Cell phones to warn of earthquakes in Japan
527282
Japan's cellular operators say they plan to send earthquake warnings to the mobile phones of their subscribers.
227357
Mobile phones have become a must-have item for every high-powered Japanese businessman, multi-tasking mum and self-respecting teenager. Even schoolchildren often carry a mobile phone to call home on their way back from late-night cram school.
93594
Text messages could soon be at the heart of a system to help people cope in the aftermath of disasters.
489391
Reports from Japan&#39;s major electronics and semiconductor makers suggest their manufacturing facilities suffered no damage and no production stops after two earthquakes shook the country&#39;s western region on Sunday.
473162
OJIYA, Japan  - A powerful earthquake and strong  aftershocks rocked northern Japan, killing at least 14 people,  injuring more than 700 and knocking out power and phone  services to at least 278,000 homes, media said.
749872
(InfoWorld) - OKI Electric Industry Co. is testing a Safety Mobile Phone technology that could help pedestrians avoid being hit by vehicles. The phones use Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) technology to rapidly exchange location information about vehicles equipped with the same technology, the Japanese company said Monday. The OKI test is one of several supported by the Japanese government as part of an initiative aimed at deploying advanced communication systems across the country beginning in 2011 to lower the number of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents. The short-range service is designed to provide very high data rates in situations where minimizing latency in the communication link and isolating relatively small communication zones are important, according to a description of the protocol by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which helped standardize it. In the OKI test, pedestrians use mobile phones with an integrated DSRC module, while vehicles are equipped with communication systems embedded with the same technology, as well as GPS (Global Positioning System). The pedestrians and vehicles create a DSRC wireless communications area, which has a radius per device of several hundred meters. Each device sends out its location information at a regular time interval within the area. When a pedestrian device and vehicle device come close and the received power from each device exceeds a specific value that indicates a high possibility of a collision, the devices warn their users. Pedestrians are warned through the vibration function on their phones, while drivers receive voice guidance from their vehicle communications system. The technology can gather information about surrounding vehicles, perform the necessary calculation to identify impending collisions and warn pedestrians with DSRC-enabled mobile phones "in less than one second," OKI said in an e-mail response to questions. Such a quick response is possible because the system is able to send each vehicle's current GPS position and map its location against other devices in the area within milliseconds, the company said. The system warns the mobile phone user when a vehicle is within 150 meters, but the technology allows the distance from a vehicle to a phone user to be set freely, according to OKI. Although the trial DSRC system currently uses the 5.8 GHz frequency range, OKI plans to achieve compatibility with IEEE 802.11p, the international DSRC standard based on the 5.9 GHz band. The OKI development appears to be part of a growing trend to use mobile phones as safety devices. For instance, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has applied for a U.S. patent for aÂ lightning detector systemÂ designed for use in mobile phones. Â
639960
Japan plans government-backed exams for phone guides who  will help users navigate their increasingly complicated  mobiles.
102272
A tsunami warning was issued for a group  of islands south of Tokyo on Wednesday after a strong  earthquake off Japan's eastern coast, and authorities urged  local residents to evacuate to higher ground.
496752
Researchers are hoping to develop a network of ocean-floor and mobile sensors that would help detect tsunamis in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
43718
TOKYO : A powerful earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale has injured 13 people in northern Japan in a new sign of seismic activity a month after the country&#39;s deadliest tremor in a decade.
52966
A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the open-ended Richter scale shook western Japan on Sunday and officials issued tsunami warnings, broadcaster NHK reported.
439454
A tsunami warning was issued for a group of islands south of Tokyo after a strong earthquake off Japan's eastern coast on Wednesday, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake, the focus of which was about 6.2 miles below the seabed in the Pacific Ocean struck at around 3:11 p.m. (1:11 a.m. EST), the agency said.
457828
Japan is set to launch one of the world's largest geostationary satellites in a bid to improve mobile telephone reception in remote areas, the country's space agency said.
436025
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 has shaken northern Japan in the same region that was hit by a deadly tremor last month, but there are no immediate reports of serious injuries or damage.
30489
TOKYO  - Two strong earthquakes, one magnitude 6.9 and the second magnitude 7.3, rattled western Japan within hours of each other Sunday night, injuring 14 people, shaking buildings in Tokyo and triggering tsunami waves.
48083
Plans to send Internet broadband signals  down mains electricity cables rather than telephone lines could  hit the radio hams whose transmissions were so vital in the  aftermath of the Asian tsunami, New Scientist magazine reported  on Wednesday.
510220
India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives issued tsunami alerts after a massive earthquake off the west coast of Indonesia&#39;s Sumatra island, officials said.