Nokia Phone Owners, Check Your Pockets

About 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006 and branded as the Nokia BL-5C have been recalled due to potential overheating problems.

Fortunately, Nokia noted in its statement about the problem that all of the approximately 100 overheating incidents happened while the battery was being charged.

A web page hosted by Nokia about the batteries lists the models that use the BL-5C, and provides a way to check the battery identification number against ones being recalled.

Nokia and Matsushita will replace batteries that prove to be from the production run in question. No serious injuries or property damage has been reported from any of the short circuiting incidents people have encountered with the battery.

Over the past three years, Sony and Toshiba, and electronics industry supporters on either side, have battled over the next-generation format of DVDs.

The most significant change will be the color of the laser used to read DVDs, from red to blue. Blue has a shorter wavelength than red; this is important to outside interests like the movie industry. A blue laser allows for greater data storage on a DVD.

That storage increase means Hollywood can plan on releasing movies made in all-digital high-definition (HD) format. HD movies will need a larger storage capacity to carry all the extra information a DVD player will need to render the movie in all of its digital glory.

Sony has championed its Blu-ray technology, which can store up to 50GB of information on a single disc. Toshiba says its HD DVD format, which holds slightly less than Blu-ray discs, will be a less expensive transition because its structure is closer to that of current DVDs.

Since both camps see their standard as the best for the market, they have been trying to enlist supporters from throughout the movie and high-tech electronics industries. The winner will dominate the markets for DVD players and PC drives for years.

One potential compromise rumored in recent weeks would have Sony’s Blu-ray become the standard, and Toshiba would make the software allowing devices to playback those DVDs as well as manage the digital rights of each disc. Toshiba has denied a compromise is in reach.

Both sides risk angering consumers by releasing competing devices. Toshiba will begin selling HD DVD players later this year, with some movie titles already announced for the format. Sony’s PlayStation 3 will launch in early 2006 with Blu-ray support.

According to Reuters, Matsushita president Kunio Nakamura told reporters in Tokyo that while the talks continue, Matsushita and Sony will not budge from their positions supporting Blu-ray.

“The talks continue, they have not collapsed. But Matsushita and Sony have not changed their stance. We are waiting for Toshiba’s decision.”

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

The company predicts a slower growth in profit as the year goes on, however.

“Matsushita is one of the only companies that is coming out with earnings that’s better or in-line with expectations,” Hideki Watanabe, a senior analyst at Macquarie Securities (Japan) Ltd. who has an “outperform” rating on Matsushita, said before the earnings announcement. “They have pushed through with reforms and are in very solid position.”

Reuters says:

Matsushita’s earnings came a day after archrival Sony Corp. posted an operating loss for the three months ended March 31 as tumbling prices of consumer electronics and restructuring expenses weighed on its results.

The Osaka-based Matsushita is more efficient than Sony in production of plasma televisions and DVD recorders because it makes a higher percentage of the key parts in-house, enabling it to better control costs and generate higher margins.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

Their agreement calls for all-around collaboration in moving forward with the plasma display (PDP) business. The two companies, both leaders in the plasma TV arena, have agreed to collaborate in a broad range of activities, including R&D, production, marketing and intellectual property. The color PDP was developed by researchers and engineers in Japan making the best use of their advanced technologies and innovative ideas. The agreement between Hitachi and Panasonic is aimed at further development of color PDP technologies and growth of the Plasma TV market on a global scale.

The color PDP was realized mostly with advanced Japanese technologies of image displays and it has become a key device in the digital consumer product field. The PDP is a self-luminous device that produces a picture by emitting light from many individual pixels. It has numerous notable features, such as wide viewing angle, fast response, and outstanding color rendering. Since the PDP is emissive (produces its own light), the amount of light it emits can be flexibly regulated according to the use environment. This makes it an ideal device from the ecological viewpoint, because it can conserve energy while offering large-screen size and high-definition. In addition, the PDP has a highly efficient productivity, making its cost competitiveness strong.

The plasma TV, which was developed to take full advantage of these features of the PDP, has achieved rapid market penetration against the backdrop of the spread of digital broadcasting worldwide. The Plasma TV accounts for about 90% of the global market for thin, large screen TV sets (Techno Systems Research Co., Ltd. survey) and are expected to enjoy phenomenal growth in coming years.

Concluding that the self-luminous PDP is the most suitable display for slim, large-screen, high-definition TVs, Hitachi and Panasonic agreed to establish a comprehensive cooperative relationship encompassing every aspect of the PDP business.

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