Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket
https://www.golem.de/news/...t-ein-riesiges-funkloch-2404-184016.html
Denn mit Rakuten haben die Verzögerungen bei 1&1 nichts zu tun, sondern mit einem Funkmaste-Anbieter, der lange im Einflussbereich von Vodafone agierte, weshalb auch das Kartellamt schon ermittelt.
Dreist ist vor allem, dass hier jemand lügt, dessen Marktstellung lange Jahre vom Steuerzahler aufgebaut wurde und der trotzdem Wettbewerb zu verhindern versucht.
Hier sollte auch die Politik Stellung nehmen - und zwar schleunigst.
April 10, 2024
Rakuten is improving the user experience and increasing orders on Rakuten Rakuma, the second-hand marketplace app, by using deep learning AI and other techniques. RNN interviewed the tech team behind the improvements to find out why this is happening now, what was changed, how modern recommendation systems work, and learn exactly how much orders increased thanks to their efforts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTYJei0RrWQ
Prophylactic administration of a selective COX-2 inhibitor reduces the volume of edema associated with photoimmunotherapy by 30-50%
Reduced edema volume by 25%, even when administered post photoimmunotherapy
Suggested the COX-2 inhibitor may manage edema without compromising anti-tumor efficacy
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/...inhibition-302114857.html
April 10, 2024
James Dartnell, Director, Corporate Communications, EMEA, Rakuten Symphony shares with us his career journey - from teaching in Paris to being a journalist and editor in Dubai, and now a PR and Communications specialist in London - as well as his future ambitions in the world of tech.
What were your personal/professional motivations for joining Rakuten Symphony and what was the moment you knew you’d made the right decision to join?
Joining Rakuten Symphony was an easy decision. I already knew Rakuten from the Group side as a hugely popular brand in Japan and through its partnerships with FC Barcelona and Golden State Warriors. In terms of Rakuten Symphony, the deal to build Europe’s first commercial-scale Open Radio Access Network with 1&1 in Germany was - and still is - regarded as highly innovative by telecom industry standards. I’ve always liked the saying ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’ - I was very excited to work for a tech company that wants to reinvent an essential piece of global infrastructure through cloud, automation and open standards.
There wasn’t a specific moment where I knew it was the right decision, but supporting the launch of the Open RAN Customer Experience Centre in the UK - a facility in Weybridge selected for funding by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications - in March 2023 was a personal point of pride. It felt fitting that we’d launched a European centre for interoperability testing in my home country just two months after I’d joined.
How would you describe the day-to-day role of a Corporate Communications Director to a layperson, and what makes it particularly different at Rakuten Symphony?
It’s my job to ensure that communications and content issued externally are up to our standards, and, perhaps most importantly, are presented in a way that makes people interested about what we're doing. That could be in the form of news announcements, thought leadership articles or responding to specific and - credit where it’s due to the media - sometimes challenging queries. An eagle-eye for detail always helps. It also means working closely with executives to ensure that I stay in the loop on any important strategic planning around products and customers.
What keeps my job interesting is that Rakuten has a unique story to tell. The industry is always paying close attention to what we do. I also enjoy working as part of a global team that operates around the clock.
What is something that you and your team accomplished (or took part in) recently that you’re proud of, and what made it possible?
Rakuten’s participation at MWC Barcelona 2024 was very successful. We accomplished a lot throughout the course of the week, issuing 11 key news announcements, all of which were the result of behind-the-scenes prep work in the run-up to the show. It's important for us to keep the industry informed about how we're working with mobile network operators and the wider ecosystem.
I really enjoyed being the MC for the Rakuten conference at MWC - as well as hosting sessions with Mickey and Sharad Sriwastawa, I also had the chance to moderate expert panel discussions on topics including eSim technology and enterprise private 5g networks. Perhaps most satisfying of all was hearing glowing endorsements from our customers 1&1, AT&T and Axiata Enterprise during the conference - it was great to be a part of that and to hear them speak so highly of Rakuten Symphony in the public sphere. The comms team played an important role in bringing all these elements together - we worked closely with customers and partners including Kyivstar, The United Kingdom Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Telecom Egypt to get news updates ready for press, while the conference required detailed planning and was executed very smoothly. Visitors to the world’s biggest connectivity event had the chance to see what Rakuten can accomplish.
What advice or mantra would you pass on to others who are looking to follow a similar career path to yourself? How has it influenced the way you approach work?
I can’t undersell the value of working abroad. I spent nine-and-a-half years working in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and one year teaching in Paris. Both stints gave me invaluable and unforgettable experiences. Living, working and travelling internationally broadens your horizons - working for a globally minded Japanese company felt like a natural progression and still feels like a really good fit.
