Japan's core consumer inflation accelerated to a 40-year high in October as a weak yen pushed up the cost of imported commodities, which were already surging due to global supply constraints. From a report: The data suggests Japanese companies may be shaking off their deflationary mindset as they gradually raise prices of everything from fuel to food while coming under pressure from cost-push inflation. The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food prices but includes energy, rose 3.6% year on year in October, versus a 3.5% rise expected by economists, and accelerating from the prior month's 3.0% gain. The jump marked the fastest gain since February 1982.

It also confirmed CPI growth remained above the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) 2% inflation goal for a seventh straight month. Despite broadening price pressures, which are a growing concern for households, however, the BOJ would not join a global trend of tightening monetary policy through rate hikes. BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated on Thursday a pledge to maintain monetary stimulus to support a fragile economy facing still weak inflation and reeling from the COVID downturn.

Google announced today that it's introducing a slew of new Maps, Search and Shopping features. The company revealed a majority of the new features during its Search On event in September and is now starting to roll them out to users. TechCrunch reports: Search
Starting today, users will be able to use Search to find their favorite dish at a restaurant near them. For example, you can search "truffle mac and cheese near me" to see which nearby restaurants carry the dish on their menu. Once you find a specific dish that you're looking for, you can get more information about its price, ingredients and more. Another new Search functionality lets you use Google's multisearch feature to find specific food near you. Say you see something tasty-looking online, but don't know what it is or where to find it. You can now use Lens in the Google app for Android or iOS to snap a picture or take a screenshot of a dish and add the words "near me" to find a place that sells it nearby. Later this year, Google is going roll out an update to its Lens AR Translate capabilities so users can more seamlessly translate text on complex backgrounds. Instead of covering up the original text like it currently does, Google is going to erase the text and re-create the pixels underneath with an AI-generated background, and then overlay the translated text on top of the image.

Maps
As for the new Maps features, Google is launching a new visual search experience called Live View in London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Tokyo. [...] In addition to displaying information about where places are, users will be able to see key information about each spot overlaid, such as whether the location is busy, if its open, what the price range is, etc. Another new Maps feature makes it easier for EV owners to find the best charging station for their vehicle. Now, you can search for "EV charging stations" and select the "fast charge" filter. You can also filter for stations that offer your EV's plug type. Google also announced that it's expanding its "accessible places" feature globally after initially launching it in the U.S., Australia, Japan and the U.K. in 2020. The feature is designed to help people determine whether a place is wheelchair accessible.

Shopping
Google has announced a new AR shopping feature that is designed to make it easier to find your exact foundation match. The company says its new photo library features 148 models representing a diverse spectrum of skin tones, ages, genders, face shapes, ethnicities and skin types. As a result, it should be easier for shoppers to better visualize what different products will look like on them. [...] Users can now also shop for shoes using AR.

Japan said on Friday it will invest up to 70 billion yen ($500 million) in a new semiconductor company led by tech firms including Sony and NEC as it rushes to re-establish itself as a lead maker of advanced chips. From a report: "Semiconductors are going to be a critical component for the development of new leading-edge technologies such as AI, digital industries and in healthcare," Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura said at a news briefing. The new chip company will be named Rapidus and aims to begin making chips in the second half of the decade, he added.

As trade friction between the United States and China deepens and Washington restricts Beijing's access to advanced semiconductor technology, Japan is rushing to revive its chip manufacturing base to ensure its carmakers and information technology companies do not run short of the key component. Japan is also concerned that China may attempt to take control of Taiwan, the global hub for advanced chip production.

WeWork said Thursday that it was going to close roughly 40 "underperforming" locations in the United States and tempered its revenue forecast for the year, highlighting the challenges the co-working company still faces after its near collapse and subsequent bailout in 2019. The New York Times reports: For the third quarter, WeWork said it lost $568 million, an improvement from the same period last year, when it lost $802 million. Revenue of $817 million in the latest quarter was more than 20 percent higher than the $661 million reported a year earlier. WeWork does not own its buildings but leases office space and parcels it out to its customers, which include individuals, small businesses and larger companies. Memberships rose in the third quarter. But occupancy was only slightly higher in WeWork's 647 consolidated locations around the world, rising to 71 percent in the third quarter from 70 percent in the second.

