-called "cloud computing," an Internet-based computing environment being promoted by Google and others.Until now, leveraging its overwhelming share in the OS and office software markets Microsoft has been trying to increase its share of the server software and business applications markets as well. The future prospects of this approach, however, are beginning to look gloomy as services provided via the Internet become more popular.What will happen to Microsoft?
Technologies for Generating Electrical Power from Waste Heat and Vibration Take Off
Waste heat from automobiles and boilers, heat from the sun, heat emitted by human bodies, vibration generated by people walking, vibration generated by industrial equipment and highways, etc. – all these energy sources have been ignored up to the present.Now, a move toward utilizing “energy recovery technologies,” which harness energy from these sources, is picking up speed. Based on nearly 60 years of research, these technologies are getting ready to take off.
Apple-Led OpenCL Brings More Freedom to Processors
In June 2008, Apple Inc. made news by unexpectedly announcing adoption of OpenCL for its next-generation OS. The entire picture of this strategy is now becoming clear. This is the direct response of a processor manufacturer to the impending risk that its current approach would lead to software developers leaving its platform. Multi-core computers are becoming more popular, GPUs are handling more than just graphics, and many processors with new architecture are emerging. OpenCL, which emerged in an era of processor chaos, is about to give software developers and equipment manufacturers the freedom to choose processors.
Guest Paper
Could China be Serious about Mandatory Source Code Disclosure?
Proactive Steps are Needed, such as Obtaining Permission for Encryption Methods
Japan is in an uproar over a media report that the Chinese government is planning to introduce a new system in May 2009 requiring foreign corporations that make digital home appliances to disclose product information. This system reportedly will require certification of products to be imported into and sold in China, and in that process require disclosure of the source codes for embedded software and encryption software.In response, Japanese corporations and industries are voicing their concerns, worries, and objections.
Documentary
YokohamaScienceFrontierHigh School Opens (Part 1)
Tornado Emerges, Sucking People In
Tutorial
Matrix Converters (Part 1)
Revolutionary Power Conversion Technology Emerges; Promises Significant Size Reduction and Efficiency Improvement
Matrix converters, which convert AC power directly into AC power with different amplitudes and frequencies, can reduce equipment size and improve efficiency and reliability compared to that achievable with conventional converters. This article introduces the characteristics and circuit configuration of matrix converters.
What is a Metamaterial? (Part 2)
Characteristics of Unconventional Left-Hand Metamaterials; Epoch-Making Applications Emerge
Metamaterials sometimes exhibit electrical and magnetic properties that cannot be achieved with natural materials. A typical example is a left-hand metamaterial. This article describes several of its characteristics and examples of possible applications.
Academy
Inter-Task Synchronization and Communication
Keyword
Risk Assessment
Need to Ensure Product Safety Motivates the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to Introduce Risk Assessment Concept
Key Person
Mozilla Corp., Vice President, Jay Sullivan: Building a Bridge Between Personal Computers and Mobile Devices
NE Interview
Microsoft Corp., Chief Research & Strategy Officer, Craig Mundie: Next-Generation Platform is “Cloud + Client”
World Report
From the U.S.: Smartphones Trigger Rapid Expansion of the U.S.Mobile Communication Device Market
News
- Sharp Remains Confident in its Solar Cell Strategy Even under Current Economic Crisis
- Car Navigation Systems Based on Google GPS Being Launched One after Another
- NVIDIA’s GPU Enters High-Performance Computer Market
- Hitachi and Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Develop Prototype Motor Free of Rare-Earth Magnets
- NEC Improves Its Dynamically Reconfigurable Technology