From a comms perspective, my advice is to avoid clichés and buzzwords as much as possible. Readers switch off when you say things that they’ve heard dozens of times before, so try and keep your explanations clear and your language refreshing. Technology is already a complex topic - don’t put readers to sleep with tedious or confusing prose. I strongly believe that succinct, informative explanations are severely lacking in the world. It’s the writer’s job to make the penny drop for the reader and viewer - I daresay they need to be more enlightened (hopefully even entertained) after hearing what you have to say.
Comms professionals have the chance to become a unique brand of expert. We need to be clued up about lots of things - our organization, whatever it sells, and the industry it’s selling to. We work closely with executives that have significant experience and knowledge - that’s a free education. If you can absorb as much information as possible over time, you have the chance to become an expert in your own right. I had the same attitude when I was working as a journalist and editor in the UAE - I conducted hundreds of interviews over time. Each of those was a chance to probe a subject matter specialist and ask them questions that are important to the reader.
What are your career goals and how do you think Rakuten Symphony will give you an advantage in achieving them?
I love the storytelling aspect of my job - I’ve always enjoyed writing but I thrive off the buzz of presenting those ideas or explanations in the public sphere, whether that’s on stage or on camera. I’m not an engineer but I want to improve my understanding of technology and how it can benefit the world. Then I want to combine that knowledge to build a career in the tech industry. Engineers are incredibly smart people and they deserve huge respect - I would like my niche to be ‘translating’ some of that complex subject matter into digestible stories and business cases.
I'm fortunate to work with leaders across every time zone that try to support me in my professional growth. If you bring a new idea to the table, it’ll always be given a fair hearing; if you can prove it’s viable, there’s a reasonable chance it’ll be implemented. I know that I’m still at an early stage of my career but I also try to reciprocate that treatment and pass on any knowledge or experience that might help others.
https://symphony.rakuten.com/blog/...conversation-with-james-dartnell
12.04.2024
Die chinesische Streamingplattform Tencent veröffentlichte Staffel 1 von „Three-Body“, wie diese andere Adaption der „Trisolaris“-Trilogie von Liu Cixin heißt, bereits Anfang 2023. Auch hierzulande kann man die Sci-Fi-Serie schauen, die allein in Season 1 auf satte 30 Folgen kommt. „Three-Body“, die wesentlich näher an der chinesischen Buchvorlage gehalten ist, ist beim Streaminganbieter Viki Rakuten verfügbar.
https://www.filmstarts.de/nachrichten/1000075120.html
8 April 2024 By Michael Kozlowski
https://goodereader.com/blog/kobo-ereader-news/...aders-on-april-10th
April 15, 2024
20 years since the founding of the team, the curtains opened on the newest season for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Everyone was fired up for the first three season-opening games, including Rakuten Mobile. A special campaign was announced at the start of the first game offering 50% back in Rakuten Points for eligible users. Check out the video to hear fans' thoughts on the team and experience using Rakuten Mobile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBfqkN4SVQk
Beispielsweise wird Cabify, eine private Taxiplattform ähnlich wie Uber, Didi und Lyft, in naher Zukunft weitere Transportmöglichkeiten in Mexiko anbieten. Cabify hat in allen Hauptstädten Lateinamerikas den Durchbruch geschafft und wird mit der Ankündigung einer neuen Fusion weiter expandieren. Cabify, Easy Taxi und Movo bündeln Ressourcen, um Transporte mit Motorrollern sowie öffentlichen und privaten Taxis anzubieten. Solche Ansätze werden mehr Möglichkeiten für den Ride-Hailing-Markt in der Region schaffen.
Source: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/de/...hailing-market/market-trends
April 10, 2024
The feature intends to condense your group chat catchup, because you probably don't want to scroll through it all.
Sometimes a group chat takes on a life of its own, whether it's friends and family deciding to get chatty while you're busy working or a conversation thread that gets so busy you mute it for a day to get some space. For these situations, the Rakuten Viber chat app unveiled a new AI Chat Summary tool Wednesday that summarizes those lengthy message threads down to a few essential points.
The chat app's feature leverages OpenAI to do this and can scan up to 100 unread messages when building its summary. When opening a conversation with unread messages, the app will offer to build a summary, and if requested, the app will then scan for any key decisions or actions in order to create reference points. When the AI Summary is used, the app will mark the group chat as read, but you can still scroll back through the conversation if you'd like.
Viber says these summaries won't be saved on the chat app's servers, nor will it include any identifiers beyond usernames. The feature is gradually rolling out now in the US, the Philippines, Ukraine, Japan, Bulgaria and Poland to start. Other regions will follow after that, and it's coming to both the iOS and Android versions of the chat app.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/...usy-group-chats-youll-never-read/
By SCOTT FOSTER MARCH 30, 2024
Rakuten Mobile, Japan’s upstart mobile telecom network operator, sees light at the end of the financial tunnel as subscriber growth heads toward breakeven on an operating cash flow basis in 2024.