The company said it expected revenue of $3.35 billion to $3.37 billion this year. The upper end of that forecast is lower than the forecast it issued last quarter, when WeWork projected up to $3.5 billion in 2022 revenue. One factor leading to the pared back forecast, the company said, was "slower than expected growth" in its operations in the United States, Canada and Japan. WeWork said closing the locations was likely to reduce revenue but would benefit the company by cutting costs. The company has lost more than $12 billion since the end of 2018.

Demand for office space has plummeted since companies started letting employees work from home during the pandemic. But WeWork considers this trend an opportunity. Because it offers space for shorter periods than traditional landlords, the company has claimed that it provides businesses more flexibility. "The headwinds in the office sector are really benefiting the flex model," Sandeep Mathrani, WeWork's chief executive, said Thursday on a call to discuss third-quarter results. Still, large companies' share of memberships has fallen, to 47 percent in the third quarter from 49 percent a year earlier. The enormous costs of WeWork's office leases and the expenses involved in running the locations have led many investors to express skepticism about WeWork's turnaround plan. The company's stock has lost more than three-quarters of its value since WeWork went public last year, giving it a market capitalization of $1.9 billion, a small fraction of the $47 billion value that private investors placed on the company in 2019.

Studio Ghibli, the beloved animation producer behind worldwide hits like Spirited Away, Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, and Grave of the Fireflies, is teaming up with Lucasfilm, home to the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, for a mysterious new project. Polygon reports: On Thursday, the Japanese studio tweeted a cryptic video teaser, with the Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli logos back to back and... maddeningly nothing else. The video is silent, so there are no John Williams-penned themes to work from here. But suffice it to say, the teaser is most likely for an animated project based on a Lucasfilm property, and Star Wars seems like a safe bet. Lucasfilm and Disney have multiple animated Star Wars series, including the recently released Tales of the Jedi and -- the most likely candidate for Studio Ghibli -- Star Wars: Visions.

A second season of Star Wars: Visions is coming to Disney Plus in spring 2023. And while Disney and Lucasfilm have not revealed much about who is contributing to it, Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 is pitched as a "global tour, celebrating the incredible animation happening across countries and cultures."

Google today announced it's expanding its user choice billing pilot, which allows Android app developers to use other payment systems besides Google's own. The program will now become available to new markets, including the U.S., Brazil and South Africa, and Bumble will now join Spotify as one of the pilot testers. From a report: Google additionally announced Spotify will now begin rolling out its implementation of the program starting this week. The company had first announced its intention to launch a third-party billing option back in March of this year, with Spotify as the initial tester. Since then, the program has steadily expanded. Last month, for example, Google invited other non-game developers to apply for the user choice billing program in select markets, including India, Australia, Indonesia, Japan and the European Economic Area (EEA). The company also introduced a similar policy for developers in the EEA region in July, but the new guidelines raised the commission discount from 3% to 4% for developers who opted in. With today's expansion, user choice billing will be made available to 35 countries worldwide. Google says it's been working with Spotify to help develop the experience and now the streaming music service will begin to put the new features into action in supported markets. The experience could still change over time, Google warned, as this is still the early days of the pilot test.

IBM has engaged in talks with the Biden administration on potential export controls for quantum computers as the company continues investing in the emerging technology. From a report: IBM recommended that any regulations, if developed, cover potentially problematic uses of quantum computing rather than limiting the technology based simply on processing power, said Dario Gil, head of IBM Research. Quantum technology will likely be subject to constraints like export controls, Gil said. "We will continue to be an active participant in that dialogue," he said.

Quantum computing is an experimental field with the potential to accelerate processing power and upend current cybersecurity standards. The Biden administration is exploring the possibility of new export controls that would limit China's access to quantum along with other powerful emerging technologies, Bloomberg News reported last month. IBM has installed quantum infrastructure in countries like Germany and Japan, but not China, Gil said. Big Blue has invested millions in the field, and is unveiling a new quantum processor this week that is more than three times more powerful, measured by qubits, than its version announced last year.

Japan Today reports: As reported by Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun, in a meeting on Nov 2, the Energy Conservation Subcommittee of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry resolved to begin working group discussions with the aim of gaining the ability to remotely turn down privately owned air conditioner/heater units. The goal would be to decrease energy usage during expected power shortages, which the committee feels are a growing concern as Japan attempts to shift towards renewable energy sources such as solar power, where the amount generated can be affected by day-to-day climate, making it difficult to stabilize the amount of total power available. The ministry says that AC unit usage accounts for roughly 30 percent of household electricity consumption in Japan.

