FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
LG smartphones sold for halved prices before announcement on fate of mobile unit [The Korea Herald, Seoul / Asia News Network]
Feb. 10 The last batch of smartphones by LG Electronics LG Velvet and LG Wing released last year are being sold with massive discounts and subsidies through mobile carriers before the company’s final decision on its planned sale of the smartphone business.
According to the telecom industry Monday, the actual cost of buying an LG Wing, a dual-display smartphone released last September, has been reduced to around 400,000 won ($357) from 1.09 million won, amid sluggish sales.
Actual prices could go even lower as some telecom firms have raised subsidies for LG phones due to slow sales.
Officials supporting Everest climbers to be strapped with GPS device this spring [The Kathmandu Post, Nepal / Asia News Network]
Feb. 4 Last week an investigation committee of the Tourism Ministry recommended revoking the Everest climbing certificates of two Indian nationals who produced fake documents to say that they had climbed Mt Everest [8,848.86 metres] in May 2016, and imposing a 10-year mountaineering ban on the duo.
The fact-finding government committee had, after six months of investigation, concluded that the photographs submitted by Indian nationals Narender Singh Yadav and Seema Rani Goswami showing that they had reached the top of the world’s highest mountain were fake, said Taranath Adhikari, the spokesperson for the ministry.
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
Japan govt’s contact-tracing app malfunctioning for months on Android smartphones [The Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo / Asia News Network]
Feb. 4 COCOA, the government’s smartphone app that notifies users if they might have come in contact with someone who has been infected with the novel coronavirus, has been malfunctioning on Android smartphones since late last September, the health ministry announced on Wednesday. This means that 30% of the app’s users have been unable to use its functions for four months. The ministry apologized and expressed its intention to fix the system by mid-February. “I feel that we have to take great responsibility,” Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Norihisa Tamura said at an emergency press conference on Wednesday evening. “We want to deeply reflect on that and do my best to regain the public’s trust.” COCOA COVID-19 Contact-Confirming Application is a contact-tracing app introduced by the health ministry last
Jan. 18—SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN) — Nanyang Technological University (NTU) scientists have developed insulin nanoparticles that could allow diabetic patients to do away with injections.
Some diabetics do not produce enough insulin, which is necessary for regulating blood sugar le
Kabuki: Traditional Japanese performance art enters digital world [The Japan News, Tokyo / Asia News Network]
Jan. 12 Kabuki is going digital! Shochiku Co., a company that puts on kabuki performances, aims to gain more fans through the launch of a smartphone app that utilizes augmented reality (AR) technology.
The company also plans to focus more on distributing recordings of kabuki performances to boost the art form’s profile and attract new fans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The free app “INTO by Shochiku” is scheduled to launch Friday. A lion spirit, portrayed by kabuki actor Kataoka Ainosuke, is seen on smartphone screens through AR, making it seem as though he has appeared before the user.