Breakeven will be a milestone for the Open RAN (Radio Access Network) standard that allows for various companies to supply different parts of a telecommunications network.
https://asiatimes.com/2024/03/...n-mobile-making-gains-with-open-ran/
München 10. April 2024
Marktanteil soll mit neuer eReader-Generation mit Farbdisplay weiter ausgebaut werden
Neues Leseerlebnis auch für Kinderbücher, Reiseführer, Mangas, Comics uvm.
Audio-Funktion für Hörbücher und Eingabestift tolino stylus
War bislang Schwarz-Weiß der Standard beim Lesen auf eReadern, so kommt mit der neuen Generation von tolino-Lesegeräten ab Mai 2024 Farbe in die digitale Buchwelt. tolino präsentiert als erster großer Anbieter auf dem deutschsprachigen Markt eine komplett neue eReader-Generation mit Farbdisplays. Mit gleich drei Geräten der neuen Generation und einem Eingabestift unterstreicht die tolino-Allianz, hinter der die Buchhändler Thalia, Hugendubel, Weltbild und Libri stehen, ihre Innovationsstärke. Die eReader tolino shine und tolino shine color sind ab dem 7. Mai im Handel verfügbar. Der tolino vision color folgt im Juni.
Der Launch der neuen tolino-Geräte bedeutet eine der größten Veränderungen im Markt des digitalen Lesens: Die Zukunft des digitalen Lesens ist farbig. Seit der Gründung vor elf Jahren verkauften die Allianzpartner weit über 5 Millionen tolino-Lesegeräte. Jetzt wollen sie mit der neuen Gerätegeneration ihren Marktanteil von derzeit rund 40 Prozent noch weiter ausbauen. Mit 1.800 Läden im stationären Buchhandel und starken Onlineshops verfügt die Allianz über flächendeckende Präsenz und große Vertriebsstärke. Der Verkaufsstart der Geräte wird pünktlich zum Beginn der Reisesaison mit einer breiten Werbekampagne flankiert.
https://mytolino.de/news/...-allianz-bringt-farbe-ins-digitale-lesen/
April 15, 2024, 8:15 pm
NOW said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange that the project involves three key infrastructure components to design and implement a pilot 5G SA network in Metro Manila, design a nationwide stand-alone 5G wireless network and design and plan for a nationwide broadband network.
The company said the project advances priorities of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, with the goal of developing, expanding and deploying secure digital infrastructure to power economic growth and facilitate open digital societies.
This followed the trilateral meeting on April 12, 2024 among US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
NOW Telecom earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with Rakuten Symphony (part of the Rakuten Group, a technology conglomerate based in Tokyo) to establish a collaborative framework for the deployment of a 5G Open RAN Pilot deployment in the Philippines.
https://manilastandard.net/business/it-telecom/...sibility-study.html
Tokyo, April 16, 2024 - Rakuten Bank, Ltd. and Rakuten Securities, Inc. today announced that Money Bridge, a service connecting customers’ Rakuten Bank and Rakuten Securities accounts, has surpassed 5 million accounts as of April 16, 2024.
Rakuten Bank and Rakuten Securities began offering Money Bridge in April 2011 to improve the convenience of services for private asset building and management. Anyone with both a Rakuten Bank and Rakuten Securities account can apply for a Money Bridge account free of charge. Once setup is complete, users can use the automatic deposit and withdrawal (sweep) function, which saves them the trouble of transferring funds manually between accounts. In addition, a preferential interest rate*1 is applied on ordinary deposit accounts, while Rakuten Points are awarded for transactions made using Rakuten Securities. This user-friendly and efficient system, combined with the ability to earn Rakuten Points, has been embraced by Rakuten members, leading to the milestone of 5 million Money Bridge accounts.
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/...p;category=fintech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfsNTPS0YSw&t=180s
April 17,2024
Partha Seetala, President, Cloud BU, Rakuten Symphony breaks down the different types of cloud and how our innovative approaches in the cloud domain is tackling some of the industry’s biggest challenges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66DfokknrSI
- 1 million new accounts in four months, a new record for Rakuten Securities
Tokyo, April 16, 2024 - Rakuten Securities, Inc. today announced that its general securities accounts have surpassed 11 million, the largest number of non-consolidated securities accounts among Japanese securities companies (based on disclosed information), as of April 2024. The milestone signifies the fastest increase in new accounts since the company’s founding, with 1 million accounts opened since reaching the 10 million mark around four months ago in December 2023.
Since launching in 1999 as the first dedicated online brokerage service in Japan, Rakuten Securities has worked to continually expand and enhance its asset-building platform with retail investors top of mind.