From a technical standpoint, the plan wouldn't be particularly difficult to implement. Japanese air conditioner units have long had remote controls, so external inputs aren't a problem, and many models now allow the owner to turn the system on and off or adjust temperature settings through the internet. By asking manufacturers to extend such access to government regulatory organizations, and granting those organizations override functions over other inputs, the plan could easily be put into practice for internet-connected AC units, and water heaters are another home appliance the committee is looking to gain the ability to throttle back. [...] According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the committee is currently working under the concept that the government would only be able to turn down AC units if their individual owners have agreed, in advance, to grant that authority.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Two of the largest meat companies in the U.S. have invested in a smartwatch app that allows managers to track and monitor worker's movements. According to a report by Investigate Midwest, a non-profit newsroom covering the agri-business industry, JBS and Tyson Foods have backed Mentore, a start-up that claims it uses surveillance data and AI to improve worker productivity and reduce workplace injuries. Once paired with a compatible smartwatch, Mentore's application uses sensors to collect data on the force, rotation, speed, and directional movement of a worker's arm as they repeatedly complete the same task. The company's algorithm then analyzes that data to determine if those movements are safe and alerts the individual if they are found to be using too much speed or force. According to the report and Mentore's co-founder, Apoorva Kiran, the watch can also detect dehydration.

This raw watch data is then converted to real-time metrics that are made visible to supervisors on a dashboard. At the moment, it seems that Mentore plans to combat uncertainty and issues about transparency about the app by allowing workers to access their current and historical "injury risk" scores, but it's unclear whether they can do anything to challenge the real-time metrics on the watch itself. The app can also differentiate between "intense active motion" and "mild active motion." According to Mentore's site, this kind of data can "improve productivity, turnover, and safety at scale in real-time." [...] According to Investigate Midwest, the system has already been installed on about 10,000 devices across five industries in four different countries, including the U.S, Canada, Chile, and Japan. The move mirrors similar controversial tracking practices that many other companies, including Amazon, have tried to implement over the years in a bid to increase worker productivity. "Besides the tracking and the invasion of somebody's privacy, there is this real safety and health issue," Mark Lauritsen, an international vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) and head of the union's meatpacking division, told Motherboard. He says that requiring workers to wear a watch or any other jewelry would be in violation of health and safety policies, opening them up to workplace injury and potentially leading to contamination of the product.

"We're not going to allow their need to have more money and more productivity endanger people's lives and limbs just so they can make an extra dollar," Lauritsen said. "It's just not gonna happen."

The U.S. is urging allies including Japan to follow its lead on restricting exports of advanced semiconductors and related technology to China, likely intensifying the impact of Chinese-American tensions on chipmakers worldwide. From a report: Tokyo has begun internal discussions on the issue at Washington's request, a Japanese government insider said. Officials are weighing which restrictions can be adopted in Japan, and will watch how other U.S. allies such as the European Union and South Korea respond. The sweeping export controls announced Oct. 7 by the U.S. Commerce Department span chipmaking equipment, design software and even engineers who support semiconductor manufacturing in China.

"We were talking to our allies. No one was surprised when we did this, and they all know that we're expecting them to cover likewise," Alan Estevez, undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, said during an event Thursday hosted by a U.S. think tank. The curbs allow companies to apply for exemptions, but with a presumption of denial, meaning such requests are unlikely to be granted. Violators may face civil and criminal penalties.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: The White House is bringing together three dozen nations, the European Union and a slew of private-sector companies for a two-day summit starting Monday that looks at how best to combat ransomware attacks. The second International Counter Ransomware Summit will focus on priorities such as ensuring systems are more resilient to better withstand attacks and disrupt bad actors planning such assaults. A senior Biden administration official cited recent attacks such as one that targeted the Los Angeles school district last month to underscore the urgency of the issue and the summit. The official previewed the event on the condition of anonymity.

Among the administration officials planning to participate in the event are FBI Director Christopher Wray, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. President Joe Biden is not expected to attend. Participating countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, the European Commission, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Pioneering Sega developer Rieko Kodama has passed away at the age of 58. Eurogamer reports: A memorial message for her was spotted in the credits of the Mega Drive Mini 2 and later confirmed by Sega producer Yosuke Oskunari. Sega subsequently confirmed Kodama passed back in May, but was unable to share details in respect to her family, as reported by IGN. "We pray that the deceased will rest in peace, and we offer our gratitude for her enormous contributions to Sega," said Sega of Japan.

Kodama worked on some of Sega's most celebrated games, including Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Skies of Arcadia, and Alex Kidd. She's perhaps best known as one of the creative leads on the Phantasy Star series, directing Phantasy Star 4. In 2019 she won the Pioneer Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards for her 35-year career in an industry dominated by men.

Japan has stepped up its push to catch up on digitization by telling a reluctant public they have to sign up for digital IDs or possibly lose access to their public health insurance. From a report: As the naming implies, the initiative is about assigning numbers to people, similar to Social Security numbers in the U.S. Many Japanese worry the information might be misused or that their personal information might be stolen. Some view the My Number effort as a violation of their right to privacy. So the system that kicked off in 2016 has never fully caught on. Fax machines are still commonplace, and many Japanese conduct much of their business in person, with cash. Some bureaucratic procedures can be done online, but many Japanese offices still require "inkan," or seals for stamping, for identification, and insist on people bringing paper forms to offices.

Now the government is asking people to apply for plastic My Number cards equipped with microchips and photos, to be linked to drivers licenses and the public health insurance plans. Health insurance cards now in use, which lack photos, will be discontinued in late 2024. People will be required to use My Number cards instead. That has drawn a backlash, with an online petition demanding a continuation of the current health cards drawing more than 100,000 signatures in a few days.

BMW says it will make batteries for its electric vehicles at a factory in South Carolina in the latest move by a major automaker to localize EV production in the United States. The Verge reports: The German company plans to invest $1.7 billion in the US, including $1 billion for EV production at BMW's Spartanburg plant and $700 million for a new battery-assembly facility in nearby Woodruff. By 2030, BMW says it will have at least six electric models in production in the US. Establishing a US-based EV plant will allow BMW's upcoming line of plug-in vehicles to qualify for the federal EV tax credit.

BMW said it is partnering with Envision AESC on its plans for a dedicated battery plant in South Carolina. The Japan-based energy company will produce round lithium-ion battery cells specifically designed for BMW's next-gen EV platform. When it's completed, the battery factory will have an annual capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours (GWh). BMW has also announced plans to build EV production facilities in Europe and China to meet demand. The company currently has several electric models for sale, including the i4 sedan and iX SUV.

Japan plans to further loosen cryptocurrency rules by making it easier to list virtual coins, potentially burnishing the country's allure for Binance and rival foreign digital-asset exchanges. From a report: The body that governs crypto exchanges plans to allow them to list coins without going through its lengthy screening process, unless the tokens are new to Japan's market, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News. The relaxed rule could take effect as early as December, helping startups compete with established players by smoothing the process of listing tokens and lowering the bar for market entry. The documents outlining the changes were distributed to member firms recently. By March 2024, the Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association could also scrap pre-screenings for coins new to the nation, as well as for tokens issued through initial coin or exchange offerings, Vice Chairman Genki Oda said in comments he described as personal views.

"Sony and Honda have officially launched their joint mobility venture that aims to start delivering premium electric vehicles with automated driving capabilities in the United States in the spring of 2026, followed by Japan in the second half of 2026," reports TechCrunch. Details are scarce but the partnership appears to produce what the companies promise to be a wildly smart vehicle that's heavily focused on keeping its passengers entertained. Slashdot reader SouthSeb shares the news with us, writing: Since cars are expected to fully drive themselves in a near future, how to maintain their occupants entertained seems to be the next big question. It makes one wonder if cars are going to radically change and become more and more like living rooms or office spaces on wheels. "The new EV, which will be initially manufactured at Honda's North America factory, will be developed with Level 3 automated driving capabilities under limited conditions, and with Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems that can handle situations as complex as urban driving," reports TechCrunch. "Sony will provide the sensors and tech for the autonomous capabilities, as well as all of the other software, from cloud-based services to entertainment, that drivers will hopefully be able to enjoy all the better for not having to actually drive the car all the time. The companies didn't share too much about what the infotainment system would look like, but they did say the metaverse would be involved."

"[Sony Honda Mobility] aims to evolve mobility space into entertainment and emotional space, by seamlessly integrating real and virtual worlds, and exploring new entertainment possibilities through digital innovations such as the metaverse," according to SHM.