The Nippon Individual Savings Account (NISA) program, which was significantly updated and revamped in 2024, has sparked considerable interest in investing in Japan. With more people beginning to use NISA as a first step in their asset-building journey, Rakuten Securities is dedicated to providing services that satisfy diverse customer needs. As part of this commitment, the company recently launched the second year of its Asset Building College, helping customers master the basics of asset building and next steps after making their first investment in a year-long program.
On top of various free online seminars and in-person event seminars hosted throughout Japan, Rakuten Securities also offers a variety of financial advisory services tailored to customer needs, including an AI-powered investment assistant, and with Advisor, an online consultation service staffed by Rakuten Securities employees. The company is leading the industry by raising the upper limit for regular investment trust payments made with Rakuten Card from 50,000 yen to 100,000 yen and is currently implementing various campaigns to help customers take advantage of Rakuten Securities’ NISA program.
In addition to offering the fee-free Japanese stock trading service Zero Course and providing a superior user experience, Rakuten Securities is committed to providing reliable and intuitive trading tools for stocks and other related services on all platforms. Leveraging the strengths of the Rakuten Group, Rakuten Securities has also worked to develop services tailored to the needs of customers, from the time they make their first investment and throughout their asset-building journey by expanding its lineup of services designed for long-term use. These initiatives include offering index funds that can be managed at the lowest cost in the industry*2; the launch of the Investment Balance Point Program, which rewards customers with Rakuten Points for holding funds in investment trusts; Point Investment, which allows customers to use Rakuten Points to purchase investment trusts; giving customers the ability to make payments for investment trusts through Rakuten Card and Rakuten Cash; and making Rakuten Card available for gold, platinum and silver reserve payments.
Rakuten Securities aims to maximize customers’ financial well-being as the brokerage company of choice for all customers – ranging from investment newcomers to seasoned traders. The company will continue expanding its array of services to meet their diverse investment needs.
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/...p;category=fintech
April 17.04.2024
Rakuten Symphony Chief Marketing Officer Geoff Hollingworth talks about the challenges facing the telecom industry today, how AI and automation can power greater industry success and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRNhPupsezc
Rakuten Securities' operating revenue FY 2015-2023
Published by Statista Research Department, Feb 5, 2024
In the fiscal year 2023, the operating revenue of Rakuten Securities, Inc. amounted to around 110.9 billion Japanese yen, up from 95.4 billion yen the previous fiscal year. Rakuten Securities is a Japanese online securities company that operates under the umbrella of Rakuten Securities Holdings.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1368742/...ies-operating-revenue/
Tokyo, April 17, 2024 – Rakuten Group Inc. today announced that its travel reservation service Rakuten Travel, a leading online travel agency in Japan, has begun offering its car rental reservation service for visitors to Japan in multiple languages starting today. The service now supports customers using English, Korean and Traditional Chinese (Taiwan), in addition to Japanese.
Each reservation page features a user-friendly interface with strategically placed icons, enabling effortless navigation from car search to booking completion. At launch, approximately 3,000 stores are now available from many major rental car companies across Japan, with further stores to be added soon.
Intuitive design featuring search functionality and icons
Customers can search for available rental cars from the reservation page, simply by entering the departure and return locations along with the desired use dates. When inputting airport names, station names, or city names, the system suggests nearby car rental stores, catering to travelers utilizing connecting flights or trains, or those unfamiliar with their destination's geography. Moreover, users can also refine their search by specifying vehicle conditions and desired type, aided by icons showing the car type and relative size.
Search results display the car and manufacturer names with rental options accompanied by pictograms, for seamless navigation from search to booking completion.
One Rakuten Travel interface for rental car operators
Rental car operators can manage sales and vehicle inventory using the same management interface as the Japanese service currently offered on Rakuten Travel. This allows for bulk management of vehicles and sales channels, helping rental car operators expand sales without additional overhead.
Furthermore, an automatic translation function is available for vehicle sales settings. Rental car operators and sales outlets facing labor shortages will be able to meet the demand from inbound tourists without added burden by leveraging Rakuten Travel’s existing sales channels.
The annual number of international visitors to Japan surpassed 25 million in 2023*1, rapidly approaching the pre-pandemic figure of around 32 million visitors in 2019*2. Rakuten Travel aims to bolster tourism in rural areas and revitalize Japan’s local economies by providing a car rental reservation service that inbound tourists can use with confidence, thereby enhancing transportation options in both urban and rural areas.
Rakuten Travel is committed to caring for the diverse needs of both domestic and international travelers by offering a wide range of travel booking services, encompassing both accommodation and transport options.
https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2024/...&category=corp
Rakuten Card's number of credit cards issued 2019-2023
Published by Statista Research Department, Apr 4, 2024
By December 2023, Rakuten Card Co., Ltd. has issued around 30.1 million credit cards. The company's number of cards issued to customers increased from about 28.1 million in the previous year. Rakuten Card is a credit card company that was established in 2001 and is part of Rakuten Group.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1313856/...f-credit-cards-issued/