Starting in November, Netflix will roll out its ad-supported tier for $6.99 a month, yet another sign that the onetime disruptive upstart streaming service has slowly become a cable package by another name. From a report: Netflix announced today that its new Basic with Ads tier is slated to launch on November 3rd, 2022, for $6.99 in the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, and the UK. In exchange for making you watch an average of four to five ads per hour that run anywhere from 15-30 seconds, Basic with Ads will give subscribers access to a large swath of Netflix's programming but not the platform's full catalog. A small selection of television shows and movies will not be available to Basic with Ads subscribers due to licensing restrictions that Netflix says it's currently working on. Additionally, Basic with Ads subscribers will not be able to download content onto their devices, and video quality is capped at 720p / HD.

Starlink has debuted in Japan, making it the first Asian nation to receive SpaceX's satellite internet service. From a report: Much of the country's north, including Tokyo, can now receive Starlink's signals, according to a map the startup shared on Twitter. Other areas including southern Japan and Hokkaido are expected to receive the service by the fourth quarter, before neighboring South Korea early next year.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Alphabet's Google will open its first data center in Japan next year as part of increasing investment in the world's third-biggest economy. The new facility, based in Inzai City, Chiba, will accelerate the operation of Google tools and services and support economic activity and jobs, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post Friday. It's part of a broader $730 million investment in local infrastructure by the US company, which began last year and will extend through 2024. Google is also leading the construction of a new subsea cable linking Japan and Canada, called Topaz. The Chiba data center will be the company's third location in Asia, after Taiwan and Singapore, and will support its efforts to connect Japan to the rest of the global economy, Pichai said. "Google's partnership in Japan is now deeper than ever," Pichai said in a surprise appearance at Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel Watch launch event in Tokyo. "Japan has a history of being at the forefront of the world's most advanced technologies."

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google is clawing its way back into wearable relevance. Today the company took the wraps off what is officially its first self-branded smartwatch: the Pixel Watch. Google started revamping its wearable platform, Wear OS, in partnership with Samsung. While Wear OS 3, the new version of Google's wearable platform, technically launched with the Galaxy Watch 4 last year, this is the first time we'll be seeing an unskinned version on a real device. First up: prices. Google is asking a lot here, with the Wi-Fi model going for $349 and the LTE version clocking in at $399. The Galaxy Watch 4, which has a better SoC, and the Apple Watch SE, which has a way, way better SoC, both start at $250. Google is creating an uphill battle for itself with this pricing.

Google and Samsung's partnership means the Pixel Watch is running a Samsung Exynos 9110 SoC, with a cheap Cortex M33 co-processor tacked on for low-power watch face updates and 24/7 stat tracking. This SoC is a 10 nm chip with two Cortex A53 cores and an Arm Mali T720 MP1 GPU. If you can't tell from those specs, this is a chip from 2018 that was first used in the original Samsung Galaxy Watch. For whatever reason, Google couldn't get Samsung's new chip from the Galaxy Watch 4, an Exynos W920 (a big upgrade at 5 nm, dual Cortex A55s, and a Mali-G68 MP2 GPU). It's hard to understand why this is so expensive.

The display is a fully circular 1.6-inch OLED with a density of 320 ppi (that should mean around 360 pixels across). The only size available is 41 mm, the cover is Gorilla Glass 5, and the body is stainless steel in silver, black, or gold. It has 2GB of RAM, 32GB of eMMC storage, NFC, GPS, only 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 802.11n support (Wi-Fi 4), and a 294 mAh battery. For sensors, you get SPO2 blood oxygen, heart rate, and an ECG sensor. It's water-resistant to 5 ATM, which means you're good for submersion, hand washing, and most normal water exposure. Usually 10 ATM is preferred for serious sports swimming, but the Apple Watch is 5 ATM, and Apple does all sorts of swimming promos. Google's black UI background does a good job of hiding exactly how large the display is in relation to the body, but a few screenshots reveal just how big the bezels are around this thing. They are big. Real big. Like, hard-to-imagine-we're-still-doing-this-in-2022 big. Other things to note: the watch bands are proprietary, it'll be able to charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes, will work with any Android phone running version 8.0 and newer, and features Fitbit integration.

"Unlike the Pixel 7, which is expanding to 17 markets, the Pixel Watch is only for sale in eight countries: the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan," adds Ars. "The watch is up for preorder today and ships October 13."

Further reading: Google Unveils Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro Smartphones